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Contents ...... 2 Abbreviations ...... 3 Foreword ...... 4 Background to Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day ...... 6 Recommendations ...... 8 Participation ...... 10 Publicity ...... 31 Social media...... 31 Ambassadors ...... 33 Benefits to children and young people ...... 35 Benefits to organisations ...... 40 Other factors ...... 41 Motivations of organisations ...... 42 How CCTD was promoted and supported in 2014 ...... 43 Strand 1: Resources ...... 43 Strand 2: Media ...... 43 Strand 3: Social media ...... 44 Strand 4: Emails ...... 44 Strand 5: Meeting partners and potential participants ...... 45 Strand 6: Telephone and email support ...... 46 Ideas for the future ...... 47 Creating and supporting an ambassadors group ...... 47 Improve the website and sign-up process ...... 47 A CCTD badge ...... 47 A CCTD introductory video ...... 48 Creating a format for drop-in CCTD events ...... 48 Conclusions and recommendations ...... 49 Image credits ...... 53
CCTD: Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day OCC: Office of the Children’s Commissioner UNCRC: United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 12: Article 12 of the UNCRC states, “Every child has the right to say what they think in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously.”
Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day (CCTD) is a national event run by my Office to promote children’s rights and genuine participation for children and young people in decision-making. In 2014, the eighth Day so far, a record 44,000 children and young people took over the roles of 18,800 adults in 1,100 organisations in every sector of English society. Ministers and government departments, businesses, shopping centres, local authorities, TV programmes, newspapers, hospitals, police forces, fire services, radio stations, museums and galleries, MPs and charities took part along with hundreds of other organisations. CCTD presents the adults and organisations who take part with a reminder of children’s place in society, and an opportunity to get the children and young people that they work with actively involved in decision-making, helping shape the services they use for mutual benefit. As Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states they all have the right to give their views on decisions that affect them and have those views taken seriously. For all the tens of thousands of young people involved, as well as the Day giving them a say in these organisations and their decision making processes, they learn new skills and gain a new perspective on their communities and the organisations that are part of them. Although at its heart cctd is about raising the profile of children and young people’s right to be listened to and to participate meaningfully in adults’ spheres of influence and activity, what they do in the organisations concerned, we know from direct feedback, leads to practical changes in those organisations. We know there have been changes in policies, the development of skills and practices, and the establishment of positive and productive new relationships. NHS England and Public Health England, for example, have used the day as a way to involve young people in setting their strategies for serving young people better. Young people in Norfolk debated, at the heart of the Authority in their County Council’s debating chamber, issues as diverse as teaching life skills in schools to businesses paying the living wage. Young Reporters from the Grimsby Telegraph, in a placement scheme that started with Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day in 2011, have seen participants gain employment in professional media organisations, and this year launched a video to encourage other newspapers to set up similar schemes, using young people to report on the views of their peers. The Day is created in such a way that each organisation involved runs their event independently, with the Office of the Children’s Commissioner providing supporting materials and promoting it to all. In 2014 #TakeoverDay trended on Twitter throughout the day above important political, social, economic and cultural news from elsewhere, showing how engaged the country is in the Day. Children, young people and organisations make it a success and give it the far reach it has.
As you will see, the examples in this report show the difference the Day makes for the children and young people who take such a central part in it. This extends from the 13-year-old with muscular dystrophy featured in the following pages, who was given the chance to take part in decision-making at a hospice he uses, to sixth formers who helped the Electoral Commission with its strategy for encouraging more young people to register to vote. 2014’s CCTD was the last during my term as Commissioner. It has been one of the most enjoyable and empowering projects I have worked on, one of the few things my Office has the capacity to do across the whole child population of 12 million in England, and its legacy continues. Just as it started before my term under the leadership of the first Children’s Commissioner for England and has grown under my term as the second, it continues after it, in the third term under my successor. Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day is one opportunity to express the faith we have in the greatness of our children and young people. It educates adults about the citizenship of the one in four of our population aged under 18, and it reaches across and creates bonds between the generations in communities across the country. Do take part again – or if you have not done so, make this the first of many you do – on Friday 20 November 2015.
Dr Maggie Atkinson Children’s Commissioner for England
CCTD is created in such a way that each organisation involved runs their event independently, with the OCC providing branding, promotion and supporting materials. Telephone and email support is given to organisations and individuals who want to participate. This was the eighth CCTD. It was initially run solely by OCC staff, but three years ago OCC put the support work out to tender and for two years the British Youth Council (BYC) took on that function with the OCC continuing to lead. In 2014 the work was tendered again and Involver supported the running of CCTD 2014. CCTD has again been a great success with hundreds of organisations across the country participating in a variety of ways. Young people have taken over roles in the top echelons of the civil service, in school classrooms, as curators in museums, in the emergency services, at businesses and have even been live on air. These young people have:
had a real input into decision-making learnt about the organisations they worked with seen their communities from a different perspective developed their confidence learnt about the world of work had fun. Hospitals from Great Yarmouth to Blackpool welcomed young people into their decision-making processes. Businesses from newspapers, to leisure centres, shopping malls and road repairers have had children and young people working alongside them. Local services like schools, councils and libraries have benefited from putting children and young people on the other side of the desk. These organisations have been able to:
genuinely listen to the views of young people get a different perspective on their work see their organisations through the eyes of their clients develop links with their local community better tailor their services to the needs of young people gain new enthusiasm for their work. Young carers who took over the charity that supports them, Spurgeons, with their CCTD certificates.
The OCC has refreshed all its materials and produced many new resources and guidance to promote CCTD and support an ever widening group of organisations to participate. The focus of these resources has been on improving the experiences of young people and getting them more involved in decision-making. The OCC has contacted all 21,000 English schools and CEOs of all FTSE100 companies. Countless organisations have been reached via Twitter and email. The OCC have provided telephone and online support for individuals and organisations taking part. Several key partners in local authorities and charities have really helped to promote and support CCTD in their areas.
There were a number of aims this year: increase the number of organisations taking part; promote genuine participation; raise the profile of the day. Whilst all of these are difficult to accurately measure we believe good progress has been made in all of these areas. The mailing list and numbers posting their event on the map have both grown, as has the number of organisations creating their own resources to support and encourage others to get involved in CCTD. This year we have had active involvement of over 3,000 individuals on Twitter as well as full, individual feedback from 1,000 participants about their CCTD experience. Using this feedback we have provided participating organisations with personalised reports to present to their boards, clients and staff. These include recommendations for how to keep the participation going beyond CCTD.
1,100 Organisations participating
44,000 Children and young people taking over
18,800 Adults taken over
1,359 Subscribers to mailing list (sign-ups)
156 Takeovers on the map (71 not on mailing list)
59% Participants who have agreed a change as a result of CCTD
3,221 Individuals tweeting about #TakeoverDay
10,938 Tweets mentioning #TakeoverDay
46.16M Impressions of #TakeoverDay tweets
CCTD was really pushed in certain sectors and areas of the country through the support of key ambassador organisations that provided extra support and guidance. In many cases they were able to provide ‘on the ground’ support for other organisations and meet to persuade them to take part. OCC should formalise the relationship with organisations that are acting as ambassadors for CCTD (e.g. Kids in Museums, Young People’s Health Partnership, Leeds City Council, Norfolk County Council, Sunderland Council, and Grimsby Telegraph). This would allow resources, ideas and techniques to be pooled and shared. Initially this might be through an event where they can share good practice. This could help to create a blueprint for other sectors or areas that want to do the same. Whilst an annual meeting would be very useful, ongoing contact would need to be maintained to ensure that these important relationships could be used most effectively with co-ordinated planning and marketing.
There is currently no single sign-up point for CCTD. This can lead to confusion amongst participants and makes tracking of involvement by OCC very difficult. People are unclear as to whether they need to sign up to participate, whether they have signed up or what the benefits of signing up are. People are asked to do a number of things to indicate their interest or intention to participate: add themselves to the mailing list, add their event to the map, register for the evaluation, or just email us and tell us about their CCTD events. Creating a simple, unified sign-up process for CCTD would make communication with participants easier and help them to feel part of something and possibly more committed to taking part. There are three main reasons why people want to register: 1. to get support and resources 2. to publicise their event and themselves 3. to have their event recognised by the Children’s Commissioner. If there was one sign-up process that was a simple gateway to all of these we believe more organisations would sign up. This could be achieved by a simple pop-up that requested an organisation name and email and a tick box to sign up before downloading resources, adding events to the map or accessing logos. This would give people an incentive to sign up and would mean that that involvement and numbers could be better tracked.
This would be a way for organisations to post that they want to host a CCTD event and for schools and youth organisations to say that they are looking for external hosts. When approaching new
organisations they always wanted OCC to find young people for them. Having a way to match up opportunities and young people could encourage more of both to become involved. This need not be a time consuming exercise for OCC. It could be something more like a jobs board where people post their opportunities and availability online. Individuals and organisations could then search this to find suitable link ups. This could tie in very nicely to the map, which is already a successful part of the CCTD web presence. Obviously there are some safeguarding issues that would need to be considered and addressed before such a system was implemented, but a clear guidance and minimal moderation may be all that is required.
