Case Study 3 - Youthwise©
in Schools Policy Heading: Being Healthy; Enjoying and Achieving - Every Child Matters
Quote Football is an incredibly powerful tool, especially when you understand how it can be linked with wider social issues. The positive power of the game can be used to effect real change in lives of young people. Soccerwise: Our experience
Manchester United is one of the largest football clubs in the world with a brand recognition on all five continents. Soccerwise© is the result of over ten years of work by the Youth Charter with football clubs involved at all levels of social and grass root development in the community. Soccerwise© was developed as a module of the Youthwise© programme providing an educational attainment and achievement experience through soccer whilst providing the generic social and personal development benefits Adaptable as a curriculum based/extra curricular (out of school) social development and learning experience, it has been specifically designed to address low educational attainment and social and personal development. Particular emphasis is placed on Personal Social Health Education (PSHE), Citizenship and Humanities. Other curriculum based learning activities are also realised.
The Youth Charter has developed a variety of social inclusion programmes and regeneration projects in communities nationally and internationally. The Youth Charter Soccerwise© School Pack has been developed in conjunction with Manchester United/ UNICEF, Barclaycard Free Kicks and a specially convened schools forum as part of the Youth Charter’s Soccerwise© “Citizenship in Action” initiative.
3.4 Youthwise©
in the Community
Youthwise© in the Community recognises that if you could re-instil and help improve behaviour in the classroom in order to maintain the positive habit of sound character, discipline and respect you have to maintain the ‘positive habit’ outside the classroom.
Within the 4pm - 6pm window when our young leave the school, new opportunities await them. The competing forces of anti social and potential gang membership lie beyond the school gate. This is of particular relevance to those hard to reach and socially disaffected who have no parents to meet them. Competition for their hearts and minds is targeted by those who have something for them to do and someone to show them.
After school activities now compete against a local entrepreneur who offers the golden handcuff and lifestyle package of a mobile phone, ipod and quick cash. A lifestyle opportunity that will allow them greater career prospects of image and status that simply requires them to undergo a practical interview of ‘dropping a pack” in an hour. The reward of £200 is too much to resist. With the new overalls of the streets and the crew to which they now belong, career progression is both fast and rewarding
Fig. 3.2 Sir Alex Ferguson presents special achievement awards to pupils from Burnage High, The Albion and Gorse Hill primary school.
The key themes identified in the Soccerwise© pack are; education, health, social order and the environment. The programme runs for a school term with a project developed as part of a citizenship forum. The schools forum provides a continued experience for young Soccerwise© participants as well as exposing them to public/private sector and wider community multi agency working as they develop their project proposals and translate them into reality.
Soccerwise© helps young students towards a greater sense of rights, responsibilities and more importantly, how they can translate them into real life experiences. It also helps them develop improved educational attainment, social skills and vocational opportunities benefiting both the individual and the wider community. In November 2003 Sir Alex Ferguson presented special achievement awards to pupils from Burnage High, The Albion and Gorse Hill primary school.
Social Impact Since 1993 and the establishment of the Moss Side Amateur Reserves, the role of soccer as a social vehicle of change has been adopted by the football community at all levels of the game. In particular the F.A. Charter, the Premier League Study Centres, the PFA’s expansion of the Football in the Community Programme, the Football Foundation and ultimately the establishment of the Barclaycard Space for Sport and the Arts are all clear indications of the national game responding to the social and cultural needs of young people and communities.
Lessons learned Whilst a great deal of effort is now being mobilised with a number of soccer related educational, health, social order and environmental benefits being realised, these are fragmented and uncoordinated. A greater emphasis and requirement is needed within the football community to provide a more socially cohesive approach. Current best practice is not being shared between major sports and the minority sports. This has led to further exclusion as Governing Bodies compete for improved participation numbers and membership. Whilst competitive in grass root development, Governing Bodies of sport need to be ‘socially collaborative’ in both consensus and approach.
