Agenda item

(Director of Communities) to consider the attached report.

The report on the last years Reality Road show was introduced by Ms Gold the Assistant Communities Health and Wellbeing Manager. She reported that the Reality Roadshow initiative was a personal safety, health & wellbeing event that brought together a host of statutory and voluntary agencies, to deliver a full day of educational workshops to Year 9 (14 year old) pupils at secondary school in the district. It was specifically tailored to address young people’s issues that have been identified as a priority concern locally.

The Roadshow was co-ordinated by the Council’s Community Health and Wellbeing Team providing over 900 pupils in the District with expert advice and guidance on making the right choices in life for good health and wellbeing.

Pupils participated in either 5 or 6 sessions depending on individual school timetables and each session was specifically designed to address current issues facing local young people. These workshops were:

·         The consequences of Crime – delivered by Essex magistrates;

·         Online Internet safety – Essex Police;

·         Sexual Health – Essex County Council;

·         Legal Highs and Substance Misuse – Alcohol & Drugs Advisory Service;

·         Alcohol Awareness – AlcoHELP;

·         Healthy Relationships and Domestic Abuse – Safer Places;

·         Gangs and Peer Pressure – Sparks 2 Life.

Real life advice was provided by ex-offenders and ex-addicts relating their stories.

The schools were not charged for the Roadshow as they were funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Essex County Council.

The Reality Roadshow was delivered to the following schools – Davenant Foundation School, Debden Park High School, Epping St Johns School, King Harold Business and Enterprise Academy, Roding Valley High School and West Hatch School. The Ongar Academy will be incorporated into the Reality Roadshow annual programme during the academic year of 2017/18.

Each participating Year 9 pupil was required to complete an anonymous feedback questionnaire and every teacher involved was asked to feedback on the scenario they had attended.  Usually the feedback was very positive and teaching staff were delighted with the additional support and information that they gained from the day.

Councillor Girling asked if any information was passed on to the parents and was there anything covered on mental illness. Ms Gold said that they did send a letter to the parents giving background information and yes, they did do items on mental health. There was a recurring theme on bullying throughout the day.

Councillor Stavrou asked if this replaced the Crucial Crew Programme. She was told that it did not. Crucial Crew was a separate programme run for younger Year 6 pupils.

Councillor Surtees asked if there was any feedback from the Youth Council. He was told that there was no recent feedback but they did get consulted regularly. Councillor Surtees went on to ask if the mental health items did anything on anti-stigmatizing. Ms Gold said that they concentrated on exam stress but there was a further workshop that went deeper into this, but it was held separately. This was a big thing now both locally and nationally.

Councillor Girling asked if there had any problems or concerns with the stakeholders. He was told that there had been some problems, but it was easier to organise and run the Roadshow than for Crucial Crew. It was an ongoing conservation.

The Chairman thanked the officers for their helpful and useful presentation.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee noted the success of the Reality Roadshow initiative, which was a personal safety and awareness event aimed at Year 9 pupils and was now in its seventh year of delivery.