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Consultation

Consultation with others before you set up your provision is an essential part of the planning process.  It will help you identify areas of support that you may not have realized existed and help you make sure what you provide is really what is wanted and needed.

Step 1 - Establishing the need

How much consultation you need to do at this stage will depend on how well you know your school or community and what your key motivation is.   If you want to use a breakfast club to work with a specific group to tackle a specific issue for example ‘children at risk’ your consultation will be much more focused.  If you are setting up an open access club you will need to take a broader approach that includes the wider community.  Whatever club you set up you will need to speak to, and get feedback from the following:

  • The senior management of the venue you plan to use
  • Local headteachers and Local Authority Extended Services or Childcare team staff
  • Site maintenance staff, such as caretakers, facilities managers 
  • Others that use the venue before, after or at the same time as yourselves
  • Catering and kitchen staff
  • Others who offer morning childcare provision in the area
  • Transport operators if your members will be bused to your provision
  • Food providers – you need to ensure the food that you serve will fit the new regulations if you are operating on a school site (find out more from planning your club).
  • Whoever is responsible for your site insurance and liability insurance 
  • Your Local Authority Health and Safety team (find out more in rules and regulations)
     

Step 2 - How to make it popular?

Here you need to consult with the people you want to use the club, parents and young people.  There is a raft of different ways you can do this including:

  • In a letter asking for feedback
  • At an open meeting
  • face to face 
  • using arts 
  • have a suggestion box
  • have a questions box
  • put a questionnaire on your website
  • give information in libraries and health centres
  • video/sound recordings (done by young people?)
  • pupil interviews
  • individual meetings
  • open invitations to feedback
  • community outreach visits
  • through teaching support staff or partner organisations
     

Your consultation will be more efefctive if you mix and match some of the above.  (See the top tips section below.)

Step 3 - Reflect and review

At this point you might find it useful to do a final survey of your community and local agencies and organisations.  You can give them a bit more information – based on what you have planned so far – running times, remit, location, cost etc.  This is really your first step in marketing.  Make sure you get the information to as many people as you can at this stage but send it BEFORE your start date.  This will give you the chance to still review your plans if a particular challenge or issue presents. 

Consultation top tips

  • Gathering data at one time, then again later, demonstrates how far you are reaching your aims A-B.
  • Try to get a statistically significant sample: 5% of the target population is good practice
  • Train up local people to ask the questions: it increases involvement and they will know loads of local people
  • Publicise your results - others will want to know what you have discovered 
  • Provide information as a handout or at an open event so people can pass it on to others
  • Publish on posters a summary of the results and feedback on what you're going to do.

Consultation resources

Other links

Participation Spice it Up! is a brilliant resource developed by Save the Children packed with ideas and information on how to engage children and young people with evaluating and consultations.  Click the link to order the resource.


Our Schools ETC pages have bespoke information on involving young people