Children & Young People Now
May 2011
Comment
Christine Davies CBE – Director – C4EO
Encouraging young people to take part in structured leisure activities outside school
and home has long been recognised as having a positive impact on their life chances.
Evidence shows that targeted youth support can be effective in many areas including
reducing teenage pregnancies, promoting positive behaviour, reducing emotional and
behavioural problems, and improving family relationships.
Over the past 18 months, C4EO has focused on three areas to help inform developing
services for young people. These include increasing the engagement of young people
in structured activities, improving outcomes for young people by boosting the impact
of targeted support, and reducing alcohol consumption by young people.
Our findings can be found in three research reviews available on the C4EO website.
Across all these areas, common themes have emerged. Effective practice includes
local authorities working with schools and other partners to identify local needs,
provide services and monitor outcomes. It also involves using all forms of media
to promote positive activities, and working to remove barriers, such as peer pressure,
which prevent young people from taking part.
Providing information about what is available, and practical help in accessing services
can help to encourage young people's participation.
Our research found many parents have a positive experience of extended services
in schools and see them as well-placed to provide after-school activities. However,
offering additional alternative facilities can help engage vulnerable young people
and their families, who may find other venues more acceptable.
In addition to the research reviews,
we have almost 20 examples of innovative and exciting best practice focusing
specifically on youth programmes on the C4EO website.
We hope our research, the final summary and recommendations, and examples of effective
local practice will support all those working with young people and, ultimately,
help achieve better outcomes for young people.
Making the difference
Reducing the number of young people who are NEET - Hounslow
Hounslow has introduced a scheme to track down Neet young people and offer them
support to improve their lives
A non-formal approach can benefit the relationships between youth workers and young
people
Credit: Tom Campbell
Youth workers in Hounslow have been knocking on doors as part of a drive to reduce
the number of young people not in education, training and employment and training
(NEET).
Project 17 was launched in September 2008 to tackle youth unemployment in the London
borough and is an example of local practice validated by C4EO.
Crucially, the scheme, funded via Connexions and delivered by Hounslow's youth service,
aimed to reduce the number of 17-year-olds whose status was simply "unknown".
A five-strong team of part-time workers are supplied with a regularly updated listed
of Neets and "unknowns" by Connexions.
They then make contact, visiting the young people's homes to offer support.
Some of the young people on the list will be in education or work – so the project
helps generate a more accurate picture of youth unemployment. Those who are Neet
are offered help.
One key to the scheme's success is its youth work approach, believes project co-ordinator
Dempsie Earles.
"We're not carrying clipboards, it's all very informal and there's no pressure,"
he says.
"Some young people are quite touched that we came out of our way to meet them."
Not all want to get involved but the project has a high success rate. Home visits
are also a chance for youth workers to build relationships with anxious parents,
adds Earles.
The team is involved with about 30 young people at any one time and has worked with
about 200 since the project started.
Workers help young people search job vacancies, write CVs and even accompany them
to appointments. But perhaps the most important aspect is the emotional support
they offer, helping to boost young people's confidence and find new direction in
life, says Earles.
The scheme led to a 3.9 per cent reduction in Neets in its first two years and a
dramatic reduction in the number of "unknowns", with the team able to account for
80 per cent of young people on their lists.
Key points
- Keep things informal and aim to build a relationship – young people may have had
bad experiences of more formal set-ups, such as school
- Make it clear young people's involvement is voluntary
- Evening home visits are useful as young people may be out during the day – or simply
not up
- Support may include building self-confidence as well as practical help
Need to know
Data - School Workforce Census reveals the national picture
New data on the make-up of the school workforce was published by the Department
for Education for the first time last month.
The publication is based on the first annual School Workforce Census, which took
place in November 2010.
The census replaces several other data collection exercises, including the School
Census, and features a wider range of information.
It includes information on the numbers of head teachers, teachers and support staff
for different types of schools with data broken down into categories including gender,
age and ethnicity.
The publication also includes information on teachers' pay, qualifications and vacancies.
All this helps to give a reasonably detailed picture of the school workforce in
England and will allow the government and others to track changes and examine policy,
explains Simon Rutt, head of statistics at the National Foundation for Educational
Research and C4EO's data lead.
For example, the data shows that the subject areas with the highest number of full-time
teacher vacancies in secondary schools are maths and English.
The information can be used at a local level too.
"If local authorities or schools know the make-up of their teaching staff they can
see how that compares with national distributions," says Rutt.
For example, schools with a higher than average number of teachers taking days off
sick may want to look at the support on offer to staff.
However, local variations are to be expected as local populations have different
needs.
In total there are
471,300
qualified teachers working in publicly funded schools in England
Source: Department for Education
As of November 2010 there were
120
vacancies for full-time Maths teachers in publicly funded secondary schools
Source: Department for Education
The percentage of head teachers not classed white British is
5%
in publicly funded schools
Source: Department for Education
Where to go next?
Youth services
Giving young people and families a say in planning youth services can help increase
attendance, according to a new C4EO study. The report brings
together the findings from three reviews looking at ways to get more young people
involved in activities, boost the impact of targeted youth work and reduce alcohol
consumption.
New case studies
A condom distribution scheme in
Nottinghamshire and a project
in Northumberland that enables young people to gain fire and rescue
qualifications are among promising examples of youth work recently added to C4EO's
website. You can also read about the
implementation of Brighton and Hove's teenage pregnancy plan by going to
the youth section on the C4EO website.
Case study call
C4EO is still looking
for examples of good local practice to increase its bank of case studies
designed to share learning across the sector. Projects must fall under one of C4EO's
themes, which include early years, safeguarding, disability, schools and communities,
youth services, and families.
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