What’s a Children’s Commissioner? Someone who speaks up for children and young people. They work to make sure that children and young people are kept safe and that they know about and get their rights. There is a lot of work to do so a team of 30 people work with the Commissioner.
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What does the Commissioner do?
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It’s the Commissioner and the team’s job to: Tell children and young people about the Commissioner and children’s rights Go and meet with children and young people and listen to what they have to say Work to make sure that all children and young people in Wales are safe Make sure that everyone hears about children’s rights and takes children seriously Help children and young people who are worried about something
The Commissioner works with Children and young people to help make a difference.
Freephone: 0808 801 1000 or visit www.childcomwales.org.uk for more info.
Get in touch with us!
What’s an Ambas sadors Ambassador? rule! There are 3 main things an ambassador does:
No. 1 No. 1 Tell children in their school all about the Children’s Commissioner for Wales
No. 2 No. 2 Tell children in their school all about Children’s rights and the UNCRC
The ambassadors get lots of help to do these things from their teacher and the Communications and Participation team at the Children’s Commissioner’s office. Being an ambassador is an important job and it’s a lot of FUN!
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• Able to listen to what other people in the school think • Make sure children in your school know about their rights
• Be happy to try and do something different in school
• Ask if you are not sure about something & get help if you need it • Speak up for yourself • Speak up for others
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No. 3 No. 3 ir Ask children in the school what could be made better and then work with other people in the school to change things
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• Able to work with other people • Do things so you can try and make changes for young people • Organise some things, like putting up posters • Reliable—will come to meetings and reply to messages
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www.childcomwales.org.uk You can Visit www.childcomwales.org.uk for more information about being an Ambassador ª ª
Want to be an Ambassador?
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If you want to try and be an ambassador you will have to take part in an election in your school, where all the children vote for the two children they want to be the ambassadors. Here are a few tips about what to do if you want to try and become an ambassador: • Make sure you know what an ambassador does • Make a list of why you think you would be a good ambassador
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• Make a poster to tell people why you would be good as an ambassador • Talk in class or assembly to tell everyone why you would be a good ambassador (plan what you want to say beforehand, and practice it with your friends)
What will you get? • A toolkit telling you all about everything you need to do • Visits from the Communications and Participation team • Phone and email support from the Communications and Participation team
Contact us… Colwyn Bay Penrhos Manor, Oak Drive, Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL29 7YW Tel: 01492 523333 Fax: 01492 523336 Swansea Oystermouth House, Charter Court, Phoenix Way, Llansamlet, Swansea SA7 9FS Tel: 01792 765600 Fax: 01792 765601
Email: ambassadors@childcomwales.org.uk Website: www.childcomwales.org.uk
Ambas sadors rule!
Running an Election — ask your teacher for help with this!
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A school election is when all of the children in school choose who they want to be their ambassadors. Here’s what might happen in an ambassadors election
N o . 2 No. 1 No. 1 Everyone in the class looks at the information and talks about it with their teacher to find out what an ambassador is, what they will have to do + WHO WANTS TO BE ONE!!!
No. 3 No. 3 In class people say who they think should b e an ambassador by filli ng in the nomination f orm. The people with th e most nominations w ill go forward to a wh ole school secret vote !
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No. 2 The pupils that want to be an ambassador say who they are and why they would be a good ambassador.
No. 4 No. 4 All the pupils in the school get to vote, in a secret ballot, where nobody knows who has voted for who…
The two young people with the most votes get to be the ambassadors. One girl + one boy MUST be chosen The two ambassadors, get their special Ambassadors’ Packs, with loads of information, and things that will help them to do their job.
Election Voting Forms Photocopy these forms and hand them around your class during nomintations.
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Vote for me!
Nomination Form I would like to nominate
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to be an ambassador because
Self Nomination Form Name I think I would be a good ambassador because
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Election Voting Forms Photocopy these forms and hand them around your class during nomintations.
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Vote for me!
Place a
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Hello Ambassador Well done, you’ve been chosen to be an ambassador by the children and young people in your school.There are 3 main things ambassadors do:
No. 1 No. 1 Tell the other children in your school all about the Children’s Commissioner for Wales
No. 2 No. 2 Tell the children in your school all about Children’s rights and the UNCRC
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3 . o N No. 3 Ask children in the school what could be made better and then work with other people in the school to change things
P Freephone: 0808 801 1000 www.childcomwales.org.uk
Get in touch!
