Military muscles in on youth work

While many youth organisations across the country are struggling to stay afloat, another sector working informally with children and young people is enjoying something of a boom.
 
The tail end of 2012 saw Education Secretary Michael Gove announce £1.9m funding for four projects employing former armed forces personnel to boost results for disengaged pupils. One local authority has earmarked £3m of its own money to recruit as many as 50 ex-service personnel to act as mentors in schools over the next five years.

But the schemes have elicited a lukewarm response from some professionals, who believe expertise in the youth sector is being overlooked.

David Wright, chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services (Chyps), argues that support for young people at risk of disengaging with mainstream education should be delivered by qualified youth workers. “If you are going to provide that level of support, you need to get the right people to do the job,” he says.

Doug Nicholls, national officer for youth work at Unite regards the £1.9m funding as evidence of growing government disregard for youth work. “It would raise a few eyebrows if you proposed that teachers and youth workers trained soldiers,” he says.

One of the four projects, run by education charity SkillForce, has been handed £200,000. It will use the cash to pilot a programme in Newcastle to help pupils make the transition between primary and secondary school.

Chris Kealey, a spokesman for the charity, says there is no conflict between what it does and youth work. “We hope the work we do is an avenue to get young people involved with other youth organisations,” he says. “I don’t see a tension between us and other providers. We provide young people with a friendly face to help them settle in and boost their resilience and discipline.”

Although the pilot project is yet to yield results, Kealey points to statistics showing a four-fold reduction in exclusions at schools running other SkillForce programmes.
It is not only central government that is ploughing money into the schemes. Lancashire County Council has put £3m into a five-year initiative to employ ex-forces staff as mentors in schools.

The scheme, which launches in March, will target disadvantaged 14- to 16-year-olds in two schools. It is hoped the provision will improve attainment and attendance, reduce exclusions and save the authority money.

Mark Perks, lead member for young people at Lancashire County Council, says the provision is not intended to replace youth services, but makes up part of a programme aimed at young people not in education, training or employment.

“Although we did some restructuring, we have kept our young people’s services,” he says.

“We see this as an add-on investment. This is completely different to generic youth work. It is more specialist than our youth service. It is specifically about reducing school exclusions.”

A spokeswoman for the DfE argues that military leavers can bring “unique benefits to schools”.

“Many are already transforming the lives of some of the most disengaged and disadvantaged pupils by tackling discipline, helping them to avoid antisocial behaviour and raising their educational attainment,” she says.


Military mentors: four projects share £1.9m investment

Challenger Troop has been awarded £700,000 to provide leadership and engagement programmes for vulnerable or disengaged pupils aged eight to 16. The programmes will focus on prevention and early intervention to prevent pupils becoming disengaged from education, supporting those at risk of exclusion and easing the transition between primary and secondary school. It will also work with pupils in alternative provision to help them reintegrate into mainstream education.

Commando Joes has been given £600,000 to provide trained mentors for pupils in deprived UK schools. It claims to be able to bring out the best in young people by providing military-style fitness and teambuilding sessions as part of lessons or outside of school hours. The programme is said to “raise educational attainment, improve attendance and progress behaviour”, inspiring pupils to “aim high and to realise that the classroom is just as important as the playground”.

Knowsley Skills Academy has been awarded £400,000 to provide a programme of physical activities, teambuilding and work-related learning. The programme has a focus on re-engaging young people not in education, employment or training through a rigorous set of physical activities, teambuilding and work-related learning. It is conducted within a military-style environment and guided by ex-military personnel, chosen based on their subject knowledge and motivational abilities.

SkillForce has been handed £200,000 to run the Ethos pilot programme, which will focus on helping pupils with the move from primary school to secondary school – a time when progress at school can dip. It will work with schools to help prepare the children for the transition and build their confidence. This will involve outdoor challenges with literacy and numeracy elements. SkillForce mentors will be present when the children start secondary school to help them settle in.