Sign-ups to mailing list – 1,359: taken form Mailchimp. Sign-ups to map – 156 (71 of these are not on the mailing list): Taken from map and checked against Mailchimp Organisations that we know participated but are not signed up on the map or to the mailing list – 207: Our internet trawling has shown up 297 organisations that we have specific details for about their participation. These were checked against the map and the mailing list. 95 of them are not on either of these lists. We know from Leeds of a further 22 organisations who did not show up in our internet trawl, are not on either of our lists but definitely participated. Kids in Museums say 140 museums and galleries took part. Only 50 of these came up through our trawl or are on our lists. Estimated number of organisations participating – 1,100: Through information provided by Leeds and Kids in Museums we have two areas where we have a better idea of the numbers of organisations involved and can relate that to how many we have been able to find information about online or through our sign-ups. With the museums and galleries we had found about 35% of them through our internet trawling. With organisations in Leeds we had only found 24%. Given that many of the organisations involved (e.g. schools, safeguarding boards, etc.) are far less likely to be posting on websites and social media than museums and galleries it seems sensible to go towards the Leeds percentage. If we therefore assume that we were only able to discover 27% of the organisations participating, then from our 297 we end up with an estimate of 1,100 actually taking part. The numbers of people tweeting lends weight to this. Estimated number of children and young people taking over – 44,000: From the feedback we received from organisers of CCTD we averaged out how many young people they said were involved. We removed all figures that appeared to say the whole school was involved (any figures over 260). Whilst the whole school will have been affected, we were looking for the numbers taking over. This gave us an average of 40.37 people taking over in each organisation. This is a more conservative method of reaching an estimate than used previously. Estimated number of adults taking over – 18,800: Calculated in the same way as above. Gives an average of 17.13. Percentage who have agreed a change – 59%: Taken from respondents positively responding to question in feedback survey about whether they have agreed a change. Individuals tweeting #TakeoverDay on CCTD – 3,221: from Hashtag Intelligence report. Tweets mentioning #TakeoverDay on CCTD – 10,938: from Hashtag Intelligence report. Total impressions of ‘TakeoverDay tweets – 46.16 Million: from Hashtag Intelligence report.
The range of organisations participating in CCTD 2014 touches on almost all aspects of children and young people’s lives. This goes a long way to achieving CCTD’s aim of expanding understanding and implementation of Article 12 of the UNCRC. Having examples from so many spheres of children and young people’s lives demonstrates to a widening circle of organisations that they too can and should be involving children and young people in their decision-making. From housing to health, education to environment and local to national politics, young people were learning about and taking decisions in all kinds of organisations and roles. The public and third sectors still offer by far the greatest number of opportunities, so there is work to do to expand take up in the private sector. The numbers of organisations participating in the health and cultural sectors was particularly notable. This is at least in part due to organisations in these sectors adopting CCTD and promoting it in a targeted way. They provided tailored support, materials and promotion. Similarly certain local authorities did the same and managed to get a lot of organisations in their geographical area to participate. Developing more ‘super ambassadors’ like these should be part of the strategy for increasing participation in CCTD. Whilst there is some concern about diluting the role of the Children’s Commissioner where these organisations take on the promotion, this may be outweighed by the value of achieving CCTD’s other aims.
Nicky Morgan MP said: “I was delighted that Rina Roy was able to join me on my constituency duties as part of the Children's Commissioner’s Takeover Day. Rina and I visited the LGBT centre in Leicester and LAMP Advocacy services – both do great work across Leicestershire and support constituents. After speaking to Leicester High School students with my Minister for Women hat on we then visited the Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Training Facility and team in Shepshed which we both found fascinating.”1
Balrai and Sophie shadowed Kate on a busy day in the constituency, visiting organisations in Partington and sat in on a drop in advice surgery. The following Friday, Kate’s office was taken over once again by Harry Merrell and Alex Tilston, Year 8 pupils from Wellacre School in Urmston. Harry and Alex learned about the day to day
1 http://www.loucoll.ac.uk/news/takeover-sees-loughborough-college-student-join-secretary-state-constituency
running of Kate’s office and shadowed her on a number of festive visits in Stretford, even joining in with Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Singing for the Brain’ in Stretford Mall.2
Encouraged by Jigsaw South East, a charity he is patron of, Edward Davey MP invited Ben, one of the young people Jigsaw supports, to shadow him in his local constituency Kingston and Surbiton.3
Justin Tomlinson MP welcomed one of his region's Members of the UK Youth Parliament to work with him in Swindon to experience a day in the life of a constituency MP. During the day, Tara and Justin met with local businesses and the new Chief Executive of the Coventry Building Society, as well as meeting residents, including the Swindon Older People's Forum.4
Steve Brine MP: “Thank you to St Swithun Wells School for making me so welcome today. The kids were literally in charge. #takeoverday”
2 http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/news/11688784.Stretford_pupils_get_insight_into_a_day_in_the_life _of_an_MP/ 3 http://www.jigsawsoutheast.org.uk/edward-davey-mp-takes-part-in-take-over-day-for-jigsaw-southeast/ 4 http://www.justintomlinson.com/news/3284-justin-welcomes-youth-mp-as-part-of-takeover-day
Adrian, a Transport for London Youth Panel member and Diana Award winner worked with Baroness Kramer for the day getting an insight into the Department for Transport. This is what happened in his words: “The day begun with shadowing Baroness Kramer in meetings regarding current affairs and future projects within the Department for Transport. I was treated to a lovely lunch which was a highlight in its own right! But more importantly I was able to voice my opinions from a young person’s perspective regarding safety for women using transport, an issue later raised in Parliament. In the afternoon I had a guided tour of Parliament, including areas where the public aren’t usually allowed, and the day ended with sitting in Parliament’s gallery listening to a live debate. Overall, I would like to thank all those who made this day possible. I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to ditch the school uniform and head out to work. I believe that Takeover Day is becoming an everyday phenomenon; so there really has never been a better time to be young!”5
Many other MPs from across the political spectrum also participated directly in CCTD, either by being shadowed by young people, or being interviewed by young people at larger CCTD events. These included Edward Timpson MP (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families), Chloe Smith MP (Conservative, Norwich North), Catherine McKinnel MP (Labour, Newcastle North), Norman Baker MP (Liberal Democrat, Lewes), Brandon Lewis MP (Conservative, Great Yarmouth), Damian Hinds MP (Minister of State for Housing and Planning), Dr Phillip Lee MP (Conservative, Bracknell), Nadim Zahawi MP (Conservative, Stratford Upon Avon), Ed Vaizey (Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport) and Rob Wilson (Minister for Civil Society).
Permanent Secretaries from across the Civil Service were taken over by young people from a variety of backgrounds, including young apprentices from within their departments. They got to take over many of the top jobs in some of the UK Government’s most important departments. Even Sir Jeremy Heywood, the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service was taken over by 17 year old, Eva Mannan, which included a visit to 10 Downing Street. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), HM Treasury and HMRC all had young people right at the top for CCTD.6
Students from Haringey Sixth Form went to work with the Electoral Commission on their strategy for encouraging young people to register to vote. Given the changes in the voter registration system and the ages of the students, CCTD was a very useful opportunity for this engagement. The
5 http://diana-award.org.uk/news-events/takeover-day-2014-adrians-blog#more-7829 6 https://civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2014/11/28/uk-childrens-commissioners-takeover-day/
students represented a key target for the work of the Electoral Commission. Their insight into the motivations of their peers was very useful for the Electoral Commission.7
Huge numbers of health organisations used CCTD as a way to speak with and give voice to young people across the country. This ranged from the Department of Health to NHS England, Public Health England down through NHS trusts to many local hospitals and clinical commissioning groups. Local consultative boards (Healthwatch) and targeted services were also involved.
James Paget Hospital: “Play is a useful distraction when having a blood test #TakeoverDay” Aaron Cummins, Deputy Chief Executive at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) said: “This will be a unique insight for the students into how a hospital works including everything from patient care to how our facilities are maintained and upgraded. Delivering great care is all about listening to the needs of our patients and the wider community and we know these students will bring valuable ideas to the table.” Kerry Little, Patient Experience Lead for Children and Young People, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to look behind the scenes in their local hospitals, and give their opinions about what is important.” The students day-long takeover culminated with a ‘big question’ that was under wraps until the day and their answer was informed by their experiences on the wards and departments.8
7 http://www.smartschoolcouncils.org.uk/2014/12/three-takeovers-in-one-day/ 8 http://www.cumbriacrack.com/2014/11/20/schoolchildren-takeover-running-hospitals/
The DoH produced a report about the day, agreed with the young participants, which was taken to the DoH’s strategic partnership board meeting in January and submitted to the Minister for Health.
Tom Blackwell: “Finished editing my shots of NHS England #TakeoverDay last week. Here's my fave. Board of Directors + 100 youngsters! pic.twitter.com/tmaV6u3Z61”
Children from East Leeds’ Ebor Garden Primary School took over NHS Leeds South and East Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) on Friday 21 November as part of CCTD and took the opportunity to involve children in the development of its spending plans for 2015−16. During the event, the children who were Young Commissioners made up of year five and six students had the chance to learn what a CCG does, hear plans for local health services in the coming year and meet Commissioners.9
NHS Vale Royal CCG were taken over by two young people from The Winsford Academy. “Today was brilliant, I enjoyed everything about it from taking over Twitter, to sitting in meetings and interviewing GPs. It’s like work experience but better! I also like to make a mark on the local community.” C. West10
Birmingham Children's Hospital; Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust; Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Blackpool Victoria Hospital; Cheshire and Wirral
9 http://www.leedssouthandeastccg.nhs.uk/About-us/Children%20Take%20Over%20Day%20report2014.pdf 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f2Mcar3DvU
Partnership NHS Trust; Children's Health and Wellbeing partnership; Derbyshire Community Health Services; Healthwatch Cheshire East; Helen and Douglas House Hospice; James Paget Hospital; NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group; NHS Leeds West CCG; NHS Vale Royal CCG; Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust Alnwood; Royal Lancaster Infirmary; Wirral Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS); Ferndene, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust; NHS England; NHS Eastern Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group; Public Health Directorate Lincolnshire County Council; Public Health Lincolnshire; NHS South Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group; Public Health England; Young Addaction Liverpool.
Like health services, police forces and fire services seem very keen on CCTD. It is likely that the role of Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has supported this. As they are tasked with engaging with the local community, CCTD fits in well with their brief. There are lots of areas where a PCC was taken over along with the local police force or senior police officer.
