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UK Youth Parliament Election Results Announced March 2013
The young people of Hertfordshire have twelve new young politicians to represent them and bring about change on issues important to them.
The outcome of the 2013 UKYP election was announced on Saturday 2nd March 2013 at County Hall, Hertford.
Supported by Youth Connexions, part of Hertfordshire County Council’s Services for Young People, 19 young people from all over Hertfordshire hit the campaign trail to be elected as Members of the UK Youth Parliament (MYPs). Votes were cast online via the county's youth website channelmogo where young people also had the chance to vote for their priority issues.
This year the scope and popularity of the elections grew yet again, with more than twice as many schools registering to participate and candidates from four schools that had not previously had any students standing for election.
The event at County Hall also celebrated the achievements of the outgoing Members of Youth Parliament, with Councillor Richard Roberts, Executive Member for Children's Services and many parents in attendance.
Councillor Roberts congratulated Hertfordshire’s six newly elected MYPs and six deputies:
"Congratulations to all those who took part whether successful or not but particularly to our newly elected MYPs; this will be an exciting journey for these young people who will be working to make a difference for others across Hertfordshire.
“I am absolutely determined that the voice of young people is heard in Hertfordshire as we should never underestimate the power of a young person speaking with conviction."
Result details are on channelmogo for young people to see who their nearest representatives are.
The newly elected politicians with Councillor Roberts. Left to right: Axelle, Ahmed, Sian, Jonny, Marco, James, Ije, Jack, Cllr Roberts, Christian, Katy, Emma, Kirsty
Creating an Effective School Council
A short case study of how Lymm High School benefits from a school council that has been running for over two years and engages pupils with "real democracy in action".
Inspiring Schools
Impact and Outcomes commissioned by Carnegie Young People Initiative and published in May 2006examines the results of involving young people in school and college decision making and reviewing 75 case studies.
The University of Birmingham's Centre for International Education and Research, which carried out the study said participation improved academic performance and behaviour. It also increased self-esteem, communication skills and levels of citizenship outside school. Lynn Davies, professor of international education is the author of the report. More details at:
Participation Toolkit
The Participation, Consultation and Involvement Toolkit provides comprehensive information on how to involve children and young people in shaping their educational experience. Below are some examples from Appendix 7 of the toolkit- Involving pupils in Teaching and Learning.
Watch this space for more examples of innovative practice.
Some examples we'd like to share include:
A Case Study on how to Evaluate Pupil Participation at a Secondary School
Making your School Council Effective
Save the Children: Developing a Model for Student Participation in an Education Support Centre
University of Cambridge: Developing Primary and Secondary Aged Researchers
Appendix 7.1 Involving Primary Aged Children in Teaching and Learning
Appendix 7.2 Circle Time
Appendix 7.3 ESC Model
BSF Participation Toolkit New
Children and young people attend school every day and know exactly what is needed for positive change, so they should be encouraged to participate in any transformation or change programme in schools. Participation means they should have an active and meaningful involvement in decisions that affect them.
This toolkit explores how best to involve children and young people in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, with ideas for pupil involvement in design and technology as well as strategy. However the ideas in the toolkit are not exclusive to BSF, and can be applied to any transformation or change programme involving the participation of children and young people.
For more details about pupil involvement visit the participation pages.
Background Information
Why is participation important, key principles, approaches, roles and responsibilities and useful websites
Why is Participation Important?
Key Principles and Values of Participation
Involving Children and Young People
Roles and Responsibilities
Useful Websites and References
Appendix 1 - Hertfordshire Framework for Involvement
Case Studies
Examples of projects involving children and young people's participation
Case Study 1 - The Sorrell Approach
Case Study 2 - Marriotts School
Case Study 3 - Discover Children's Centre
Methodology
Ways of involving children and young people in participation.
Creative Methods
Focus Groups
Surveys and Questionnaires
Perceptions of Schools Councils
Challenging perceptions of schools councils in the primary school, an article by by Sue Cox and Anna Robinson-Pant is well worth reading. Published in, Education 3-13, Volume 33 Number 2 June 2005 it explains how school councils have been set up in primary schools based on adult models of democratic committees. This article looks at children's and teachers' perspectives on their school councils and goes on to analyse the ways in which alternative strategies for addressing the constraints identified were developed in three Norfolk primary schools. Part of the authors' conclusion is how they learned about the need to look more critically at how school councils are introduced in the context of citizenship education. Both the authors are lecturers at the University of East Anglia.
Pupils as Researchers
A pilot project with four schools from disadvantaged areas of Hertfordshire took place in the autumn term, to look at ways to enable children and young people to be involved in evaluating education and making decisions. The project also looked at developing the skills of teachers and students to lead decision-informing research.
The pilot was a collaborative project between Cambridge University, Save the Children UK and Hertfordshire County Council.
Teachers from the four participating schools - Westfield Community Technology College, Chessbrook Education Support Centre, Holdbrook Primary School and Greenside School - were helped to evaluate the effectiveness of participation practice within each of their schools. They attended training sessions, and were accredited with a Certificate for Further Professional Studies by Cambridge University.
The training sessions covered the background to participation, research methodologies and ethics. Having undergone their own training, the teachers trained carefully selected pupil researchers, who then went on to train other pupils. This ensured that the schools involved were able to continue to develop and build on practices set up during the pilot.
Pupils developed many new skills and made key decisions about their research subjects. The data gathered was collated and presented, and provided valuable information about issues pertinent to young people, which the schools have been encouraged to use to inform their school development plans.
The pupils involved were very positive about the experience; they felt that it boosted their confidence, whilst also giving them a new insight into how the school functions.
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