Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Big plans, bright future

Stockton Youth Assembly Minutes

Date:
Tuesday, 19th January, 2016
Time:
05.00pm
Place:
Community Zone, North Shore Academy, Talbot Street, Stockton-on-Tees
 
Please note: all Minutes are subject to approval at the next Meeting

Attendance Details

Present:
Jess Hugill (Chair),Cllr Robert Cook, Cllr Mrs Ann McCoy, Viven Alwis, Chloe Armstrong, Lauren Atmarow, Kushan Bhardwaj, Jemima Burton, Beth Gibson, Jack Gibson, Stephen Jones, Chloe McLaren, Colin McPhee.
Officers:
Dave Willingham, Ian Caley, Ryan Oliphant, Shirley Stenburge (Youth Direction), Stuart Levin, Michelle Jones (Democratic Services)
In Attendance:
Cllr Lauriane Povey
Apologies for absence:
Neha Kambalimath
Item Description Decision
Public
SYA
62/14		 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Preamble
 
SYA
63/14		 MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD 17TH NOVEMBER 2015
Preamble
AGREED that the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November be agreed as a true record
SYA
64/14		 EMPLOYMENT
Preamble
AGREED that the information be noted.
SYA
65/14		 GETTING MESSAGES TO YOUNG PEOPLE
Preamble
AGREED that:

1. SYA would promote the Youth Direction Facebook and Twitter accounts

2. Youth Direction would re-launch the hashtag (#) for communicating with young people

3. SYA would forward suggestions for question to ask using the #
SYA
66/14		 "DON'T HATE. EDUCATE!" CAMPAIGN
Preamble
AGREED that:

1. MYP to email head teachers and attend Head Teacher Cluster meeting to promote the campaign

2. MYP to meet with MP's for Stockton North and Stockton South to promote the campaign

3. a culture day event be explored
SYA
67/14		 NATIONAL VOTER REGISTRATION WEEK
Preamble
AGREED that the information be noted.
SYA
68/14		 FORWARD PLAN
Preamble
AGREED that:

1. Chelsea's Choice and Child Sexual Exploitation be a future agenda item

2. SYA members to confirm their place on the BYC's residential by 26 January 2016.
2. the forward plan be noted
5.00pm / 7.00pm

Preamble

ItemPreamble
SYA
62/14		There were no declarations of interest.
SYA
63/14		The minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2016 were agreed as a true record with one amendment:

Item 6: The national campaign day changed from 17 January to 22 January.
SYA
64/14		The support provided by Youth Direction to schools for Careers Education, Information Advice & Guidance (CEIAG) was outlined. Though there were no statutory requirements on schools, the provision of CEIAG is part of a schools Ofsted inspection. Young people should have been receiving careers education from Year 8, however central Government encouraged CEIAG to be provided at an earlier stage. All but one school in Stockton bought the universal service from Youth Direction. Support was also provided from Youth Direction, for Targeted young people in all schools and colleges, and for those in training and on Apprenticeships.

The Gatsby Report was published in 2014, identifying good CEIAG throughout the country and internationally. The report stated that the following eight recommendations were needed for good support:

1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the need of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance

It was recommended that schools should also provide opportunities for work experience and at least two visits to a university or further education college.

Youth Direction were working with Thornaby Academy on a project that encouraged local businesses to work with schools to show how school work related to skills needed within the workplace, e.g. a local manufacturing company could show how maths were used within their company.

The Youth Assembly discussed their experience of CEIAG in schools. Only one member had met with a careers adviser and some of her peers felt that this had been held at too late, therefore missing the deadline for applications to college courses. IC agreed to share this with the school. It was agreed that more advice and support was needed at an earlier stage so that young people could choose their options based on what they needed after school. Some SYA members had taken part in The Buzz session which was a personality profile test to suggest what type of jobs people may be best at. It was felt that this may put pressure on individuals who do not like the type of jobs the test suggests.

