Orchard Therapeutic Farm - Alternative Provision
Future Me Coach
From surviving today to building tomorrow.
For some young people, thinking about the future can feel difficult. Their energy may be focused on simply getting through today, while adulthood, independence and employment seem uncertain or too far away to imagine.
Future Me Coach is our dedicated Post-16 coaching offer, providing young people with individualised, meaningful support as they begin to consider what comes next.
Working one-to-one with a future-focused coach, each young person is supported to recognise their strengths, explore their aspirations and build a practical pathway towards the life they want to create.
Moving from surviving circumstances to shaping futures
Young people in alternative provision are no less ambitious than their peers. However, disrupted education, difficult experiences, low confidence or a lack of suitable opportunities can make it much harder to turn those ambitions into achievable next steps.
Future Me Coach creates the time and space to change that. Rather than focusing solely on what has happened in the past or what a young person is struggling with now, coaching helps them look ahead. It begins with a simple but important question:
What would you like your future to look like?
There does not need to be an immediate or polished answer. The coach works alongside the young person to explore what matters to them, identify what may be holding them back and take manageable steps towards greater confidence, independence and direction.
Support shaped around the individual
There is no single route into adulthood, and no standard Future Me plan. Every young person brings different strengths, circumstances, interests and hopes. Coaching is therefore shaped around the individual, meeting them where they are rather than expecting them to fit a predetermined pathway.
Depending on the young person’s needs and goals, coaching may explore:
- Personal strengths, interests and values
- Confidence, motivation and self-belief
- Education, training and employment options
- Preparing for college, work experience or an apprenticeship
- Communication and relationship skills
- Decision-making and problem-solving
- Managing routines, responsibilities and change
- Independent living and practical life skills
- Setting realistic goals and breaking them into achievable steps
- Recognising barriers and finding ways forward
- Building resilience when plans change or setbacks happen
The aim is not to decide a young person’s future for them. It is to help them recognise that they can play an active part in shaping it.
More than career advice
Future Me Coach is not simply about choosing a course or finding a job.
Education and employment are important parts of preparing for adulthood, but a meaningful future is built from much more than qualifications. Young people may also need support to understand themselves, communicate what they need, manage everyday responsibilities and believe that progress is possible.
Coaching brings these different areas together. It connects a young person’s ambitions with the confidence, habits, practical skills and actions that can help them move forward.
Where traditional careers guidance may present the available options, Future Me Coach helps a young person consider which options feel right for them—and what they need to do to reach them.
A practical pathway forward
Big questions about the future can quickly become overwhelming. Future Me Coach turns those questions into smaller, clearer steps.
Together, the young person and their coach may:
- Explore where the young person is now
- Identify their strengths, interests and priorities
- Consider what they would like to work towards
- Recognise the barriers standing in their way
- Agree realistic and meaningful goals
- Create practical actions and next steps
- Review progress, celebrate achievements and adapt the plan
Progress will look different for every young person. For one, it might mean attending an open day or completing a college application. For another, it could be building a weekly routine, making a telephone call independently or feeling able to imagine a future that once seemed out of reach.
Who is Future Me Coach for?
Future Me Coach is designed for Post-16 young people who would benefit from personalised support to:
- Think positively and realistically about their future
- Build confidence and a stronger sense of identity
- Explore education, training or employment
- Prepare for greater independence
- Develop practical strategies for overcoming barriers
- Turn aspirations into achievable next steps
- Navigate the transition from education into adult life
The approach can be adapted to suit different communication styles, support needs and starting points.
Start building tomorrow
A young person does not need to have their whole future mapped out. They simply need somewhere safe to begin exploring it, and someone who believes that their ideas are worth listening to.
Future Me Coach helps young people move away from a life defined by problems, circumstances or expectations and towards one shaped by their own strengths, choices and possibilities.
From surviving today to building tomorrow.