A commission into youth work in schools has found strong evidence to support the expansion of youth services in education settings. But in the rush to find a home for youth work in the face of cuts to council-commissioned services, there have been warnings for the profession not to lose its identity or values.
The commission, hosted by the National Youth Agency (NYA), gathered evidence from 67 teachers, governors and other education and youth work practitioners, and found that good youth work practice in schools impacts positively on pupils' attainment and behaviour.
The commission's evidence forms the basis of a report, published last month, that highlights the positive impact that youth work has on social mobility, wellbeing and employment prospects, as well as educational achievement.
Drop-in programmes, one-to-one support and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education are just some of the ways that youth work is helping pupils, according to the report.
Youth work practice
As a result, the commission, led by former children's minister Tim Loughton, is calling on Ofsted to identify and evaluate good youth work practice as part of school and college inspections.
It also wants a review of the use of schools' budgets to pay for youth work and for local authorities to act as "enablers" by forming partnerships between schools and youth clubs.
Fiona Blacke, NYA chief executive, explains the need for action to help youth work play a more prominent role in education: "As the places and spaces for youth work seems increasingly under threat, the importance of establishing the role of youth work in and around schools gains importance.
"The commission found many examples where it happens already, with schools acting as both direct providers and commissioners.
"The problem is that recognition of the value of youth work isn't sufficiently understood and youth work in schools is not systemic."
Despite the report highlighting a "widespread misunderstanding" of youth work and what it has to offer, 78 per cent of those who gave evidence said they would "definitely" form future partnerships with other schools and youth work providers.
In order to set the wheels in motion, the NYA plans to work with the youth sector to develop a joint statement on the positive impact youth work can have in formal education settings.
Blacke says the commission feels a succinct statement could help the youth work profession in explaining the "tangible benefits" of forming partnerships with schools and colleges.
The NYA is exploring collaborative relationships with teaching organisations, unions and schools to ensure the commission's report is widely disseminated.
It also wants to establish collaboration opportunities to promote partnerships between youth work providers and schools.
While Ofsted has said there are no plans to include youth work in its school and college inspections, Blacke says the commission has opened "constructive dialogue" with the inspectorate to encourage a greater recognition of youth work in its inspections.
Loic Menzies, director of education at youth think-tank LKMco, who began his career as a youth worker before becoming a teacher, supports the commission's call, but feels the youth work sector should be wary of "shoe-horning itself into someone else's agenda".
"Youth work needs to shout about the ways in which what it offers is different and how this can jigsaw together with the things that schools do well," he says.
Valuable contribution
"The report highlights youth workers' potential contribution to young people's personal development, careers education and sex and relationships education.
"These are just some of the areas youth workers can make a huge contribution to and, by doing so, lighten the load of teachers who sometimes see these concerns as distractions from their job of teaching."
He added that youth workers' skills and expertise in these areas could ensure that young people receive essential quality provision.
Rosie Ferguson, chief executive of London Youth, gave evidence to the commission and believes in creating strong links between schools and youth clubs.
"Anything which helps schools look to youth clubs as their partners in delivering high-quality outcomes for young people is a good thing," she says.
"We've recently been working with Ofsted and our member clubs to try to understand what else youth organisations - and schools - need to form better partnerships to support young people.
"There is so much potential and willingness from youth workers, policy makers, funders and those in education to improve things, but we need to develop a shared sense of what each of us contribute."
Commission recommendations
- The government needs to reassure the youth sector that the value of youth work as a distinctive educational approach is not lost
- The government needs to establish a review of the youth workforce
- Local authorities, the youth sector and formal education sector need to explore how distinct funding streams can be used to deliver a more effective youth offer
- Schools and colleges need to develop their understanding of how youth work can complement formal education
- Clear mechanisms for bringing together partnerships between schools and colleges, local authority youth services, and the voluntary and community youth sector need to be formulated at a local level
- The formal education sector should carry out a review into the use of school budgets
- Teaching and youth work professions need to form strong collaborations
- The youth sector needs to produce a joint statement of how good youth work can be a distinct and complementary offer to schools
- The youth work profession needs to articulate and promote the unique contribution of youth work more effectively
- Partnership arrangements between youth work and formal education need to be underpinned by robust quality assurance arrangements
- Good youth work practice in schools and colleges needs to be recognised by Ofsted
Lessons from an education youth work project
Tony Gallagher, inspector and national lead for youth strategy at Ofsted
"At Ofsted, we have been running a joint project with London Youth to look at how community projects and youth clubs support young people's personal and social development.
"For 2011's Choosing to Volunteer report, we spoke to many schools and colleges to understand how youth work could be improved and how we could share practical examples of what was working well.
"One college presented an analysis of data for some of the students who volunteered, indicating they enjoyed better success rates compared to those students who did not volunteer.
"Other colleges cited improvement in retention and attendance rates. The evidence from schools and colleges shows that well deployed youth workers bring an alternative face with less formal parameters to education and training provision.
"While the benefits can be cited in much of the work of Ofsted inspections, these benefits are often hard to measure. Youth work organisations operate in an entirely different funding and planning environment, usually short-term and sporadic. The need to raise funds is, in itself, a core aspect of their business.
"This mirrored the findings of the project with London Youth. The London-based youth and community projects spanned volunteering, media, arts, mentoring, uniformed organisations and a mix of centres providing employability projects, open access youth work and advice, support and signposting.
"Many of the youth organisations felt schools and colleges were 'institutionally centred' with many activities focused around term-time.
"One noted: 'August is a vital month to support transitions, especially young people who may become Neet (not in education, employment or training). Our funding contract precludes August.'
"There is also an ever-present danger in downplaying the fact that much high-quality and locally responsive youth work takes place during evenings, weekends and holiday periods.
"With equal justification and frustration, schools and colleges also expressed concern about the need for more 'measurable outcomes'.
"For Ofsted, inspections of schools and colleges are concerned with outcomes for learners and the standards of teaching, learning and assessment. While there is no formal mention of youth work in the common inspection framework, this is an area that Ofsted considers in its inspection handbook for inspectors. When looking at pupils' achievement, Ofsted considers pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
"Inspectors will look at a range of issues, including whether pupils:
- Take part in activities that require social skills
- Gain a well-informed understanding of the options and challenges facing them as they move through the school and on to the next stage of their education and training
- Develop an appreciation of theatre, music, art and literature
- Develop the skills and attitudes to enable them to participate fully and positively in a democratic modern Britain
- Respond positively to a range of artistic, sporting and other cultural opportunities
- Understand and appreciate the range of different cultures within school and further afield as an essential element of their preparation for life.
"The work of Ofsted and London Youth demonstrates that youth work is a valuable tool in helping pupils engage with the community and develop their personal and social skills.
"Time and time again, we have seen that work experience or voluntary and youth work that forms part of a child's or young person's extra-curricular activity certainly enriches that individual in a way that is sometimes very hard to measure."
