Over the past 16 years or so ASDAN (The Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) has developed and successfully promoted the Youth Award Scheme in schools nationally. UK Youth has formed a partnership with ASDAN to build on this experience and benefit from the credibility of its Awards and equivalence to NCVQ Key Skills. The Youth Achievement Awards were developed to recognise and accredit young people’s achievements and experience from youth work. The Youth Achievement Awards are based on peer education principles and encourage young people’s progressive involvement in decision making as they move through the challenges. Young people agree, support and assess each other’s Challenges through the Award Group, supported by youth workers. The Youth Achievement Awards encourage quality youth work and thus support the role of youth workers, easing rather than adding to their work - load. It starts from young people’s interests and accredit their normal youth work activities, recognise their achievements, and encourage them to plan and review their learning. I can lead to identifiable social skills development which is the basis of helping young people to take control of their lives, and, for example, to avoid risk behaviors. The Awards encourage progression through a series of four awards each requiring the completion of a number of Challenges. Each Challenge is expected to take a minimum of 15 hours.
Youth Achievement through Sports Awards. Meeting the Challenge – one group’s success story. Five young people, aged 16 and 17 from the 610 community centre in Kingstanding, Birmingham, took part in the Youth Achievement Awards through Sport at its highest level –the Platinum Award. Participants undertook leadership roles through a number of activities as part of the award scheme. By successfully meeting the training challenges set by the Youth Achievement through Sport Award, each member of the group completed the Community Sports Leaders Award, two of them gained the Football Association Junior Team Manager’s Award and one achieved a Class 3 refereeing qualification. Their most exciting challenge arose when friends at a junior football club in County Wicklow, Ireland asked the group to train their Under 8’s, 9’s, 12’s and 13’s teams. After a lot of planning and preparation, the group spent three days coaching the teams in skills such as dribbling, heading, shooting and ball control. The team managers who praised the group’s patience, enthusiasm, and their ability to motivate the players and keep their interest appreciated their help. Ashley Dawson, a member of the group said " Coaching in Ireland was a personal achievement in that I know that now I’ll be able to manage running a coaching session myself. I now feel a lot more confident, especially because of the practical experience given to me through the Youth Achievement through Sport Award."
Details about the nature and operation of the Youth Achievement Awards are provided in through a registered Age separate papers. Youth groups may be involved through a registered Agency which can be their local authority youth service local. UK Youth Association; or voluntary youth organisation. As a condition of their involvement each participating Agency has to appoint one (or more) qualified and experienced youth worker(s) as Moderator(s) to be responsible for developing the Awards within that organisation. Training will normally be provided 'in-house' for Agencies, for Moderators and youth workers together. The Moderator's role is then primarily encouragement and quality control with the youth workers being internal moderators for their units. If Moderators are trained on their own at a Regional course they will need to carry out all the following roles. The roles necessary to develop the Awards are to: 1. Promote the Awards within their organisation The emphasis should be on encouraging youth workers to develop quality youth work in terms of young people's progressive participation in decision making and taking responsibility for their activities, their learning, themselves, and each other. This participation is then recognised through Youth Achievement Awards, encouraged by explaining the benefits and supportive operation of the Awards. 2. Introduce the Awards to new youth groups The youth worker responsible for encouraging the Awards in each youth group has to value and practice the principles of young people's progressive involvement in taking responsibility and decision making as the basis of quality youth work. While the Awards encourage higher standards of participation, when introducing the Awards to an agency it is important to start with youth groups where a nucleus of young people are already operating at the stages 5-7 in the Curriculum Development Model. Once examples of good practice can he demonstrated locally others can be encouraged to emulate them. 3. Provide training for youth workers and key young people in Award Groups Within your Agency, trainers responsible for staff development should, if necessary, organise training events for youth workers and key young people in the principles of participation and the operation of the Awards. Subsequently regular encouragement and support should be provided. The principles underpinning the Awards are developed in the training handbook: "Quality work with young people - developing social skills and diversion from risk" 4. Support the Award Groups of young people operating the Awards Youth workers should support & encourage the young people in each Award Group to run the Award by agreeing, supporting and assessing individual Challenges. They will ensure that the operation of the Awards develops smoothly,that the standards set are appropriate, and that evidence of achievements are being recorded in portfolios (see later) for moderation and accreditation. 