People here are used to being told what’s wrong but through hope, community spirit and ambition we wanted to focus on ‘what’s strong; not what’s wrong’, using a place-making approach.
Note we talk about an ‘approach’ rather than a ‘plan’ and this is because we’re following a set of principles, instead of rules.
Joining the dots
Place-making is a fluid and dynamic way of working that’s context-focussed, rather than project-focussed.
We wanted to put schools back at the heart of these communities for them to act as catalysts for social change.
However we had also heard stories of persistent absenteeism among students and of the struggle to recruit and retain teachers.
There were also descriptions of pupils' bad behaviour and lack self-regulation, which in many occasions resulted in a lack of aspiration and a rise in apathy.
That all needed to change, so for over 18 months we worked in these places, spent time there, built relationships, listened, learnt and tried to put wind in the sails of the educators and people who know these places better than anyone.
We wanted to listen to the people living, working and playing in these places, but with a listen-to-understand rather than a listen-to-respond attitude, and in order to achieve that we created a new role in schools: the place-maker.
Place-makers are members of staff that live in the community (or have strong connections to it) and who can help activate young people’s talents.
This small group of changemakers have been incredibly effective at joining the dots with local stakeholders including youth services, policing, transport, health and housing.
And there’s more!
We’ve also created the 'Communities of Place’, a series of safe and brave spaces where people are encouraged to raise important issues and work out solutions together.
The importance of trust
In Perry Barr, for instance, girls were not accessing opportunities at the same rate as boys, so the school made a connection to Saathi House, which is a vibrant local community hub specifically designed for women and girls.
Together, they listened to understand the community needs and, as a result, enabled an NFL Flag Football project to provide a safe, diverse and inclusive space for young girls to learn, play and grow together that was managed by a group of female mentors promoting physical fitness, teamwork, confidence and leadership.
Through our approach to Youth Voice, we've also discovered an appetite for Youth Leadership, so the schools invited students to apply to become a young place-maker.
They received 109 applications and there are now 35 young place-makers in Tower Hamlets and The Prescot School, proving the desire for young people to be the change they want to see in their community.
Our place-based work is built on shared values and purpose, because we:
- spend time with people in their places
- build reciprocal relationships and see what we can give rather than extract
- understand by truly listening
- focus on strengths rather than deficits or weaknesses
- are transparent and have tough conversations.
If you take the first letter of these values, you get the most important component of what we do: trust.
Trust is fundamental to us because we’ve learned that progress travels at the speed of trust and that trust is also the hardest thing to earn and the easiest to lose.
And while we are also aware that we don’t have all the answers, we believe that the people in these places do and that part of our collective role is help them to unlock them.
