VOLUNTARY ACTION PROJECT
c i n h t E y t i r o n i M d n a Black t u O g n i k a e p S e l p o e Young P
Programme 9.00 - 9.20:
Registration and coffee
9.20 – 9.25:
Opening address Cathy Macnaughton, Chief Executive, MCFB
9.25 – 9.35:
Welcome Address Gillian Tee Director of Children and Families, City of Edinburgh Council
9.35 – 9.40:
Words from our Funder
Maggie Gardiner, Voluntary Action Fund
9.40 -9.50:
Context of Equalities Diana Dodd, Principal Officer Equalities, Children and Families
9.50 – 10.30:
Presentation – Summary of the Project Dr Dina Sidhva, MCFB Eileen Simpson, EAL
10-30 – 10.45:
Coffee/Comfort Break
10.45 – 11.30:
Group work – Task and feedback
11.30 – 11.50:
Presentation by Davidson’s Mains Primary School Students
11.50 – 12.00:
Reflection, Summary and Thanks
c i n h t E y t i r o n i M d n a Black t u O g n i k a e p S e l p o e P g Youn A Report of the Launch of the findings of the Project
A partnership project of Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB) and The City of Edinburgh EAL Service (Funded by the Voluntary Action Fund’s Race Equality, Integration and Community Support Fund)
Welcome I am delighted to welcome you to the Launch of the findings of the “Black and Minority Ethnic Young People Speaking Out” Project. This project has been funded by the Scottish Government through the Voluntary Action Fund’s ‘Race, Equality and Integration Community Support Fund’. Multi-Cultural Family Base has welcomed the support and involvement of VAF who throughout this project has lent support, encouragement and has been a highly effective ‘critical friend’. The project started in July 2006 and from its inception has been a partnership project with the City of Edinburgh’s English as an Additional Language Service. This partnership is a valued and important one between a voluntary sector agency and the local authority. Good collaborative working is always a challenge to achieve but different perspectives bring richness and creativity when addressed constructively. The partnership has been made possible by the close involvement of schools and has brought a range of skills including those brought by group workers and the Art Therapist from Multi-Cultural Family Base. The project has been important to Multi-Cultural Family Base, bringing different strands of our work together and offering another channel for our twin objectives of supporting individuals to achieve their potential whilst also challenging the barriers they may face. The project has generated a huge amount of information from Black and Minority Ethnic Young People which is of significance for us in Edinburgh but also has much wider implications and learning. The findings of this project will be presented at international conferences in France and Brazil over the coming months. This report presents the findings which are being launched at an event on 17th June 2008. The aims of the launch are: - to disseminate the findings and outcomes of the Consultation and to hear the voices of the Black and Minority Ethnic Young People - to help us think together about developing strategies that focus on supporting young Black and Minority Ethnic people and their schools in reducing barriers - to identify and outline key characteristics of good practice in encouraging participation and making activities in and out of school more accessible - and to share examples of good practice. I believe these findings offer powerful insights into the views and experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic Young People and guidance in creating a more integrated and inclusive society. Cathy Macnaughton Chief Executive Multi-Cultural Family Base 5th June 2008
Acknowledgements The “Black and Minority Ethnic Young People Speaking Out” Project has provided us with an invaluable opportunity to reach out to an under-researched group of BME young persons, offering us the potential and privilege of listening to their voices. This Project has been made possible by many people and organisations, and as the Project Manager, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of all those who have added to the richness of the journey. It is difficult to know who one should begin with, so I start at the beginning, by thanking our Funders, the Voluntary Action Fund for their support, resources, time and expertise without whom this Project would not have been conceived. I would like especially to thank Dr Eleanor Logan (Ex-Chief Executive) for her generosity of spirit and encouragement over the past two years; Charles Chingwalu for his support in the early days, Alison Stevenson for her insights and training and Maggie Gardiner for her support. It has been an extremely rewarding experience to work with everyone at VAF. Equally, grateful thanks go to all the Schools, Head Teachers, Teaching Staff, Guidance/Support for Pupils staff who were involved in the Project from Abbeyhill, Dalry, Davidson’s Mains, and Leith Walk, Craigroyston, Drummond Community High, Gracemount and Leith Academy for their willingness to facilitate group work in terms of time, space, staffing and parent involvement—all testify to their commitment to the area of Equality and Inclusion, as does their willingness to consider openly the findings and outcomes, and to listen to the voices of their students. In particular thanks go