If you could change what it’s like at school for young people in Scotland, what would you change?

The Scottish Youth Parliament has been thinking about how they’d like to change the picture to make Scotland a better place for young people to live. They’ve come up with all sorts of ideas, including some really good ones about support at school – like challenging bullying, and making sure that disabled young people have a say and teenage mums and young carers get the help they need.

The Scottish Youth Parliament now needs YOU to check that they have got the picture right, by sharing your views in a survey. The survey results will be used to tell politicians and the Children’s Commissioner how young people in Scotland want the picture changed.

To find out more and take part in the survey, visit the Scottish Youth Parliament’s Change the Picture website.

And finally…. Here’s a picture of singer Amy Macdonald, who launched Picture the Change. Lucky Derek Coupar, the Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, got to have his photo taken with her!

For one of the coolest shows at the Edinburgh Festival, check out the school art competition winners at the National Gallery in Edinburgh. The art is by school pupils of all ages – from nursery up to secondary.

And there is so much talent! It is hard to tell the difference between this art and the art hanging upstairs in the gallery, which sells for millions of pounds

Enquire have been lucky enough to get our hands on some of the winners’ art to add to our gallery Your Views.

So thank you and congratulations to the following young people who are now on our gallery: Pupils at Stanecastle school, for their group effort on this picture above. And in the special schools category – Sylwia Kolanka, Richard Muir, Ayesha Chappell.

You can find out more about the art exhibition on the website for the National Galleries of Scotland. The exhibition is on until 15 October.

You can also find out how to enter next year’s schools’ art competition at this weblink.

1st Place by Sylwia Kolanka

2nd place Richard Muir

3rd place Ayesha Chappell

]]> http://www.enquire.org.uk/youngpeople/wordpress/?feed=rss2&p=934 0 http://www.enquire.org.uk/youngpeople/wordpress/?p=904 http://www.enquire.org.uk/youngpeople/wordpress/?p=904#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:40:25 +0000 amelina http://www.enquire.org.uk/youngpeople/wordpress/?p=904

If you’re in care then sometimes this gets called being ‘looked after’. As Melissa says in the interview, there are more looked after young people than you might think. In fact, over 12,000 young people in Scotland are looked after/in care.

There are lots of reasons why a young person might be in care. Often it’s because your parents aren’t able to look after you, so you go to live with a foster carer or stay in a residential unit instead. But there are also a lot of looked after young people who are still living at home with family and are getting support from social workers.

Being in care can make it hard for you at school. In the interview, Melissa, James and Russell talk about how they feel that young people in care get a ‘label’ for ‘being bad’. They say that it’s common to get bullied by people at school for being in care. And there’s a worry that all too often young people in care leave school without reaching their potential.

So what might help looked after young people get more out of school? Melissa says it’s about educating other people so they understand better about why young people are in care. Russell and James reckon its about getting the right support and some understanding from the teachers.

One thing is for certain. The message from young people in care seems to be…GIVE ME A CHANCE!

You can listen to the interview with young people from Who Cares? here. If you prefer, you can read what was said at the end of this blog entry.

For more info on the Give Me a Chance Campaign, visit their website.

You can find out more about Who Cares? and contact their local support workers here.

And finally, you can read a transcript of what was said in the interview here.

Amy:What sorts of issues do you think that young looked after people have at school?

Russell:They face stigma. Bear in mind that they’re in care, and there’s an overall opinion that people in care don’t meet their targets at school, their exams. It’s just in general that young people in care get treated badly. From past experience, I’ve been excluded several times, and I feel that say I wasn’t in care, I wouldn’t have been excluded. It’s teachers and pupils – because pupils can see it as a chance to bully. They know that you’re not living with your parents, and they can laugh at that.

James:Sometimes it’s just trying to fit in, and you can end up with a bit of a rep.

Amy:What, so you get a bit of a reputation?

James:Aye, you get a bad boy rep. If you’re coming from a residential unit and someone mentions that you are in care, then you kind of put your guard up because you know that they are going to start judging you. And that means you get all defensive. And you kind of block it out and you don’t listen to what they are saying.

Amy:So do you think that it’s quite a common experience for young people in care to be getting into trouble with teachers?

James:They expect it. And because they expect it, they watch out for you. So it feels that there’s nothing to do except answer them back. You always challenge authority. You question everything. Sometimes it feels that everyone is against you. I know that they are trying to help you, but sometimes it just comes across that you are saying the same things, you are talking the talk, but none of you are actually walking the walk that I want to see.

