KIRKLEES YOUTH

COUNCIL

ANNUAL REPORT

2013/14

Hi We are Kirklees Youth Council, a group of enthusiastic, self-motived individuals, who are here to represent the voice of young people in our area. Over the past 18 months we have been involved in a wide range of activities where we’ve been able to offer an young person’s insight into adult discussions. Our report aims to provide you with an over view of what we’ve done and what we’ve learnt from both the young people and adults. We have lots of detailed information about all of our activities, if you would like to know more please get in touch.

Introduction

If you have any questions or comments please contact: Michelle Ross—IYCE Team 01484 221000 or 07976497656 youth.council@kirklees.gov.uk

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our ‘Open Door Meetings’ which are held at Huddersfield Town Hall 5-6.30pm on the following dates: 23rd June 2014 21st July 15th Sept 20th Oct 17th Nov 15th Dec 19th Jan 2015 16th Feb No booking required

Contents

Emotional Health and Wellbeing Page 4

Calderdale and Kirklees Careers 7

Work Experience and Volunteering 8

Youth Select Committee 2013 10

Kirklees Employment and Skills Board 12

UK Youth Parliament Make your Mark 13

Young Carers Conference 14

Children and Adult Services Managers Briefing

16

Houses of Parliament 18

Local Area Committee Meetings 19

It’s Time To Talk 20

Young People Participating in Elections 21

KYC Grants Scheme 22

People We Met Along The Way 23

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

4

What did we do? Kirklees Youth Council is keen to work with the Children’s Trust. Youth Councillors know that young people’s emotional health and wellbeing is a priority in the Children and Young People’s Plan. Youth Councillors wanted to be able to contribute to Children’s Trust discussions about this priority and so set out to explore what children and young people believe are the factors that help them to develop well. A very simple survey was designed and distributed by Youth Councillors. 455 children and young people Responded.

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

The 3 most important things that young people believe they need in order to develop well: 1. Positive relationships with family and friends 2. Enough money for essential things like food and clothes 3. A safe and suitable home

What did we learn?

5

Who supports you when you feel sad or upset? Mum was the top response with friends coming second How does this person support you? By making me laugh, giving me a hug, buying me things and playing with me. What do you do to cheer yourself up when you feel sad? Their top 5 responses were: Ask my friends to play Play computer games/ access my PC Play out Play with my sister/brother Listen to music/play an instrument What could grown ups do to help you when you are feeling sad? (Something they do not do at the moment) Their top 5 responses were: 1. Buy me things 2. Take us somewhere (trips) 3. Give us a hug/kiss 4. Ask me what is wrong/talk to me/listen 5. Make me laugh

What did we do?

Each year representatives of Primary schools across Kirklees come together at a School Council Summit to explore things that are important to them. We have attended both the summit in 2013 and 2014 and used the opportunity to ask some simple questions about emotional wellbeing. In total we have spoken to 208 children (ages 8-11yrs)

What did we learn? ‘Grown ups could give

me more time to cheer me up and they could talk with me.’ Anon

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

Emotional Health and Wellbeing

6

What did we do?

Youth Councillors also had the opportunity to be part of the Kirklees College Employability Events in Dewsbury and Huddersfield. We wanted to find out what techniques older young people use to help themselves when they are feeling unhappy and what they think adults could do to help. We asked 125 young people (age 16yrs upwards) and these are the top 5 responses:

What do you do to cheer yourself up when you feel unhappy? 1. Listen to music/play an instrument 2. Be with my friends/Talk to friends 3. I go for a walk 4. Gaming (X Box, PlayStation) 5. I play sport/exercise What can adults do to help you? (Something that they are not doing at the moment) 1. Leave me alone/don’t do anything 2. Talk to us 3. Notice and ask but don’t get involved 4. Provide activities/young people space 5. Emotional support

What did we learn?

7

What did we do?