to Michael Paley, Guidance Teacher (DCHS), Lesley Mulholland, Teacher (Dalry PS), Hazel Kinnear, Guidance Teacher (DCHS) for their involvement in facilitating groups and to Irene Brennan, Head Teacher (Abbeyhill) for all her support in facilitating a group with Polish parents in the school. We thank the young people for their great response in sharing their experiences. By the same token, I gratefully acknowledge our partner EAL for making this Project such a meaningful experience. In particular, this Project has been made possible by the expertise, organisation and planning by Eileen Simpson (Principal Teacher, Inclusion and Achievement). I have learnt a lot about schools and young people in schools from her. I also thank Luan Porter, Head of Services, EAL for her contributions in the smooth running of the Project, Jane Berry (EAL Teacher) for jointly facilitating two groups; to Jane Sharman and Bernadette McLaughlin (EAL teachers) for their support with the Abbeyhill Parents Group and Izabela Zarowna Neelam Sheikh, Ula Rutter, Suha Jaradat (Bilingual Assistants, EAL) for their skills and support in running the groups and to Suzanne Philip, Administrator, EAL for her support in the smooth running of this Project.
My grateful thanks also go to my colleagues, staff and Board members at MCFB for their support and willingness to share their expertise in working with diverse communities. In particular to Cathy Macnaughton (Chief Executive) for her palpable support and for always being there, to Jo Thorne and Nita Brown for their insights in the early stages of the Project, to Bina Chaudhry (Group Work Specialist) for her expertise and to Sue du Porto (Art Therapist) for her knowledge and skills that made the Art and Film Workshop such an amazing success. The administrative support has been particularly patient and excellent –many thanks to you all, particularly to Yun Zhang and John Boughey for helping me to steer and sail through the onerous task of managing the budget! Finally many thanks to Kasia Raszewska (Swietlica) and Marcin Potepski (Polish Group Facilitator and Graphic Designer) for their understanding and support in the varied initiatives with new migrants and to Marcin also for his creativity, patience and expertise in designing.
Dr Dina P. Sidhva Service and Learning Manager MCFB June 9, 2008
Preface In July 2006 the Voluntary Action Fund awarded the Multi-Cultural Family Base funding to do a piece of joint work over the following eighteen months, with the EAL Service. This enabled us to develop our already-existing partnership and was specifically aimed at setting up group consultations with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Young People in schools across Edinburgh, initially in the North neighbourhood, then on a more city-wide basis. For this we used a model that had been developed within the EAL Service as a means of supporting schools in addressing issues of inclusion, achievement and equality for their bilingual and minority ethnic students. Group work had for some time been used as a tool to give such young people an opportunity to: - celebrate, value and share aspects of their culture; - explore shared experiences and identify issues which affect their lives in school, and, crucially- inform school policy and practice in this area. EAL staff used this model jointly with school and MCFB staff to carry out nine groups in eight primary and secondary schools between October 2006 and December 2007. In doing so we were able to enhance the above provision in two ways, offering opportunities to the young people also to: - identify barriers to participation in mainstream activities both in and outside school - explore ways to communicate their experiences through varied media. We were thus able to consult young BME people not only on their home and school experience, but also on their lives in their local community. In the first instance, the young people were supported to disseminate this information to their teachers. The Launch of this Report aims to disseminate this further. There have been a few challenges along the way. Schools of necessity have a tightly structured programme, and operate often under extreme pressure. Voluntary sector organisations do not always find it easy to grasp and accommodate this, and this often makes it difficult for them to operate effectively within school settings. EAL contacts with schools proved invaluable in securing goodwill and a receptive, flexible response. The nature of voluntary organisation funding also has posed a challenge in terms of timing. Schools, and Services supporting them, need advance notice to enable us to release staffing, and the timing of funding and staffing arrangements was frequently problematic for us. However, a joint preparedness to be flexible and creative has enabled the Project to work effectively through
