Two weeks ago we resumed workshops for STAGE 2 of APiC’s COVID-19 Project with Children and Young People in Scotland. Supported by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS), #ScotYouthandCOVID2 has recalled the Young Consultants who participated in our original project during April/May 2020.
APiC’s self-funded study in April/May 2020 was a participant- led project and report that was one of the only truly participatory projects held with children and young people at that time. It set out the important changes and challenges young Scots were experiencing, including proposed solutions. It involved teams from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and (Rural) Stirlingshire and Falkirk, each with 4-6 boys and girls, aged 10-16 years. Earth in Common, the Children’s Parliament Imagining Aberdeen programme, Denny High School, Northfield Academy and Manor Park Primary School helped us with the recruitment.
Workshop 3
We reported last week the way 9 Big Changes have been experienced by our Young Consultants since June 2020. We noted this across four time periods, and reported that:
- The Summer Holidays brought relief from the stress of the pandemic and remote schooling, but social distancing with friends was a struggle and led to some tense or broken friendships.
- The Autumn Term saw a return to school buildings, which was good for many but brought new pressures and fears, with some experiencing even higher workload, and many reporting an increasing sense of guilt meeting friends outside of school (regardless of whether or not they were breaking the rules).
- The Christmas Holidays brought some relief, but our Young Consultants stressed how much they missed seeing their wider families over the break and the significant impact to their well-being of not knowing what would be happening to school arrangements in the Spring Term.
- The Spring Term saw a return to remote schooling for all Young Consultants for nearly the whole period, which has been especially demotivating and overwhelming.
As we delved into the Young Consultant’s experiences, it became clear that there were a multitude of experiences that differed depending on age, location, personality, and home circumstance.
Reorganising into ‘Task Forces’
In this latest workshop held Monday 29th March, we discussed possible new Taskforce groups, and our Young Consultants voted on what would be most important to them and then picked which group they would like to join. They settled on the following:
- ‘Exam’ Years with High Workload and Stress
- Well-being Outside of School
- The Transition from Primary to Secondary School
- Motivation and School
- Uncertainty
- Local Issues
Each of these groups then worked together to fill out a grid on Mural to get to the bottom of the problem and possible solutions. You can see a blank grid below.
Initial findings and key asks
The Taskforces are still in progress, and we will report more fully on findings in subsequent blogs. However, at the end of this workshop we asked each Taskforce for their top points to communicate to policymakers for addressing the specific challenges they face. We note these below:
‘Exam’ Years with High Workload and Stress
- Provide clear structure to schools on the evidence gathering process for determining grades. Too much time has been spent gathering information that cannot be used. This has been stressful and inefficient.
- Consider a better approach to grading pupils in future years. Exams don’t work well for many, and we have an opportunity to think again about what children and young people and our society needs from education.
Well-being Outside of School
- Not knowing when restrictions will end is really difficult. A helpline could be set up that children and young people could ring so that they can talk to trusted adults about how they are coping with lockdown and restrictions.
- Young Consultants reported wanting opportunities to feel like children and young people again, which many have sorely missed in the last year.
The Transition from Primary to Secondary School
- Not going to see new schools in person has been very difficult, and Young Consultants in P7 had either only met some of their new teachers in large groups on video call, or not at all. They recognise that teachers and schools have been trying hard to make it easier for them, but they would like to meet with new teachers in small groups to help them prepare and feel less worried about the change.
Motivation and School
- After living the same life for a year, our Young Consultants told us it’s really hard to know if they are doing anything correctly. More live video teaching would help, as for some subjects they get lots, and for others they get none at all.
- Feedback from teachers really matters. Some give lots and some give barely any at all. Some teachers are really nice about it, but for some the feedback is really blunt and hard to handle.
- The difference in the style of teaching over lockdown makes our Young Consultants think that more could be done to learn from good practice. In fact, some subjects that they used to really love are now demotivating because of the way they are being taught and whether and how feedback is given.
- Young Consultants understand that things are difficult for teachers as well, and they can tell that some teachers who they really liked before the pandemic must be really struggling because they can see a change in their enthusiasm and approach. Teachers also need more support and for their concerns to be heard.
Uncertainty
- Our Young Consultants noted that across society people seem to be communicating poorly with each other. In terms of announcements from Scottish Government – especially about school – ministers need to be firmer in their decisions and clearer about assumptions.
- Making vague announcements about what will happen and then backtracking, or suggesting something might happen that never does creates a rollercoaster of difficult emotions for children and young people. This is made harder when different announcements and plans are being made by difference governments across the UK without being clear as to why and what data is being followed.
- Young Consultants also reported feeling increasingly that they cannot trust the media and working out what is and is not fake news is getting harder.
Feedback, Communications and Relationships Matter
The overarching theme of our Young Consultant’s discussions was that the absence of live feedback, poor communication, and strained relationships is the key factor underpinning their decreasing well-being. The stability we usually strive to give children and young people has disappeared and not knowing for sure what arrangements are for even the next two weeks is very troubling. However, at the end of our session Young Consultants were unanimous that talking about these issues live and realising how common their feelings and views are helps them to feel better.
What’s Next?
It’s clear our Young Consultants have more things to say on these issues, and the Taskforce Mural Boards are already filling up with their analysis and further ideas. We now take a break over Easter, and will return on 19 April to start considering depth what small changes might make a big difference to their lives now and in the short term.
We will be posting frequent updates from the Young Consultants over the course of the project so follow us on Twitter for updates.
Read “#ScotYouthandCOVID: Children and young people’s participation in crisis” with the new foreword by the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland, Bruce Adamson.
Read our blogs covering Stage 1 of this project.