Amy:What about if you move between different areas – say you move between different residential units and you might have to change schools. Do you think that that can cause issues for a young person?

James:Aye. But most of the time they try to make it so you don’t change schools. They put on a taxi or you get the bus. So they try to keep you in a stable environment, not disrupt it too much.

Melissa:From my experience, you can either see it as stigma or…. personally I embraced being in care. I was in school at the same time and I know when I was in a school assembly there was people talking about being in care. Everyone was like “Oh, Melissa’s in care”. They used to come up to me and ask me questions. And I was quite happy, but if you’re not happy to answer them then of course it’s going to be seen as “Oh, you’re being nosey’. There’s a lot of different things that you can expect from school. You can either embrace it, or you can avoid it. But I felt it would be better to embrace, and see it as a different opportunity, a different path that I had to go down to get where I am today.

Amy:I suppose people… in a way a lot of it is just curiousity, or misunderstanding.

Melissa: It’s lack of education about it, that’s what I think. I personally feel that it should be part of the curriculum. Because the lack of education means that people are feeling subjected to being on their own, and isolated. But if everybody knew about it.. because there’s more people in school being in care than you’d think. And if people knew about that, then they’d embrace it as well.

Amy:So you’ve talked about stigma that young people in care face at school. Do you want to tell me about the Give Me A Chance campaign?

Melissa:The Give Me A Chance Campaign is a campaign made up by Who Cares? Scotland that looks to teaching Scotland that a child in care or a looked after person isn’t a bad person. And they look to challenge the people who’ve got questions… just like the people at my school…and they look to challenge them and say ‘look it’s not all bad, it can be good sometimes, and it’s not always the young person’s fault’. Because like I was saying before, the lack of education means people are assuming we’re bad, and we’re not bad.

James:It’s just about raising awareness about people in care, and saying that it’s not their fault that they’re in care. It’s about raising awareness of the issues that they’re in care because of.

Amy: So what reasons are there why a young person might be in care?

James:It’s just that their ma, or dad, or whoever looks after them, can’t really support them or give them the stuff that they need to meet their needs. So it’s just about giving them more stability and routine. Just a better chance I guess.

Amy:But of course there are also a lot of young people who are getting social work support but who are based at home. I thought that was really interesting, how many different settings there are. You know it might be you’re in a residential unit, or a foster carer, or at home but getting social work support. I think that kind of diversity is… well, not many people know that. I think they assume things that may be wrong.

Melissa:Personally I think that people automatically assume that you’re bad. It’s awful how easy it is to say ‘that’s bad’, and how easy it is to say ‘you’ve got a better life than me’. Because everyone’s looking for the same thing. And I just think it’s terrible how people just label you…

Amy:So what kind of support do you think young people in care might find helpful at school?

James:I think it’s probably good if there is a teacher or someone else who they get on with that they can go to. Someone that knows them and knows that they can work hard. And it’s more understanding as well. And just treating us like anybody else that’s in a normal situation.

Amy:And what would your advice be to young people having to go to school meetings?

James:I’d tell them to take somebody that they’re comfortable with to support them. Because they can be quite hard – sometimes they’re dead negative.

Russell:I came up with an idea, which might not be the easiest of solutions, but it is a solution. A chill out room, so if needs must, if a child – not just children in care, but in general – if a child couldn’t cope in the classroom and just needed a bit of time, then they could just go to that room, calm down, and see about going back to the next class. Things that would be in that room – mats, lava lamps, relaxing colours, and maybe some bean bags… just to calm down.

Amy:It’s really interesting that you say that because the last podcast interview we did was about a place in a school called the Retreat, which was exactly like the place you’ve just described – a chill out zone where you could go to calm down….So is there any other support that you think might help?

Melissa:Well I had a great guidance system in my school. I’m the sort of person who would go up to a teacher and say ‘I’m not having a good time at home’, because I’m quite an outgoing person. But there’s a lot of people that aren’t. I was luck enough to have that guidance. Also, we had a pupil council meeting at my school and as a young person in care I went. And they all knew I was in care so they asked us, what should we do to make people more aware? And I said maybe we should have an assembly where we say that there is people in care so don’t be afraid to come to the guidance and to talk to us. And we got a really positive result from that.

Amy:So do you have any advice that you’d give to another young person in care about what they should do if they’re having a really hard time at school. And maybe they’re having issues around being excluded, or being bullied. What kind of advice would you give them?

