Dartford Big Feet Little Feet 2012 Peer Research Review by Young Evaluators 2012

Dartford Big Feet Little Feet Project Carried out by and report produced by the members of Dartford and Gravesham Young Evaluators Project 2010 - 2012

August 2012

Contents Foreword Background and brief Aims and objectives Challenges and approaches Our findings Course content Delivery and approach Parental involvement Transition Responsibility Expectations Outcomes & impact Recommendations Conclusion Anecdotes Gallery Acknowledgements

3 4 4 5 6 - 12 6 7-8 9 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Foreword As young evaluators we know the value of young people's opinions and understand that they are very important in helping to improve young people services.

Peer research is a principle that engages people of the same characteristics.

Using people similar to those that participate in the project or benefit from it, in the process of designing and carrying out the evaluation, is the best way of making practical recommendations that can lead to more benefits for future service users. By commissioning The Young Evaluators to manage the research process the young people involved in the Big Feet Little Feet Project are more likely to open up and share their true opinions, thoughts and feelings.

Another additional benefit of using a Peer Research approach to evaluation is that it is a targeted, cost effective tool that will assist to improve a project or service. During the current economic climate where the budgets of Local Authorities have been cut, it is now more important than ever to make the most of the available funds to make sure that all projects and services for young people are the ones that they want and need and deliver the outcomes they were initially set up to achieve.

This is the fourth commissioned piece of primary research that the Young Evaluators have carried out. Having recently completed the research and report on behalf of Gravesend Big Feet Little Feet Project, we had a better understanding of how to approach this piece of research and had learned from the process ourselves.

This report is an unbiased summary of the findings of the interviews with the young people that took part in the project.

We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all the young people who took part in the consultation and review of the project.

The Young Evaluators Project

3

Background The Dartford Big Feet Little Feet project is a 16 week programme that th commenced on March 8 2012. It aims to reduce teenage pregnancy in Dartford by helping vulnerable teenagers to understand the risks and consequence of having children at a young age.

The group consisted of five Year 9 students, one boy and five girls. A number were specifically selected from their school due to their social circumstances which identified them as potentially being ‘at risk’ of becoming young parents themselves, whilst others opted to take part.

The course content consists of both practical and theory sessions in a range of locations from the classroom to the nursery. After 16 weeks the young people achieve NCFE Level 1 qualification in Interpersonal Skills.

Brief Our research had several aims: to discover what was needed to refine the current Dartford Big Feet Little Feet Project using a peer evaluation approach, to explore the need for signposting, find out what the participants considered as being their personal achievements from taking part and where their taking part, had the biggest impact on them.

The research was simply built around the outline of a number of key areas that included: course content, delivery and what worked well and recommendations for the future.

Aims & Objectives The Big Feet Little Feet Project asked the Young Evaluators to help them find out what the true experiences were of the young people who took part in the project so that this could help in the refinement and development of the design and delivery of the future programme.

We also hoped that the evaluation would help us find out what young people needed to help them as they move on from the project, a clear supportive exit strategy.

4

Challenges & Approaches We had to consider what difficulties we may face when carrying out the review and what was the best way to overcome them. As previously mentioned we were fortunate to have had the previous experience from the Gravesham research to learn from and build these into this piece of research.

In addition there was one member of the group who was unable to attend on the day so we arranged that for this member to be interviewed over the phone. This way everyone had the opportunity to be involved in the process and to make sure that we had as much information as possible for us to make good recommendations based on the experiences of those taking part.

Challenges

Approach

Incompatible interviewer/interviewee

•

Ensure wherever possible that the interviewer and interviewee were appropriately matched

A diverse range of abilities

•

Verbal interviews used to avoid reading and writing to include everyone Rephrasing of words/sentences which the young people may find difficult to understand Using games and interactive activities that meet the needs of all young people taking part Visually engaging tools such as mind maps and graphics Regular breaks and refreshments built into the consultation for respite and a chance to regain focus Provision of a less formal setting – one to one chats The use of incentives to such as a McDonalds meal and portfolio certificate at the end to keep the participants interested and engaged in the interviews Interview each participant separately in one to one interviews Ensure that each one to one interview took place sufficiently apart from each other so participants could not hear each others answers

• • • Focus

• • •

Participants influencing each others • answers •

5

Our Findings Course content The majority of the research focused on the course content to reflect the key aim of the brief. The young people had enjoyed the range of the sessions with the most popular being their spending time with the children in the nursery.

Outside of the nursery setting they told us that the overall preferred session was visiting the Sexual Health Clinics around Kent and learning about the affects of drinking whilst pregnant.

‘I like going down the nursery and playing with the kids because I like being around them and keeping them safe’ There was no one session that stood out as the least favourite, however it was clear that those sessions that were heavily writing based or similar to the school classroom environment were favoured less and equally leaving the children in the last session was said to be difficult and not something that any of the group liked doing.

