Teachers at a school in Coventry are handing over control of the curriculum to students, who are normalising conversations around previously taboo subjects including bullying, online harms and safety.
This new approach, at Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School, allows sixth-formers to teach groups of Year 7 pupils every week, sharing their own personal experiences to aid discussion.
The Change Maker Programme has been co-created by young people, as part of the youth-led My Tomorrow campaign to ensure the topics discussed are relevant to their lives. It helps students develop resilience, resolve conflict and stay safe.
Year 7 pupil, Elizabeth, took part in the lesson about safety and said: “I’ve been learning about how to be an upstander, which to me, means that you should stand up for what is right and you shouldn’t just watch someone getting hurt or bullied.
“You have to think about how you would feel if that happened to you.”
Sixth former Joseph Abercrombie taught one of the school’s first ever sessions earlier this month, which focussed on gender stereotypes. He said the 11 and 12-year-olds in the class were really engaged.
“I think because the programme was created by young people and at our school it’s all youth-led by Year 12 students, they see us as role models,” he added.
“They talk more openly about the challenges they’re facing as young people because they know we understand.”
The West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership has invested £70,000 to create the lesson plan and train staff and students to deliver it in schools across the region.
After a successful pilot in Sandwell last November, it is now being rolled out to primary and secondary schools across the region.
Head teacher Sarah Boyle said: “It’s allowing them to be more free with their questions and their probing, and getting the information that they feel they need, rather than what we think they need.
“We don’t when we’re younger want to speak to people who are a lot older, or who we see as in authority about those things, so I think it will allow them to tackle them and talk about those in a comfortable way.”
Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster, who chairs the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) Strategic Board, said: “With this investment and the commitment of schools across the region who are embracing the My Tomorrow campaign, this new educational programme stands to benefit thousands of young people.”
“Putting sixth-formers at the centre of this teaching is a really innovative approach from Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School, and it’s clearly leading to more open and engaging discussions with Year 7 pupils. That is often a vital first step in helping equip young people with the skills they need to deal with a whole range of challenging scenarios in their lives, and keep themselves and others safe.”
