Youth Boards 2005
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Youth Boards Report 2005
Background
In 2003 and 2004 Health Action received funding from Community Organisations Grants Scheme (COGS) to employ a dedicated Youth Boards coordinator. Youth Boards have been operating in 5 schools since 2001/02, and a 6th board was moved from a youth training centre to The Hub when the centre moved.
2005
In February 2005 Bonita was contracted as Youth Boards coordinator for the year, funded by the COGS grant. Four schools and some Hub representatives attended training at The Hub in March, however The Hub was not able to form a group to make a display due to other commitments. A training report was circulated to groups who attended.
Groups used planning sheets at the training day to start thinking about the structure & content of their displays. Each group planned a mini display to outline student support services for the first term, and main displays to circulate around each school from Term 2 onwards. Displays spend about a month at each school throughout the year.
Topics for displays were as follows:
Motueka High School √ Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Health
Nelson College for Girls √ Cannabis
Nayland College √ Youth Rights & Responsibilities with Police
Nelson CollegeT √ The Hub and H.Y.P.E
School's Displays
Nelson College for Girls
Cannabis Display
NCG started the year with a group of four Year 13 students. The group met with Health Action and two youth education constables from Nelson Police Station. The police gave information regarding the legal issues surrounding cannabis while Health Action gave health information and pamphlets. The group checked with the teachers as to what was appropriate to display on the board; which stimulated an in-depth discussion amongst staff regarding school drug policy and what was appropriate to display at the school. Students and staff agreed to focus on the negative aspects of cannabis use.
Right: Nelson College for Girls' Cannabis Display 
Motueka High School
Sexual Health Display
Motueka High started off with 5 students from Years 12 and 13. They met twice with Pregnancy Counseling Services, contacting the service on their own accord for the second meeting to create a thought-provoking display.
Detail from Motueka High School's Sexual Health display
Nayland College
Rights and Responsibilities Display
Nayland started with a group of 5 Year 13s but unfortunately one leaving school and others being ill, left two students to work on the display. The group met with the same police staff as Nelson College for Girls. They also met with Nelson Bays Community Law Service who provided information and pamphlets.
The group was happy to be permitted to move their Youth Board to a new display area in the school canteen which means students can see it everyday while queuing at the canteen.
Nayland College's Rights & Responsibilities display
Nelson College
The Hub & HYPE display
Nelson College had 5 students, three Year 13s and 2 Year 11s, however the Coordinator reported that most of the display work was completed by one student. The group started off well, twice meeting key workers from the Hub, once with lunch provided. They also toured the facilities, ending in a jam session with the music coordinator.
HYPE provided information and posters about its service.
Hub & HYPE display by Nelson College
Report
Numbers in most groups reduced from the initial 4 or 5 throughout the year for various reasons including illness or lack of commitment, leaving sometimes only 1 or 2 students to complete the work. The Youth Board coordinator reported that it was difficult to get support from most teacher contacts, as they were busy or hard to contact. Therefore groups mainly depended on the Coordinator to provide support and encouragement.
For the first time in 2005, students also worked alongside community agencies to plan their displays. The agencies were selected on the basis of having previously shown interest in working with students, or as being the appropriate source to inform a chosen topic, and included Police, Nelson Bays Community Law Service, Pregnancy Counselling Services, HYPE, The Hub, and Health Action. The Youth Board coordinator arranged first meetings between students and support agencies, and some students arranged their own further meetings.
The deadline for main displays was extended from 18 to 24 June; all schools were able to complete the display by this date (apart from Nelson College due to illness and computer delays). The nature of working with student groups within the constraints of a school term means that it is usual for main displays to take until May or June for completion. In turn, this means the Youth Boards may have only Student Services displays & minimal other information displayed on it during the first half of a year.
Circulations were set according to Term dates to allow approximately 4 weeks display time at each school, starting with the first rotation in week five of Term 3. Motueka High School was exempted from the first rotation of displays, as the principal wanted to use their group's display as a tool in the school's sexual health education campaign.
For 2005 displays were made to a uniform size stuck together on three big sheets of card, to ensure they would fit on all youth boards (which have become different sizes as a result of being moved etc by different schools.) The standardized format also means the displays are easier to transport, - this was problematic last year, with some displays showing signs of wear and tear as a result of being moved around. All four school groups agreed at the start-of-year training to designate an area on each display for a term calendar, so each school can display events and important dates for their own school.
The cannabis display was declined for use by one school whose Youth Board group interpreted some of the larger messages as ambiguous. However, this same display was used 'as is' at another school, and another school planned to use it with minor alterations. There were attempts made to negotiate a solution so the board could be used in the school which declined it, but a lack of time and the pressure of exams precluded this.
In June the Coordinator left to take up full-time employment, and her contract was completed by a member of Health Action staff. This involved completing the final three circulation deliveries, and organizing and writing the evaluation. The evaluation is enclosed as a separate report.
During the year Health Action had discussions with the Health Promoting Schools Co-ordinator around linking Youth Boards with curriculum work and existing school groups, eg SADD, Youth Council, HAGs, NAGS, Ball Committee, etc, and using Youth Boards for youth participation opportunities within schools. Health Action will continue to work with her to strengthen the sustainability of Youth Boards.
Plans
Our long-term goal is to have all Youth Boards operating independently of Health Action. During 2006 we plan to use the most recently approved COGS funding to support schools to take more ownership of the Boards.
For instance, instead of Health Action providing the training, previous YB members could train incoming members at the end of the year, to help to get things started earlier each year. Students would then do their own display sourcing or planning, using the support of existing groups either within the school or in the community.
Ideally we would like Youth Boards to be viewed by whole schools as an opportunity for different student groups and classes to promote their own activities, giving young people information relevant to life skills, community participation and general youth wellbeing, raising awareness of issues relevant to young people and promoting access to services available in the community.