‘You feel like you do enough work in school’ When asked what could have been included but wasn’t part of the core course content, we were told that it would have been useful to have a session on healthy relationships and receive some information on different sexualities, how to prevent abuse and how to look after themselves and their bodies.

They also said that future talks on how a parents drug addiction affects children and how to stop smoking would be really useful. We feel this really shows how much the group value, the information and advice they get from the programme and that they see it as a good place to learn about life.

The whole group responded positively when asked about their feelings and experiences around the “checking” part of the course. This takes place when which the young people share their thoughts and feeling on their experiences.

The general group agreement was that “checking” taking place at the beginning of the sessions was the right time because it is a chance for everyone to clear the air about how they really feel and anything bad can be resolved and good experiences, shared.

The group commented that it needs to be appreciated that it does take a few weeks for trust to be developed within the group but once it has and time has passed that everyone felt that they were in safe place and that for the most part what was said remained confidential. ‘there are not many people there so it’s easier to express my feelings’ The group generally felt that the “presentation” in general was a good way to end the programme, saying they felt it was a good way to celebrate what they had accomplished and share their successes. One young person said they felt shy and embarrassed, but everyone reported that they felt proud.

‘I was embarrassed because I was shy around people but they didn’t force me, I did it to accomplish something’

6

Our Findings Delivery and approach As part of our research we looked at the way the project was delivered and the approaches used.

There were lots of different learning styles used in the programme to help young people stay engaged and to help them understand difficult topics.

These included mind maps, worksheets, the diary, videos, activity sheets, emotion sheets, word scrambles, questions, contraception kits and timelines.

We asked the group what styles they felt worked better for them and why.

They told us that overall the sessions that were interactive and working together as part of a group, were the best. They also said that hearing other peoples ideas and sharing opinions was a good way to help learning and understanding.

When asked about the workers who supported them through the project, the general feelings were positive. There was no one worker identified as being really difficult to work with, instead they thought the workers were fun, genuine and trust worthy. For the purpose of this report we chose not to name individual workers and these are identified in our raw data provided to the project coordinator. The most popular worker was worker A with 75% of the young people identifying her as their favourite worker because they she was laid back, got more involved than the others and was easier to talk to than her colleagues.

‘I trusted them so much and I don’t really trust people. They trusted us too’ We asked what workers could do to help make sessions better and half of the participants suggested that not having as many sheets of work/writing in one day, or spreading out throughout the day with a mix of activities so that a whole day didn’t involve writing alone, would improve the sessions. It was also suggested that music should be played in the background to make the session more relaxing.

There were mixed responses from the group about the length of sessions.

Half the group stated that in general the sessions were well timed; however, half of them suggested that during the nursery sessions, the toddlers should spend less time with the nursery workers and more time with them, otherwise their time wasn't spent well and it became boring. The other half said that they were too long and it would be better if the classroom sessions were shorter and the nursery sessions longer.

‘A little bit too long, however I do get the support I need [dyslexia]’ We asked the group what they felt about the setting in general. Every participant said they liked the setting of the classrooms and the nursery, saying that they felt comfortable there. They told us that the nursery was clean, tidy and the staff, were all very nice. One interviewee however commented on the tables and chairs in the classrooms, saying they were too small and this makes learning and concentrating difficult and this is better when they get to use normal sized ones. ‘tables and chairs are too small and not good for your concentration but when they have normal ones its much more comfortable’

7

Our Findings The majority of young people thought that the overall length of the course should be longer, roughly about 20 weeks as opposed to only 16 weeks. They said that the reasons for this is so they could spend more time with the children in the nursery as this was an important part of the course and also so the work can be more spaced out, allowing them to better understand what they were there to learn. ‘it should be a couple of weeks longer. It can be spaced out more, we can have less work at a time and more time with the kids, that’s why we are there, also more time to understand things’ All of the participants that were interviewed liked the idea of using folders and thought they were very easy to use. They thought the folders allowed them to be organised, enabling them to look back through their work easier to remember things. ‘it’s good because you can keep track of everything. You are able to look back through’ We asked them whether they felt having food provided as part of the project was important to them at all and the general feeling was that having food provided in the course was not important, if food wasn’t provided they would still be happy to attend the course and didn’t feel it impacted on their concentration or learning.

‘I was there for the kids, not the food’ At the start of the course the young people were given a questionnaire to find out what they felt they knew and expected to get out of the course. At the end of the course the questionnaire was given to them again to complete. This would help the project coordinators work out how much they had learnt as individuals through taking part.

