CITIZENSHIP
Giving young
people a voice
Community campaigning:
Students from Greendown
Community School in Swindon
worked with YoungTimeBank as
part of their community day
YoungTimeBank is a charity that helps young
Union address: NUT
people to create community projects tackling
issues close to their hearts, while helping A system of ‘fear and panic’
schools to fulfill citizenship requirements at
Christine
as far as cleaning the classroom. Surely this is not
what we except teachers to be doing. A climate
the same time. Dave Rinaldi explains
Blower
of fear and panic will not help anyone, least of all
children and young people.
These are not findings that instill any degree
UR PROJECT supports groups options of creating a presentation, a campaign, a piece of
reports on the
of confidence in a system whose high stakes
O
of young people aged 11 to 19 forum theatre, or an art exhibition. Students taking part accountability can have a devastating impact
in schools and colleges around in longer projects can also create a film or publication.
the country to tackle the issues
devastating effect Ofsted
on a school, the pupils, teachers, and the local
community.
they are passionate about, by
Campaigning case study
involving them in creative, youth- Janet Mason, head of citizenship and PSHE at
inspections are having on
While the current system is in place it is a
perception which is unlikely to change.
led community projects. Greendown Community School in Swindon, We are totally opposed to the idea that, from
With children and young people constantly being approached YoungTimeBank to help provide an active
today’s school teachers
September, Ofsted can conduct “no notice”
smeared by the mainstream media, we feel that and participative element to their year 8 Community inspections, and link inspection judgements directly
it is important to give young people the clear and Day.
and leaders, and callS for
to the test and examination results achieved by
independent voice that they so often wish to express. Ms Mason said: “The taster session helped bring schools. These new measures will do nothing to
YoungTimeBank empowers them to make all the our community day alive by providing an active
important decisions for their project, from identifying way of engaging young people in thinking about and
wholesale reform of the
alleviate staff and pupil anxiety, and linking to
tests will simply penalise those schools serving in
the most effective and relevant way to tackle their responding to issues in their local community.
chosen issue, to the allocation of roles within the group. “It supported our delivery of active citizenship system
disadvantaged areas.
Similarly, the proposals for increased inspections
All that is needed from schools is a time and a place within the year 8 curriculum, and empowered young for schools that are noted as “satisfactory” will do
for these projects to happen. This can be during lesson people to decide on their own focus for activities and THE SCHOOLS inspection system we have at the nothing but add to the stress and damage the morale
time or at the end of the school day, depending on the present convincing cases for their ideas. I was amazed moment is not fit for the 21st century and needs of everyone in the school.
needs of your school. by the range of issues they came up with and the to be replaced. Clearly it is essential that schools The evidence for change is crystal clear.
At no cost, YoungTimeBank provides trained creative approaches that some of the groups adopted to should be held accountable to the communities they Inspection has failed to bring about sustained
facilitators plus the necessary resources and equipment get their message across.” serve and there should be a form of assessment to improvement because of its separation from
to support and guide the young people to turn their The school ran initial sessions to explore what look at their progress. Ofsted, however, does not developmental support, and from schools’ own
heartfelt ideas into reality. a community is, and what a community needs. fulfil this role, quite frankly their inspections just improvement work. Despite the inclusion of
YoungTimeBank has been running for five years YoungTimeBank then provided a 30-minute interactive make people ill. elements of self-evaluation, school communities do
and young people get a great sense of achievement presentation to the whole 180-student year group, A recent NUT survey on Ofsted inspections not own the process of evaluation of their schools.
from taking part. followed by workshop plans and materials for a two- raised many questions as to the overall validity of Inspection is done to rather than done with school
Each pupil fills out an end-of-project questionnaire, hour session for the eight tutor groups of 28 pupils, the system, and the inspectors themselves. Overall, communities.
and 96 per cent say that by doing the project they have delivered by YoungTimeBank staff and volunteers the inspections were judged to be superficial and What is needed is a fundamental review of the
developed their skills and interests or learned new ones. working alongside the tutors. the focus on core subjects did little to reflect the whole system of internal and external examination.
The top three skills given were teamwork, project This workshop enabled the students to identify both work of the whole school. In 2007, the House of The inspection system needs to be changed to one
planning skills, and communication. local and global issues that were important to them Commons Education and Skills Committee also which ensures ownership by school communities
Being involved and in charge of a project also and devise campaign posters, leaflets, songs and short expressed concerns about the over emphasis on of school evaluation and allow for co-operation
maximises their confidence, and encourages their drama pieces exploring these issues and communicating negative findings of inspections. rather conflict. It must be sensitive to the local
interpersonal skills with others in their class. their desire for change. The degree to which the stress impacts on context and earn and maintain credibility with
YoungTimeBank projects can help schools fulfill The day finished with all the students regrouping teachers is far reaching and even has experienced teachers. The limitations of the Ofsted approach
citizenship and other curriculum requirements, as for the presentation and celebration of what they had teachers leaving the profession rather than face an can easily be redressed by the adoption of
well as meeting Every Child Matters outcomes, and achieved throughout the day. The mayor of Swindon, inspection. Many found them unfair, stressful and of externally validated school-led self-evaluation
contributing to the goals for strengthening communities Steve Wakefield, attended this session to see the no use to the overall development of the school. which Ofsted themselves has generally confirmed
as set out in Youth Matters and the Respect Agenda. students’ campaigns and say a few words in response. In the survey, teachers expressed views about as being accurate.
We get feedback from participating teachers too Enthusiastic feedback from the students demonstrated the inspectors themselves, saying that “excellent, We need to see the joy of learning not fear of
and when responding to our survey they say that young how much they appreciated being given a forum to broad and balanced education is of no importance failure put back into our classrooms.
people taking part in YoungTimeBank projects develop communicate those issues they care about and want to to inspectors” and that they arrived with their mind The factors that most contribute to school
their awareness of social issues and develop their self- change – along with having the opportunity to bring already made up as to how they would judge a improvement are staff commitment and evaluation,
confidence to communicate in a group. about this change. SecEd school. An impression of arrogance and a lack of and the school ethos. Evaluation of a school’s
Many also said that the project had an impact on the understanding about the challenges schools face in progress needs to be done by those in the school who
wider community. • Dave Rinaldi is YoungTimeBank’s project manager. poorer areas were also concerns raised. know its strengths and weaknesses and how best to
The pressure that inspections generate for schools get the best out of everyone. Catapulting an often
Five methods to choose from Further information
and headteachers in particular is totally unnecessary, ill-informed inspector into a classroom for a brief
We offer five different creative genres for the young YoungTimeBank is currently offering taster sessions. with many teachers reporting it “left my school period cannot, and does not, give a true picture of a
people to choose from and guarantee an experienced These are bespoke and flexible and can range from two feeling a complete failure” and “stress almost made school’s achievement.
facilitator to lead the project. hours to a day. The charity will come into your school me resign”.
The options, which come with complete step-by-step and present the ideas to the relevant year group or The increased workload that inspections generate • Christine Blower is the acting general secretary of the
guides, are based on areas that excite and encourage class. For details, visit www.youngtimebank.org.uk or is also unacceptable, with some teachers even going National Union of Teachers. Visit www.teachers.org.uk
young people to be creative. They can choose from the d.rinaldi@timebank.org.uk
12 SecEd • May 7 2009
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