Success at SafeSide

On the 13th June 2011 Safeside at Eastside hosted a conference that celebrated the work of the Junior Street Champions Project, here are some of their successes this year.

Children

10 JSC groups were created and 111 children recruited.

Children were very positive about being involved and they enjoyed their JSC meetings.

Children particularly enjoyed being able to "talk about our ideas" and doing "fun" activities. They were also keen to "help" in their local community.

Some felt that their local area and young people get a bad press and wanted to help improve their image.

Some children did lots of extra work outside the planned sessions, including research and questionnaires at home and with parents

When asked what could be done to improve the project, most children said "nothing" or "more time"

Staff

9 schools were represented at the staff training, by 10 members of staff.

It worked best when children were consulted about their views and allowed some choice in the activities.

Staff feedback about the project programme and materials was positive. They liked that the session plans were a clear "step-by-step" guide.

The options and variety of the programme meant that they could choose and adapt activities to meet the needs of their students. The materials were successfully used with children in Primary and Special schools.

Staff felt that the programme linked to lots of other school issues eg PSHE, Citizenship, Literacy, Eco Schools, Forest Schools.

Schools tended to start with activities (eg litter pick) within the school or school grounds, but as they gained confidence, began to move beyond the school gates eg doing surveys in the local parks or making contact with local organisations or local councillors and involving parents.

Contacts with the Heart of Eden Project in Kitts Green led to very positive out-of schools activities for 2 of the Birmingham East Groups, Gossey Lane and Hallmore

What next?

Litter picking resource boxes will be delivered to Nechells and Birmingham East EAZ offices.

Nechells EAZ funded and hosted a conference to bring together all the children who have taken part in the Junior Street Champions Pilot Project. This take part on Monday 13th June at Safeside in Nechellls.  A series of activities were developed specifically for this event so that Junior Street Champions could explore the Safeside village and focus on how they can "walk a safe beat on a clean, green street".