Voice, action, and agency

What is voice, action and agency?

Youth voice is defined as ‘views of children that are actively heard and valued as a substantive contribution to decisions affecting their lives’ (1). Researchers argue that ignoring youth views may have a detrimental effect on their academic achievements, as autonomy, self-regulation and critical thinking are some of the important factors associated with academic achievements that are strengthened with considering youth voice (2). Therefore, listening to children’s views about matters which directly affect their lives becomes pertinent for their immediate academic outcomes and is also key in building skills and confidence for their future. Research evidence suggests that ignoring to consider children’s voices negatively affects their well-being, identity and development as citizens. It excludes children from the sense of belonging that they gain when they grow up and are recognised as citizens in contexts where individual views are considered important. Needless to say, bringing children’s views into mainstream activities not only helps to channel their potential but also shape their interpersonal development to grow into responsible adult citizens. This participation provides them with an opportunity to develop social networks, learn new skills and gain experience, enhance their self-confidence, and understand how organizations function making way for them to influence decisions that affect their lives.

Why is this important to Ormiston Trust?

Ormiston Trust believes that young people have the potential to bring transformative change to the world. Our mission is to nurture their skills, energy and ideas by helping them find their voice and utilise their agency over their lives. Ormiston Trust is actively working towards making this mission part of the school’s ongoing agenda by creating opportunities for young people to channel their agency which results in improving their overall life outcomes and building a better future by allowing students to develop solutions to the biggest challenges the world is facing today.

Grant programmes examples: Student councils, student surveys and consultation, social action, young people on boards, alumni programme etc.

Desired Outcomes:

References
(1) Elspeth Brooks and Jane Murray, 2016. “Ready, steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings”. The University of Northampton. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8556/3/
Brooks20168556.pdf

(2) Lin-Siegler, Dweck, and Cohen 2016; Hu et al. 2016 cited in Elspeth Brooks and Jane Murray, 2016. “Ready, steady, learn: school readiness and children’s voices in English early childhood settings”. The University of Northampton. http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/8556/3/
Brooks20168556.pdf

Case Studies

WOA Student Leadership Team Project

Organisation

Ormiston Meadows Academy

Years Funded

2020/2021

Amount funded

£17000

Beneficiaries

30 People

Area Of Focus

Creativity, arts and culture

Student Leadership

Organisation

Ormiston Park Academy

Years Funded

2020/2021

Amount funded

£17000

Beneficiaries

100 people

Area Of Focus

Love of learning and study support

Local Student Voice

Organisation

Flegg High Ormiston Academy

Years Funded

2020/2021

Amount funded

£17000

Beneficiaries

30 People

Area Of Focus

Wellbeing

James is the Chief Executive officer of Ormiston Trust. He has worked as an organisation advisor in the private, public and voluntary sectors, helping organisations to grow sustainably over the medium to long term. He has helped charities for over 20 years in the fields of strategic development, partnership setup, programme and project delivery.

Poppy is the Youth Engagement and Partnership Officer at Ormiston Trust, responsible for coordinating our team of Young Advisors and developing effective working relationships with external organisations. She is currently studying ‘Politics, International Studies and Global Sustainable Development’ at Warwick University and previously worked as Board Advisor for a non-profit youth-focused organisation in Croydon. She has experience in activism work – attending COP26 with environmental education company Force of Nature and had been a member of the UK Youth Parliament for many years, speaking on environmental issues in the House of Commons for its ‘Make Your Mark’ campaign.

Tom heads up Comms and Youth Engagement here at Ormiston Trust. His role focuses mainly on helping run the Youth Advisory Council, as well as heading up our social media accounts and planning events. His creative roots lie in journalism, music and theatre as well as horticulture and creative producing, having been involved in a variety of workshops and projects. Tom is passionate about the environment and politics and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Birmingham in International Relations.

Fiona is the Grants Assistant at Ormiston Trust and in her role she supports the Grants team. Previously, she worked in the City for 10 years, firstly as a dealer on the floor of the London Stock Exchange and then as an equity salestrader.  

Samia is a business and ICT Teacher with over 20 years of leadership experience in Education, working with leaders from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 5. Her experience has ranged from working as an Acting Head Teacher to a Deputy for an Education Trust. Some of the key highlights from her education career have included building schools and setting up education provisions, including a teaching school, and winning several National awards. Samia is passionate about ensuring the young people in her care have the best possible experience and has always led by example by sending her own children to the schools she has been a part of.

Ray leads the youth engagement, partnerships and fundraising work streams at Ormiston Trust, in particular having strategic oversight of how we as an organisation can embed the voices of our young people in everything we do, and how we can work with partner organisations to maximise shared outcomes and opportunities.

His background is in community project development and funding, having worked with charities, schools, and local authorities in East Anglia to develop a plethora of projects including primary-secondary school transition, award-winning youth amateur theatre, social prescribing in rural GP practices, and youth commissioning boards, for which he was recognised as a Prime Minister’s Point of Light.

Ray is a global health and medicine graduate, alongside his work at Ormiston, he is a hospital doctor and public health academic. He is also an #iWill Ambassador and national #iWill Partnership Board member.

Anne is Finance Manager at Ormiston Trust and has worked for Ormiston Trust for over 30 years, overseeing the property portfolio and asset management. She combines her work at the Trust with voluntary community work and has raised thousands of pounds to enhance leisure and education opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities. 

Karlene is Finance Manager at Ormiston Trust and has been handling the Financial Management of Ormiston Trust since 2014. Her background is in Financial Services with 20 years working in the industry and she has a passion for systems, processes and spreadsheets to enable good finance management. 

Aneela is the Head of Education at Ormiston Trust. Prior to joining Ormiston Trust, she was Head of Professional Development and School Improvement at Beaconhouse Group, overseeing the professional development of over 8000 teachers and implementing systems for school improvement across 200 international schools, in the Southeast region. Prior to this, she worked at Universities in the UAE, where she taught on the Bachelor of Education and Diploma programmes, and previous to this she was a Lead Advisor for Nord Anglia Education services, working with head teachers and principals to raise educational standards across schools in Abu Dhabi.

Melissa is a Programme Management Officer at Ormiston Trust. In her role she supports the #WeWill programme management, and works closely with the monitoring & evaluation, social action toolkit & skills, and youth engagement teams. She completed her undergraduate degree in International Development at the University of Sussex, and her postgraduate degree in Global Health and Development at UCL. Over the last eight years, she has dedicated much of her time to working with non-profit organisations in the UK, Nigeria, China, and Tanzania.