The types of jobs in the Tees Valley area were discussed. It was noted that a study had taken place in the North East area which found that young people were not prepared to commute outside of the North East for work. SYA members felt that information on the types of jobs that would be available in the Tees Valley area should be provided in schools to help young people pick the right courses for them and plan for the future. Officers noted that the information was available e.g. on Tees Valley Unlimited website; this may not be presented in an easily accessible way for school pupils.

Employer's relationships with schools, colleges and universities were also discussed. It was noted that while employers and schools did not communicate with each other very well, this was getting better. It was felt that more training opportunities were needed e.g. in engineering and not enough employers were taking up apprenticeships.

The SYA noted that more information needed to be provided to young people regarding accessing benefits that they would be entitled to when they left education. Officers noted that Youth Direction provided help and support for young people who found themselves not in education, employment or training.
SYA
65/14		The SYA were informed that Youth Direction had set up a page on Facebook and a Twitter account. These pages provided information on youth clubs and apprenticeship/job vacancies and were constantly monitored. There were also competitions and message boards on the page, and young people could send direct messages if they did not want to post these publically. The statistics of who had liked and viewed the pages showed that these were mostly women aged 25 - 34, therefore the SYA were asked to help promote the Youth Direction Facebook and Twitter pages. It was noted by SYA members that due to age restrictions for opening social media accounts young people who were using Facebook and Twitter often used a fake date of birth, and therefore any statistics on age would be unreliable. SYA members also suggested that information on opening bank accounts/saving and more targeted information on apprenticeships be placed on the pages.

It was noted that the Council was interested in how they could get messages to and from young people in a better way. There were currently different ways that the council engaged with young people, including the SYA, Big Conversation, and social media. In January 2015 the SYA had held a task and finish group to look at the best way to gain views from young people on behalf of the Council's Health and Wellbeing Board and felt that the best way was to ask one question at a time through social media. They piloted this idea via Twitter, using the hashtag (#) #asksam. SYA members discussed the different types of social media that young people used, including Instagram and YouTube, as well as the introduction by Twitter of a survey tool. SYA members felt that there should be more fun questions asked than serious questions to encourage young people to get involved and respond to the survey. It was also suggested that a story could be used to introduce each question to make it more personalised. It was agreed that Youth Direction would re-launch the hashtag, and the SYA would send in their comments and suggestion on questions to ask.
SYA
66/14		The Youth Parliament campaign for 2016 was "Don't hate. Educate", tackling racism and racial discrimination. The campaign would be launched on 22 January and the SYA were asked for their suggestions on how to promote the campaign.

It was suggested that a culture day event be held with different cultures showcasing their traditional dress, food, etc., inviting all schools to take part.

The SYA discussed Religious Education in schools and felt that there was too much information on Christianity and Islam and not enough emphasis on other religions, especially within faith schools. It was also felt that there was not enough information on current affairs within school, and this could be discussed within citizenship lessons so not to take away from the work needed to prepare for exams. The use of YouTube videos in promoting ethics was also raised as a way to get the message across to young people.

The MYP planned to email all head teachers and had asked to attend the Head Teachers cluster meeting to raise awareness of the campaign and ask that it be promoted in schools. Meetings were also being arranged with the two MP's for Stockton.
SYA
67/14		National Voter Registration Week would be taking place 1 - 7 February 2016, encouraging people to register to vote. Bite the Ballot would be going into schools to promote voting during this week and there would also be a stall on Stockton High Street on 3 February to promote registering to vote. Young people could register to vote from the age of 16, however would not be able to vote in an election until they were 18.
SYA
68/14		The forward plan was noted.

A video called Chelsea's Choice about sexual exploitation was currently being shown in schools and it was requested that a discussion on what young people thought about the film as a method of communicating the message be held at a future SYA meeting.

They were five SYA members booked on the British Youth Council residential during the Easter holidays, and any other SYA members who wished to attend were asked to contact Youth Directions by 26 January.

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