Russell:To talk to someone that they trust. If that problem is mega and they need someone to talk to, then talk to that person and tell them what the problem is. And just try to stick it out at school – there was a survey done that nine times out of ten people in care aren’t going to get a job when they leave school. And people in care can achieve…

Amy:With the right support?

Russell:Yes.

Amy:So final question, in a nutshell can you just tell me what Who Cares? is all about?

Melissa:Who Cares? for me is an environment where I can go with other volunteers such as myself and I can be myself, and put my views across. Kind of like a tight knit community.

James:Who Cares? is for young people in care to keep them aware of their rights and to support them to do stuff. They give you advice on what to do, they support you to go to job interviews. Or if you have to go to any meetings, like school meetings, then they’re there to support you.

Amy:And I know Who Cares? put quite a lot of emphasis on helping young people to participate. Like don’t you have young people on your board?

James:Aye. There’s six young people on the board. It’s all about changing the system and trying to make it better.

A young carer is someone who helps to support someone in their family who is unwell or who has disabilities. As a young carer, you might help out with the housework and the shopping and look after your brothers and sisters. You might also help the person who you care for to look after themself.

Whatever it is that is keeping you busy as a young carer, it might mean that you find it hard to keep up with homework and get to school on time. When you’re in lessons you might be worrying about whoever it is you care for. And you might be missing out on chances to hang out with your friends and go on school trips.

If you’re a young carer and you’re having issues at school, you may need some extra support. You can call or email Enquire to find out more about your rights to get extra support at school. If you feel too shy to call or email us, then get an adult to do it for you. You could also check out the guides on our website, as there’s lots of helpful advice in them.

To find out more about the young carer’s campaign, watch this short film:

Also, look at this clip from GMTV. It shows a film about the day in the life of a young carer. It also has an interview with the Princes Royal Trust for Carers.

If you want more info about the young carers’ campaign, visit their website here.

If you’re a young carer, there’s a discussion forum and lots of helpful advice on YoungCarers.net

The survey is about how being ill or disabled affects your life. It asks questions like:

- Do you have enough time with your friends?

- How is school going?

- Do you feel happy or sad?

The survey is by the Long Term Conditions Alliance and For Scotland’s Disabled Children Campaign. They want to find out your views so they can campaign to make young people’s lives better.

You can fill in the survey here. It should take you about 15 minutes. You need to fill it in by Thursday 8 July.

What may help is having a place to chill out. Somewhere you can take a step back from it all and have a re-think.

Niddriemill Primary have got just this sort of a place. They call it ‘The Retreat’.

Last week I went to the school to interview some of the pupils about The Retreat.

When you walk into The Retreat you find yourself in a bright, colourful room. There are lots of toys, big cushions to sit on and calming music playing. There’s a slideshow on the wall with photos of pupils hanging out here.

Pupils at the Retreat each have a super-hero picture which climbs up a ‘ladder of achievement’. Every time you are good, your super hero climbs that little bit higher up the ladder.

And if you’re really good, then you might be made a ‘playground pal’: someone who is specially chosen to look out for the younger ones and make sure there’s no trouble in the playground. ”I used to be bad”, says one of the boys I talked to. ”But then I started being good, and now I’m a playground pal with a posh green jumper!”.

To listen to the interview with the pupils at Niddriemill Primary, click here.

You can also listen to the pupils having a sing song about how cool their school is – batman and superman eat your hearts out!

To find out more about the Retreat at Niddriemill Primary, check out the school’s website.

And finally… here’s a transcript of the interview if you want to read what was said rather than listening to it.

Amy:So, tell me about the retreat. What does the room look like?

Pupil:Cool!

Amy:What’s in it?

Pupil:Toys!

Pupil:There’s a fish tank.

Amy:Where’s the fish tank?… Oh wow!

Pupil:We have an achievement ladder and if you get all stars then the person that you drew [moves up] and you get a special prize.

Amy:What so the people that you drew are climbing up the ladder? … So what’s this box?

Pupil:Every time you get a star on your good behaviour sheet you get a token.

Amy:Oh ok… so when you behave well you get a token. So they’ve got smiley faces on them.

Pupil:And this is a hundred square grid.

Amy: What’s that? Oh I see this is a hundred square grid with lots of different smiley faces. Let’s look at this one – oh you’ve got 2 whole pages of smiley faces!

Pupil:You could have a million if you had enough bits of paper!

Amy:And what kind of atmosphere is it like in the retreat?

Pupil:It’s calm. It’s a happy place.

Amy:And when I came in there was something playing I think?

Pupil:Calm music.