such challenges. The willingness, flexibility and support of the schools has been vital, as has the flexible availability of EAL bilingual staff in supporting group work in a number of schools. This project has reinforced my confidence in the value of such group work. I know from many years of experience, that it makes a difference, both to the lives of these young people, and to the schools involved. The young people feel they can speak out and be heard in a different way, often for the first time. They have told us that the group processes have helped them to feel more confident and empowered and that being part of the groups has been a significant experience in their lives. One piece of evidence of this was the confidence of group members from two secondary schools to come together for a one-day joint event in June 2007, in which they worked on advice to schools on ‘making their school a race equality zone.’ All schools involved have valued the process as well as the outcomes, often noting a difference in the demeanour of group members. One school, (where this model of group work was initially developed) was the first to accept an offer of group work within the Joint Project, and then asked the EAL Service also to conduct a group especially for their Polish students, about whom they had concerns. This then became part of the Joint Project, as did the group work resulting from concerns of another school, about its new Latvian community. School managers have received the resulting reports with interest, have sometimes been moved by them, and have shown a willingness to consider reflections and suggestions arising out of the students’ views. Some have described a deeper understanding of the experiences of such young people and of the barriers they face to inclusion and achievement. The Launch aims to deliberate on these outcomes and enable us to increase and deepen our understanding of barriers to inclusion in and out of school for BME young people. It also aims to help us consider how we can collectively work to address these barriers.
Eileen Simpson Principal Teacher, Inclusion and Achievement English as an Additional Language Services June 2008
Introduction In July 2006 Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB) obtained funding for two years from the Voluntary Action Fund (VAF) to embark on the “BME Young People Speaking Out” Project. VAF’s Race Equality, Integration and Community Support (REICS) Fund supported voluntary organizations such as MCFB to challenge inequalities, promote social inclusion and social change and to overcome barriers to being involved in community life. The “BME Young People Speaking Out” Project found its motive spring from the group and consultation work done, initially by Eileen Simpson, the Principal Teacher, Inclusion and Achievement (EAL Service) in some schools in Edinburgh, as part of their remit to support schools in addressing issues of Race Equality, Inclusion and Achievement which highlighted the need for further work and research to identify the issues affecting Black and Minority Ethnic (who we will refer to as BME in this report) Young People both in and out of school and to enable them to have a voice and express their needs. VAF’s funding enabled a meaningful and productive partnership between MCFB and EAL resulting in the development of consultation groups with BME young people in schools across Edinburgh, with the majority in the North neighbourhood area. The aims of the project, as its name suggests were to enable BME Young People to “speak out”, such that their voices would be heard and there was an increase in integration and participation of young people in mainstream school and out of school activities. The project embodied MCFB’s raison-d’être to enhance the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged children, young people and their families; by promoting human rights, valuing diversity, providing equal opportunities through ways that are flexible, caring, respectful and empowering and EAL’s commitment to the same broad values and to furthering issues of inclusion, race equality and achievement. This project has provided an invaluable opportunity to reach out to an under-researched group of BME young persons. The consultation has given voice to their experiences and reflected the transformative and empowering effect of being able to speak out, listened to and valued for the Young People who were consulted. The project has also heard the voices of new migrant young people, (specifically Polish and Latvian young people) a section of our society, with varied vulnerabilities and rapidly growing needs. The project has facilitated group work of between 6-8 week duration with BME young people aged 11-14, in 4 secondary schools and with BME young people aged 9-11, in 4 primary schools. The following primary and secondary schools participated in the Consultation: Abbeyhill, Dalry, Davidson’s Mains, and Leith Walk Primary Schools, and Craigroyston High School, Drummond