Business Planning 2013 Kirklees Youth Councillors along with young people from Calderdale, participated in the C&K Careers business planning day. The aim was to ensure young people’s ideas and solutions contributed to managers decision making around the following themes: Customer outcomes Involving and listening to customers Website and information developments A young people’s briefing session took place prior to the meeting and relevant questions for the professionals were identified. The following themes emerged from the discussions: Transition Work experience and opportunities Awareness of opportunities Communication Opportunity to influence the service The Head of Business Development used themes and suggestions from the discussions to inform the draft Business Plan. Workabout Website C&K Careers website Workabout was in need of a redesign and Youth Councillors were asked for their views on it’s current look and function. Youth Councillors met with C&K Careers Information Specialist to put forward their suggestions for improvement. These included: The site needs to be mobile and tablet friendly Filters are very useful Search criteria should be specific to the site Recently the Youth Council have received an update on progress, have had access to the new site in draft version and provided C&K Careers with positive feedback.

Calderdale

and Kirklees Careers

Calderdale and Kirklees Careers

8

What did we learn?

What did we do?

To support the Children’s Trust and the Children and Young People Plan priority, we wanted to explore how local young people believe that they can gain work related skills, knowledge and experience successfully. Using a survey and discussion we gathered detailed information from over 200 young people about: - Work experience and suggestions for improvements - Volunteering - Other kinds of work related learning

Work

Experience and

Volunteering

Experiences of Working -67% had received work experience (either through an organised placement, part-time paid work, unpaid work or something else) - 17% said they didn’t have any – despite having tried really hard to get some

Work Placements

‘The experience I got of a work environment’ was the best thing about the placement. Suggestions for improvements included to: have a placement in a career that I’m interested in go somewhere different and have more choice over the placement I get have more work to do and a greater variety of

tasks that are more challenging have a longer placement or do work experience

over a longer period of time For those young people who hadn’t been on a work placement – the main reasons for this were: Being too young/their school only offers places to

older students Their school/college doesn’t currently offer placements Their school/college only offers placements to

certain students

Work Experience and Volunteering

9

What did we do next?

We have been able to share the things we learnt in this survey with lots of influential adults. This has included: The Children’s Trust The British Youth Council - Youth Select Committee Our local MP’s Jason McCartney, Simon Reevell,

Barry Sheerman and Mike Wood Cllr Harris and Cllr O’Neill Alison O’Sullivan Director for Children and Adults Kirklees Employment and Skills Board UK Young Ambassadors

Work Experience and Volunteering

Thinking about how work placements could be done in the future: Most young people (68%) felt that everyone who

wants to go on a placement should have the opportunity to. Over half (56%) thought that young people should

have individual placements rather than going as part of a small group.

More than two thirds (69%) felt that placements should be advertised and co-ordinated within schools/colleges (as opposed to other settings or online).

The majority of young people felt that they should get to choose, rather than being

selected or matched up by someone else. Young people had mixed views on whether the

placements should be in term time or school holidays, during the day, at weekends or evenings Similarly there were mixed views of what age was

most appropriate. Nearly half (45%) thought that year 10 or 11 was the right age for young people to do work experience placements, whilst 37% didn’t think it mattered and the remainder chose year 11 or 12 as being more suitable.

10

What did we do? Kirklees Youth Council responded to the Youth Select Committee 2013 call for evidence by providing views of local young people. The Youth Select Committee (YSC) is a British Youth Council initiative, supported by the House of Commons. The eleven committee members are aged 14-18 and include three Members of the Youth Parliament (MYPs), one former MYP, three youth councillors, a representative from the Scout Association and one elected representative from each of the devolved nations. The YSC embarked on a new inquiry into the role of the education system and the national curriculum in equipping young people with the skills for later life. The inquiry looked at the support currently available in schools to develop young people's 'life skills' such as personal finance, political education and cultural awareness. Two Youth Councillors, Afsha Munir and Robert Morris, travelled to London to provide Kirklees input into the ‘oral evidence session’ at Portcullis House, London. They responded to questions from the panel which can be viewed here www.parliamentlive.tv

Youth Select Committee

2013 A Curriculum

for Life

Attending the Youth

Select Committee was an amazing and valuable experience. It was a privilege to be able to represent young people’s views’ Afsha Munir

Youth Select Committee 2013 A Curriculum for Life

11

students

What did we do next? We are collecting information about how and where young people think they should learn these life skills. Kirklees Youth Council will facilitate a Youth Summit in May where we will invite other young people to explore the issue of learning life skills. We will be working in partnership with newly formed Youth Talent Employment and Skills Board.

