raising the bar
According to the UNCRC (Article 12) and Children Act 1989, children have the right to be consulted in matters affecting their lives, yet to date there are no documented contributions to the Raising the Bar inquiry from children and young people in Suffolk.
The RSA worked with Suffolk County Council to support the Raising the Bar (RTB) initiative which aims to improve the quality of education in the county. The in-depth knowledge gained from Shout Out Suffolk not only informed the RSA inquiry led by Matthew Taylor, but had significant impact upon the way in which educational experiences in Suffolk are understood, providing a platform to develop the aspirations of young people in the longer-term.
To exclude young people from the critical discussion about their future will be to miss a crucial opportunity to allow them to see that their views are important and thus empower them to raise their aspirations and take active responsibility for their futures.
The Shout Out Suffolk Solution
The project was able to:
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Increase awareness of RtB encouraging them to reflect on their educational experiences.
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Develop skills of creative expression.
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Encourage them to consider their aspirations and how they will achieve them.
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Raise esteem and aspiration by seeing that their views matter.
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Develop improved educational experiences.
Scalability
The project aims to further identify barriers to educational achievement and provide clear evidence of best practice, but also areas for targeted investment for Suffolk County Council and other interested 3rd Sector Organisations, in order to ameliorate the educational divide associated with disadvantage.
Suffolk County Council has welcomed the initiative and indicated that it will support a further Festival of Ideas/Make it Loud! Campaign to follow on from this initial project. Furthermore, this information about innovative approach could be easily be disseminated through he RSA and, therefore, replicated nationwide.
Visit Shout Out Suffolk's website