Different people, same skills

Unlocking the common core, as described by children and young people

We have worked with six groups of children and young people across England to explore how the common core is impacting on the roles of their workers.

Download the final end of project report [PDF - 105.2Kb] on the progress and lessons learned from this project.

Each group has now produced a range of promotional material to show how the common core makes a big difference.

Groups:

Cumbria County Council

The young people involved in the project were from the Pathways to Employment, an apprenticeship scheme at Cumbria County Council and were aged between 17 - 18 years. A project manager and a team of staff from Brathay Hall in Ambleside supported the young people. The project included a intensive two day residential programme, which included team building activities, interviewing skills and further break down of the project objectives. A further day was allocated for interview preparation and a day to interview staff.  The group reconvened to collate the materials gathered and worked with an art worker from Brathay Hall to draft the final leaflets.  

Youth Pathways to Employment leaflet

Heywood's Young Spirit, Lancashire

This project was led by eight young advisors aged between 16 - 20 years, (four females and four males) supported by a participation worker and a project manager. The group spent two full days interviewing workers from the police, youth work, children's social care and youth offending teams, about how their job roles met the common core. Further to this a week's residential was held where specific time was allocated to this project to compile the leaflets.

 Heywood's Young Spirit compiled two leaflets focussing on:

The common core and police community support officers
The common core and youth inclusion project workers

NCH The Children's Say, Gateshead 

This project was led by six children and young people aged between 10 - 14, supported by two participation workers and an artist who supported the children with their ideas and designs.

The first task that the group took on was to redefine the common core into everyday language. The children and young people interviewed education welfare officers, children's service co-ordinator, head of service for children and young people, participation workers and teaching and learning support assistants. They asked workers to describe which of the common core they thought related most to them, These ideas were reinterpreted by the children into eye catching cartoon characters and developed in to a common core poster.

Common core poster

Connexions North Tyneside

This group of children and young people, aged between 10-19, were supported by workers from Children's Fund, Connexions and the North Tyneside Youth Service. Initially the project held a conference to make sure the young people had a good understanding of the Common Core and to let them meet with a range of professionals who they could talk to about their day to day work and how they used the common core skills.  The following workers were interviewed:

• teachers
• youth workers
• Connexions personal advisers, and
• social workers.

Further days were scheduled so that the children and young people could bring the subject to life with their words and images. All the drawings in this leaflet were designed by the young people.

Connexions North Tyneside leaflet

Southend Department of Children and Learning

 Two organisations from Southend took part in this project. These were:

• Westcliff High School for Girls (students aged 14 - 15)
• Southend High School for Girls (students, aged 16 - 17).

Both groups had broadly similar support in this project and benefited from support from teaching staff and Southend's children's workforce team. Class room time was allocated to discuss and design characters to appear in the leaflets. Scenarios were also created on how these particular workers used the common core in everyday job roles. Interviews were carried out with workers and research conducted on websites.   

Westcliff designed a series of paper dolls illustrating the common core. These were adapted in to a leaflet.

Westcliff leaflet

Southend produced lots of in depth information which was distilled in to a series of pocket sized fact cards.

 PDF file of the factcards