Amy: Yeah it felt really chilled out when I came in actually, it was nice… So why do you go to the retreat?

Pupil:If your behaviour is bad.

Pupil:You can come if like you’ve been good and you’re coming for reward time.Or if you struggle to behave in class.

Amy:So what kind of things do you do when you are here?

Pupil:You can come here if you’re feeling sad.

Amy:What other reasons do people come here?

Pupil:They can come here if there has been an incident and they need to calm down, and Ms Bonthrone [the behaviour support teacher] can sort it out and hopefully you will make up with the person.

Pupil:You come here if you are really upset about something and you can calm down for a little while and then go back to class.

Amy:So I’ve heard something about ‘playground pals’, what’s that all about?

Pupil:It’s where, if you’re responsible, you can get an application form and you fill it in and Ms Bonthrone gives you an interview and decides if you’re going to be one. And you get a posh green jumper. And I’m one [of them]!

Amy: You get a posh green jumper?

Pupil:Yeah and I used to be bad but then I got to be one because I started to be good.

Amy:So what do you think it’s all about?

Pupil:It’s for the P7s, like if they behave responsibly enough then they get to look after the little ones in the playground. So you get a green jumper and you can just play with the little ones and make sure they are ok.

Amy:Yeah it’s probably good as well because if the little ones are upset then they can come find you in the green jumper.

Pupil:Yeah, and if there’s two people fighting and you are a playground buddy then you can go over and stop it. And take whoever is hurt the most into Sandra’s [the learning assistant who does first aid].

Amy: So try and imagine if your school didn’t have the retreat… why is it so great to have the retreat?

Pupil:Because it calms you down. Like if someone bothers you then they’ll get a row!

Amy:Ok. So if you were giving some advice to another school pupil in a different school who was feeling upset – maybe they had had an argument with someone or someone had been saying mean things – what advice would you give them?

Pupil:That if they are finding it hard in class then they should ask their teacher if they can come out and count up to ten and take loads of deep breathes – like breath in, count to ten then let it out – and do that ten times.Then if you think you’re calm enough then you can go back into class. But if you are not then go and talk to the headteacher and just say to her that you are finding it hard in class.

Amy:That is really good advice. Has anyone else got advice?

Pupil:If you are upset ask the teacher if you can go to another class room to sit in a corner for a bit and calm down, so you can get away from the person who is annoying you. And then you can just calm down and when you are ready, go back.

Amy:Thanks, that’s fantastic advice. OK guys do you want to say a big goodbye to everyone out there who is going to be listening to this?

All Pupils:Good bye!!!!!!

Amy:

Pupil:

Amy:

Pupil:

Check out this brilliant artwork by young people from East Park school, St Raymonds Primary, Kirkrigg Primary and Govan High Autism Unit. The art is being shown at an exhibition put on by Project Ability, which supports people with disabilities to explore their creative side. The exhibition is called “Rolling the Ink” and is at the Trongate 103 in Glasgow.

Project Ability are also offering arts workshops for young people with learning disabilities and a Saturday Art Class that is open to everybody.

For more info check out Project Ability’s website here. You can also phone them on 0141 552 2822 or email info@project-ability.co.uk

Don’t believe me? Check out this comic Councils of the Galaxy, pictured below.

Children in Scotland – the organisation that made the comic – has sent a copy of it to every school in Scotland. So if you fancy having a read, just ask your teacher.

In the comic you’ll find useful info for pupil council members about holding fair elections, getting support from teachers and keeping in touch with people at school through blogs, text messages and e-news.

Oh, and my favourite idea – rocket- powered school canteens. Genius!

Fancy the chance of winning an ipod? Then visit the Having A Say At School website at this weblink. If you click on the comic picture you will go to a survey with ten easy questions. If you answer these questions, you will be entered into the competition to win an ipod.

To complete the survey you’ll need a password – it’s the name of the character in the comic who is a Chef (Clue! Look at the back of the comic  - the name of the Chef is written there!).

This was the message Enquire gave in a recent interview for In tune on the Young Scot website. It was an awesome opportunity for Enquire to talk about some of the things that can make it hard at school and different ways of getting help. Check out the interview this Month by clicking on the In Tune logo at http://www.youngscot.org

Young Scot have done lots of other interviews with services working for and with young people. It’s worth checking out their range of ‘Ask the Expert’ podcasts. For example, if you’re getting ready to leave school and want advice about applying for jobs, there are some useful interviews with Careers Scotland.

Got any feedback about the Enquire interview? We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment on the blog or get in touch with Enquire.