Summary The development of an integrated policy framework would allow for a greater investment and return of the considerable resources now being invested by Government to match the professional grass root and community levels.
What we inspired The Soccerwise© programme was launched at the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup and has received support from FIFA and the Five Confederations that Govern football in each of the five continents. Soccerwise© was presented and developed with the support of the football community at SoccerEx in 1998 Soccerwise© is now being delivered in a number of countries with a particular programme developed by Manchester United and UNICEF with the support of Barclaycard with a particular emphasis on HIV Aids education and awareness in South Africa.
Agencies FIFA, UEFA, CAF, CONCAF, AFC, Football Association, Football League, PFA, Scottish, Welsh and Irish Football Associations, Ajax of Amsterdam, Keiser Chiefs and orlando Pirates of South Africa, Manchester Utd FC, Manchester City FC, Liverpool FC, Aston Villa FC, Tottenham Hotspurs FC, Arsenal FC, Stockport County FC, Macclesfield Town FC, Nottingham Forest FC, Stalybridge Utd FC.
As a foot soldier the new employee and street apprentice has a product to sell in school and on the streets. They are given a piece of turf that is the social showroom from which to operate. With no business plan or marketing strategy, but with the street security and insurance of their Lieutenants, their new sales pitch is likened to the Big Issue vendors. However, they are not selling magazines - the rewards are far greater. This career is high risk and bad for health, but the new found life of bling is more rewarding than the exam results and the Connexions career choices that sees them working for someone else for a far lesser salary.
Case Study 4 - Youthwise© in the Community Policy Heading: Enjoying and Achieving - Every Child Matters
Quote Through participation in sport in particular extra-curricular rugby the pupils involved will experience a new kind of learning experience which will enable them to learn more effectively and independently in all curriculum lessons. Many of these pupils will develop a renewed motivation for school and through success and involvement as part of a team gain in confidence and self esteem. Pupils engaged in a positive aspect of school life are less likely to be disruptive and will have hopefully learned how to work as part of a ‘whole school’ team. Teacher/pupil relationships will improve with staff working on the extra-curricular programme and it is hoped that all staff will notice a change in attitude from some pupils. The scheme will obviously raise standards of attainment within the PE curriculum, most notably in the sport of rugby but it is hoped that the transfer of skills into other sports will raise National curriculum attainment levels in all areas of the subject.
Reality: Our experience The Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Youth Charter have enjoyed a formal working partnership for the past twelve years. During that time the RFU has emerged as the most progressive sport governing body in relation to the social inclusion agenda.
In order to provide a common framework that was both generic and flexible to facilitate each community's needs, the Rugbywise© Toolkit was designed with the support of The Ford Motor Company, Sportsmatch and the RFU to reflect rugby's strong moral, team ethic and code which embraces the values of citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play.
The Rugbywise© Toolkit was designed to provide rugby personnel at all levels of the Rugby Football Union with an understanding of the equality, inclusion and community issues that would need to be considered as part of any future strategies of future rugby development in communities and areas of social deprivation. In addition to this a Social Coach programme was designed to equip the Rugby Football Union’s Youth Development Officers (YCO’s) with the social and cultural tools to complement their grass root sports development experience. Social Coach training and workshops have been delivered with a more effective and strategic approach being employed. As a result, a greater emphasis is placed on reaching and encouraging socially excluded groups within our society to participate in rugby union. The ‘Rugbywise© Concept’ is a personal development course created around Social Inclusion and participation in rugby union. The programme is developed within the basic premise of encouraging the individual to succeed in life using the disciplined framework of rugby.
Fig. 3.3 The Rugbywise©
Toolkit.
Developed as part of a community based social inclusion and sports development programme, the Rugbywise© Toolkit was designed to provide a truly joined up and multi agency approach in assisting governing bodies of sport seeking to re-connect and engage with disaffected young people from disadvantaged communities.
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