Community High School, Gracemount High School and Leith Academy. In response to their request to the EAL Service, an additional Polish Student Group Consultation was conducted in Drummond Community High. Our work in these schools led to two direct developments relating to BME young people in two schools. The first was a one-day joint event between the students from the groups at Drummond Community High School and Leith Academy in June 2007, in which they worked on advice to schools on making their school a race equality zone. The second arose out of the group work at Davidson’s Mains Primary School. The Race Equality Policy had its beginnings in the VAF group consultations done at Davidson’s Mains Primary School. The Principal Teacher Eileen Simpson (EAL) collaborated with EAL and School staff to develop and pilot a ‘living race equality policy’ for the Personal and Social Education Unit for Primary 5-7. A mixed group of Primary 7 students at the School were then supported to develop and present the Race Equality Policy for their school. Additionally, in the course of the Consultations, there was a growing awareness among both partners—EAL and MCFB—of the growing numbers of new migrant communities in Edinburgh. EAL’s work in schools across Edinburgh indicated numbers of new Polish migrants, as well as smaller numbers from Latvia, Kerala and the Philippines. Simultaneously MCFB was involved with increasing numbers of Polish service users, and we took on a proactive role in the inception and support of ‘Swietlica’ (The Polish Drop In). Most significantly we gathered insights from a short three month pilot, the ‘Polish Family Project’ funded by the City of Edinburgh’s CYPSP (Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership) between January and March 2007, which provided evidence of the experiences of new migrants in Edinburgh. Thus, the EAL-MCFB consultations in schools, coupled with the growing awareness and experience of the partners, led to three offshoots: we consulted with new Polish migrant children and young people through an intensive 3 day Film and Art Workshop. The session was pivotal in raising awareness of the special needs of this group. This led to us consulting, through a special focus group, Polish adults who spoke about their needs, losses and experiences of being new migrants in Scotland. The focus group members reflected on the importance of links with Scottish families being forged through friendships made by their children. Our consultation in Abbeyhill Primary School led us to run a group with the parents of new Polish migrants in the school. The group provided us with an opportunity to meet for 6 weeks and talk about their experiences, needs, problems of moving to Scotland and more crucially about their hopes for the future and how they envisage becoming more involved in life in Scotland. This project has been made possible by our Funders VAF who have at each stage of the way have been approachable, supportive, flexible and encouraging; by our joint partnership between EAL
and MCFB, MCFB and Swietlica, but most crucially by the schools and their staff and the young people and adults who were receptive, generous, honest and engaging with us. It is my hope that the Launch and the dissemination of the findings of the Project will help move the response to listening to the voices of BME Young People Speaking Out to yet another level: redoubling all our current efforts, commitment and resources in the varied walks that we represent at the Launch such that we are able to achieve the emerging vision of the Edinburgh Children and Young People’s Plan for “for all children and young people in Edinburgh to enjoy their childhood” such that they can achieve their full potential and that we can go that further step, each one of us, in our efforts to build a humane, healthy, inclusive and equitable society. The final Report of the findings and the deliberations at the launch will be available in August 2008.
Dr Dina P. Sidhva June 9, 2008
“Black and Etnic Minority Young People Speaking Out” Project: A Brief Background In July 2006 Multi-Cultural Family Base (MCFB) obtained funding for two years from the Voluntary Action Fund (VAF) to embark on the “BME Young People Speaking Out” Project. VAF’s Race Equality, Integration and Community Support (REICS) Fund supported voluntary organizations such as MCFB to challenge inequalities, promote social inclusion and social change and to overcome barriers to being involved in community life. This funding enabled MCFB to develop our already-existing partnership with the City of Edinburgh’s English as an Additional Language (EAL) Service which was specifically aimed at setting up group consultations with Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Young People in schools across Edinburgh, initially in the North neighbourhood, then on a more city-wide basis. Group and consultation work done initially by Eileen Simpson, the Principal Teacher for Inclusion and Achievement (EAL Service) in some schools in Edinburgh, as part of their remit to support schools in addressing issues of Race Equality, Inclusion and Achievement highlighted the need for further work/research to identify the issues affecting young BME people, both in and out of school and to enable them to have a voice and express their needs. Aims of the Project The aims of the Project were to enable BME Young People in schools to speak out and for their voices to be listened to, such that there was an increased integration and participation of young people in mainstream school and out of school activities and the barriers they experienced in doing this were reduced. The Process EAL in partnership with MCFB setup consultation programmes with BME young people in schools primarily across the North neighbourhood, and then went on to provide the service citywide. Between October 2006 and December 2007 the project facilitated 9 groups of 5-8 weeks duration with BME young people aged 11-14, in 5 secondary schools and with BME young people aged 9-11, in 4 primary schools. In Drummond CHS we conducted two groups.
