Stirling Community Learning and Development (CLD) - Stirling Council: What was done?
This section contains specific information on where, when and how the project was delivered. This includes detail on the content of the programme(s), supporting resources and how relationships were developed and maintained with children, young people and their families. This section also highlights key elements of success identified by the partners involved.
How often did it run?
Each wellbeing group ran for one hour per week.
How long did it run for?
The project was delivered in a number of primary schools across the academic year and was delivered in 6 – 8-week blocks (minimum of 6 weeks) per group.
What space/location did you use?
Sessions were delivered in different spaces across each establishment, such as nurture or community rooms. The use of a neutral space within the school was considered a conducive place to carry out the project work with children and young people.
How many individuals were normally involved?
There were a maximum of eight children or young people per group.
What did the project programme look like?
The project focused on delivering sessions to build the skills/qualities of the children and young people. This was specifically on communication, problem solving, building resilience and self-confidence.
What did you do each time you met?
Every session involved a check-in at the beginning to ask individuals how they had been since the previous week.
Check-in time was used to build relationships with the children and young people. This provided staff with opportunities to learn more about them and earn their trust and respect.
The staff would share the outline of the session with participants, making any necessary adaptations, based on the needs of the group. Each session would have a focus on a particular skill or quality for the staff to develop with the children and young people.
There would be fun, engaging and experiential activities based on the area of focus, as described above. Activities would often be issue-based and cover topics such as teambuilding, relationships and self-care. This ensured the participation of everyone involved to gain new skills and abilities. This helped children and young people to tackle the core issues affecting their daily transitions before, during and after the school day.
Sessions would be evaluated at the end of each day to understand the thoughts and views of children and young people. The feedback was used to inform and adapt future sessions.
The main resource used was staff time. There was a minimum of two staff members for all group work sessions. This ensured a more supportive environment as staff were able to dedicate more attention to each child or young person to meet their needs and encourage their participation. It also allowed a member of staff to provide 1:1 support, if needed, while the other staff member continued to run the session.
A range of practical and energetic activities were used to deliver the group work sessions. Details of the activities, including session plans, can be accessed below:
Staff listened to the children and young people talk about their lives, including their hopes, worries and challenges. Staff were able to recall information and respond meaningfully, with empathy and understanding. The project was delivered in small, informal group settings, complemented by the youth work approach and effective engagement of staff. As a result, relationships with children and young people were positively strengthened.
Staff were also approachable and friendly, allowing children and young people to learn to trust and listen to them. A consistent informal space was used within each school to provide a nurturing feel to the group sessions. It also provided a feeling of safety for children and young people. This improved their ability to express themselves and share their feelings and barriers about attending school.
Parents and guardians received clear communication about the project from the school. Letters were sent home to make them aware that their child had been referred to the group work sessions. This provided opportunities for parents to make informed choices about the suitability of the project for their child. It also provided opportunities for families to express an interest for their child to be referred, if they hadn’t been identified for the support. Positively, this opened a dialogue with parents and carers to be involved in exploring options and solutions to improve their child’s attendance.
Consistent consultation also took place to ensure children, young people and their families were listened to. As a result, their feedback was used to shape the content, format and delivery of sessions.
The Community Learning and Development (CLD) staff who delivered the group sessions understood the importance of their interactions and how they shaped and influenced the extent children and young people worked with them. They were aware of their tone, body language, humour and patience levels. The CLD staff used their awareness and understanding to establish an environment children and young people wanted to be in, which developed a sense of belonging to each school.
Subtle changes to practice and communication also informed the culture of the project. For example, children and young people called staff by their first name and wore informal clothing to reduce the sense of authority. An awareness of how the children and young people perceived their formal educational experience assisted CLD staff on the themes and design of the sessions. It was important to ensure sessions were enjoyable and highlighted the benefits of attending school. This positive learning environment encouraged children and young people to feel better about themselves and enjoy attending school.
The evaluation process provided opportunities for staff to improve the content of the sessions that were delivered. It allowed them to be more relevant by focusing on themes that the children and young people were currently having difficulties with such as. friendships, sleep and managing conflict. This was also strengthened by obtaining feedback from teachers and parents about the positive differences demonstrated by children and young people in the classroom and at home.
