Accreditations
The Devon Award
The Devon Award is designed to be suitable for any young person in the 13 – 19 years age range. It is a first step on to the accreditation ladder. It isn’t aimed at young people who have the inclination to go straight for mainstream awards such as D of E or Youth Achievement Awards, but may suit other young people you have seen changing and maturing. There is minimal paperwork and the young people join you in evaluating and accrediting their achievement.
The Award is Youth Work based. It relies on your assessment, as a youth worker, of a young person’s progress, based on your close knowledge of that person, rather than dealing in blocks of hours and regular attendance. However, at least 10 hours should be spent on achieving the following targets.
The sections of the award are:
Self Development (recognisable development)
Group Development (being aware and responding to others’ needs)
The Wider World (helping others without material gain)
The award works through your observation, de-briefs and recordings. As your work with a young person develops and it becomes apparent to you that a young person is showing signs of change for the better, with the agreement of your line manager and work colleagues, you sit down somewhere quiet with the young person and explain that s/he is being recommended to start on the Devon Award.
You negotiate targets and timescales (probably one at a time) and both of you sign and date the initial form. It is not envisaged that you will select more than a handful of young people at a time because you will have to track them and sustain their progress.
The whole process should take weeks, rather than days or many months. It will vary between young people but targets should be a challenge for each young person whilst sustaining enthusiasm.
The targets should be achievable within normal hours and resources: organising a pool tournament, a karaoke night, a sports competition, a dance-routine; helping tidy up, working behind the coffee bar, distributing publicity, arranging a special trip; taking responsibility for setting ground rules, leading a discussion, asking everyone for ideas... the list is endless but the essential requirement is that the young person should travel forward in a way that is sustainable and worthwhile.
Through this award young people will get recognition, achievement, status, CV material and the chance to be taken seriously.
How to use the Devon Award - Training
Devon Youth Service offers a short Introduction to the Award, which will take no more than an hour to deliver. This can be arranged for new staff or for agency staff groups in a convenient local office/training room. A Service Level Agreement will be necessary for organisations outside Devon Youth Service in order to conform with the requirements for moderating an Accredited Outcome.
The Devon Award has been designed to involve the minimum of paperwork - in fact there are just 2 forms.
The Application form will list agreed targets and must be completed by both the youth worker and young person, before being sent to the main office of Devon Youth Service. Workers should retain a copy of this form.
In order to ensure that a minimum standard is maintained across the county and across different agencies, a member of the Youth Service Development Team may contact the worker to discuss the targets or arrange a visit to observe the work/service being undertaken by the young person.
The second form is headed "Recommendation for Devon Award" and triggers the issuing of a laminated certificate, which you may wish to present in a celebratory setting. There should be a gap of a few weeks between the agreeing of targets and their completion. The training session emphasises that this is an individually-tailored award but that all young people should be stretched in order to attain their targets.
Further information from Bruce Freeman 01647 440526 or from your Development Worker.
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