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Torfaen Youth Service ‘Junior Participation Award |
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What is it? The award scheme aims to recognise the participation of young people aged between 11 and 14yrs (incl) who are or have been actively involved in organising or participating in a youth centre activity or project. The award will aid their personal and social development enabling them to make informed decisions regarding themselves and their role within the community. The award operates at three levels, bronze, silver and gold, a young person having to complete each section before advancing to the next. Informal differs from formal accreditation only in that there is no assessment of a ‘level’ of ability. It fully recognises the specific skill and/or knowledge that has been gained or improved. This means that anyone working with young people can put an individual forward without having the ‘permission’ of an awarding body. Essentially, an informal system puts none off, neither young person nor those working with them, through being complicated. How will it work? The award scheme has been designed to operate in youth centres and is based around the six key curriculum areas of work. To complete each level of the award a young person is required to take part in two different activities in any four of these areas. It is up to the person(s) working with the young people to decide when an individual member has accomplished sufficient levels of participation in each of the curriculum areas for each level of the award scheme. The award will enable young people to meet with youth workers and plan for future activities that will enable them in their personal and social development. Young people should be between 11 and 14 years (inclusive). The award has been produced to complement the Mayors Award that Torfaen Youth Service operates for those aged 13-19 years. The Six Curriculum Areas Are:
You may recognise these six curriculum areas from the nightly report sheets, this is no accident and the purpose of aligning the award such is to encourage the development of the youth club programme around the Curriculum Statement for Wales. Examples Of Activities Within The Six Key Areas.
This chart merely serves to give an example of some of the activities to be considered, young people and youth workers may develop their own activities providing they follow the basic idea of the award being a progression from a young person achieving with the help of a youth worker to a young person working independently under their own initiative. By having several levels within the award, young people have more chances to try out and gain confidence before participating or progressing to other levels of formal or informal accreditation such as the Mayors Award or Open College Network. Additionally, it gives prospective employers a wider view of the skills, knowledge and commitment of young people that may not be evident from their formal certificates. GUIDELINES FOR THE JUNIOR PARTICIPATION AWARD ~ THE PROCESS ~ The young person becomes involved in an activity within a curriculum area. This can be at the planning, development or implementation stage. A youth worker involved with the award scheme observes the young person and his/her involvement and keeps a record of what he/she has done. Evidence should be recorded and retained as some this may be required by the youth service in order to prove that the award guidelines have been followed. Written or photographic evidence is especially important and can include details of visits or activities they have taken part in and courses they have attended. This supporting evidence should be kept as a record of achievement in the award file at the host centre. When the supporting youth worker considers that a young person has satisfied the requirements of the award at the relevant level than a proforma should be completed and forwarded to the youth office who will then issue a certificate to the young person. The young person’s record book should be kept in the award file at the host youth centre. EXAMPLES OF SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPED In addition to the obvious examples of hard skills young people learn or improve upon, such as painting and decorating, art work or children’s play, there is a range of soft skills they gain some of which are:-
The scheme can be used for progression to The Mayors Award but it has its own value. Download PDF files for the Junior Participation Award (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).
The Junior
Participation Award Information |
