Participant feedback
Delivery: programmes in action
Every Teens and Toddlers project is unique as it is shaped by the communities, and the individuals, who participate.
The shared ambition is to prevent teenage pregnancy and tackle the disadvantage and social exclusion that this brings. Each project therefore shares the same clear goal, to reduce the numbers of teenage pregnancies through the pro-active decision making process of those teens going through the course, and through the influence they will exert on their peer group.
Local Authority Perspectives
Jan Martin, Officer for Regeneration and Teenage Pregnancy and George Gyte, Director of Education in Greenwich in 2002 summarised both their views on the programme and its benefits in Emotional Health and Well-Being: A Practical Guide for Schools published by PCP saying "We would have no hesitation in recommending the Teens and Toddlers project to any local authority who is serious about addressing the issue of teenage pregnancy in a rigorous and comprehensive way. The secondary benefits of this project are in the area of emotional literacy and we've seen its effectiveness on this level as well."
Teen Experiences
Josephine was an aggressive and withdrawn Year 9 student in a pupil referral unit who was on probation and regularly picked up off the streets for physical fighting by police. At the beginning of the project she was overwhelmingly shy never speaking or engaging with her peers or the facilitators. Josephine wanted to have a baby soon, as a way out of a challenging home life and to meet her needs for being loved. Through the relationship with a small child, she soon began to realise the vast responsibilities that come with parenthood, as well as engaging with her peers during classroom time.
Josephine reported at the end of the project that she wanted to go for a career in childcare. Her pupil referral unit later confirmed that she had turned her life around - was no longer in trouble with the police, had become a mentor to other students in the referral unit, teaching them what she had learned on the programme and was currently in Sixth Form College studying for an NVQ in childcare.
Facilitator Viewpoint
A project was run in Southwark to support the training and development of eight new facilitators. Training covered youth and group work skills as well as on the job experience.
The students worked as trainee assistants for twelve weeks and, following assessment, began to facilitate under supervision. Debra Viller and Michael Muntiga were two of the trainee facilitators. Debra explained that she found the training sessions broad reaching and that she was already applying the skills she learned to other areas of her work with young people. Michael Muntiga found the experience very positive identifying the changes in the students who were able to leave their school 'baggage' at the gate and become valuable people within the nursery. He also highlighted the increase in students self esteem, their attendance level, and commitment to postponing pregnancy.