Urban Crew June 2015
Overview The Urban Crew is a joint project between Manchester Communication Academy (MCA) and Northwards Housing, which started in 2010. The project aims to engage a number of primary schools in the north Manchester area, with aound 10 pupils from their Y5/6 groups participating in the project. Pupils are encouraged to volunteer on the programme where they will complete 30-35 hours of citizenship activities over the academic year enabling them to achieve an ASDAN Key Steps award at the City Pride Awards Event at the end of the school year.
“The thing I liked best about Urban Crew is that we get to help people and look after the environment” Urban Crew member – St Malachy’s
2014-15 was the fifth year in the life of the Urban Crew and along with the nine schools who took part last year - Briscoe Lane Academy, Charlestown Primary, Christ the King Primary, Crumpsall Lane, Oasis Academy – Harpur Mount, Holy Trinity, St Mary’s C of E, Temple Primary, Seymour Road – a further three schools came on board, supported by Collyhurst Big Local, these are Abbott Primary, St Malachy’s and St Patrick’s. Each school is able to choose its own Urban Crew from their year 5/6 group; they may be chosen for a veriety of reasons. Teachers have told us they have chosen children who are quiet and shy, those who they wish to improve their confidence, good role models who could be trusted to set a good example, as well as those who needed to improve their behaviour and those on pupil premium. In September 2014, we began by delivering an induction workshop to each of the schools, where the children are given their uniforms for the year. This consists of a high vis. vest, cap and belt bag, making them easily identifiable with in their school as an Urban Crew member. Each individual is provided with their own ASDAN workbook, from which they must complete at least one challenge from each section; covering topics such as environment, health, values and enterprise. Activities In order to complete the challenges, the children take part in numerous activities throughout the year. On a regular basis the children will patrol their school at break times to be responsible for environmental issues such as making sure litter is not dropped, ensuring areas are kept tidy and taps/lights are turned off. They will also be acting as role models and looking out for
other children who may be hurt or upset. They must also plan and deliver an assembly to the rest of their school on a relevant topic such as recycling, bullying or road safety.
Enterprise Day On Friday 30th January, all 115 children involved in Urban Crew came to MCA for their Enterprise Day. They got to work as a team to produce their own business for the day. They were provided with all the resources needed to design and create their products, prepare posters to advertise them and decide how much to charge. There were some great products including fridge magnets, keyrings, badges, finger puppets, smoothies, CDs and postcards. All the groups displayed fantastic teamwork, and put in 100% effort. After lunch, MCA staff were given some “Urban Crew Dollars” and invited to come and spend them in the market place. Here the children got to demonstrate their sales skills whilst also learning about the difference between sales and profit. It was a fantastic day and three awards were given out to St Malachy’s for “Best Sales”, with their fruit kebabs, Seymour Road who won “Most Profit” with their CD stall and Crumpsall Lane were awarded “Best Team” by mentors from local telesales company Convergy’s, who volunteered their support on the day. Silchester Drive | Harpurhey | Manchester | M40 8NT manchestercommunicationacademy.com admin@mca.manchester.sch.uk | 0161 202 0161
“I most liked the responsibility put on us in Urban Crew, it was exciting” Urban Crew Member – Christ the King
“One of the best things has been seeing a group of children come together to form a terrific team” A Teacher “The benefits of taking part in Urban Crew is the sense of responsibility. The children have more confidence and the children at the school feel safe”
A Teacher
ESA Day In March, the groups were invited back to MCA to take part in our Extended School Activities (ESA) Day, giving the groups a chance to try out something new, they wouldn’t necessarily get to take part in at primary school. Here the children did some cooking, making a healthy pasta dish from scratch; some groups did sports and a third group got to try debating – with the question “Can young people make a difference to the environment”. Community Visit Each of the schools took part in a visit to a care home close to their school. This was facilitated through Northwards Housing and gave the children an opportunity to do something nice for their community as many helped to plant hanging baskest or pick up litter, and then to go and chat with the residents; helping to foster good intergenerational relationships and pride in their community. Outcomes Everyone who has taken part in Urban Crew has enjoyed the experience. All 115 pupils taking part achieved their ASDAN Key Steps award. This is not just a piece of paper – the children have developed many skills that will take wth them into high school and beyond, from learning about health, the environment and enterprise to teamwork and resilience. This year all teachers and Urban Crew members were asked to give feedback on the project. From the teacher’s feedback, 100% would recommend the project to others. When asked to rate the activities on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is poor and 10 exellent, the Enterprise Day and Community visit were scored an average of 9.6, with the ESA day 8.2 and the workshops 8.6. The project overall was given an average score of 9. 100% of teachers felt their students had benefitted from an increase in
confidence and taking responsibility through being on the Urban Crew. 89% also felt their crew members showed improved behaviour and increased participation. 100% of the children said they had enjoyed being on the Urban Crew and 92% would recommend it to their friends. The children found it hard to find anything they did not like about the project other than the fact that one had not won the apprentice day! When asked what they liked best about the project the answers that came up time and again were helping others, working as a team, visiting the care homes and coming to visit MCA. MCA can support these year 5/6 pupils to gain real academic currency, prior to enen entering high school. Northwards Housing is able to demonstrate a real investment in the communities in which they work; developing good citizens who will show a pride in their local environment.
And finally…. The project culminates in an award ceremony held at MCA where all the children are presented with their ASDAN awards and one child is cosen from each crew as their member of the year, as nominated by their teachers. These children then receive trophy and gift voucher. One child is then chosen as the overall “Champion” to receive £250 for their school.