In Rugby, students developed their understanding of the police and practiced their critical thinking by solving a crime. They took part in a gold commander update, interviewing suspects and placing someone under arrest.11 Norfolk Fire Service: “Thank you to all the students who spent the day with us today for #TakeoverDay!”
Sixteen children from schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland took over Leicestershire Police and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner. Each child was allocated a different department including the roads policing unit, call management department and the tactical dogs and firearms unit.12
Workington Community Fire Cadets planned and delivered a fire safety initiative in Cockermouth. They visited elderly residents in Cockermouth to carry out home fire safety visits.
11 https://twitter.com/RugbyCops/status/535764751545274368 12 http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2014-11-21/children-set-to-take-over-from-leicestershire-pcc/
Young people sat down with inspectors at a debrief meeting and got an insight into crimes that occurred overnight in Waterlooville and Portsmouth. And they hit the streets to join Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) on patrol and find out what issues matter most to the general public. Two pupils from five secondary schools – Cowplain, Crookhorn, Horndean, Oaklands and Purbrook Park – spent the day at Waterlooville. Pupils from Portsmouth High School, Mayfield and Admiral Lord Nelson went to Fratton. Waterlooville Police: “PCSO Feedback from the teenagers will be used to help direct 13 Potter & PCSO Bland on police priorities. #TakeoverDay patrol with Ben Trimby from @Cowplain_School looking at local ASB issues.” Cheshire Constabulary; Cleveland PCC; CPS North East (Durham); CPS North East (Tyne & Wear); Met Police; Merton MPS; Norfolk Fire Service; Norfolk PCC; Thurrock PCC; Warwickshire Police; Waterlooville and Fratton Police; Waterlooville Police; West Mercia Police; Cornwall Police; Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
13 http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/children-get-an-insight-into-life-as-a-police-officer-1-6433517
Two students from Denes Academy in Lowestoft took over the Journal’s offices where they took on the role of press reporters. One of the students, Joseph, said how it was “great to see what happened behind the scenes” and that he “never really thought how much of a rush it was to write an article.”14
Presenters Simon and Danni were joined by 10 year olds Ben Foster from Southwick Primary and Leah Rathbone from Hudson Road Primary and they were absolutely brilliant! They were reading out news stories, showbiz stories, back announcing songs and getting involved in all the competitions. They did an amazing job and Simon and Danni thoroughly enjoyed working with them.15
Young people planned, filmed and edited a promo film for local charity Future Projects.16
As well as reporting on CCTD events all over Norfolk, Norfolk’s biggest newspaper had young people writing the news like this article from 15 year old Connor: http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/education/future_voices_takeover_day_we_have_takeover_here_is_ what_happened_1_3877156 This is part of the EDPs Future Voices which gets young people to contribute to their print and online editions on a regular basis. This kind of ongoing participation has arisen out of many CCTD events over the years and feedback from this year’s participants suggests the same is happening this year.
Phoenix Radio; Future Studios Norwich; Millside Radio; Mix 96 Radio; Norwich Evening News; Red Shift Radio.
BBLP teams gave young people working with them an opportunity to make decisions about winter maintenance, looking after fleet vehicles, street cleaning and road repairs. Andy Williams, BBLP Contract Director, said the youngsters gained a real insight into the world of work and praised their energy and enthusiasm.
14 http://www.ormistondenes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/November-28-2014-Youth-Takeover-Day.jpg 15 http://www.sun-fm.com/blogs/breakfast-show/takeover-day/ 16 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnV-YwhYjLE
“It was great to give young people the experience of how we manage local roads and public spaces with Herefordshire Council. Presented with a combination of real-life information and data, the young people were challenged to make critical decisions within a professional environment.17
Young people tried out the new buses being brought into service as well as visiting bus depots and engineering depots.18
Members of staff from management to maintenance participated in CCTD providing young people aged 11−16 from surrounding communities the opportunity to experience working alongside adults for the day and contributing to decision making processes, whilst at the same time embracing a real working environment. A photo story of their day can be seen here: https://flipboard.com/section/national-takeover-day- 2014--baDJPO
Teacher recruitment agency, Headline Teachers had six pupils from a local primary school come to work with them for the day. They were writing job adverts for the types of teacher they would like to recruit. These adverts were placed on all the high profile job Headline: “The Headline team with our FAB-U-LOUS websites clearly stating that they Takeoverees!! What a great day! @TakeoverDay had been put together by pupils @ChildrensComm #TakeoverDay” as part of CCTD.19
Inspira, a social enterprise in Cumbria, invited 15 Furness Academy students to their Furness Advice Services centre. They benefited from the experience of a professional environment and
17 http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/11667958.Herefordshire_youth_learn_to_deal_with_winter_challenges/ 18 http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/education/future_voices_takeover_day_we_have_takeover_here_is_what_happ ened_1_3877156 19 https://twitter.com/HeadlineTeach/status/535811076911554561
learned more about the company. It also allowed the chance for these young people to work with adults for the day, and to be involved in key decision-making.20
Young People took over key roles within the strategic and the delivery teams at Gravity Red. They led on and took over the planning and management of events across the Gravity Red delivery locations of Epworth, Crowle and Scunthorpe.
On the 21st November Gentoo welcomed students from both Sandhill View Academy and St. Benet’s Primary School. Four Primary School pupils from St. Benet’s spent the day in Gentoo Green. They were introduced to the theme of climate change and how people have a huge impact on the planet. They built paper windmills, bird feeders, learnt about how to grow food as well as designing their very own bug hotel. Four secondary school pupils from Sandhill designed and produced their Previous residents hosted the CCTD event at Mary very own Christmas cards with help Seacole Housing Association in Luton that provides from advertising agency, The Works supported accommodation for vulnerable young people. and print solutions company, Statex. Pupils were asked to do some preparatory work and on the day they were taken to The Works. They met Managing Partner, Barry Pollock, who showed them their designs. They gave him some feedback, as well as personalising their own card. They then made the trip to Statex where they had lunch and a tour of the factory floor, while their Christmas cards were being professionally printed. Then it was back to Emperor House, where pupils sold their Christmas cards in the staff rest room. It was a sell out and they made over £100 for the Nuru Fund.21
GGHT Chair, Roy Smith said: “I was delighted to be able to welcome these young people to GGHT for the day. This is a great initiative and gave the young people who took part the chance to shadow our staff and gain valuable experience in making decisions. Our youth panel exists to help give young people a voice in the things that affect them and I can’t think of a better way of highlighting this than by giving them an opportunity to take over GGHT for the day.
20 http://www.in-cumbria.com/look-ahead-1.1177224 21 http://www.gentoogroup.com/news/local-pupils-takeover-gentoo/
“This is the first time we’ve taken part in Takeover Day at GGHT and it has been such a success we now plan to do this every year, extending the opportunity to many more young people.”22
This year Impact had young people taking over in their offices and buildings across Cumbria: twelve people in Workington, one in Whitehaven, eleven in Salterbeck, five in Carlisle, nine in Penrith and two in Kendal. Their Flickr account gives a good overview of the range of things people were involved in: https://www.flickr.com/search/?w=61212015@N03&q=TOD
Twenty-six young people from three schools took over a mix of roles from Plus Dane across Merseyside and Cheshire. The Chief Executive and the management team all agreed to let the young people make the decisions for the day. Young people took over in supported housing units, income collection, customer contact, HR and the youth engagement team.
No fewer than six schools were welcomed by Trafford Housing Trust. They were given challenges, visited estates and made presentations to senior staff. They used interactive photo booths to collect feedback and celebrated the end of the day with CCTD cupcakes!23
Housing association Soha actively welcomed a takeover on 21 November: ten students from years 9–11 at Wallingford School visited to find out about community involvement projects. Far from just being on the receiving end of information, the young people finished their day by proposing two projects for community cohesion. Given a notional budget, an indication of available resources and a laptop, one group decided to address the loneliness of rurally isolated older people with a scheme to link them with primary school children around arts and crafts. A second group presented their plan to counter what they saw as a lack of cross-border cultural understanding in the EU area. Their project involves young citizens learning languages and widening their horizons by online contact with fellow Europeans. Following minimal direction from Soha staff, the pupils have returned to Wallingford to work up their plans with their whole year groups. Soha’s Resident Involvement team will then meet with the
22 http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2014-12-02-GGHT-Taken-Over-by-Young-People-for-the-day 23 https://twitter.com/THT_Youth
School Council to discuss further plans for the projects with a view to adopting one, or even both, in the next financial year.24
Four young people took over South Lakes Housing for the day as part CCTD 2014. Four young people from South Lakeland Young Carers gained an insight into daily decision-making and long-term strategic planning as they shadowed Peter Thomas, Chief Executive of the not-for- profit social housing provider. Bryannie, 15, of Kendal's Queen Katherine School, said “I have learnt that there is more than just sitting behind a desk. It also increased my ability to develop ideas and creative talents.”25
We have direct evidence that 50 local authorities were involved and so the real number is likely to be far higher. Their involvement with CCTD is essential because it allows members of the public without a vote – children and young people – a direct say in their local government. Furthermore it gives them an understanding of why this is important. The fantastic efforts of Sunderland, Norfolk, Leeds, North Tyneside and Cumbria are mentioned elsewhere in this report, so here are some other highlights.
