Introduction
The Children’s Legal Centre Wales is developing a Wales-wide approach to empower young people via legal education on human rights. In a project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, CLCW Education and Engagement Lead Rhian Howells is working with children to design and pilot interactive sessions for 11 – 17-year-olds. The project will make an essential contribution supporting the four purposes of the Curriculum for Wales which envisage children developing through their education as:
- ambitious, capable learners, ready to learn throughout their lives;
- enterprising, creative contributors, ready to play a full part in life and work;
- ethical, informed citizens of Wales and the world;
- healthy, confident individuals, ready to live fulfilling lives as valued members of society.
The first step, conducted by Rhian during 2023 – 24, was to work with children nearing transition to secondary school to identify issues about which they want to learn more. The second step is to identify what resources are already available on those issues. With assistance from second-year law student Sarah Howe, supported by Swansea University’s Spinternship Programme, this has now been done. Findings are set out in Sarah’s blog below.
Sarah’s Blog
The Children’s Legal Centre for Wales recently reviewed the available legal education resources for children and young people in Wales and throughout the UK. The purpose was to locate the pre-existing legal resources while also identifying any gaps. The project involved collecting resources on various topics important to children in Wales: knife crime, vaping, sexting, mental health, poverty, relationships, family relationships and identity. The resources found were produced by a variety of organisations and targeted several audiences, including educators, parents and children. Furthermore, there are multiple types of resources, such as lesson plans, blogs and guides. They also differ in regional application, as some generally apply to the UK or focus solely on Scotland or England, but 54% apply specifically to Wales. Overall, this compilation provides an overview of the resources available and the gaps in certain areas.
8 Key Topics
As previously mentioned, the re
sources collected focused on 8 key topics: knife crime, vaping, sexting, mental health, poverty, relationships, family relationships and identity. During a pilot activity with Year 6 pupils for the project, our Education and Engagement Lead, Rhian Howells, discussed the issues the students thought were most important to young people. Nearly all of them mentioned vaping and many mentioned weapons, mental health and school uniforms. She used the ideas generated by the students and issues relevant to child law to create a pack of ‘Issues’ cards. During a ‘diamond ranking’ activity in groups of 3 or 4, the children ranked their top nine from the card pack, which were then used to determine which topics would be focused on during the project. Concentrating on these topics ensures that the legal issues important to children are the ones being highlighted in the classroom.
Purpose of the resources
The resources collected vary in the target audience and the type of resource. The collection allows educators, parents and others working with children and young people to access information and lesson plans to support youth legal education. So, instead of scouring the internet for legal education resources on a pressing issue, the collection provides easy-to-access resources on legal issues important to children and young people.
The majority of the resources target educators, while around a quarter of them target the broad public. As well, when combining lesson plans, toolkits and teaching resources, they make up just under half of the types of resources found during the scoping activity. Also, just over half of the resources apply specifically to Wales, but 30% apply broadly to the UK. However, it can be helpful to look at the resources that apply to England and Scotland because they could provide ideas for lesson plans, so long as they are adjusted to follow the Welsh curriculum. Overall, these resources are meant to aid educators and other professionals working with young people when teaching children about legal issues that are important to them.
Gaps in the resources and moving forward
This project has shown which legal education resources are already available for children and young people. Thus, it has also highlighted the gaps in available resources. When looking specifically at the key topics, some had more available resources than others. Many pre-existing resources focus on mental health and vaping, however, there are not as many resources on family relationships or identity. Furthermore, certain topics offer more educational resources than others.
Although there were not many pre-existing resources on family relationships or identity, the vast majority of those found were targeted towards educators as they included teaching resources and lesson plans. As well, around half of these resources specifically targeted Wales and the remaining resources broadly target the UK. These two areas have a strong base of available resources for educators.
Knife crime represents 9% of the resources found through the scoping activity. Unlike the topics of family relationships or identity, it varied greatly in the type of resource and target audience. Most of the resources found were blogs, followed by lesson plans, reports, guides, articles, and collections of resources. This meant that although most of the resources targeted educators, many also targeted the broad public. So, it could be helpful moving forward to develop lesson plans to educate young people on the law surrounding knife crime.
The topic of sexting had by far the most resources that applied to Wales, proportionally. Also, the majority of the resources were targeted at educators. The types of resources varied greatly though, as they included some guidance and guides, as well as lesson plans and teaching resources. The variety can assist educators when teaching students about sexting, as they can understand what the Welsh Government has regulated for teaching about the topic in the classroom.
Poverty has a great variety in the types of resources available, with many teaching resources, reports and guides. As well, the majority of the resources are targeted towards educators in Wales. The pre-existing resources provide a strong overview of the Welsh Government’s regulations and guidance on dealing with child poverty, as well as how to teach about poverty in the classroom.
The resources on relationships apply mainly to Wales and target educators. Teaching resources compose most of the resources but there are also leaflets and guidance available. Overall, resources on this topic are well-rounded but specific lesson plans could be created to assist educators going forward.
Vaping had the least number of resources that applied specifically to Wales and the majority of them applied to England. However, most of the resources targeted educators and included lesson plans, teaching resources and toolkits. It is important to ensure that more of the resources apply to Wales in the future so they can be used in Welsh classrooms.
There were many resources available that focused on mental health. They mostly applied to Wales and the UK broadly. As well, they mainly targeted educators. However, most of the mental health education resources were simply collections of resources and included no lesson plans. It would be helpful going forward to develop lesson plans on mental health regulations in Wales for children.
Third and further steps will include development of resources, piloting, evaluation and dissemination. Watch this space!
CLCW would like to express appreciation to Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Swansea University, and to Sarah herself, whose work has produced a searchable database enabling us to identify gaps and respond effectively to the children’s issues within the scope of the project.
If you want to know more about the project or comment on the findings set out below, please contact childrenslegalcentre@swansea.ac.uk