The majority of them understood what these were for and felt that it was presented to them at the right way. However, one participant said that it should have been given to them in the middle of the course as they would have understood it better, which shows that they didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind being asked to do the questionnaire at the start but clearly were learning through taking part. They said that the workers explained to them sufficiently and that it was a good introduction to the course. ‘no they should have done it in the middle as you understand things a bit 8 better then’

Our Findings Parental involvement When asked if parents should be more involved in the course beyond providing consent for their children to take part, there was a 100% agreement from the group who stressed that parents should not be more involved in the course. They believe it would reduce the feeling of confidentiality and it would not allow them to be as open as they were this time. They liked the idea of being independent and it made them feel responsible. ‘no, it would reduce the confidentiality and I feel I should be allowed to learn, I want to be personally responsible’

Transition The group also stated that they felt they would benefit from having extra support after the course had finished to help them adjust after it has all come to an end.

‘Also I would like to see the workers once in a while, to catch up and so they can see my progress’ They felt that it was good that they said goodbye to the toddlers at the end but expressed concern that the toddlers may also find it difficult to adjust to their leaving. They suggested that they could possibly get to see them for a visit once the course has finished especially if for any reason they didn’t get the chance to say goodbye. ‘we should have explained to the toddlers what was going on so they understood and also I want to see them more’

9

Our Findings Responsibility One of the main aims of the programme was to help the participants develop a greater sense of responsibility. Although only a small proportion of the questions in our research were centered around this topic it was obvious that the young people were aware that there had been a change in how responsible they felt through taking part. ‘it made me feel a bit more grown up, made me think more and be more responsible’ The overall impact in terms of responsibility on the children that took part in the Big Feet Little Feet project has been incredibly positive. All of the young people reported that it gave them a better understanding of what was involved in being a parent. ‘you have a better idea of what it’s like to be with kids all the time’ Three quarters of the group said they felt more able to cope with looking after a child on their own for a whole day than they did before they started the course but said that they now appreciated how challenging this could be.

‘I love kids and it makes you feel like you have your own but I kind of panic when it screams’ Despite the positive reaction to looking after a child for one day the opinions of the group were very different when asked what they felt about looking after a child for the rest of their lives at the age they are now.

Half the group said that it would be fine whereas the other half said that it would be ‘too much to handle at 14’, going on to say that they thought that the right age to get pregnant and start a family was late teens and one stating that 25 was a suitable age. ‘’25, otherwise you’re too young and might end up having to live in a council flat with no real future for you or the baby’ This was a really interesting area in our research as it showed us that the young people have really learnt from taking part in the programme and so some of the course objectives have been achieved.

When we asked the group what advice would you give to a friend who said to a friend who said they wanted to have a baby now, the overwhelming response was that they would not recommend having a baby when someone is so young as they would not have the skills, it would affect their future prospects in relationships and employment as well as having negative social implications and being a massive personal strain on them. ‘wait until you are older, until you have a house and a job, wait a couple of years it will ruin your social life’

10

Our Findings Expectations All of the students said the course was better than they originally thought it would be. They liked the fact that there wasn’t as much written work as they had expected and that there were lots of different learning styles used. They enjoyed looking after toddlers, meeting new people and socialising with workers and nursery staff.

‘Yes it was better, it was fund to look after toddlers, meet new people, it wasn’t all work, which I liked’ They thought that the course was delivered in a relaxed way and not huge amounts of intense learning sessions, which is what they generally expected.

The fact that they spent practical and hands on time with toddlers instead of doing large amounts of written work all the time, made the course much more enjoyable than expected.

‘I didn’t know the children would be so loving and confident, I thought they would be too shy to interact’ There were mixed thoughts from the young people on what they wanted to get out of the course. Some wanted experience with working with children, one wanted more information around sexual health and one young person reported that initially they had joined the group purely to get out of school!

Overall, all of the participants reported as feeling that the course exceeded their expectations and got more out of it than they had expected. ‘to make me think twice about having a baby and it did that!’

11

Our Findings Outcomes and impact Generally the programme has had a positive impact on the young people taking part, with individuals experiencing different outcomes.

‘I feel livelier, more responsible, I think twice about things, I feel smarter’ The majority of the group said that they have gained something from the programme, stating that skills such as improved listening skills, understanding of the responsibilities of looking after a child, raising a family and having responsible relationships, as well as improved confidence and self esteem.

All of the group said they felt more confident working with the children and half went as far to say that they now felt mow feel more trusting of others and able to open up and talk about their feelings.

‘I feel more confident, I feel as if I can trust people more too.’

The whole group reported that their involvement in the course had given them food for thought on how they will behave in the future and will have a longer term affect, especially around being more mature and being able to support themselves and a child before they think about having a child of their own.

‘I will now have a life before I have a baby. In addition I will now look after my baby better.’

The most significant indicator that the programme has had a hugely positive affect on the young people was the response received to our research around how their involvement in the course had affected the relationships that they have with their families, relationships with peers, future relationships and around, attitude.

