Grit in the Oyster
Final Report of the Evaluation of Investing in Children
By Professor Bill Williamson, School of Education, University of Durham: October 2003.
Executive Summary
This report is of an evaluation of the work of Investing in Children over the period 2000-2003. It is based on conversations, interviews, focus groups, reports and data analysis describing the work of Investing in Children from the point of view of its different stakeholders. The evaluation was designed to be an exercise in learning: to discover from the work of Investing in Children principles of good practice in working with young people to enhance their participation in the civic life of their communities.
The key conclusions set out in the report can be highlighted as follows:
1. Investing in Children is a successful project that has met most of the objectives it was set up to achieve.
2. Investing in Children has been managed in ways that have enabled it to learn a great deal from its own practice. Its work has been open to inspection and widely reported. Colleagues have, in the main, felt well supported and the project has opened up new ideas and ways of working with young people. Central among these is the need to build up frameworks of dialogue through which the voices of young people can be heard.
3. Investing in Children has developed a model of working with young people that is innovative, that strives to be inclusive and which enables those who participate to develop their skills and responsibilities as citizens. Young people engaged with Investing in Children have valued the way it helped them develop skills, understanding and confidence.
4. The work of Investing in Children challenges many features of the ways in which services to young people are delivered. By taking the experience of young people seriously and encouraging them to research and deepen their understanding of the issues that concern them, the project has been an agent of change and service development in County Durham and Darlington.
5. Despite its success, there are several questions that the project has no clear answers for: How inclusive has its work been? How sustainable are its achievements? How well understood are its working methods? How can its work be continued within the complex changes in the policy environment in which services to children and young people are currently being delivered? How far is the current working philosophy of Investing in Children dependent on its current employees? Would the approach of the project be sustainable beyond the involvement of key members of the current staff team or then project's current senior managers and partners?
6. Investing in Children must develop beyond the immediate context of its work if it is to be sustainable in the longer term. It must continue with its methods of partnership working but extend significantly its membership of both regional and national networks - particularly in relation to research and professional development - of practitioners in this field.
7. Investing in Children is an organization that tests the practices and procedures and values of a wide range of organizations that provide services to children. Discussion is needed about how best Investing in Children can itself be tested so that it continues to develop in innovative ways.
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