5. Maintain standards When a Challenge is completed there should be sufficient evidence produced to enable the Award Group to assess the Challenge as meeting the criteria, eg; level of responsibility and time, completion of the Challenge and Target Review sheets, and evidence that the Challenge was completed. Guidance on assessment and the different kinds of evidence likely to be produced is provided in the leaflet: "Assessment procedures". Detailed written accounts are not necessary, just sufficient evidence to demonstrate satisfactory completion of the Challenge. Standards are maintained by checklists for Award Groups arid sharing evidence from other Agencies at Moderation meetings. The leaflet on Assessment Procedures provides guidelines on the necessary standards, 6. Promote NCVQ Key Skills, if these are required If young people wish to use the Youth Achievement Awards to gain accredited NCVQ Skills the Moderator will be responsible for ensuring that the necessary NCVQ requirements are being met. The Moderator or other youth worker, will need either to have, or be working towards, NCVQ D32 and D33 assessor qualifications. They will register and liaise with the local ASDAN Key Skill centre to become familiar with the ASDAN procedures and ensure that the necessary evidence is produced.'The 'ASDAN Key Skills Guidelines' should he referred to for details. 7. Keep records Youth workers will keep a record of thc progress achieved within their unit and ensure that, when the necessary, Challenges for an Award have been satisfactorily completed that the portfolio evidence is available for moderation. 8. Moderation Be responsible for the moderation of Awards The youth worker will check portfolios using the criteria in 'Assessment procedures' The Moderator is then responsible for checking portfolios and completing the appropriate checklist, attaching a copy of the completed form to the portfolio. A list of completed portfolios of Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Awards will be sent to the National Coordinator who will select a sample to be taken to the next national moderation meeting. Moderators will then assess each others portfolios as the method of maintaining standards and as training for Moderators. Certificates signed by ASDAN will normally be issued at these regular Moderation meetings. 9. Attend regular Moderation meetings Moderators from an Agency should attend at least four Moderation meetings a year, to enable individual Award portfolios to be assessed, receive training on expected standards and how best to achieve them, and provide regular reports on the operation Of the Awards and how improvements can be made. Moderators can attend Moderation meetings even if they have no completed portfolios 10. Make regular statistical returns & progress reports to the National Coordinator. These will normally be discussed at the Moderation meetings and be based on forms sent out beforehand. When appointing Moderators the skills necessary to carry out these roles successfully are essential. If only Moderators are trained a minimum of one session a week per two participating youth groups is a useful guide to the time commitment required. To begin with most of this rime will be spent supporting new groups. Later more time will be needed to assess and deal with the portfolio evidence necessary for the moderation meetings. Sample job descriptions and personnel specification are available on request. Where 'in-house' training is provided for youth workers alongside the Moderators, as recommended, the role of the Moderator is essentially to provide general encouragement and quality control, and much less demanding. For further details contact:
Note - the training handbook Quality work with young people developing social skills and diversion from risk is available at £32.70 inc p&p from UK Youth.
1. There are three categories of users of the Youth Achievement Awards:
(a) Local Agencies. Local Authorities youth services. etc.. who wish to utilise the Youth Achievement Awards with their youth groups and members. (b) Regional or National Agencies who wish to use the Awards with their membership.
2. Registration Contrywide Organisations:
£1500 + VAT 3. What will you receive in return? Start - Up Packs 4. What are the responsibilities of becoming an operating Agency? ( a ) We will expect you to become an advocate for the Youth Achievement Awards by promoting the programme to all your affiliated groups (b) We will require you to nominate an appropriate number of Moderators depending on the size of the Agency who will undergo training and assume responsibility for the development or the Youth Achievement Awards within your Agency. A separate paper "The Role of the Moderator explains what is expected of a Moderator Sample job descriptions and personnel specifications are available on request (c) Your nominated Moderator(s) will be expected to attend regular Moderation meetings to bring portfolios for moderation and to gain experience from other Moderators (d) We shall require all separating Agencies to operate the Youth Achievement Awards in a non-discriminatory manner within an agreed code of practice that reflects UK Youth's commitment to Equal Opportunities 5. Training
Moderator Training 6. How do I get started? Please contact: Karen Cookes 
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