(time limit 20 minutes)
In April 2016 Oldham Youth Council began a new 2 year term of office for 2016 – 2018. The following motion will set out our intentions within this term.
We have identified that we focus on 3 areas within this term. These were identified and agreed based on consultation with young people from across Oldham as part of the make your mark ballot in October 2015. We will have a priority theme, a priority issue and a priority campaign: this are outlined below:
Priority theme – improving health outcomes for young people in Oldham.
We recognise that good health, both physical and mental, is vital to ensure individuals are able to lead happy, productive and successful lives.
Health has been a priority for the Youth Council and our fellow youth voice family members in the children in care council and the barrier breakers for a number of years and will continue to be so.
We will continue to work closely with a range of organisations and partners to help shape and influence the health agenda for children and young people.
We will continue to strengthen our working relationship with the CCG, Public Health and other health organisations to develop mechanisms and opportunities for young people to be central to decision making processes and to ensure the voice and views of young people are reflected in the health services we receive.
We are continuing with our Kerrching funding stream with a focus on health outcomes for children and young people. This includes providing small grants for health related projects and we have already allocated funding to 27 projects across Oldham for this year. We have continued to commission kooth.com the online mental health service for children and young people and this service continues to be a well-used and effective resource. We are looking forward to working further with commissioners as health services develop further and hope to be further involved in the commissioning of services for Children and Young People.
We are particularly pleased to carry forward our I Love Me branded initiative for another term, this will focus on promoting positive health messages via a range of activities, events and consultations.
We are also working closely with public health on the making every contact count programme and developing MECC resources specifically for children and young people.
Priority issue - learning for life
We believe that our education will be greatly improved if it includes the teaching of life skills that are important for our growth and development. We believe that education should fully prepare us for adult life and this should include the teaching of citizenship and personal, social and health education as part of the core offer in every school and college. We want all young people to have the opportunity to learn about political education and democracy, sex and relationships, cultural awareness, community cohesion, financial literacy, sustainable living and active citizenship.
We want to be able to enhance fantastic English , Maths, Science, humanities and arts qualifications with the knowledge of how to manage money, how to vote, how to open a bank account, how to gain meaningful employment and prepare for an interview and so much more,
We will continue to work closely with the Oldham curriculum offer and help to shape this offer for Oldham young people.
We will consult with schools pupils, head teachers and governors. And use this consultation to develop ideas and recommendations for how schools and colleges can best help young people learn for life.
Priority campaign – discrimination
We would like to live in an Oldham where people are free from discrimination and we intend to launch a campaign to promote understanding and reduce discrimination. In consultation with young people we found that discrimination is still very much a concern of young people. It was also voted as the national campaign in the United Kingdom Youth Parliament.
In a recent Youth Council meeting we found that every member of the Youth Council had faced or directly witnessed discrimination in the past 12 months, and that’s within our relatively short lives. This isn’t acceptable. We want to grow up in a society free from this kind of hatred. We understand that there are a wide range of forms of discrimination and we intend to focus on those most prevalent for young people.
We will undertake a large consultation with young people and organisations across Oldham to identify the most common experiences of discrimination.
We will launch a campaign across social media addressing these and raising awareness and understanding.
We will be holding a young people’s conference later this year to focus in and develop young people’s ideas on how we can reduce discrimination.
We will share these recommendations and share good practice that is already implemented in schools and other organisations widely across Oldham.
We ask Full Council to note our Key Priorities’ and to continue to work with us and support the work we do in 2016 – 2018.
Minutes:
The Youth Council, attended the meeting and addressed the Council on the following motion:
“In April 2016 Oldham Youth Council began a new 2 year term of office for 2016 – 2018. The following motion will set out our intentions within this term.
We have identified that we focus on 3 areas within this term. These were identified and agreed based on consultation with young people from across Oldham as part of the make your mark ballot in October 2015. We will have a priority theme, a priority issue and a priority campaign: this are outline below:
Priority theme – improving health outcomes for young people in Oldham
We recognise that good health, both physical and mental, is vital to ensure individuals are able to lead happy, productive and successful lives.
Health has been a priority for the Youth Council and our fellow youth voice family members in the children in care council and the barrier breakers for a number of years and will continue to do so.
We will continue to work closely with a range of organisations and partners to help shape and influence the health agenda for children and young people.
We will continue to strengthen our working relationship with the CCG, Public Health and other health organisations to develop mechanisms and opportunities for young people to be central to decision making processes and to ensure the voice and views of young people are reflected in the health services we receive.
We are continuing with our Kerrching funding stream with a focus on health outcomes for children and young people. This includes providing small grants for health related projects and we have already allocated funding to 27 projects across Oldham for this year. We have continued to commission kooth.com the online mental health service for children and young people and this service continues to be a well-used and effective resource. We are looking forward to working with commissioners as health services develop further and hope to be further involved in the commissioning of services for Children and Young People.
We are particularly pleased to carry forward our I Love Me branded initiative for another term, this will focus on promoting positive health messages via a range of activities, events and consultations.
We are also working closely with public health on the making every contact count programme and developing MECC resources specifically for children and young people.
Priority issue – learning for life
We believe that our education will be greatly improved if it includes the teaching of life skills that are important for our growth and development. We believe that education should fully prepare us for adult life and this should include the teaching of citizenship and personal, social and health education as part of the core offer in every school and college. We want all young people to have the opportunity to learn about political education and democracy, sex and relationships, cultural awareness, community cohesion, financial literacy, sustainable living and active citizenship.
We want to be able to enhance fantastic English, Maths, Science, humanities and arts qualifications with the knowledge of how to manage money, how to vote, how to open a bank account, how to gain meaningful employment and prepare for an interview and so much more.
We will continue to work closely with the Oldham curriculum offer and help to shape this offer for Oldham young people.
We will consult with schools, pupils, head teachers and governors. And use this consultation to develop ideas and recommendations for how schools and colleges can best help young people learn for life.
Priority Campaign – discrimination
We would like to live in an Oldham where people are free from discrimination and we intend to launch a campaign to promote understanding and reduce discrimination. In consultation with young people we found that discrimination is still very much a concern of young people. It was also voted as the national campaign in the United Kingdom Youth Parliament.
In a recent Youth Council meeting we found that every member of the Youth Council had faced or directly witnessed discrimination in the past 12 months, and that’s within our relatively short lives. This isn’t acceptable. We want to grow up in a society free from this kind of hatred. We understand that there are a wide range of forms of discrimination and we intend to focus on those most prevalent for young people. We will undertake a large consultation with young people and organisations across Oldham to identify the most common experiences of discrimination. We will launch a campaign across social media addressing these and raising awareness and understanding.
We will be holding a young people’s conference later this year to focus in and develop young people’s ideas on how we can reduce discrimination. We will share these recommendations and share good practice that is already implemented in schools and other organisations widely across Oldham. We ask full Council to note our Key Priorities and to work with us and support the work we do in 2016 – 2018.
Councillor Chauhan commented on the motion and the amazing work being done by the Youth Council.
Councillor Shuttleworth commented on the motion and offered the Youth Council to attend events in Chadderton.
Councillor Williamson commented on the motion and congratulated the new members of the Youth Council.
Councillor Dearden commented on the motion and invited the Youth Council to speak at a future Health and Wellbeing Board.
RESOLVED that the Youth Council motion be noted.