Stronger collaboration between youth work providers and schools is key to improving attendance rates for vulnerable children, an independent inquiry commissioned by the National Youth Agency (NYA) has found.
The review examined the impact of youth work provision in education over the last decade, using evidence submitted by more than 150 organisations as well as visiting schools and youth services to identify the current challenges around collaboration between the two professions.
The Better together: Youth work in schools report lays out the benefits of youth work provision in secondary schools, the barriers that make it difficult to implement this across the country, and examines case studies where collaborative working has led to improved outcomes for children.
Increasing attendance rates was one of the primary benefits of embedding youth work into schools, the report finds, saying: “Youth work can play a valuable role in helping young people develop a positive relationship with school, particularly those who are at risk of exclusion or experiencing barriers to attendance.”