Islington Youth Council gave this report of their week of activities for CCTD: “Back in November it was National Takeover Day; a day that gives young people around the country the chance to take over jobs from adults, share their views and help to make young people’s voices heard in the wider community. We got actively involved – and in fact we took part in a whole week of activities, including holding three events that focused on our priorities. To kick off the week, we focused on health and wellbeing at Platform and found out more about the services young people need. We were lucky enough to hold an event at the amazing Emirates Stadium and (when we could tear ourselves away from the view of the pitch!) we shared our experiences of careers and employment opportunities for young people with the manager responsible for post-16 participation. We headed to Lift to discuss youth provision at our third event. Although there is lots to do in Islington for young people, there is always more that can be done and we worked alongside youth workers to come up with some ideas that Platform and Lift Youth Hubs are going to take forward. When the Youth Hubs put together their timetables for next year, they will include activities such as one off events (Platform Sleepover, World Record Challenge, awards nights to celebrate achievements by young people, community BBQ event) as well as week-long events including staging a show. The next steps will be taking these ideas out to Platform’s wider community to make
24 http://www.24dash.com/news/housing/2014-11-25-Childrens-Commissioners-Takeover-Day 25 http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/11649528.Children_s_takeover_day/?ref=rss
sure that as many young people are involved with the co-production of the programme as possible. Our ideas will make a real difference to the programming in 2015! Then on Friday it was the big event – Takeover Day! We had a great time and a busy schedule – Young Mayor Hiba took over the job of the council’s Chief Executive Lesley Seary; Deputy Young Mayor Shazzy was Joe Caluori, the Lead Member for Children and Families; and, Abu became the Duty Manager of Platform. It was a busy day for all of us and we learnt a lot. It was great to have the chance to see what people in top jobs get up to on an average day.”
The day saw young people shadowing senior members of council staff and elected members on a ‘typical’ day. It was a chance for them to ask questions and have a say about the services which support young people. Some of the young people taking part had personal experience of the care system, or were care leavers, for whom the council has a responsibility as ‘corporate parent’. Their feedback will be used to see what services are working well for them, and any areas in which additional help and support might be needed. Cllr Gary See, Knowsley’s Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services, was one of those who took part in the day. He said: “It was an absolute privilege to spend the day with the young people, who were really interested in what we, as a council, do and had lots of interesting points to make. It is really important that we truly understand the kinds of services young people need and want, and prioritise the things that matter most to them. Takeover Day was a great way to do this, and I know that both the staff and young people found it a really interesting and insightful day.”26
Sixty-five young people went to County Hall in Chelmsford to participate in CCTD activities. David Finch, Leader of Essex County Council, said: “With so many council services helping young people, these events are important in forging better relationships with our communities as well as hearing some fresh ideas, insight and creativity which help us to improve what we do. The day will give us a better understanding of how children and young people experience issues involved in our work and to encourage them to have a stake in the services we provide. Commissioners and officers at Essex County Council worked with groups of Essex children and young people, aged from 11 to 18, on a range of topics as diverse as designing a new high ropes course at Great Notley Country Park to giving their views on early intervention to help families before problems facing them multiply. Essex Libraries also hosted CCTD activities throughout the day.27
26 http://aboutknowsley.typepad.com/news/2014/12/takeover-day-for-young-people.html
Wandsworth Takeover Day saw fifty young people and fifty decision makers swapping jobs for the day. “It was fantastic to get a fresh perspective from Abubaker. He was incredibly bright and confident and brought a fresh pair of eyes to the local issues I discussed with colleagues that day, including jobs and regeneration.” Council Leader Govindia28 They produced a great video explaining the purpose of CCTD: http://vimeo.com/113689803
Barking and Dagenham Council; Birmingham City Council; Bracknell Forest Council; Buckinghamshire County Council; Camden Council; Cheshire West and Chester Council; Copeland Borough Council; Devon County Council; Halton Borough Council; Hammersmith & Fulham; Hartlepool Council; LB Bromley and Bromley Youth Council; London Borough of Barnet; Arun District Council; Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council; Calderdale Council; Cambridge City Council; Cheshire East Council; City of York Council; Hampshire County Council; Lancashire County Council; Leeds; Mansfield District Council; Norfolk County Council; North Tyneside Council; South Gloucestershire Council; Suffolk County Council; West Sussex County Council; Worcester City Council; Knowsley Borough Council; Luton Borough Council; North Yorkshire County Council; Oldham Council; Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead; Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council; Sandwell; South Lakeland District Council; South Tyneside; Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council; Sunderland City Council; Wakefield Council; West Berkshire Council; Winchester City Council; Wychavon District Council.
Schools play one of two roles in CCTD, they are often involved in partnership with other organisations, sending children, young people and staff to take over external organisations. In other cases they get their own students to take over their school. Many of the other examples elsewhere in this report are where schools are partners. These are where pupils have taken over their own schools.
Students took over roles in their school including running the website, working in the canteen, teaching, communications manager and more. As part of this they were updating their blog all day with stories and pictures from around the school: http://www.sdcc.net/2-uncategorised/881-takeover-day-2014 They were featured in the Plymouth Herald in print, online and in a video.29
27 http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/Essex/Chelmsford/CM2/News/Local-News/280744-Youngsters-to-Take- Over-atEssex-County-Council 28 http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/article/12632/young_people_take_over_town_hall 29 http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/taste-working-life-30-students/story-24662208-detail/story.html
Pupils took over every aspect of the school from the headteacher for the day meeting parents on the school drive in the morning to senior staff meetings, running assemblies, teaching times tables and bikeability classes. Throughout the day the school’s Twitter account was full of pictures and stories of the excitement and fun that was being had by pupils (and staff): https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=takeoverday2014%20abbeyprimary&src=typd
The students, from Monkfrith, Trent CE and West Grove primary schools spent the afternoon being taught by Year 7 students from St Andrew the Apostle Greek Orthodox School as part of CCTD 2014. Diana, Nicholas, Sean, Alexandra, Michael, Nicole, Nicoletta & Nepheli worked with Mrs Sampson and Mr Vasilliou to plan and prepare lessons in maths and English to give them a taste of what it is like to be a teacher. Their visitors proved to be willing and enthusiastic participants – impressing everyone with their linguistic and mathematical skills. Mrs Sampson, who is St Andrew’s Takeover Day Ambassador, said: “I am so proud of our students for the way they planned their lessons and conducted themselves. They’ve really benefitted from understanding how much preparation goes into delivering lessons and we’ve had fantastic feedback from the pupils and their accompanying staff.”30
Over 200 students were directly involved in taking over the school. Lessons throughout the day were planned and taught by students. By having different students teach different lessons a far greater number were able to step into their teachers’ shoes. It also allowed students to be both teaching and taught by their peers. This great news story and video gives a really good flavour of the day, the excitement of the students and the pride of their teachers: http://www.sleafordstandard.co.uk/news/education/education-news/video-students-take-over- kesteven-and-sleaford-high-school-1-6440598
30 http://www.standrewtheapostle.org.uk/news-takeover-day-2014.php
Alcester Academy; Arthur Terry School; Ashwell Academy; Avonbourne College; Battle and Langton Primary School; Belfairs Academy; Bishop Stortford School; Bramley St Peters C of E Primary School; Broadway Juniors; Castleview Academy; Cobden School; Cutteslowe Primary School; Devonport High School; Eastbourne Academy; Eastcombe Primary School; Framfield Church of England Primary School; Guestling Bradshaw CE School; Holy Cross Catholic Primary School; Hornsea School & Language College; Hudson Road Primary; Ireland Wood Primary School; Kender School; Knowl Hill Academy; Linchfield community primary school; Lincoln Castle Academy; Littlehaven Infant School; Marden High School; Netherwood ALC; Parrs Wood High School; Paulet High School; Pear Tree School; Queen Elizabeth's Girls School, Barnet; Sandhill View Academy; Short Heath Junior School; Southwick Community School, Sunderland; Southwick Primary; St Bartholemews CE Primary School; St Benet's Primary; St Peter's Primary School; St Swithun Wells School; Staffordshire University Academy; The De La Salle Academy; The West Grantham Academy St Johns; Victoria Road Primary School; Warley Town School; Wellacre Academy; Welton St Mary's CE Primary Academy; Willenhall School; Windmill Primary.
Both Manchester Met31 and Nottingham Trent32 University had large events. Nottingham Trent had over 150 schools students on their campus and Manchester Met hosted a debate with Edward Timpson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families, and involved Red Shift Radio broadcasting live. Both events aimed to encourage students to voice their opinions and to highlight their universities as places to study and to work. Both are major employers in the area as well as academic institutions.
31 http://www.staff.mmu.ac.uk/manmetlife/news/view/cheshire-taken-over-by-children 32 http://www.ntu.ac.uk/apps/events/15/home.aspx/event/166100/default/childrens_commissioners_takeover_da y_2014
Like schools, many youth organisations work in partnership with other organisations, supporting them to engage with young people as part of CCTD. The below of some of the youth organisations that gave their young members a different role for the day.
The Scouts are keen to emphasise that ‘every day is Takeover Day’ for them, as they always have young people at the heart of their organisation. On 21 November though they had some of their young commissioners take over their social media accounts for the day.33
The Who Cares? Trust: “Young care leaver Emma C (here with Young people took on @natfin1) reflects on her success as CEO of The Who Cares? Trust roles throughout the for @TakeoverDay” organisation. This included Communications Officer, Chief Executive, social action volunteers, and accountant. You can see more about what each of these roles entailed and what the young people got out of it in this video made by the Communications Officer for the day: http://www.themytrust.org/Blog/takeover- day-2014
YAC put out an open call to any young people to register for and participate in their CCTD activities. These included:
testing and designing hands-on historical activities for YAC and DIG see behind-the-scenes at Jorvik DIG York and handling real archaeological objects found on digs in York.34
Birmingham City Council Rights and Participation Service; Chickenley Children's Centre; Equality and Participation team, ESCC; Girl Guides; Herts1125; Kitts Green Shard End Children's Centre; Lancashire Participation Network; Leeds Safeguarding Children Board; Leeds YOS; Off the record BANES; Plymouth City Council Youth Services; RBWM Youth Support Service; Safe and Sound;
33 http://scouts.org.uk/news/2014/11/hannahs-blog-why-everyday-is-a-youth-takeover-day-at-scouts/ 34 http://www.yac-uk.org/news/141015/takeoverday
Seaside Children's Home; Warwickshire Children and Voluntary Youth Services (WCVYS); Waveney Youth Council; Young People's Services; Youth of Loughborough.
