What is it, and how can it support our students?

Today we will find out:

• What youth social action is
• How youth social action can benefit young people, and our setting as a whole
• How you can review and develop the youth social action you may already have in place

Youth social action refers to activities that young people do to make a positive difference to others or the environment. There are lots of ways in which young people can take practical action to make a positive difference.

It can take place in a range of contexts and can mean formal or informal activities. These include volunteering, fundraising, campaigning and supporting peers.

Teachers, employers, parents and other members of the community can all support youth social action.

Everyone can support youth social action.

High quality youth social action is:

High quality youth social action meets the six principles outlined, above.

Activities might include:

• Volunteering
• Campaigning
• Tutoring and mentoring
• Fundraising
• Other activities or projects through which young people come together to solve an issue or improve something in their community

Youth social action:

• Improves young people’s clarity and commitment to their future careers. Specifically, it can boost young people’s:
  • Confidence in their future job prospects;
  • Aspirations for the future;
  • Self-reflection;
  • Expectations and clarity about future career pathways.
• Boosts skills, attitudes and competencies that can be valuable in school and life including:
  • Empathy
  • Problem solving
  • Interpersonal skills, teamwork and networking
  • Grit and resilience
  • Attitudes towards education

Employers value these skills, and highlight them as critical for future jobs.

Youth social action can improve our careers provision, supporting:

• Meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks
• Young people’s careers knowledge, skills and aspirations
• Meeting Ofsted’s inspection criteria for personal development, effective careers programmes and character development
• Young people’s character education
• Benefits to our local community

Schools and colleges who support engagement with youth social action report:

• Reputational benefits in the local community and beyond
• Improved careers education provision for the young people involved

Benefits to the local community such as support for vulnerable people and community cohesion, as demonstrated in our vignettes and case studies

In groups of four or five, describe any activities you have been supporting with your students, possibly including volunteering, campaigning, tutoring or mentoring, fundraising, or other activities solving an issue in the local community.

In pairs, explore one or more of the following questions in relation to youth social action activities you have been supporting with your students.

1. How did your activities help young people to reflect on their involvement and experiences?
2. How did the activities challenge and stretch the young people involved?
3. How did the young people involved shape and lead the activities?
4. What impact did the activities generate, for the young people, and wider community?
5. How did the activities build and evolve over time?
6. How did the activities link to the young people’s other work?

[Leave time for discussion. Allow between 5 and 10 minutes for feeding back, during which you can discuss what ‘counts’ as youth social action. You can also explore the benefits for young people, your school/college, and local community of the examples given].

Building on our current provision

I want to better understand what work is already underway across our setting, and how I can support you with this.

I would be grateful if you could spend two minutes completing the youth social action survey.

Finding out more

You can find out more about youth social action, including example activities and ways to develop your work, here.