Young people create powerful video aimed at improving school attendance in Camden
Fitzrovia Youth in Action (FYA), a leading local charity empowering young people, has released a short film to help address the issue of school attendance and raise awareness of why students might not be attending.
Commissioned by Camden Council and Camden Learning, the video aims to raise awareness of the importance of attending school and the impact missing school can have on the future opportunities and personal growth of children and young people.
It also highlights some of the challenges and barriers pupils and students may be facing to regularly attend school, including financial issues at home, special educational needs, and low self-esteem. Camden secondary school students in Years 7 to 9 were involved in writing the script and producing the film with FYA as part of this video project.
Alongside the release of the short film, FYA will also be working with schools to deliver a programme of workshops and assemblies on this topic. These sessions will be led by young people who have been trained by the charity and will feature screenings of the film alongside discussions designed to engage students and encourage them to share their experiences.
In addition to peer education, students from across the participating secondary schools have also trained as peer mentors through FYA’s accredited peer mentoring programme, ready to offer support to classmates who may be struggling with issues that affect attendance.
Unfortunately, school attendance has been an issue affecting local schools in recent years. We are committed to addressing this and have been working on a range of initiatives alongside Camden Learning and our schools to support parents and carers to ensure their children can attend school.
We want every Camden child and young person to have the best start in life, and regularly attending school is a huge part of this. We understand some of the challenges local schoolchildren face, and we are here to support families in every way we can to overcome these barriers. Thank you to Fitzrovia Youth in Action and our local secondary students, for creating this short film which highlights these issues and will hopefully spark conversation among the school community of how we can work together to tackle this.
Andre Schott, Chief Executive at Fitzrovia Youth in Action, said: “Through this project, young people draw on their expertise and lived experience to communicate their challenges and ideas and help schools to design and deliver new strategies aimed at addressing some of the causes of non-attendance.”
Katie Metselaar, Head of School at Haverstock School, said: “At Haverstock, we know that young people have a unique perspective on the issues they face regarding attendance, and their voices are crucial in finding effective solutions. This video is a testament to their creativity and determination to make a positive change in their community, and we are grateful to Fitzrovia Youth in Action, Camden Learning and the Council for their support in addressing this challenge.”
Stephen Hall, Chief Executive of Camden Learning, said: “Since the pandemic, we’ve seen the increased challenges that children, parents and schools have faced in ensuring all children attend school regularly and we know how much poor attendance affects their achievement - so we’re delighted to have been working in partnership to develop this innovative student-led approach.”
Ariella, aged 15, who is an FYA Peer Mentor and Peer Educator, said: “My experience with FYA has been positive. I have always been heard and I feel like everyone has been given a chance to share their thoughts on what affects attendance. I learned how to mentor and understand more reasons people might not be coming in and how to be a more empathetic person. Young people find it easier to relate to someone their own age.”
This project has been jointly funded by Camden Learning and Camden Council, demonstrating a strong commitment to addressing local educational challenges and in support of the We Make Camden Youth Mission.
Camden schools are also supporting the initiative, ensuring that the message reaches a wide audience and is a joint collaborative effort to improve school attendance.