A group of teenagers from Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy have turned their lives around after attending a training course.

Conwy Employment Hub was asked by the TRAC project to help the 15 teenagers develop lifelong skills and provide a path to further training and employment.

The 15- and 16-year-olds, all from rural communities, had been attending school but not engaging with lessons.

Elliw Jones, the school's TRAC well-being worker, who identified the need for intervention, said: "There is a misconception about school pupils who don’t attend their lessons, with many thinking that they’re lazy or up to no good but that couldn’t be further from the truth for this group of 15.

A teambuilding challenge for the teenagers from Ysgol Dyffryn  (Image: Conwy Employment Hub) "All of them are from rural communities and have an agricultural life so they are extremely hard working, up at 5am every morning to work on the farm before going to school, and as soon as school finished they were back to the farm to continue working.

"It was therefore important to find out the reason why they were skipping classes and it came down to the simple fact that working on a farm was a way of life and seen as more important than getting an education."

Jones approached Conwy Employment Hub, which had secured funding through the UKSPF Conwy People and Skills Key Fund to run a Young People’s Engagement Employability Project.

The hub partnered with WOW Training to provide a tailored construction course at Llanrwst Library.

This intensive three-day course gave the group an understanding of the industry and tests in asbestos awareness, ladder safety, working in heights, manual handling, health and safety, and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS).

The course also offered the opportunity for interested students to take the tractor driving test.

Lyndsay Edwards, engagement officer at the hub, said: “When we put this course to the group, their response was overwhelming and all 15 were extremely keen to be enrolled, but there were ground rules and all 15 had to not only continue attending school but commit to attending classes, which I’m pleased to say they did."

The course had a profound impact on the group, leading 13 of them to continue their studies at college and two to secure work.

Libby Duo, strategic manager for Conwy Employment Hub, said: "To have 13 students go from not attending lessons to enrolling at college and two in full time employment is a remarkable turnaround and I’d like to congratulate all 15 and wish them every continued success.”