Organisation: Torfaen Youth Service
Provision: Scrap books
Contact: Helen Cooling
Aims of the concept
- To evidence activities and achievements of young people.
- To record and monitor activities, including feedback from young people.
The Scrap books are used as a guide to new members of the club to showcase what activities take place and what the young people say about them.
They also provide as a reflective practice tool and a means of evaluation of provision for both staff and young people.
Scrap books are designed, owned and built by young people on provision as a reflection of their ownership of the provision.
Every week evidence is gathered of the activities taken place such as pictures, evaluation, work product, feedback sheets etc. and these are then inputted into the scrapbooks by the young people over the next few weeks.
The pictures are printed out and added by the young people and staff to the scrap books. Young people are asked what they enjoyed/didn’t enjoy and this feedback is added too.
While the scrap books are being evidenced with photo’s pictures and comments, we ask young people to plan how to present the page, What to add and how to plan for the next session.
Young people usually want to look back at themselves and their peers from previous activities. Young people will often comment how much they enjoyed something, and this is fed back during reflection and added to the planning.
Scrap book activities prove to be great way for us to plan and reflectith young people. They have the opportunity to be creative and present their club in whatever method they choose.
We encourage creativity and evaluation with young people and the scrap books will reflect this
Some groups of young people participating in completing our scrap books will need high levels of support during the session, but where possible we give independence and decision-making opportunities to those who feel they want it.
Scrap books are a good indicator to staff that they are fulfilling all the needs of all the young people. Young people are often very proud when they look back at their achievements and see how well they club is doing and what is available to them if they chose to participate.
Scrapbooks are an ongoing reflective and evaluative tool so the impacts of learning are applied almost immediately. When evaluating the activities using the scrap book feedback is gained as to the effectiveness of the activity, what levels of engagement were like, what could be improved and what could be done better next time.
Over a longer period of time scrapbooks provided a longer history of activities so new members of young people and staff understand what has gone before the. This enable all to learn from any areas for improvement, the story of the provision and what has provided to be effective, well received and also what didn’t go down so well.
If, for example, activity participation is low in numbers we evaluate whether the activity was pitched at the right group, at the right time in the evening etc.
Young people are able to evaluate and have their say on how to present their photographs and evaluations of their activities. This gives them a sense of belonging to the club and a wider sense of community.
It enables them to be creative and showcase their artistic talent. It enable all young people to contribute to the extent they want to and can. It Helps young people to celebrate their role within the provision and the wider community and recognises their successes.
Scrap books give young people a sense of achievement and reinforces wellbeing. Looking back through older sessions demonstrates learning and highlights their development and progress they have made through the club.
The scrapbooks reinforces friendships, give a sense of group cohesion and shared experience through enabling reflection, personal journey, confidence growth and skills growth.
The scrapbooks contribute to the creation of a safe space to tackle difficult discussion in an inclusive and positive way
As a result of scrapbooks being an ongoing process of evaluation and reflection (and are a kept as hard copies on site) they are key tools to effectively planning future activities. Staff can quickly gain an understanding for the young people and the nature of the provision and what has been effective previously.
The scrapbooks are a great tool to create opportunities and a safe space for discussions. Staff and young people can reflect on issue-based workshops for example or talk about a tough time when the provision faced challenges.
They also provide a great opportunity to generate 1:1 discussion around a range of issues. Young people can be confident that what they are seeing, and feeling is fine and that many young people who have gone before them have experience similar things. They help contribute to a feeling of safety and community.
The scrapbooks are a great reminder of what we have done and showcases the club in all its glory. It’s heart-warming to be able to look back at the impact the provision has had on young people, staff and volunteers.
This is what we do, this is how we do it,
This is what young people thought of it
The scrapbooks in of themselves are a reflection of the young people who attend the provision and are shaped by the young people as a reflection of their needs, interests and desires. Within the LGBTQ+ youth club the scrapbooks presents issues and activities that support young people to explore and express themselves in a safe environment. The young carers scrap books help young people to show how youth provision helps to combat issues of isolation.
Events and activities that are aimed at encouraging diversity and inclusivity are reflected in the scrapbooks, such as St David’s Day activities, racism awareness events etc.
Young people require differing levels of support to engage with the scrapbook process, so staff respond accordingly, this ensuring they are a true reflection of the range of inclusive activity that is offered across the whole service.
The scrap books are ongoing projects and continue to evolve weekly. Some provisions are into multiple additions of scrapbooks. Scrapbooks look different depending on the nature of the provision, some of more journal based, some photo based, and some activity based etc. all in response to the young people and how they want them to look.
Scrap books are hard copies kept on location.
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Torfaen County Borough Council https://www.torfaen.gov.uk/en/EducationLearning/ChildrenandYoungPeople/Youngpeople-informationandadvice/Youth-Service.aspx