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Being an ambassador is an important job and this toolkit has been written to help you. It might sometimes be hard work but it should also be fun! You‘ll find more information about other ambassadors and the work they have been doing by looking on the ambassadors page on the website.
www.childcomwales.org.uk If there is anthing you are not sure about don’t forget that you can ask for help from your teacher or any of us. Call our freephone number:
0808 801 1000 and ask to speak to the Communications and Participation Team. Or Email:
ambassadors@childcomwales.org.uk Or write to the Communications and Participation Team at the Children’s Commissioner’s two offices.
Colwyn Bay
In Swansea
In
Oystermouth House Charter Court Phoenix Way Llansamlet Swansea SA7 9FS
Penrhos Manor Oak Drive Colwyn Bay Conwy LL29 7YW
Ambas
sadors rule!
Here’s some stuff you need to know so that you can do your job!
Q. A.
What’s a Children’s Commissioner?
It’s the Commissioner and the team’s job to:
Someone who speaks up for children and young people.
ork to There is a lot of w people do so a team of 30 missioner. work with the Com e sure They work to mak young that children and fe and people are kept sa out that they know ab s. and get their right
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tell children and young people about the Commissioner and children’s rights go and meet with children and young people and listen to what they have to say work to make sure that all children and young people in Wales are safe and help children and young people who are worried about something make sure that everyone hears about children’s rights and takes children seriously.
e r e h We’re ! u o y p l e h o t
WWW. b Find out more about the work we do by looking on our website: www.childcomwales.org.uk
What work does the Commissioner and the team do?b
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Workshops
Events
We run workshops to tell children, young people and adults about the Children’s Commissioner and about children’s rights.
Each year we hold 2 events for children and young people, where they decide some of the things we work on in the following year. We go to other events as well like Eisteddfodau.
Advice & Support We have a helpline that children and young people can ring for free if they are worried about something. Adults can ring if they are worried about a child or young person not getting what they need.
Advisory Groups We have 2 advisory groups of young people who help to interview all new staff, look at the way we work, make sure everything we write is easy to understand and other things like that.
Policy Work We work with people who make decisions, to tell them what children and young people think is important, and how to improve things.
Website Our website has lots of information for children and young people about their rights and the work we do.
Backchat
Ambassadors
This is our email survey group that children and young people can join. Members are emailed questions. This helps us to know what children and young people think about things.
Ambassadors work with us to let children and young people know about the Children’s Commissioner and their rights.
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k Remember to chec out our website: s.org.uk www.childcomwale
Look at me! ‘I am an Ambassador at my school. My classmates voted for me and I really enjoy it.’
Ambas
sadors rule!
What does everyone do?
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Everyone who is part of the ambassador’s scheme has a different job, we all work together and help each other to make things work. Your Teacher
• Helps you if you need it
• Keeps in touch with the Communications and Participation Officers
The Communications and Participation Officers — Us! • Help you
Ambassadors — You! • Tell other children in your school about the Children’s Commissioner and children’s rights • Go to meetings about ambassadors and some school council meetings • Keep in touch with the Communications and Participation Officers
• Keep in touch with the ambassadors in the schools • Tell you about the Commissioner and children’s rights • Tell the Commissioner about the work you are doing • Put new information about ambassadors on the website
• Tell your teacher how things are going and ask for help if you need it! • Do a special ambassador project to change things in your school
We can do so much by working together.
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What’s an Ambassador’s Project?
An Ambassador’s Project is all about children and young people working to make things better in their school.
Some ambassadors have already done some great projects, here are just a few:
No. 1 The School Toilets!
In one school the ambassadors decided that they would like to find out what children in their school thought about the school toilets. To do this they interviewed pupils in the playground using a cassette recorder and microphone, asking questions like:
‘What’s wrong with the school toilets?’ ‘How can we make them better?’ The information was written down and taken to the next school council meeting. It made teachers aware of how they felt about their toilets.
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The main problem was that the tap water was too hot, and there was no soap; both of these have now been sorted out.
Ambas sadors rule!
The only way to find answers is by asking questions.
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No. 2 Bullying!
No. 3 School Dinners
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In another school, the ambassadors decided that they would like to do some work on bullying. They used a ‘bully box’ and asked children to write down their thoughts about bullying.
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They asked questions like:
‘Have you been bullied?’
‘What kind of bullying was it?’
They found out information about who was being bullied and what type of bullying was going on. They found out that the most common bullying was name calling followed by pushing and hitting.
Another two ambassadors did a piece of work on school dinners. The ambassadors sent out questions to all the pupils in the school asking them what they liked and didn’t like about the dinners and how they could be better. The two ambassadors then met the cook to tell her what the children thought.
