The Diocese of Worcester and Worcestershire County Council Children’s Services Division are launching a new and exciting publication this week, entitled ‘Listening to the Voice of the Learner’.  It is designed to help schools to listen to the opinions of pupils from the earliest years and on throughout their school life, helping pupils to contribute to the school’s self-evaluation and school improvement in general.

Enabling children and young people to have a say in how they are taught and cared for is one the most important recent developments in government’s practice and policy.  It is a principle embedded in the United Kingdom’s ‘Every Child Matters’.

This resource, the first of its kind in the country, has been developed by the Diocesan Children’s Officer, Lesley Towey, and a seconded Primary School Head teacher.  Lesley says,

“Listening to the Voice of the Learner’ draws on children’s experiences and offers creative, fun activities to children as a means of giving them a voice and a way of expressing themselves in the context of their school environment.”

The materials consist of class based activities which are designed to engage pupils in activity and discussion about their school, about how pupils behave, and about their experience of School Worship and Religious Education.  The activities include active participation and some require a larger space than a classroom.

The Diocesan Director of Education, David Morphy remarked;

“Teachers who have trialled these materials have been so impressed that they have been copying draft versions for other colleagues to see and use. Our partnership with Worcestershire County Council provides our schools with an excellent Tool Kit to enable them to listen to the opinions and ideas of children and young people - it will be well used in schools for many years to come.  It is a reminder of the truth of the saying that “what our youngsters need is a good listening to.”

Each of the 21 activities is cross referenced to the Ofsted Framework and the school’s Self Evaluation Form and, for Church of England Schools, there is a parallel document which is cross referenced to the Framework for the Inspection of Anglican Schools.

The new resource is being launched to the County’s Primary School Head teachers in the last week in February.

The Diocesan Children’s Officer, Mrs Lesley Towey concludes;

“The rights of children to have a say in decisions that affect them are enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This document will be 30 years old next year and we have come a long way in that time in enabling children to contribute in a range of different situations”.

Further information is available from:

Rev David Morphy

dmorphy@cofe-worcester.org.uk

01905 732821

ENDS      

The Diocese of Worcester is one of 44 dioceses in the Church of England. It covers an area of 671 square miles and includes parishes in the County of Worcestershire, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, and a few parishes in northern Gloucestershire, south east Wolverhampton and Sandwell.