Agenda item

The review of the CYPP will be conducted with Southwark Youth Council & Speakerbox. A quarterly update report, from Children’s Services, is attached.

6.1  The chair welcomed the Southwark Youth Council (SYC) members and asked if they had had a chance to review the update report on the Children’s and Young People’s Plan, circulated with the papers, and if they had been involved in consultation events, such as the Ministry of Sound event. The SYC officer, Davina Bailey, said the young people have not reviewed the report, and this is a newer cohort so these SYC members did not go to the Ministry of Sound event, however they have been involved more recently in the 1000 journeys, through developing questionnaires and feeding back on consultation.

6.2  The chair asked Kerry Crichlow, Director Strategy & Commissioning, to give a quick overview of the report circulated, for the benefit of SYC members present, and then asked the young people if they had any comments. A young person commented that services are good, but marketing is a problem; for example bullying; there is help out there, but often people do not know what is available.

6.3  A member asked how people did find out about services and what would be the best way of marketing provision.  The young people responded that word of mouth and social media were the best sources of information; they suggested Facebook targeted adverts and using youth clubs and schools to promote services.  A young person commented that youth focused events sometimes do not promote themselves very well and offer content in a way that grabbed young people’s attention.  Kerry Crichlow commented that social media is moving at a fast past and officers are working on utilising this. The officer assured the young people that their offer to help is much appreciated and will be taken up, and noted that young people are the experts and a valuable resource.

6.4  The chair then asked the young people about volunteering experience and work experience. A young person raised the issue of apprenticeships and commented that creative, arts and scientific careers are often looked down upon, however business opportunities are limited.

6.5  A member asked the young people if there were any poor services and the young people commented that frequently the opening times clash with school, and starting later and opening later would be better.

6.6  The young people were asked if they get help with their CVs. A young person responded that his school employed a specialised tutor to help with this. He explained that the tutor examined out of school activities and helped the young people identify skills to highlight on their CV. Another young person reported he went to Connexions and they redid his CV.

6.7  A member asked if the young people thought about emerging careers; for example green industries, such as wind or solar energy, or information technology. A young person commented that often young people’s knowledge is quite limited, and she commented that it would be good to get more information and knowledge about what is available and what skills and types of qualifications are needed for progression to different levels of training or university.

6.8  A young person commented that she had got a good mentor, which was really important for networking, encouragement, and placements .Young people commented that without mentoring or support young people got much poorer work experiences, such as Asda.  A member asked if pupils are sent somewhere or given options. A young person responded that her school only recently got a careers advisor and she does not don't know if she will be cut.  She commented that young people prefer consistent advice, and unfortunately often people were just sent to places for their work experience.

6.9  Davina Bailey reported that SYC is going to have an employment conference. Young people explained that this is aimed at providing information about career opportunities and employment rights.

6.10  A young person commented that teaching young people how to build confidence, speak in public and developing a network is important. A member asked is their schools reach out to parents to see if they could offer opportunities. A young person responded that his school did ask parents to do that, however this was only for the two weeks placement and there was no follow up and mentoring. A young person reported that her school helped young people to build up a CV for a position, and prepare for interview, including dressing for the part. Pupils got assigned to a parent for a mock interview, who then rated students and gave feedback.

6.11  The chair thanked the young people for their comments and questions. He then invited members of the committee to comment. A member noted that the paper says that scrutiny members will be invited to the 1000 journey celebratory event on 21 March 2013 at 5 pm; however he could not recall having received this invitation. Officers said this will be sent out shortly.

6.12  A member asked how people were selected for the 1000 journeys, and went on to comment that she does hear that people with disabled children are particularly struggling. Kerry Crichlow commented that the services have heard uncomfortable feedback. She said that they did have people in focus groups that are under court orders for parenting and some feedback was hard hitting. Issues that came up included bullying; peer pressure; boys hitting girls; fears that primary school children had about entering secondary school; and fear for the future.

6.13  A member agreed that primary school pupils do frequently have fears about bullying and peer reassure on entering secondary school. She explained that her school had a company come in and put on a programme to help transition, which was very good. Another member spoke about a transition programme put on by Harris Academy that catered for about 200 pupils, which was very good but not well enough promoted. Another member commented that her daughter did get bullied and took part in a transition programme, but she was not really ready to talk about her experiences with younger children. She recommended a mix of ages so young people have some distance. A young person commented that he went through a peer mentoring programme which was very helpful.

ACTION

Children’s services officers will invite members of the sub - committee to the 1000 journey celebratory event on 21 March 2013.