Pupils from Haimo Primary School took over at Marie Currie Cancer Care, finding out about how the organisation runs and helping to develop a new fundraising campaign. They made a great Storify of their day: https://twitter.com/mariecurieuk/status/535806318159101952
Children’s charity Spurgeons invited six young carers, aged 11 to 14, to have their say as part of CCTD. The young people, who all receive support from Spurgeons young carers’ services in Wolverhampton, Dudley and London, took part in sessions to set the charity’s new strategy, interviewed the Chief Executive, wrote thank you letters to supporters and took part in a fundraising campaign. Spurgeons Chief Executive Ross Hendry said: “It was wonderful to have the young people with us for the Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day and for them to offer their ideas about how they would do the jobs of all the different people who work at our head office in Rushden. We are going to be feeding their ideas into our new strategy for 2015 and using their words to thank our supporters who kindly donate money to Spurgeons to help us support children, young people and their families across the country.”35
Young people supported by Action for Children/Disability Lincolnshire took over the charity for the day. Alison Buckley-Jones, Transitions Coordinator, said, “This is our fourth Takeover Day and this year our young people have taken over the social media channels of Disability Lincolnshire. The young people have recorded interviews with key personnel in our service office and exploring the theme of power and influence. We are also tweeting, updating our Facebook page and creating Wordles using key words around our theme. Our young people are having fun but most importantly it has reinforced everybody in this office the impact of our role to enable young people that we look after to achieve and be the best that they can be.” The young people recorded a live radio programme which can be listened and downloaded here: http://youngjournalistacademy.com/2014/11/21/action-for-children-take-over-day-2014/
Twenty-seven students ran YHA National Office for CCTD 2014. The students came from Highfields School, Matlock’s local high school. Their task was to create YHA Day events for five of their most iconic hostels: YHA Boggle Hole, YHA Snowdon Pen-y-Pass, YHA Treyarnon Bay, YHA St Briavels Castle and YHA York.
35 http://www.spurgeons.org/news/childrens-charity-taken-over-by-young-carers/
Jim Grady, Head of Economics, Highfield School, said, “They get to assume an adult role and are taken seriously by YHA staff. It’s their chance to shine and it’s fantastic.”36
Brook; British Red Cross; Changing Our Lives; Dash Charity; Jigsaw South East; Mental Health Foundation; Mentoring Plus; National Youth Agency; NYAS; Southampton Voluntary Services Young Carers Project; The Fostering Network; The Trussell Trust; Young Minds; Barnardo's; Howgill Family Centre; The Children's Society.
From Premier Christian Radio: The possibility of Women bishops may only have just become a reality but the Bishop of Worcester is handing over his job to a 12-year-old girl. It's the Children's Commissioner's Takeover Day which gives children and young people the chance to work with adults for the day and be involved in decision-making. Rt Revd John Inge has got involved and is being joined on visits across Redditch and Worcester by Orianna Colthurst. Speaking about the special occasion, Bishop John said: "We have a long tradition of boy bishops in the Church of England and it seems particularly appropriate this year that we are welcoming our first girl bishop.”37
Pupils from Grey Coat Hospital School and Pakeman Primary School got to go behind the scenes at one of the most famous buildings in the UK and the surprise hit event of the year, the Tower Poppies. “When we arrived we were curious and did not know what to expect, but then it became clear we had a massive journey ahead of us. Students from Pakeman Primary School and Grey Coat Hospital School worked together to create a news report. We took on the role of journalists for the day so we learnt about what the job involves and how to interview people. No one actually thought the poppies project would be as big as it was, but it just grew and grew. We made a video about the project during the de-installation and found out some more about First World War remembrance.”
36 http://www.yha.org.uk/media/blog/yha-take-over-day-2014 37 http://www.premierchristianradio.com/News/UK/Bishop-uses-Takeover-Day-to-welcome-women-bishops
They created some fantastic videos as part of their take over: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/VisitUs/Topthingstoseeanddo/Poppies/Whyremember/takeot ak-day
Birmingham’s science museum was taken over by their youth board, Ignite, who planned and marketed activities for teenagers. From Laser Tag to a Mars Rover they had an incredible array of space related activities on offer to their visitors but particularly aimed at the teenagers who visited on the day. Well over 100 teenagers came along which were led by the fourteen members of Ignite.38
Coinciding with the ship’s 145th birthday, pupils from Sherington Primary School, became Learning Officers in a day for toddlers, babies, and their grown-ups. The team of 10 and 11 year olds helped run events including storytelling, toys, workshops and collecting visitor’s thoughts and feedback throughout the day. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WsDZu9OmY0 Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?f=realtime&q=cutty%20sark%20take%20over%20day&src=typd Facebook (Video): https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=732533806829205 Greenwich Mag: http://www.greenwichmag.co.uk/attractions/history/1252-toddlers-and-children- celebrate-cutty-sark-s-145th-birthday
A member of staff described the day: “The children worked at front of house, in the shop and guided in the Birthplace as well as coming to join us in Collections. We ran activities in the Reading Room and in the basement stores (or stacks as we call them!) as well as asking some of the children to tell visitors to the Birthplace about museum objects. Each group of children who came to our department spent twenty minutes working on a new display in the Reading Room and twenty minutes undertaking a challenge in our special collections stack. The children got to choose a theme card and then had to do some picture research and find interesting photos in our Reading Room photo cabinets. Once they’d chosen six pictures, they wrote their own captions, thinking about what they would like to tell visitors and what might be interesting to people looking at the display. Themes included local biography, the Birthplace, occasions in the town and the river. We will have the display up until the end of the year, so do pop in and have a look at their work.”39
38 http://blog.thinktank.ac/?p=2308 39 http://findingshakespeare.co.uk/takeover-day-2014#sthash.9sxRFOaT.dpuf
American Museum; Architecture Centre; Bentley Priory Museum; Birmingham Museums Trust: Thinktank; Chelmsford Museum; Chiddingstone Castle; Compton Verney; Court Barn, A museum of craft & design; Cutty Sark; Derby Museums; Essex Libraries; Eureka! The National Children's Museum; Falmouth Art Gallery; Galleries of Justice Museum; Havering Museum; Hertford Museum; Hoddesdon's Lowewood Museum; Horniman Museum; Imperial War Museum; International Slavery Museum; John Dyer Gallery; Kingston and Richmond; Library of Birmingham; Linklater Pavillion; Lord's Cricket Ground; Mary Rose Museum; Museum of Brands; Museum of London; Museum of Somerset; Natural History Museum; Norfolk Museums Service; Pegasus Theatre; People's History Museum; Petersfield Museum; River and Rowing Museum; RSA; RSS Robin; Shipley Art Gallery; Snibston Discovery Museum; Somerset Heritage Centre; St Barbe Museum; The Jelly, Reading; The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; Tower of London; Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums; Victoria and Albert Museum; Wealddown Museum; Whitchurch Silk Mill; Cumbria Library Service; Wallace Collection.
Alongside promoting direct, active participation, CCTD is an awareness-raising project. Informing people about the role of the Children’s Commissioner and children’s rights and responsibilities under the UNCRC is central to its success. CCTD has promoted these through a number of channels.
Email: Two emails were sent to all 21,000 schools in England from the Children’s Commissioner; one to headteachers and the other to school administrators. Both highlighted the role of the Children’s Commissioner. At least 4,500 of these emails were read.40 Local newspapers and news websites: By providing participants with template press releases we supported them to place well over 100 stories41 in local media. In Norfolk, the two largest newspapers were both taken over, as well as featuring stories regularly about CCTD. Social media: Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram were all used heavily to promote CCTD. #TakeoverDay trended all day on Twitter on 21 November; there are over 30 YouTube videos about CCTD with thousands of views between them. Television: BBC Newsround had a segment taken over by young people as part of the day. Radio: At least five local radio stations were taken over on CCTD, as well as Fun Kids, a London-based radio station for children. Many more radios stations interviewed young people and the adults they were working with as part of CCTD.
The impact of social media can be difficult to quantify, but it is fair to say that CCTD had a significant impact on social media, specifically Twitter. #TakeoverDay trended in the UK on two separate days. The first was during the ‘Teen Twitter Takeover’ organised by Kids in Museums. Then on CCTD itself, we managed to keep #TakeoverDay in the top ten throughout the whole working day. On CCTD and the few days either side, almost 11,000 tweets were sent using the #TakeoverDay hashtag by 3,221 different people. This created over 46 million impressions, 10.5 million of them unique. Hashtag Intelligence measured the average engagement at 82%. This means people were not simply tweeting an outgoing message, but were reading what others had said and retweeting or replying.
40 4,508 emails were opened. Not all emails can be tracked, and many schools block images, which is how the tracking is calculated, so the actual open figure is likely to be considerably higher. 41 Our own research showed up 96 events that were not in any way registered with OCC. These were all found through media trawls. Of course a large number of the events that were registered with OCC also came up in these media trawls, so the number of media stories is actually likely to be far higher.
The graph below shows the position of #TakeoverDay throughout the day on Twitter. You will see it was between eighth and fourth position from 10am until 5pm (this is taken from a European website so the time is an hour out). It actually reached even higher at certain points in that period.