What did we learn? Local young people said that they do not learn life skills at school but feel that they should. By learning these skills they feel that they would become more confident and less dependent. Life skills do not appear to be currently taught in core subjects but young people feel that consideration needs to be given to this issue. Teachers need more resources and training to enable them to provide suitable lesson content. For more information please follow the link for the full report www.kirkleesyc.org.uk.

Young people’s definition of life skills Something you need on a day to day basis, cooking, looking after your own home, earning money and being independent Transferable skills that will help young people at

different stages of life. For example, having confidence and the ability to communicate Appropriately together with the right knowledge skills to used in different situations A set of skills that will help you in the future

Youth Select Committee 2013 A Curriculum for Life

12

That the Youth Council can support the KESB priorities which include: Making the curriculum relevant Developing and enabling an enterprising culture Reducing barriers & promoting opportunities for young people Engagement with business Central Source of Info

What did we learn?

What did we do? Over the last 2-3 years, Youth Councillors have contributed to lots of discussions around issues such as apprenticeships, training, qualifications, ambitions and aspirations and so they were delighted to be given the opportunity to become members of the Kirklees Employment and Skills Board in 2013. Youth Councillors now have a formalised route through which they can share knowledge with decision makers and come to understand more about the work being undertaken in our local area and pass this on to our peers.

Kirklees

Employment and Skills

Board

What did we do next? Youth Councillors have become members of the newly established Young Talent, Employment and Skills Board which will act as a shadow board to KESB. We helped design promotional materials and publicise the opportunity to other young people. Training for YTESB is underway and the first project is being planned to support the priorities listed above. We attended and contributed to the Young Entrepreneurs Workshop in April.

Kirklees Employment and Skills Board

13

What did we learn?

What did we do? Kirklees Youth Council offered local young people the opportunity to participate in the Make Your Mark 2013 vote. We collected 1303 completed ballot papers! Each year members of UK Youth Parliament take over the House of Commons for one day to debate the top 5 national issues, these issues are selected by young people across the UK through the Make Your Mark Ballot. During the debate, they vote for one issue to become the national campaign for the following year.

UK Youth

Parliament Make Your

Mark

From the Make your Mark 2013 ballot, the top 5 issues locally were: An equal national minimum wage for all

Getting Ready for Work

16 to 19 Bursary Fund

Combat youth unemployment

Euthanasia

UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark

A curriculum to prepare us for life was chosen as the UKYP’s priority campaign for England

What did we do next? We sent the Kirklees results to UKYP for them to add to national data. The top 5 national issues were: A curriculum to prepare us for life Zero tolerance to bullying in schools Combating youth unemployment Better work experience and careers advice Votes for 16 and 17 year olds in all public elections

14

What did we do? Kirklees Youth Council worked in partnership with Northorpe Hall Child and Family Trust to host the first local Young Carers Conference in Kirklees. The event was designed by young carers for young carers to recognise and celebrate the brilliant job children and young people do in their caring roles . The conference was an opportunity to share their collective experiences. 75 young carers from 22 Kirklees schools and colleges attended, supported by 35 professionals from a wide range of agencies. The Assistant Director for Family Support and Child Protection, opened the event. During the event young people ran workshops that were designed to draw out personal issues and experiences. Workshops included the impact that caring for others has on individuals, service and support mechanisms, suggestions for change and the daily challenges faced by young carers. At lunchtime young carers could browse information stalls which included careers, youth services, leisure activities, applying for a Kirklees Passport, Carers Count, Kirklees Youth Council and Children’s Emotional Wellbeing Service (ChEWS). During the event over 50 young carers were able to apply for a Young Carers Card. The card is recognised and supported by local schools and colleges. Young carers can show the card to identify themselves as a young carer in need of extra support. For example, a young carer may need to carry a mobile phone (set to silent) or start or leave school early or be allowed extra time for homework.