Schools who participated Abbeyhill Primary Dalry Primary Davidson’s Mains Leith Walk Primary Craigroyston High School Drummond Community High School Gracemount High and Leith Academy Groups We used a group work model that was developed by EAL Service and Guidance/Youth work staff. The model seeks to provide an opportunity where BME Young People can share their experiences and speak positively about their own culture and issues related to it and identify common issues and needs across the group in terms of achievement, inclusion, transition, youth provision in schools, community education organisations and voluntary organisations. Group Work The group sessions discussed things of importance to the young persons, such as their beliefs, culture, religion, racism, bullying, hobbies, health, food, festivals, leisure issues that affected their lives both in and out of schools. The sessions included a fun activity/game, both at the beginning and end of each session. We generally utilised a scaling evaluation at the beginning of each session. The group work enabled us to celebrate, value and share aspects of the culture of the young people, explore shared experiences and identify issues which affect their lives in and out of school, identify barriers to participation in mainstream activities, identify mainstream out of school activities that they would like to participate in, explore ways to communicate their experiences through different media. But most importantly it provided a place where they could speak out, where they could get a voice, be listened to and hear the voices of their peers. It facilitated and supported the dissemination of this information to their teachers in the first instance and now to you as a wider audience.
FINDINGS of the BME Young People Speaking Out Young people were ready, eager and happy to share their culture. They described feeling valued because they were speaking out, often for the first time, and being really listened to. They spoke about feelings of self assurance and confidence. But, they also spoke, at times rather poignantly and plainly about their feelings of exclusion, being made to feel they were different, about the racism some of them encountered, their feelings of sadness and hurt, because they were made to feel they were somehow different. Additional events between Drummond Community High School in which there was discussion about developing guidelines to “Make your School a Race Equality Zone” and Leith Academy, and, the development by EAL staff and teachers at Davidson’s Mains Primary School of a Race Equality Policy by young people in Davidson’s Mains demonstrated their increased confidence, participation, team work and group work skills. We are delighted that the Young People from Davidson’s Mains are going to share their work with us at the Launch today. OUTCOMES The group consultations in schools have had the following outcomes: - Young people have gained confidence. We know that because they were speaking out more in the groups; and their own feedback as well as feedback from their teacher’s points to increased participation and self assuredness. - Young people are feeling less isolated. We know this because they have told us that they have enjoyed the interaction, participation and shared activities with fellow classmates with similar, shared life experiences and felt more a part of their group. - Schools have an increased and deepened understanding of the barriers to inclusion experienced by their young BME students. We know this because they have told us that they have been moved and responded to the presentations at the end of group consultations with students, by their willingness to take steps to address issues highlighted and by their discussions with Eileen Simpson (Principal Teacher, EAL) - Listening to the voices of new Polish migrants: children, young people and adults have been an organic offshoot of this Project. Along the course of the Consultations, there was a growing awareness among both partners—EAL and MCFB—of the growing numbers of migrant young people in Edinburgh. For example, EAL’s work in schools across Edinburgh, pointed to the growing numbers of new Polish and a small number of Latvian students. This led to three offshoots: we consulted with new Polish migrant children through an intensive 3 day Film and Art
Workshop; with adults through a Focus Group; and a Polish Parents Group at Abbeyhill Primary School. These sessions were pivotal in raising awareness of the special needs of this group and have provided a very important opportunity to reach out to an under-researched group of new migrant Polish children, young people and adults. - Power of Speaking Out: through the process of group work, the idea that sharing one’s story is an empowering experience was continually reflected. The majority of the children, young people and adults were totally engrossed in the act of sharing their stories and likewise as facilitators we too were totally absorbed in their stories. We realised how important it was for them to be able to speak out and for us to listen, especially in the face of some of the exclusion they experienced. The power of being able to share and tell one’s story and be listened to and feel that you are being heard is tremendous. The process of doing this seemed to contribute greatly to an individual’s sense of self and well being.