Listening to and Involving Young People

Free Webinar with live Q&A

Aired: Tuesday 6th June 2018, 13:00 – 13:30

Statutory guidance from the Department for Education states that local authorities and schools listen to and involving children and young people when considering how best to provide opportunities for them. Under section 176 of the Education Act 2002 they are required to consult with pupils in connection with the taking of decisions which affect them.

Involving children and young people is their right, in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (articles articles 2, 3, 6 and 12). It is at the heart of Rix Multimedia Advocacy to provide children and young people with a voice and opportunities to express their opinion in matters that affect their lives.

Charlton Park Academy’s residential provision ‘Rainbow House’ has just achieved an Ofsted Outstanding report (2018). This is largely because of their commitment to self-advocacy and the use of Rix Wikis and the Multimedia Advocacy approach to encourage all students to become active participants in a democratic society by involving them in school councils, meetings and decision making processes, and helping them to develop their communication skills, co-operation and encouraging them to take responsibility.

We were proud to host this webinar with Kathryn Stowell, who leads this work at Charlton Park Academy. Ms Stowell shared with us how the school is using Rix Wikis and Multimedia to centralise the student voice in everything they do. Kathryn talked about the benefits of this approach and the impact that it has on increased confidence, self-respect, competence and an improved sense of responsibility, as well as increased motivation and engagement with learning.