Young Carers

Conference

‘This was a fantastic event and I was delighted to be there in support of our amazing young carers. They do a fantastic job in what can sometimes be difficult and challenging circumstances’. Cllr Cath Harris, Joint Cabinet lead for Children and Young People

Young Carers Conference

15

more

What did we learn?

There are a lots and lots of young carers Caring for others has a significant emotional and physical Impact on some young Carers Caring can prevent young people from seeing

their friends outside of school/college Behaviour at school/college can deteriorate whilst caring for others Short breaks and activities may help some young people to cope

What did we do next? Several young carers have joined Kirklees Youth

Council We have written to each of the participating schools/

colleges to say thank you and enclosed a certificate for the young carers who attended

Ensured that the 50 young people who applied for a young carers card receive one

We are discussing the potential to hold another conference early next year

Young Carers Conference

16

What did we do? We were invited to take part in the Managers Briefing ‘Beyond the School Gates’ with young people from Our Voice and the Road Safety Champions projects. Two young people from each of the projects, shared their experiences of learning, working and volunteering outside of school to an audience of over 80 managers. Some of the issues that young people described as having a positive influence on their learning experiences were: Taking part in activities away from the classroom Opportunities to volunteer Supportive teaching staff Studying topics that were relevant to chosen career And some negative influences were: Lack of stability in the home Being “written off” and “labelled” by teachers Not being engaged in activity and so fooling around Following the presentations all 21 young people participated in workshops. These were designed to encourage managers to talk about what their service offers and to consider what they can do to support young people with work shadowing, training and apprenticeships, and what they can do as individuals and write a personal pledge.

Children and

Adult Services Managers Briefing

Children and Adult Services Managers Briefing

17

What did we learn?

Managers attending the event offered feedback: How useful did you find talking to young people at the event? Very useful - it made me think more from their perspective I found it inspirational What issues, if any, did speaking to young people highlight for you? The need for more and more varied opportunities to volunteer It makes a difference when schools and colleges focus on the individual and make a connection How will the young people's information influence your service design and delivery? More determined than ever to improve access to

quality work experience/ partnerships between schools & employers

I'll continue to offer work placements and now an apprenticeship in my team as well as

looking at ways in which any school organisation changes can be influenced by young people's views How can young people continue to support you and your service? Over the next 12 months we'll be looking for YP

input into the development of the Kirklees Learner Passport, which should transform the range & number of work experience opportunities for initially secondary school pupils and then post 16 young people

Children and Adult Services Managers Briefing

18

What did we learn?

What did we do? Kirklees Youth Council visited the Houses of Parliament, taking a guided tour of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. We just managed a quick lunch before meeting our MP’s Jason McCartney, Barry Sheerman and Mike Wood. We shared lots of local information including our Work Experience and Volunteering report and evidence we collated for the Youth Select Committee. We also asked lots of questions and agreed to maintain the link with each of our MP’s. As a result of our discussion Jason McCartney agreed to visit one of our Youth Clubs. Twelve Youth Councillors had the additional benefit of watching a live debate in both the House of Lords and the House of Commons before getting back on the coach for the journey home.

Houses

of Parliament

We leant a lot about the history of our Parliament. We understand more about the role of our MP’s

and their work locally We are confident now in contacting our MP’s if

we need to do. We will encourage other young people to visit Parliament if they get the chance

Houses of Parliament

19

What did we do? Youth Councillors have continued to create and maintain links with local area committees. Colne Valley Timothy Potter and Aimen Mahmood helped to design and deliver a young people themed meeting on 25th September at Colne Valley High School. The meeting was attended by over 50 children and young people, local residents and MP Jason McCartney. Agenda items included Kirklees Council’s Budget consultation It’s Time To Talk facilitated by Tim and Aimen. Batley Birstall and Birkenshaw Atiqa Aziz and Saad Aziz chaired a young people themed meeting in October at Batley Town Hall. The meeting celebrated young people’s achievements in the local area and included presentations, a dance routine and speeches by young people.

