MY LIFE IN SCOTLAND CHILDREN’S VIEWS ON LIFE AND WELLBEING.

MY LIF

E IN S

COTLAND

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Children’s Parliament is Scotland‘s Centre for Excellence for children’s rights and

participation.

We create opportunities for children's voices to be heard and included in the social and political

landscape of Scotland.

Knowledge and understanding of rights

Experience of positive relationships

Environment that is safe + appropriate

Children’s Rights Approach

Children’s human rights

SAFE HEALTHY HAPPY

Through their participation, children learn:

SkillsListening

Working together

Planning & organising

Problem solving

Communication

Speaking to different audiences

Art & technology

ValuesHonesty

Respect

Equality

Empathy

Social Justice

Participation

Action

BehavioursCompassion

Respect

Fairness

Thinking things through

Taking care of people & places

KnowledgeChildren’s human rights

UNCRC

Adults who can help and support them

Active, engaged

citizenship

StreetsAhead - Wellbeing in the community

• An exploration of what children need in their communities to be safe, healthy and happy.

• Partners: Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) and the Violence Reduction Unit

• 200 P6 & P7 children from local primary schools took part in initial whole-class workshops exploring children's human rights and views on community life in the East End of Glasgow

• 20 children participated in the mural week.

DVD: StreetsAhead

My Life in ScotlandPurpose of the tool::

• To measure the subjective wellbeing of children and young people from 8 to 18 years old.

• Support Community Planning Partnerships/Local Authorities to include children and young people’s views when they report on wellbeing: Children and Young People (Scotland) Act (2014)

Framework• How children see their world and the experience of Children's Parliament.• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)• Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) wellbeing indicators (safe,

healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included).

My Life in Scotland: Development

• Desk-based research on wellbeing and current tools.

• Reflection on Children’s Parliament’s work to identify what ‘wellbeing’ means to children and young people.

• Focus groups with children and young people to ensure items are relevant and appropriate.

• Cognitive testing with 8 year olds to ensure understanding of all items. Testing with 17/18 year olds to ensure relevance.

• Testing and feedback sessions with children and young people across two local authorities.

• Pilot testing with demographically representative sample of 805 children age 8 – 18 across two local authorities.

• Reliability (test-retest) and validity (face validity/concurrent validity).

My Life in Scotland: Domains

About me My life

How I see

myself

My family

My friends

Where I live

My timeSchool

& learning

Freedom to be

me

My health

How I feel

Next Steps

• My Life in Scotland has been developed as a tool for measuring children and young people’s views on wellbeing from 8 to 18 years old.

• It provides a tool for reporting on wellbeing and the GIRFEC wellbeing indicators – it recognises the imperative to include children’s voices.

• We recognise the need to do some work on particular elements: ‘about me’/demographics and to confirm relevance of the tool with young people who have left school.

• Finding partners to progress the use of the tool.

Dr Colin Morrison, Co-Directorcolin@childrensparliament.org.uk

Chelsea Stinson, Children’s Voices Manager chelsea@childrensparliament.org.uk

www.childrensparliament.org.uk