It was clear that from our research that each of the young people felt that there involvement in the course had a positive impact on these areas in one way or another, leaving them with better chances of becoming more confident and capable adults in the future.

‘I need to be more respectable to my family’ All of the group saw that taking part gave them better chances to get work and a chance of a better future not just as a result of getting the qualification but also through the experiences that they had by being involved.

‘Yes it helps to get a job, sets me aside from crowd’

12

Recommendations Course content

• •

• •

Delivery and approach

•

•

•

•

•

Parental involvement

•

Transition

•

•

•

To include healthy relationships, different sexualities, how to prevent abuse, how to look after yourself and your body and how to stop smoking.

To consider leaving out or reducing the time spent on some of the areas in the course such as online safety and similar sessions that are covered in school More work to be done on what organisations and services young people want signposting to in addition to sexual health services Use real life stories and statistics to set a realistic base and put teenage parenting, the responsibilities and what is involved into perspective – have young people come and tell their own story Equal balance of girls and boys in the programme to reduce the bias of opinions/power and enable there to be a greater range of opinions shared in the group and help girls understand boys views more.

To explore alternative methods to recording and reporting information of a written nature or spread out the writing based sessions and mix with activity sessions throughout the day. Continue to use interactive learning styles as these are the most popular and young people learn more from them and remember them Music to be played in the background of the sessions, especially work based sessions to help young people relax and create a less formal atmosphere To consider extending the duration of the nursery sessions in order to give young people a greater understanding of the full responsibilities of parenting and to ensure that the young people get to spend the full amount of time with toddlers and less time with workers Re evaluate the length of the course to ensure that all aspects of the core content can be covered in depth and a pace that will meet the needs of each group e.g.: 20 weeks as opposed to 16, this would take in extended nursery session time and allow extra time for those that learn more slowly or find the work sessions difficult.

In the interest of maintaining confidence in the programme, parental involvement should be kept to a minimum, as it was explicitly clear that the young people involved would not like it.

After the programme is over there should be the opportunity to meet the toddlers again so that the separation isn’t so difficult for both the young person and the toddler Give the option of providing extra support sessions to the group members after they leave to ensure that everything that was learnt on the course is not forgotten but can be implemented into everyday life.

Try to work with other organisations to see if there are other things that the group can go onto if they want to, so that they have another focus after the course has ended

13

Conclusion The Dartford Big Feet Little Feet Project 2012 has had a very positive impact on the young people taking part especially to their confidence, self-esteem, attitudes, skill building and improved relationships with family and friends. In our view and in the view of the young people we interviewed, the project is effective in delivering what it aims to achieve.

The findings in this review support the fact that peer research is the best approach to evaluation and works much better than standard reviews. Young people talk to young people, they open up to them and they understand each other, so our findings are more honest and will probably be a more accurate view of the young people taking part.

Some of the key strengths of the project is on the opportunities it gives the young people taking part: skill development, confidence, resilience and a better understanding about the implications of risk taking behaviour, personal responsibility as well as relationship building. However, there is a little room where the programme can be fine-tuned before the next program starts to ensure that every moment is memorable.

Overall the young people involved reported that the programme was enjoyable and worthwhile and is something they would recommend to another young person to take part in, as there are so many benefits of being involved.

We think that the two main successes of the project are: •

Improving skills, resilience and better opportunities in the future

•

Improved knowledge about risk taking behaviour and developing better relationships and seeking out support that will help reduce teenage pregnancy in the future

We believe that the young people taking part in the project really valued being asked to give us their views and opinions about their experiences of taking part in the project and their recommendations for the future of the programme.

We believe that it is important that this review should be built into the core content of the project so that it will continually improve, develop and be quality assured by young people at all levels.

14

Anecdotes ‘you learn about what people like and stuff and what they are thinking’ ‘they do proper listen and are serious about it, I am sure it will stay safe and confidential and I feel comfortable while telling them’ ‘its been really amazing to be around nice people and in a nice environment for 16 weeks’ ‘a good course with lots of writing but you do get a lot out of it’ ‘I am a step closer to getting a qualification for working with children’ ‘I feel upset that it’s finished but have more confidence in myself’ ‘I feel proud because I’ve been ale to get a little girl to open up to me during the course’ ‘I feel proud because a little boy opened up to me’ ‘taking part has made me think more about having children and I now know more about STI’s and other things’ ‘made me think that I cant have a baby until I am older’ ‘I’ve become more confident with myself and with children’

15

The gallery

16

Acknowledgements Thank you to all the Big Feet Little Feet participants for taking part in the review and sharing your open and honest expereinces, thoughts and ideas with us.

17

The Dartford and Gravesham Young Evaluators Project Project coordinator Juli Dosad of Banter Limited Email: juli@banter.uk.net Mobile: 07834473384 Web: www.banter.uk.net This report was co- written by Tolu Oluwadare and Tunde Ogunrinola