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‘the dinner ladies are lovely and always smile’ ‘Could we have taster dishes, when there is something new, so we can see if we like it first?’ The meeting went really well and the cook listened to what the children told her.
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you think you Is there something in your school? could make better u could: If you think so yo in your school • Ask the childen what they think? acher about your • Talk to your te could do idea and what you
So what u o y n a c s i g n i y l Bul ve? o r p m i ! k o t o n They decided to do something about bullying by doing an assembly for the whole school. They acted out a drama that showed different types of bullying, how it made the young people feel and how they could help themselves by knowing what to do if they were bullied. The assembly also sent out a clear message that bullying is not ok!
munications • Talk to the Com Officer and Participation council what • Ask the school they think?
Finding out about things in your school
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Part of your job as an ambassador is to find out what other children in your school think could be made better. Here are a few ideas:
No. 1 Make an ideas box
Make an ideas box and ask everyone to write down things they think need to be changed and put them in the box.
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Ask children what they think about thing s and record what they say on a tape recorde r.
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It’s good to listen s and think of other
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No. 2 Interview people
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No. 3 Write a questionnaire
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Write a questionn aire (ask for some help to do this) and as k children to fill it in.
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When you have enough information you need to talk to your teacher or the Communications and Participation Officers about what to do next.
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What happens at the end of the scheme?
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Each year the ambassadors’ scheme finishes in July. So that means that you will finish being an ambassador too. Help carry on the good work Your school will probably want to keep the scheme going and elections for the new ambassadors will start in September.
When you finish something it’s a good idea to think about what parts went well and what parts could have been better.
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This helps us to make sure the new ambassadors get all the help they need to do their jobs. You can fill in the form and send it back to us when you finish. If you are still at the school you might be able to help the new ambassadors to understand their new jobs or you may be leaving to go to secondary school.
Tell us what you think!
We hope you enjoy being an ambassador for the Children’s A Commissioner for mbas s Wales and we hope ru ador s le! you learn lots of new things.
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Tell us what you really thought of your time as an ambassador!
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Name Age School What part of your job as ambassador did you enjoy doing the most?
d What was the worst thing?
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Is there anything you think we could do to make the scheme better?
Is there any advice you would give the new ambassadors?
∞ WWW.childcomwales.org.uk
Stay in touch through our website: www.childcomwales.org.uk ¢
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Telling everyone about the work of the Commissioner
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It’s your job as the ambassador to let everyone know what the Children’s Commissioner for Wales does and how people can get in touch if they need to. You could: Get busy!
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• Ask your teacher if you can put some information about the Children’s Commissioner for Wales on a notice board for everyone to see (you’ll find posters and leaflets in this toolkit) • Give out our leaflets (get in touch and we will send you some)
Get talking! • Tell people about the ambassadors and the Commissioner in an assembly • Tell the school council about the Commissioner and give them some information so that they can tell their own classes
Get arty! • Make a leaflet or poster about what the Commissioner does and how children and young people can get in touch with the Children’s Commissioner if they need to
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qd What can I do that’s different?
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Get thinking!
In one school the ambassadors decided to do a workshop session with the infants and the year six pupils.
They put together a colourful Powerpoint presentation with lots of information about the Commissioner and the UNCRC. To get the message across to younger children they used a puppet called ‘WMFFRA’ to explain the information in a fun way and make the presentation come alive. The session with the infant class was fun, enjoyable and very informative, led and presented by the ambassadors with Ambassadors the help of ‘WMFFRA’! rule!
How many people have you told today about the Children’s Commissioner for Wales? 1–5 6–10 more than that!
Working with the school council
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Every school in Wales has a school council. Your school council is made up of pupils from your school, who are called school councillors.
The councillors represent the views of the children in their class.
is one way that children have more of a say in the way their school is run.
• They might be able to help you with your ambassadors project
It’s a good idea for ambassadors to go to some school council meetings so that:
e h t l l e T d l r The school council wo
• They can help you by telling the children in their class about the Commissioner and children’s rights
Ask your teacher:
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• You can tell the school councillors about the work you are doing as an ambassador
• when and where the school council meets • ask if you can go along to the meetings
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There should be rulae!dors • put the dates in your journal At the meeting — be ready to talk a child from about being an ambassador every class on the Talk to them about ways they could school council. help you to do your job.
Remember to Take plenty of notes at your meetings.
For more information, please visit our website: www.childcomwales.org.uk
WWW.childcomwales.org.uk ¢
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