Local Area Committee Meetings

In preparation for the Colne Valley Area Committee meeting we asked local young people a series of questions. Here are their combined responses: - Living in my area is good - I help my local area by behaving - Tackling a range of environmental issues would improve the area

We shared the It’s Time To Talk responses with Kirklees Council. Met with the Colne Valley Area Committee Children

and Young People Portfolio group to talk about the success of the meeting, what we had learnt and how we might do things differently next time around.

Local Area Committee Meetings

What did we learn?

What did we do next?

20

What did we do? It’s Time to Talk About the Budget and The Budget Challenge Kirklees Youth Council learned about the ‘It’s Time To Talk’ Initiative. They created a young people friendly presentation in order to help other young people understand the changes that are taking place. Youth Councillors were able to offer their own views and encouraged others in their communities to have their say.

Colne Valley Area Committee Budget Challenge

Youth Councillors, in partnership with local Councillors, Frances Wardley and school staff, facilitated 7 discussion groups with a total of 50 young people from Colne Valley High School, Royds Hall High School, Cowlersley Primary School. All of the results were shared with the Kirklees Council.

It’s Time To Talk

Young People prioritised: There to be good jobs for young people They said they would be more likely to volunteer their time to help: Families to have enjoyable activities to do together

It’s Time To Talk

The Conversation so far and What Happens Next A group of Youth Councillors took part in making the film which was widely used in the latest stages of the council’s campaign. This is intended to encourage people to think about how the council can continue to support communities as its budget decreases. Watch the film here www.kirkleestalk.org/youth-council

What did we learn?

Young People Participating in Elections

21

What did we do?

My Country, My Vote Youth Councillors are supporting a brand new pilot project, organised by the Democratic Engagement Programme and facilitated by the Community Heritage Team. The project involves four local schools taking part in a year long project designed to encourage young people to participate in local democracy and elections. Each school will select one of the top 5 local issues (as voted for in the UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark ballot) and develop a campaign. Each campaign will be judged on it’s success and the winning campaign/school will win a trip to Parliament in summer 2014. The event was launched at the University of Huddersfield on 15th November, the same day as UK Youth Parliaments take over of the House of Commons. European Elections 2014

The British Youth Council visited youth groups across the UK to promote voter participation at the European Elections this year. In September 2013 they delivered a session to Kirklees Youth Councillors. Individuals of voting age pledged to participate and to encourage their friends and family to vote. Registering to Vote

Kirklees Council’s Electoral Outreach Officers met with the Youth Council to pilot the activities they had developed which were intended to increase the number of 16 and 17 year olds registering to vote. Youth Councillors enjoyed the session, found the activities useful and said they know had a better understanding of the importance of registering to vote which they would share with their peers..

Young People Participating in Elections

22

What did we do? The KYC Grant Scheme funds activities and projects for group of young people aged 13-19 who live in Kirklees. Application are made by young people who lead and organise their own projects and Youth Councillors are responsible for making the decisions about which projects will be funded. In 2013, £3100 was distributed to 8 projects which helped young people to improve their future prospects in terms of Money, Jobs & Opportunities. This year, Youth Councillors again have £3000 to fund young people’s projects which will help to promote or improve young people’s emotional health and wellbeing.

KYC Grants

The diversity of the groups and creativity of the projects funded in 2013, suggests that acquiring skills around money, jobs and opportunities is at the forefront for a wide range of young people who also have dynamic ideas on how their needs in this area can be met through the delivery of specific projects. Young people, with varying backgrounds and experiences have a desire to work towards their fu-ture career and economic goals. Large numbers of young people can benefit from relatively small budgets and develop targeted skills. We had to evidence that the grants was a value for money cost effective way of meeting the needs of lo-cal young people, and in doing so we were able to successfully secure a further round of funding

KYC Grants

What did we learn?

23

As members of Kirklees Youth Council we’ve had the opportunity to meet loads and loads of interesting and influential organisations and people. These are just some of them:

People We Met Along the Way

People We

Met Along The Way

Kirklees Youth Council Brian Jackson House New North Parade HD1 5JP 01484 223603 youth.council@kirklees.gov.uk www.krkleesyc.org.uk