The automatically generated word cloud below of the words and phrases most used in these 10,938 tweets shows that what people were saying about #TakeoverDay was overwhelmingly positive and focused on many of the issues and messages we have been pushing. This meant that huge numbers of people will have seen tweets linking to or mentioning young people having a say in decision-making. We used this image to further promote CCTD in our newsletters and social media postings. Creating a Google Hangout video which we could share and use as online video tips seems to have been well used and was shared a fair amount on Twitter. The #TakeoverChat a few weeks before CCTD was also a real success, especially at engaging people in a discussion about
what meaningful participation was. Having more of both these videos and Twitter chats planned for next year would be useful to provide support and provoke discussion. They do not require a great deal of planning and just a little more than we put into them this year could reap big rewards. There are 439 posts on Instagram tagged with #TakeoverDay. We need to develop a better way to track and interact with these. A Children’s Commissioner or CCTD Instagram account would be the first step.
The Ambassadors programme ultimately did not work out as intended, but several organisations did operate very successfully as ambassadors, bringing in large numbers of organisations to participate in CCTD. These organisations put considerable resources into promoting CCTD in their areas through meetings with organisations, events, promotional materials and supporting documents. Notable amongst these ‘Super Ambassadors’ were Kids in Museums, the Young People’s Health Partnership and several local authorities including Norfolk, Leeds, Sunderland, Cumbria, North Tyneside, North East Lincolnshire.
Kids in Museums is a charity that exists to get more children and young people into museums and arts and culture venues. They have a dedicated team working on Takeover Day and provide many good-looking, high-quality resources to the organisations they support. These included physical packs with posters, stickers, case studies and plans that are sent out to organisations that sign up through them. They organise regional events to bring together museum staff who have run CCTD in the past with those who are considering it. In this way they share good practice and help to allay any fears of those who are new to it. They are a very media savvy organisation and have good contacts in the media through their staff and trustees. As well as organising a lot of coverage on Fun Kids radio station they orchestrated a Teen Twitter Takeover, where young people took over the Twitter accounts of museums across the country on the same day. This was supported by the OCC. It seems that museums and cultural organisations are particularly active and influential on social media and Kids in Museums and popular museums like the Natural History Museum were very useful in highlighting CCTD on social media. Kids in Museums say that, “over 140 museums, galleries and archives ran an event and more than 4,000 children took part across England.” 42
42 http://kidsinmuseums.org.uk/takeoverday/takeover-day/
The Young People’s Health Partnership (YPHP) is a seven-strong consortium of organisations working with the Department of Health, Public Health England and NHS England as strategic partners to raise the profile of the health agenda across the voluntary youth sector. The partnership is led by the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS) and includes: Addaction, Association of Young People’s Health, Brook, CLIC Sargent, StreetGames, and Youth Access. YPHP created a Children and Young People’s Takeover Day Toolkit to support organisations that commission and deliver health services for children and young people to organise successful Takeover Day activities. It is a clearly designed resource with much that could be used in any setting but will offer particular reassurance to health-related organisations that they can get involved.43 We have evidence of at least 24 health organisations participating in CCTD, but we know the actual figure will be even higher. As in 2013, NHS England took part at a variety of levels, all the way up to the Chief Executive.
Norfolk heavily promoted CCTD with a promotional video44, posters45 and emails out to schools46 and services. They also created a simple guide and sign-up form for young people47. They offered young people and organisations a brokerage service. People could apply directly to the County Council who would then look to find placements for them. So as well as schools and other organisations that organised their own CCTD, over 100 young people took over other adults’ jobs through Norfolk County Council.48
Leeds decided that a single day did not allow them to get enough people and organisations involved, so they dedicated November as ‘Takeover Month’. They say, “During November at least nine schools and 33 services took part in Takeover Month, with over 2,000 young people having the chance to take part.” Leeds has also created a series of guides for schools and other organisations on ‘How to Takeover’. These are promoted through their communications with schools.49
43 http://www.brook.org.uk/attachments/Takeover_Day_2014_Toolkit.pdf 44 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIAAPlTL1bo 45 https://csapps.norfolk.gov.uk/csshared/ecourier2/fileoutput.asp?id=14838 46 https://csapps.norfolk.gov.uk/csshared/ecourier2/misheet.asp?misheetid=20718 47 http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/view/NCC158613 48 http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Childrens_services/Activities_for_children_and_young_people/Get_involved/Takeov er_day/index.htm 49 http://www.schoolwellbeing.co.uk/resources/205
In several areas, local authorities were able to use their connections with key businesses to encourage them to be taken over. In Sunderland and Buckinghamshire, both authorities that promote CCTD, local radio stations Sun FM50 and Mix 9651 were taken over through a partnership with the council. In Herefordshire the council got its roads contractor, Balfour Beatty, to be taken over.52 Connections like these are far easier for local organisations to develop and call on and whilst CCTD is spread across the country, there are certain areas that local government has turned into particular hot spots for activity.
Children and young people love the experience of CCTD. The most common reaction when asked what they liked the most was, “All of it!!!” (Although the number of exclamation marks does vary). The benefits for them may be immediate, such as something they learn, but many CCTD experiences have benefits which will take longer to become apparent. These in particular are very much tied up with the benefits to organisations. For example, where young people have had a strong input into their local health services through taking over their clinical commissioning group (CCG) and changing policy, this will have an impact for them and their peers. Where a children in care council has taken over and been able to question their ‘corporate parent’ (the authority with parental responsibility for them) there may be a sense of satisfaction at being listened to, but down the line more significant changes may also emerge as the organisation becomes more responsive to the needs of young people. In Norfolk young people debated issues in the council chamber including the teaching of PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) in schools and Norfolk County Council paying the living wage.53 When children and young people are really involved in these decisions, the impact on their lives can be huge. The following story from the Daventry Express54 illustrates many of the ways in which young people can benefit from CCTD:
50 http://www.sunderland.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=9956 and http://www.sun-fm.com/blogs/breakfast- show/takeover-day/ 51 http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/news/2014/november/young-people-set-for-takeover-day/ and http://www.mix96.co.uk/youth-takeover-day.php 52 http://newsroom.herefordshire.gov.uk/2014/november/youngsters-in-the-driving-seat-with-balfour-beatty- living-places.aspx 53 https://twitter.com/TownCloseEmma/status/535798991922147328?lang=en-gb and https://twitter.com/the_tim0thee/status/535798340433506304 54 http://www.daventryexpress.co.uk/news/local/daniel-gets-to-take-part-in-a-takeover-day-at-a-hospice-in- oxfordshire-1-6445184
Daniel Ball, 13, from Daventry, was one of five young people who took part in this year’s Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day at Oxford hospice Helen and Douglas House. Daniel, who visits the hospice for respite care, has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. He does not get the opportunity to participate in work experience like other young people because of his condition. But Takeover Day on Thursday, November 20 saw Daniel in charge for the day. This saw him involved in making decisions and giving his opinion about work procedures and potential difficult situations arising within the charity. Daniel said: “It was a brilliant day. In the morning we did an environmental audit going round Helen House looking for dangerous things that could cause harm to people and we had a disciplinary hearing, interviewing people where there had been a problem at work. In the afternoon we helped create and direct a new fundraising video for Christmas shopping online and I answered the phone in reception. That was a bit scary but I loved opening the door to let people in and out.” Karin Hyatt, the inspiration behind Helen House Takeover day said: “The very special thing about take over day 2014 is that at the start of the day we had five very nervous, shy young adolescents and at the end of the day we had five young people who had gone home so much more confident and really good friends.”
Through this one simple example we can see that CCTD gives children and young people a chance to:
have a say in the running of institutions that affect their lives (upholding their Article 12 rights) share their unique perspective on institutions and services - their policies, buildings and practices have an experience not normally open to them get experience of the world of work learn new skills develop confidence make friends outside of their normal circle. Here are what some of the other children and young people involved said about their experiences.
“I enjoyed being listened to by the adults and making a difference.” 17−19 year age group on taking over at Barnardo’s “Speaking with other young people and having our ideas and opinions listened to.” 12−16 year old age group on taking over at Lancashire County Council "Learning about CCG and the work that they do. Having the opportunity to give my opinions and ideas and for them to be listened to." 17−19 year old age group on taking over at Lancashire County Council “The thing I enjoyed most about my day was the fact that because I was part of the SLT (senior leadership team) all of the teachers respected me and when I they asked for my opinion it was listened to and was taken into consideration.” 12−16 year old age group on taking over at Woodside High School “[I most enjoyed being] able to eat chocolate while we worked. Also giving my opinion on things.” 12−16 year old age group taking over at North Tyneside Adult Social Care “Getting to have choice in what goes on in our community and make a difference to it.” 12−16 year old age group taking over at Lincolnshire County Council, South Holland Targeted Team
“I enjoyed listening to somebody from my form instead of the teacher!” 11 year old taking over at Kesteven and Sleaford High School “I enjoyed teaching my classmates new things and having the opportunity to takeover and experience what the teachers have to do every day. Also I enjoyed planning an English lesson and being able to TAKEOVER!!! It was a great experience and was lots of fun! I also enjoyed marking the work but it took a very long time! It was great to teach my class and I thought that it was BRILLIANT!!!” Young person taking over at John O’Gaunt School
“I learnt how to manage people and I also learnt about keeping the station safe as well as the public.” 12−16 year old taking over at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service “I enjoyed going in to the gift shop and working with the price gun.” 5−8 year old taking over at the Wallace Collection
“I learnt how to teach a class and plan a lesson and that it is very hard work especially when the students aren't paying attention and that a teacher has to put in a lot of effort for every lesson which takes quite a long time to do!!!” 12−16 year old age group at John O’Gaunt School “Learning about local councils and how they work with committees.” 12−16 year old age group taking over at South Gloucestershire Council
“The experience of visiting the schools talking about all the schemes they have in place and what they believe they need to improve, I especially enjoyed meeting and talking to the children. I found the whole experience eye opening and have learnt some new things I thoroughly enjoyed shadowing Pete for the day.” Young person taking over at North Yorkshire County Council
“[I learnt] about my rights and what it is like as an adult to receive training.” 12−16 year old age group taking over at City of York Council “I learnt about my rights and what the services in my area do.” 12−16 year old age group taking over at Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust Healthy Self Youth Conference Our evaluation data broadly reflects that most children and young people are getting out of CCTD what we hoped they would. 58% of young people taking over felt they were involved in decision- making in some way, but of course this means 42% feel they were not.55 Those being taken over however, overwhelmingly did feel that they were listening to children and young people. Only 7% said that they did none of the survey options: ‘Listened to the views of young people’, ‘Learnt something’, ‘Got a different perspective on my/our work’, or ‘Changed a policy, project or way of working’. This different perspective between adults and young people needs to be worked on. We need to make the difference that is being made through CCTD more explicit through encouraging people to action plan and be clear in their evaluations about what was changing. Although the rights element is highlighted in materials we produce it seems to have been lost in many people’s experiences with only 12% saying that learning about their rights was part of their day. This is a trickier aspect to address. One way to do this might be through creating an introductory video that we ask participating organisation to play at the beginning of their day. This could welcome people and thank them for their involvement as well as introducing the Children’s Commissioner and making explicit the link to children’s rights.
