In June 2022, we celebrated Youth Work Week with a special event showcasing the invaluable contribution youth work makes to the lives of young people within the education sector as a whole. Featuring Jim Sweeney (former Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland) as our guest speaker, we heard how he and his colleagues utilised innovative partnerships with schools, colleges, sports, health, housing, social care and justice to harness the power of youth work to support all young people. We also heard how young people themselves got involved in shaping these partnerships.

Jim provided insight into some of the approaches which heralded a focused and united sector in Scotland, sharing the challenges, and providing lessons which we could learn from and reflect upon here in Wales.

Some questions were asked, which we didn’t have time to answer in the session. Jim Sweeney has kindly responded to those questions, and you can read them here.

How, using the 'learning through play' provision in Wales, can schools better support children, especially as families have less disposable income to enrich their children's lives? What is the best way to roll that out beyond year 2?

Firstly, a confession. I do not know the first thing about Wales’ present nursery/primary infant provision, or what is proposed within your new Curriculum developments.

If there are voluntary and statutory parent support workers in nurseries and primary schools, then a major element of their role is to work closely with young parents/carers and those from deprived, ethni, or other vulnerable groups.

Providing both adult learning and confidence building opportunities to parents, and running the myriad of book /digital /constructive play and other learning aids for the children including outdoor learning.
Learning cannot and should not be left only in the hands of classroom teachers. Community is important as the African Proverb says “it takes a whole village to educate a child.”

My thesis for my masters was about working with primary school parents and its premise was that parents remain the primary educators of their children.

Another key area is pre-entry and transition work with parents to help them understand the system and support their ability to navigate, and help their children to navigate their way, and to enable them to flourish and grow.

Hope this helps in some way.

How can youth work harness and develop the opportunities inherent in the new Welsh Curriculum?

Number one ensure you are named as partners.

Ensure you get representation on all relevant working groups and send your best people

Produce examples and case studies of what you do already and ideas and examples that fit in with the learning outcomes. Make sure every school receives them physically as well as digitally.

Form regional groups to mirror whatever the school and college structure is and try and gain access to the bigger groups and invite formal education folk/skills development and FE etc onto yours.

Try and ensure you are quoted by ministers in their speeches on the subject. Give them positive examples to quote.
There is a whole other discussion here.

Trust is an interesting concept… where is it best placed in a national body such as Youthlink Scotland?"

Trust always has to be earned and it can never be taken for granted, however, for most things to work we have to understand and buy in to the concept of what it is for and understand and agree with the processes and checks and balances at work within the working model.

• Do a limited amount of things very well
• Get buy in for them
• Understand the “Agency“ concept and the importance of a membership model
• Quick wins and feelgood events go a long way. Our sector has to believe and feel good about itself
• And it has to claim its territory while remaining a valued partner with others.

How long is a piece of string - I could go on.. At least another valuable internal discussion to be had.

 About the Speaker

Jim Sweeney, MBE MSc Dip YCS. MCLDSC

Jim Sweeney’s career spans 46 years in professional youth and community service roles in Scotland. He spent 33 years working in local authority positions before becoming Chief Executive of YouthLink Scotland, the National Agency for Youth Work, in 2006. He spent 13 years in this post until his retirement in 2018.

His achievements and involvement in national policy development and in creating an agency which was central to supporting both young people and the organisations who worked for them is well known and well documented.

Jim was a key player in the development of a National Youth Work Strategy, which is now in its third iteration and which has enjoyed cross party support since its inception in 2006.

His advice to new youth workers is to always remember that “Young people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”