Our Aims

Gem Kids is an educational and therapeutic programme designed for children and adolescents aged between 4 to 18 years. Gem Kids is a completely confidential service.

Gem Kids has a number of aims:

To help children lose any unwanted labels
To improve children's relationships with themselves, parents, families, friends and teachers
To help children discover that they are truly wonderful.
To encourage and promote self-expression and creativity.
To improve childrens abilities to learn in school, and to enjoy being in school.
To learn different tools to cope in school.
To help children with their different learning needs.
To teach children lifeskills that will be useful to them throughout the life, not just in childhood.
To help children live with Aspergers, ADD, ADHD and other conditions.

It is important to encourge good behaviour in children rather than punish the 'bad' behaviour. Gem Kids encourages your children to:

Be honest.
Be creative and imaginative.
To have lots of fun!

"You can understand and relate to most people better if you look at them -- no matter how old or impressive they may be -- as if they are children. For most of us never really grow up or mature all that much -- we simply grow taller. O, to be sure, we laugh less and play less and wear uncomfortable disguises like adults, but beneath the costume is the child we always are, whose needs are simple, whose daily life is still best described by fairy tales." - Leo Rosten

Skills learned at GemKids

Children will learn how to recognise different feelings.
Children’s feelings will become less scary.
Children will be able to make friends.
Children will discover healthy ways of solving their problems.
Children will try and enjoy doing their best at home and at school.
Children will learn to ask for help.
Children will be able to communicate more effectively.
Children will learn how to be friendlier.
Children who are at risk will be able to use Gem Kids as a safe environment.

"...Children will work for attention from others, especially parents, whether it is positive (praise) or negative (criticism) in nature. If they do not receive positive attention, then they will strive for negative attention since that is better than none at all." - Carolyn Webster-Stratton