Young people are experiencing new challenges every day. Sandwell’s 21st Century Child Programme is a two tier approach, working with both young people and parents/carers. The 6 – 8 week programme allows young people to have their voices heard on topics that are important to them and then bring change and awareness inside and outside of school.

Young people identify a topic after consulting with their peers and parents/carers. Throughout the sessions the young people discuss what they already know, what they need to find out, where support is available to them both in and outside of school and how they want to present this to peers and school.

This interactive programme provides an interactive way to help develop an understanding about the risks associated with being a 21st Century Child.

Projects completed include:

St Martin’s C of E Primary School

Year 5 and 6 Pupils identified raising awareness of racism, the impacts of this, what to do if you see it and where to access support in school. Pupil’s developed and delivered a whole school assembly including acrostic poem, powerpoint and short play with posters for an in-school campaign.

Q3 Academy Great Barr

Students consulted with their peers and identified Mental Health and knowing where to go for support both in and outside of the academy. Students developed a Mental Health tree display, with top tips for each day of the week and identified services available to students. An internal website was developed with information on mental health, top tips and services and could be accessed via a QR code on a keyring given to each student.