55 264 respondents did not say that they had ‘given an idea’, ‘made a difference’ or been ‘listened to by adults’.
Which of these did you do as part of your day? Asked to those taking over (young people) - 634 responses (people could choose more than one answer) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
Learnt about the organisation I was taking over 41%
Gave an idea 38%
Learnt about my rights 12%
Was listened to by adults 42%
Made a difference 26%
Had fun 80%
Which of these did you do as part of your day? Asked to those being taken over (adults) - 338 responses (people could choose more than one answer) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Listened to the views of young people 75%
Learnt something 52%
Got a different perspective on my/our work 63%
Changed a policy, project or way of working 19%
Had fun 72%
Feedback given to Leeds Community The benefits for organisations are well illustrated by Healthcare Trust about CCTD. these comments from staff taken over at the Department of Health. They were asked what they learnt through participating in CCTD.
“[I learnt] that young people sometimes fall into a vacuum between young children and adults e.g. in a GP surgery, which poses particular challenges for how services are run and how GPs engage with individuals (including issues around involvement in decision making an confidentiality).” “I learnt that as a commissioner − and an adult − I don’t always see things as the child or young person does − fatal flaw!”
“For me, a key take-home was around sharing of young people's information. Adults so often get bogged down in process details about information governance, but the young people brought it back to basic principles that often get lost, such as if you have to tell someone else, tell us you're going to do it and tell us what you're telling them so you don't lose our trust. (NB. I'm paraphrasing slightly here, but the conversation really helped my own thinking about these issues).”
“The young people's level of understanding of the policy challenges was much clearer than I’d presumed. They often have the policy answers.”
“That there is still a lot of work to be carried to raise the profile of the public health team working directly with the young people. That young people to want access to nurses and in the school setting. Young people often feel frustrated that these services are not standardised and that more time resources are going to be needed for a service provider to be effective within providing a service for young people that is more adequate." “That the issues in accessing GP services and receiving appropriate care are intensified for teenagers with mental health issues.”
“There needs to be a cultural shift in the health system towards a model which involves young people in decision making about their care, and recognises the particular needs of young people.”
The comments from the Department for Health staff ranged from the very specific − nurses needed in school settings − to the general, cultural shifts, but the underlying benefits that they highlight were reflected across the feedback received from adults and organisations involved. “Having a very different perspective on policing issues − in the performance meeting we looked at a range of local issues including shoplifting, alcohol-related violence, community cohesion and engagement and domestic abuse. The young people discussed these issues through their eyes and gave us an insight into areas we had not considered before. It is very easy in policing to see things from the perspective of your own age and experience and this was a great insight into a young person's view of what needs to change.” Adult taken over at Devon and Cornwall Police “[I learnt] that we should put in place more regular monitoring of learning and teaching by our learners.” Adult taken over at St Joseph’s Specialist School and College “I haven’t worked with children and young people for over 20 years and it was refreshing to have the opportunity to work with a group of young people again and share their ideas and visions about council services.” Adult taken over at Public Health Lincolnshire “[I learnt] that many of our campaigns designed to target young people do not have the impact that we would have hoped for. That by engaging young people more effectively in planning some of the community focused work that we do we may have a greater impact. Although I knew before that young people are very articulate I was impressed by the way they openly shared their thoughts and ideas in what could have been a very intimidating situation (big meeting with performance information).” Adult taken over at Devon and Cornwall Police These three additional elements came up from a number of organisations.
This is especially useful in organisations that regularly work with young people. “Working more closely with students in the school. In my role I do not have much interaction with students on a daily basis.” Adult taken over at John O’Gaunt School
“The enthusiasm and passion our learners showed. Our learners recognised how hard the staff work.” Adult taken over at St Joseph’s Specialist School and College
“To enjoy a meeting, led by young people, to be challenged by them and offered a different perspective. To see their skills in discussion and film making, the latter being particularly emotive, inspiring and humbling.” Adult taken over at Lancashire County Council “That it is possible for the pupils to take a more active role in our education − and doing so is extremely fun.” Adult taken over at Kesteven and Sleaford High School
“So much fun had from the minute we picked up the children. Everyone involved was happier, more engaging and more involved. A couple of really good ideas gained from the children. Definitely would participate again.” Adult taken over at Highcross shopping centre in Leicester
The feedback collected from organisations suggests that their main motivation is not internal, it is about providing something useful for children and young people. As the figures below show children’s rights and it being ‘good’ were picked most. Interestingly only 38% said they did it because it looked fun, but 72% had fun doing it. So it may be that we can make more of this aspect in the future. Participation is serious business, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be good fun too.
Why did you choose to get involved in Takeover Day? Asked to those being taken over - 338 responses (people could choose more than one answer) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Because children have a right to be listened to 53%
It looked fun 38%
It's good for children and young people 71%
Wanted to gain new perspectives on our work 50%
It shows we're listening 39%
Creating a link with our community 23%
Other 9%
There have been six strands to the promotion and support work. 1. Producing and renewing resources 2. Work with the media 3. Promotion through social media 4. Writing and distributing emails 5. Meeting with partners and potential participants 6. Supporting partners and participants by email and phone.
New flyers for young people, schools and other organisations were created. These provided essential information simply for each of these groups. Full packs were also reviewed. These were updated with new examples and tweaked guidance. Lesson plans and schemes of work for all school key stages were developed that would encourage and enable young people to take control of and plan their own CCTD and invite other organisations to participate as well. These should be more heavily promoted. New certificates were created that have featured heavily in photos taken of CCTD events around the country. As well as certificates for young people there are certificates for those individuals and organisations that were taken over. These have proved almost as popular with those being taken over as the certificates for those taking over have been. 41% of young people filling out evaluation forms have requested (and been sent) certificates; 35% of those taken over also requested them. Several other simple resources were developed to meet the specific needs of organisations preparing for CCTD. These included a guide to planning your CCTD, a timetable format for the day, an email to send out to colleagues inviting them to participate and an action planning form to agree outcomes from the day. The last of these was particularly important to work towards on-going, meaningful participation. There has been a focus on ensuring that participation is continued beyond the one day. Creating action plans with dates for checking on progress is one way to achieve this. A completely new feedback system was developed that allows us to collect and collate feedback from individual organisations and then provide them with a report that can be presented to boards, staff and clients. These reports also recommend ways in which they can embed participation into their regular practice. A series of materials to support Ambassadors was also developed.
A press release template with a quotation from the Children’s Commissioner was provided for organisations to adapt. A national release was also sent out. These both gained coverage across the media.
This was very successful as evidenced by the Google Hangout, the Thunderclap and trending on Twitter. The Sunday #TakeoverChat was also a success in engaging with different people at a deeper level about the purpose of CCTD. A number of useful contacts were made through this. Better planning of these and tying it in with more forward-planned Google Hangouts could make this a useful channel of support and encouragement, as well as raising the profile of the more complex issues that CCTD is there to promote. A curated list of CCTD videos has been created along with two Storify stories, one following #TakeoverChat and the other #TakeoverDay. YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNvakNvSiDNvpflOTuEmssb9TAwQedmt7 #TakeoverChat Storify: https://storify.com/TakeoverDay/takeoverchat-2-11-14 #TakeoverDay Storify: https://storify.com/TakeoverDay/children-s-commissioner-s-takeover-day- 2014
As well as sending our monthly newsletters, two emails were sent to all schools in England as well as regular, short tips/reminder emails. These tips emails were sent out in between newsletters and were specifically intended to appeal to those who found the newsletters too long. Their function was to keep CCTD at the forefront of people’s minds, to minimise the number of people who signed up intending to participate but then forgot to organise anything until it was too late. We have received good feedback about the length and frequency of these emails. The table below shows the open and click rates of the various emails sent out to the mailing list. Unsurprisingly the more recent sign-ups are the ones most likely to both open and click. That said the older list is still pretty active. The newsletter that got the most clicks from both lists was one entitled ‘New Resources for Takeover Day 2014’.
Average of Open Rate Average of Click Rate New sign ups (Takeover Day 2014) 38.11% 13.15% Newsletter 42.84% 15.09% Other 37.00% 4.00% Tip 35.60% 13.08% Old sign-ups (Takeover Day List- 13/05/14) 25.21% 7.50% Newsletter 17.23% 4.38% Other 42.78% 14.69% Tip 14.02% 2.84% Grand Total 30.44% 9.79%
Average of Open Rate Average of Click Rate Primary schools 10.03% 1.10% To Headteachers 9.98% 1.63% To office staff 10.08% 0.57% Secondary schools) 12.81% 2.15% To Headteachers 13.45% 3.47% To office staff 12.17% 0.83% Grand Total 11.42% 1.62%
In addition, CCTD has been mentioned in every email sent out by Involver and the Smart School Councils Community since July. These have regularly gone to over 2,000 member schools. Each of the Smart School Councils Newsletters of this academic year have included news articles, guides and encouragement to schools to get involved. Stories were also placed in other key e-newsletters including from Parliament’s Education Service to their school members, the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) to their members and the School for Social Entrepreneurs.
