Series of nine papers taken from a research Ph.D. They are focused on data about the maintained Youth Service in Wales, collected and analysed from 2002 to 2007 when the Youth Service was first being directed by the Welsh Government policy ‘Extending Entitlement’.  These are being published in 2017 as there are issues which need to be considered due to the reinvigorated political interest in Extending Entitlement. These papers are intended to be a reminder that the translation of Extending Entitlement policy into practice was not a positive experience for the Youth Service in Wales and that there are inherent dangers that a refreshed Extending Entitlement will have just as many negative connotations unless we learn from, and respond to, the lessons from the past. The papers are: 

Extending Entitlement Revisited:

• Paper 1: Setting the scene
• Paper 2: How was the evidence found and analysed?
• Paper 3: The needs of young people and the Maintained Youth Service response
• Paper 4: What did politicians want from the Maintained Youth Service?
• Paper 5: How Knowledgeable were those working in the Maintained Youth Service of its discrete identity during the time of the Extending Entitlement launch?
• Paper 6: Did the Maintained Youth Service have the tools to meet the priorities of Extending Entitlement?
• Paper 7: What was happening in the Maintained Youth Service at the time of Extending Entitlement?
• Paper 8:  What did the Maintained Youth Service do after Extending Entitlement and how was this measured?
• Paper 9:  Findings and recommendations

Paper 1 

The study was carried out at a time when the maintained Youth Service in Wales had become drawn into a political agenda created by the election of New Labour in 1997 and the subsequent setting up of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. As a consequence of the particular circumstances caused by these two events there was an imperative for the maintained Youth Service to make a rapid transition from its historically marginalised position to one more central within the new young-people agenda. This investigation was concerned to determine if the maintained Youth Service was prepared and able to attain a new and strengthened position that made it secure in the long-term by adopting a strategic approach that promoted its 'young people first' approach and maximised the opportunities presented to it by increased political attention and potential new resources. 

The focus of the investigation, which relied on data collected and analysed between early 2002 and 2007, was to establish if the maintained Youth Service in Wales was concurrently able to meet the needs of young people and the requirements of relevant Government Policy while maintaining its discrete identity as described within its purposes[1] and values[2] statements.

[1] To provide equality of opportunity for all young people in order that they may fulfil their potential as empowered individuals and as members of groups and communities - To support young people in the transition to adulthood - To assist young people to develop attitudes and skills which enable them to make purposeful use of their personal resources and time

[2] Which recognize: social education as the core process in youth and community work; the ability and inability of people to resolve problems and change themselves; the tension and distinction between empowering and controlling people; the rights to self determination; the importance of collective action and collaborative working relationships; and the value of co-operation and conflict

 

Wales Youth Agency 2002

This draft document was produced by the Principal Youth Officers of Wales (PYOG) with the support of the Wales Youth Agency (WYA) to encourage Local Authority Youth Services to introduce these standards in the context of their total resource allocation.

The document identifies an agreed set of standards for Youth Service provision, which are designed to promote young people’s social development and personal achievement within the economic and social policy agenda of the Welsh Assembly Government. It should complement other standards to secure effective policy for young people across various services. In particular they underpin those of ESTYN in respect of the quality and outcomes of the work of the Youth Service.  Locally agreed standards may improve on these minimum national standards.

[The document remains draft as it was not formally adopted at it's publication due to the financial implications for local authorities in meeting these standards.] 

 

 

This research project from Northern Ireland investigates the thinking behind youth work in schools from a youth work perspective and a school perspective. It discusses theoretical concepts so that youth work can be understood in a formal context. Youth workers, teachers in relevant schools and young people exposed to this intervention were interviewed. The findings were analysed and discussed and the project concludes with a set of recommendations. 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

This handbook has been developed to introduce, explain or expand on existing knowledge and experience in relation to ensuring equality in the provision of youth services.

In seeking to meet the outcomes for young people focussed upon in the Youth Work Curriculum Statement for Wales and the National Youth Service Strategy for Wales, this document encourages consideration of how best to ensure all young people in Wales have equal opportunities to engage in youth services and are treated fairly when they do so. The handbook will also provide youth workers with tools and ideas to raise young people’s awareness of equality issues. These aims should focus on celebrating equality and diversity. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

This handbook introduces, explains, or expands on existing knowledge with regard to detached and outreach youth work. In seeking to meet the outcomes for young people focussed upon in ‘Youth Work in Wales: Principles and Purposes’ document which is about to replace the Curriculum Statement for Youth Work in Wales (June 2012) and the National Youth Service Strategy for Wales, it offers ideas and information to work with young people who do not use traditional youth work settings but meet on the street, in parks, on the beach or find other social space of their own. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Between 2009-2011 CWVYS was commissioned by the Welsh Government to facilitate the research and publishing of Youth Work Methodology Handbooks or best practice guides for youth workers in Wales. CWVYS facilitated this work by bringing together voluntary youth organisations and maintained local authority youth services. This document is part of a library of Good Practice Methodology Handbooks for Youth Work in Wales. 

This handbook introduces, explains, and describes methods for recognising and accrediting the learning and achievements of young people and the potential role for youth work within this context.

The Handbook offers definitions of accreditation, types of accreditation and how to choose the most appropriate for a particular group, National frameworks, role comparisons and basic contact information. To ensure that it has a practical use for Youth Workers, reference is made to how a type of accreditation is appropriate in a youth work context or how a learning style or curriculum of learning contributes to the pathways of young people’s achievement. 

[CWVYS does not represent that the information contained in the handbook is accurate, comprehensive, verified or complete, and shall accept no liability for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this website or for any reliance placed by any person on the information.] 

Short paper to open up a wider debate on the process required to measure the journey taken by the young people, in particular those involved with the different youth work sectors. Considers whether there would be a means by which these tasks and activities could be categorised by using a non-formal Learning Framework. To assist this, a visual interpretation of the structure and principles of the Learning Framework have been developed into a 'Learning Tower'. 

Short paper looking at the principles of creativity and how these can enable the practitioner to work with the young person, using a process of experiential learning through which they can seek solutions to problems with which they may require some adult support.