Learning

Here’s where you’ll find all resources related to this project, including reports, studies and Info Sheets. Want to add something? Please get in touch

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Gender Based Violence Survey: Test of Change Update

The 'Young Activist' group (part of Healthy n' Happy, in South Lanarkshire) were asked to pick a topic that they felt was interesting, important to young people, and under-explored in their local area. In the wake of the Sarah Everard case, they chose to focus on gender-based-violence (GBV). 

This test of change aimed to explore the perceptions and prevalence of GBV among young people in South Lanarkshire. They wanted to understand: 

  • What young people understood GBV to be
  • Whether young people had experienced incidents of GBV
  • If young people made use of strategies to reduce the risk of GBV
  • If views about, and experiences of, GBV varied by gender. 

The primary mechanism for achieving this was a survey that was distributed amongst youth groups, schools, colleges and training organisations in South Lanarkshire. 

This is one of 10 tests of change being carried out with the support of Inclusion as Prevention. Click the link to find out about the design and development of this test of change, and the findings of the Young Activist group. 
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Junior Pathfinder Test of Change Pilot Report

The transition from primary to secondary school is recognised as a crucial time for
children's wellbeing and development.

The Junior Pathfinder test of change, funded by Inclusion As Prevention, was set up to explore whether the introduction of dedicated Pathfinders within two schools could support all those involved - pupils, their families/carers and school staff - in the management of this important transition. 

The Pathfinders had a unique role; although they operated within the school setting, they endeavoured to remain distinct from teaching staff in order to establish the best possible relationships with the children. 

Fluid and responsive in nature, the pathfinder role evolved over time, never moreso than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when face-to-face meetings with parents and carers became an impossibility. Pathfinders did however offer additional capacity to schools at a moment of high stress. 

Click the link to download the full report on what was learned from The Junior Pathfinder test of change pilot project. 
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Junior Pathfinders Evaluation Summary

Pathfinders is an early intervention initiative, run by Youth, Family and Community Learning, which aims to improve outcomes for children and young people who experience barriers to learning in secondary schools.

Learning from the evaluation of the Pathfinders project, and a scoping study with parents of children who received input from the Project set in secondary schools, included recognition that for some children, barriers to education begin in primary school. In response, IAP funded a Pathfinders project in two primary schools - which became one of IAP’s earliest Tests of Change.


This report highlights the learning from the original Project. It also looks ahead to what it is hoped will emerge from the pilot project in primary schools.
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IAP Thematic Summary: Engagement

Inclusion as Prevention (IAP) has produced a new report about co-production, that is intended as a resource for those working with children and young people who are considering a co-production, participatory or collaborative methodology.

This is the second in a series of annual summaries, focusing on foundational aspects of Inclusion as Prevention. These themes are fundamental to IAP, acting as a benchmark for its progress, and the journey towards achieving its overall aim. Thematic summaries bring together the learning on each theme from across different aspects of the project, using multiple sources of evidence. 

The first summary was on partnership; this summary focuses on Engagement. 
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Street Cones work with young men in South Lanarkshire

IAP partially funded creative arts organisation Street Cones to carry out a ‘Road for Change’ creative programme with a group of justice experienced young men aged under 18.

The initial theme was “Learning from young people in South Lanarkshire with a view to impacting on service change and service delivery”. The optional sessions were designed to facilitate a creative output from the experiences these young men have had with services and supports.

We hope this ongoing engagement with IAP will help increase their confidence and support them in further advocating for change.

This evaluation aims to capture the project’s journey and learning from this approach. It also explores ways this work could be developed in future.
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Football, young people and the community

Inclusion as Prevention (IAP) has shared findings from an innovative pilot project which provided access to football pitches for marginalised young people in South Lanarkshire, and the hugely positive impact this has had, both on them and the community.

This project was created after young people in a South Lanarkshire park shared with IAP’s engagement coordinator what they like to do in their community - and what they would like to do. This included access to the ‘quality’ locked football pitches to just play a decent game of football. Some young people would climb the fence in order to access these pitches and be chased away by staff or the police.

IAP subsequently partnered with Youth, Family, Community Learning (YFCL) in South Lanarkshire, and a 16 week pilot based on a ‘test of change’ approach was carried out. Young people were provided access to the pitches at a local high school for two hours every Wednesday afternoon, and supported by youth workers. 

The sessions were positively received by the young people who attended in greater numbers each week, and the reduction in antisocial behaviour and material damage in and around the leisure centre was measurable. Findings are shared in this report, written by IAP’s embedded evaluator, Kristina Moodie. 
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Co-production, Co-design, Participation – or something else?

Inclusion as Prevention (IAP) has produced a new report about co-production, that is intended as a resource for those working with children and young people who are considering a co-production, participatory or collaborative methodology.

Co-production, Co-design, Participation – or something else? documents IAP's use of co-production to measure change, to enable and encourage reflection for its workers and partners.

This report is based on work undertaken during the first three years of IAP’s five-year span. It explores to what extent this could be described as co-production, collaboration or participation, focusing on the various tests of change that IAP has completed, is currently working on, or that remain in the planning stages.

This is supplemented by the reflections of young people who work with IAP across different tests of change, when they were asked to consider how they felt about
co-production and their work in IAP.

The report features ideas and visual devices that can help young people and workers to co-produce together, together with advice on ensuring the balance between fun and work is observed, and rights are upheld.
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From trapped in the system to changing the system

In 2021, Inclusion as Prevention worked together with South Lanarkshire Council and Action for Children to support a group of ten justice experienced young people in attending ‘Something to Say’ workshops provided by Street Cones.

From a blank sheet of paper, via a recommendation from one of the group to watch a documentary about a rapper dealing with the justice system, a theme, that of the reality and impact of police custody, was identified and this group of young people created a script during the course of 16 weekly online workshops.

The method adopted by Street Cones with this group involved what they describe as ‘the privileged environment’, or ‘the protection of fiction’. This enables the group to discuss issues and identify themes of interest without identifying what relates to themselves or the fictional character they have chosen as the protagonist in the script, allowing exploration of issues in a safe environment.

This report shares the outcomes, learning and next steps.