The Alternative Curriculum - Glasgow City 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? 

Two days per week from 10am to 1pm.   

How long did it run for? 

The project has been running since April 2024 and continues to be delivered. 

What space/location did you use? 

Community centre and local community area for bike use (nature reserve) 

How many individuals were normally involved? 

Between five and seven young people per group. 

What did the project programme look like? 

In the beginning, young people were driven to the community centre by the school’s campus police officer for the first few weeks. Afterwards, each young person acquired a Young Scot card to receive free bus travel and make their own way to the centre.  

The project initially planned to deliver a fixed programme of timetabled activities, however this changed as the weeks passed. The content of the curriculum became increasingly bespoke to support the needs of young people, which was flexible to adapt from week to week. The qualifications remained embedded throughout the programme, but the flexible approach to the curriculum, complemented by the skills and experience of the youth work staff, enabled the team to be dynamic in their delivery. 

What did you do each time you met? 

The Community Achievement Award was the backbone of the project, and all activities were built around this. 

Cycling was a core part of the curriculum as it helped to improve the mindset of the young people. It also helped them appreciate their community, developing a sense of connection and belonging. 

Young people would be given opportunities to share their experiences and what was happening in their lives where they felt listened to and supported by staff. Some of the young people were impacted by/or led chaotic lifestyles. Situations and tensions could escalate quickly and unexpectedly, but staff responded by adapting delivery content for that day around relevant themes, while embedding it into the learning outcomes of the awards. 

One harder hitting exercise developed by staff was called ‘the hot seat’ activity. This was used to establish an understanding of self and the impact of the young people’s behaviour on others. Each young person would read statements gathered from people they knew and interacted with to give them different perceptions of how they could see themselves. This included families and sometimes victims of their behaviour. To the surprise of the young people, statements of support and understanding came from some of the staff they had verbally abused. This was a deeply reflective exercise that positively influenced individual change. 

They also engaged in song writing in partnership with a local arts programme. The young people used different techniques, using newspaper clippings and other ways to research and gather buzz words. The young people used the clippings to produce song lyrics with one young person writing over 150 words for a song without any support. This was a therapeutic approach to young people expressing themselves and staff understanding the trauma and disappointment the young people had experienced. 

Many resources were developed from the staff’s bank of knowledge and experience; however, some specific resources were also used. 

  • Health Issues in the Community - HIIC 

  • Poverty – staff created sessions to provide opportunities to discuss what poverty is at a societal level, understanding limitation of choice, employment and how this relates to their community.  

  • Equity vs. Equality- staff created a session to understand the different starting points people have in life and how we all have choice to support others in our community. 

  • Community Activism- staff created a session for young people to understand that their voice is important and there are clear ways to link to decision makers. 

  • STEM – content specifically from the Young STEM Leader programme led by SSERC - Home | Young STEM Leader. This also linked to the iDEA award, which offers a great way to deliver and accredit STEM if there is not a STEM programme offered in the local area - https://idea.org.uk/ 

All resources were contextualised to ensure they were meaningful for the young people; for example, understanding the meaning of poverty and reflecting on their own lifestyles – needs, wants, resources. 

Most young people did not have a positive male role model in their lives. Positive relationships with staff were used to develop connections with male staff in particular. This helped staff to build meaningful and trusting relationships with the young people.  

By using youth work approaches, it helped remove barriers of authority and increased engagement with the young people. As a result, they were more willing to listen, participate and learn within the project. 

Many of the young people who attended this project had experienced trauma. Staff were aware that what may be considered as a simple or straightforward instruction or request could be perceived as demands by young people, provoking negative reactions. Therefore, staff are considerate to work at a pace young people are happy with and provide safe and nurturing spaces, so they feel comfortable to learn. The less formal and structured approach to learning, complemented by play-based ice breakers, positively influenced the development of relationships. The formation of strong relationships between staff and young people positively underpinned effective pedagogies delivered in the ‘Alternative Curriculum.’ 

Staff believe that 'You can’t do things to the community, only with the community.'

The staff involved in the project were key as they had experience working in school and community-based settings. They had skills and personal qualities which could be applied to situations to help resolve conflict. They showed personal and professional resilience when faced with challenges and were always calm and patient if there was an outburst by a young person. They were able to deflect statements that may have caused upset, frustration or harm. They understood the impact of trauma on the lives of the young people and used trauma-informed approaches to encourage empowerment, trust and psychological safety. 

The staff advocated for the young people in different situations to prevent self-fulfilling prophecies that others may have created for them. This would include the awareness that most of the young people had experienced chaos and disruption in their lives, with their families and close friends also being involved in risk taking behaviour. Staff were invested in the work required to undo the impact of negative influences on a daily and weekly basis. 

The staff had very good knowledge and understanding of qualifications to maximise a young person’s personal, social and academic profile to help them achieve their potential. They used this to create programmes for the completion of awards while making it engaging to the young people.  

The programme provided routine and consistency in terms of staffing, location and expectations. The staff acted as positive influences by questioning unhelpful views in a non-threatening way and providing knowledge to counteract these views to change mindsets. 

Staff were always transparent in their messaging and decision making and used their lived experience to connect with young people and their circumstances. Young people were given feedback for positive interactions, communication and achievements – big and small. They were also challenged for negative interactions, setting clear boundaries within the expectations of nurture. 
^ Back to top
PREVIOUS
Planning the project
NEXT
How you knew it worked