OCC representatives had numerous meetings with potential partners and participants including Parliament’s Education Service, Haringey Council, Islington Council, Common Purpose, Peabody Housing Trust, Virgin, CBHA, the Electoral Commission and schools across England. Unfortunately several of these organisations ended up unable to participate because of internal issues, but all are keen to get involved with CCTD 2015.
A dedicated phone line was setup for CCTD alongside the [email protected] email account to provide support. Whilst the volume of these calls and emails was not huge, having the option there for people is very important. We have had a number of long exchanges by phone and email with a chain of shopping centres that has given them the confidence to go ahead with a series of CCTD events. These conversations also give us useful feedback on the resources that it would be useful to provide or link to. Several of the resources we have created have come from these conversations. Where we have been supporting organisations directly they are often looking for a place to get young participants from, or if a school, somewhere to send their children and young people. Through our relationships with schools we have been able to help in a number of cases, but some way to allow people to advertise these requests would be very useful.
Sectors and areas where lots of organisations have participated in CCTD have been those where organisations such as local authorities and charities have added to the support provided by OCC. We could bring these organisations together to share good practice and to encourage other similar organisations to take part. An event would be a useful way to start this off but regular contact would need to be maintained. This could be through email updates and/or a monthly online chat. Adding a page of useful links to the resources from these organisations’ materials on the Children’s Commissioner’s website would be useful to them and other organisations wanting to participate. Specific sectors where we want to increase participation could be targeted by finding an organisation that could provide tailored support and encouragement. This might be through an existing umbrella body, or through providing targeted support to an organisation in that sector to enable them to support others. In sectors that already value youth participation and/or have a duty to promote it, it may be possible to simply persuade a body to take on supporting and promoting CCTD.
A simplified sign-up process that allows people to join the mailing list, put their event on the map and download resources would mean that we could keep in contact with participants better. Within this we might offer additional challenges throughout the year that would improve participation. These could be things like:
January: meet up to review your progress March: Send out a newsletter to the young people who participated letting them know how you are getting on May: Run a mini CCTD − get some young people in over the school holidays June: Start planning your CCTD August: Finalise plans for CCTD and send out invitations. Another useful element of the website could be a CCTD ‘jobs board’ where people post opportunities that they have or are looking for. The safeguarding implications need to be thought through carefully, but should not be insurmountable.
An incentive to participating in the process above would be a CCTD badge. Organisations could display this on their websites and letterheads to show that they are a youth-friendly organisation. This would further raise the profile of CCTD and the Children’s Commissioner.
The OCC could make a short video to welcome participants to CCTD and introduce the key themes of children’s rights and involvement in on-going decision-making. This would help young people to see that the event is part of something bigger and also emphasise the purpose to the adults involved.
The Natural History Museum had CCTD Learning Volunteer packs available from their information desk. In this way any young person was encouraged to participate in their Takeover Day. This type of activity which is open to any young person rather than just those selected may well get different people involved. For this to work though it needs to be held on a day when children and young people are not at school. As other types of Takeover Day experience work best on school days some thought would need to go into how these are promoted. The suggestion to have a Takeover Week or Month would address this, but raises other issues about how to focus promotion. Organisations that might take this on would either need to be reasonably confident in working with children and young people or partner with a local youth organisation to provide the skills. We have seen some of these kinds of partnerships within the NHS and local authorities. This might encourage them to go beyond their youth boards and open up to an even wider group of children and young people.
The final word about how we should develop CCTD should go to the participants. This is what they felt would improve it.
What would make CCTD better? Asked to those taking over (young people) - 634 responses (people could choose more than one answer) 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Nothing, it was great!
Having more responsibility
Having more chances to give our ideas
Working with more people
Other
“Different types of people (job roles)” “Make it more creative” “More of an idea of what I would be doing” “Do it more often” “Going and experiencing a response to a call “ “To do it over to days so the first day you get used to it and plan meetings and stuff for the “Doing it more times a year or maybe for a next day then on the next day just get on with week or something” it because we know what we have to do” “More days e.g. Take Over Week or twice a “Having more people do jobs” year” “Being off time table/ the teacher wearing our “More teachers in meetings, for students to do uniform so everything is vice versa” more meetings” “Teachers respect out ideas more” “Having more than one Takeover Day a year “ “Having less rules” “More lessons in the day! Teach more of the lesson” “Having more freedom” “Longer so we could give more ideas” “Everyone should do it, school council meetings shouldn't be on Takeover Day” “Have more creative activities”
“Maybe the teachers dress in our uniform” “Taking over more” “To attend some more lessons as well as “Meeting people from different groups” reporting on the day” “More things to do” “Doing more things outside the school. “We could help give ideas to schools they are Learning wise of course” going to develop in the future” “Less rules from our school and more control” What would make Takeover Day better? Asked to those taken over - 338 responses (people could choose more than one answer) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Nothing, it was great!
Better planning by us
More help from Children's Commissioner
Giving young people more input
Other
“Shadowing the position a couple of weeks “The day was fantastic and had a great before to plan and gain knowledge of the area impact. However if anything could be they are taking over” improved we could have had more young people there” “Should have printed the certificates on card beforehand. Better IT support for YP. “An environment that is more conducive to Feedback forms already printed for the day” young people” “Next time I would be more prepared and plan “As much of what we discuss is confidential a bigger schedule and even involve my young we were limited in what we could allow person in a briefing to staff” students to do (e.g. answer phones) but they still had a lot of input outside of that” “Be good to have an idea of the young person’s interests and possibly tie in with what “More time with student to plan” area they would like to work in in the future” “Time set aside to plan better” “More time to complete job descriptions”
“It difficult to accommodate all those that “Doing a real job to gain experience” wanted to take part” “Better forward planning and notice from “Start planning earlier using feedback from inside our organisation.” young people” “Possibly including different job roles in the “Day chosen” centre” “More time to prepare and plan” “Not sure that the young people who 'took us over' volunteered to learn more about adult “Giving more time for the preparation. Having social care” at least a week to work together before the day” “The young people being given the option of where they were placed” “More time with students in advance. Planning was a little rushed” “More background of the children who were taking over. We made the assumption that “Having a whole week” the young people were interested in libraries/ “Different time of the year i.e. when exam reading” groups on study leave” “More information given to the students “Given more time to organise in school − used beforehand so they could understand what to up lesson time” expect. A finalised list of participants, as some students changed at the last minute − “More time to plan things” this did not impact but could have led to a “For more students to be involved, not just the mixed age group meaning the task could have ones given adult roles” been more difficult” “More extra-curricular activities suggested by “More involvement from other areas of the year's 9−11” council” “The teachers actually listening to us and “Doing more practical jobs” letting us plan the lessons” “Getting some our young people to takeover “Ensure each form and teacher know what jobs in outside companies as well” their students are doing for which lesson, an “More young people taking over” overview sheet may help and be given to the teacher in order for them to say it is an acceptable lesson/way of taking the class”
The very few people (nine of them) who said that they wanted more help from OCC asked for these things. “Maybe some suggested work/projects for the “Meeting the Children’s Commissioner and takeover day that could be replicated across them coming down to see what’s going on” the country and organisations taking part” “Perhaps more examples of how the day “Advice on what success looks like for a day works” like this” “It would have been good for them to have a “More Hand-outs, perhaps prizes, perhaps a presence on the day.” personal message to be accessed on line” “Better direction in terms of realistic aims and “A bit more guidance” quantifiable outcomes” “More cash” Many of these are simple suggestions that we should incorporate into our guidance for CCTD 2015 and where not possible this could be explained. For example if organisations realised the scale of CCTD they would understand only a few could be visited on the day.
Thanks to all the people who took and shared pictures of their Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day. All images are copyright of the people who took them. Most images are credited in footnotes. Participation People and Wandsworth Borough Council: https://www.flickr.com/photos/participationpeople/15883774645 John Coster and Highcross Leicester: https://www.flickr.com/photos/citizenseye/15681473819 Camden Council communications: https://www.flickr.com/photos/camdencouncil/15706225849 Worcestershire Council for Voluntary Youth Service: https://twitter.com/WorcsCVYS/status/535825809152671744 Disability Lincoln (Action for Children): https://twitter.com/disabilitylincs/status/535744663278583808 Tom Blackwell and NHS England: https://twitter.com/BlackwellTJ/status/538072687286181889 Justine Goodwin and James Paget Hospital: https://twitter.com/goodwin_justine/status/561474841061384192 Smart School Councils Community and the Electoral Commission: https://twitter.com/SSCCTY/status/535822070337523712/photo/1 Spurgeons UK: https://twitter.com/SpurgeonsUK/status/536850808873422848/photo/1 Headline Teachers: https://twitter.com/HeadlineTeach/status/535811076911554561/photo/1 Norfolk Fire Service: https://twitter.com/Norfolkfire/status/535847490386673664/photo/1 Sophie Cristophy and Herts and Essex Observer: https://twitter.com/schristophy/status/537966915546021888/photo/1 Natasha Finlayson and Who Cares Trust: https://twitter.com/WhoCaresTrust/status/535840031232237568/photo/1 Mary Seacole Housing Association: https://twitter.com/MarySeacoleHA/status/536855582817652736 Trafford Housing Trust: https://twitter.com/THT_Youth/status/535853578246950913