Young People Schools 'evaluation' Project

This is a one-off project where young people talk to other young people about school. All over Bristol decision makers are trying to solve the problem of under-achievement. We want to know what young people believe the problem to be and what they think the solution is.

We are looking for an organisation, experienced in working with/for young people, to take forward this project with and on behalf of St Pauls Unlimited Community Partnership.

Most pressing is the need to clearly define the parameters of the project (taking account of the budget available) so that a Neighbourhood Renewal application can be developed and submitted by 28th April 2005. We have identified some of what we want to achieve but we are looking for a lead organisation that can inform the process and help to define the aims and objectives.

Background

Fairly early on in the neighbourhood planning process (2001 - 2002) it was proposed that we find a way of young people evaluating school with a view to making recommendations about how to raise achievement. In Neighbourhood Renewal terms we have a Bristol target of 36% of all young people should be achieving A-C grade GCSE. We are struggling to reach this target. We want to involve young people in the process of defining what is going wrong (what the problem is) and more importantly in shaping the solution.

Aims of the project

• To find out how young people from St Pauls perceive the problem (why can't Bristol achieve the Government Floor Target*) the possible solutions.
• The young people involved have an understanding of NR, the Floor Target, the problem as defined by national and local Government and are able to actively contribute to finding a way forward.
• Decision makers locally (NR, SPUCP, Schools) and city- wide (Bristol Partnership, Dept. Education & Lifelong Learning, GOSW) hear the perspective and recommendations of young people.
• To inform future funding proposals to NR from April 2006 that are specifically designed to contribute to achieving the floor target and the active involvement of young people.

The process

This needs more work and thought by people who have experience of this kind of work but in broad terms we think it would need to involve:

• Create a 'management group' of young people from St Pauls for the project (ages to be defined but likely to include young people just finishing GCSE's, about to do GCSE's, those excluded or not attending school and reflecting the multicultural community).
• Talk to their peers, and others relevant people (professionals, parents/guardians) about school life, to define the problem as they see it and possible solutions.
• To record this information in a format which is easily shared and accessible to a wide audience (e.g. written? digital video, press releases..?)
• To present the findings to St Pauls Unlimited Schools Task Group (probably in the form of some kind of open meeting) and other decision making forum to be agreed e.g. Bristol Partnership Education Delivery Group.