The Baby Borrowers - Piloting the Teaching Resource

As part of BBC Learning’s campaign, specially edited DVDs of The Baby Borrowers series plus related lesson plans are being made available to all schools throughout the UK. The teaching materials, for use within Citizenship, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) including Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) and all UK nation equivalents, seek to encourage pupils to talk about the realities of teenage parenthood, to discuss sexual relationships and the personal decisions that teenagers face as they move into adulthood.

To assess the content of the teaching pack The Baby Borrowers team offered pilot workshops to a cross section of UK schools. The purpose of the pilot workshops was:

• To establish the degree of need for such a pack • To gather teachers’ opinions and use their expertise to develop a well informed,

sustainable and invaluable PSHE and Citizenship resource

• To gain feedback from pupils to ensure that the pack would be relevant and engaging

Eight workshops were held, two in each nation, with pupils aged between 13 and 16, ensuring that each section of the teaching resource – The Experiment, Relationships, Parenting and The Carl and Kayleigh Story was piloted prior to launch.

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The Pilot Schools Schools were selected for a number of reasons including their geographical location, category and the rate of conception within the area. The workshops were held in state and state opted out, controlled and community schools, single sex schools and schools of religious preference (Roman Catholic) as well as non-denominational. To test the pack’s usability within school scheduling, each workshop was timed to last for 1 to 1 ½ hrs. They were held with, on average, 18 students and schools were encouraged to invite pupils with varied ability, including ESL (English as a second language) pupils.

A Roman Catholic non-selective state controlled school for girls aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 600. Workshop Held: The Experiment School Year: Year 10 (age 15-16) No. of Pupils: 22

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Teacher Evaluation of the Pil

The feedback received from teaching staff and educationaresource cited as a valuable tool for teaching PSHE and C

“Great potential for supporting the

Teachers were asked a series of multiple choice questionscomments on:

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A non-denominational, non-selective state school for girls and boys aged 12-18. Total no. of pupils: 728. Workshop Held: Relationships School Year: S1 (age 12-13) No. of Pupils: 15

A non-denominational, non-selective state controlled school for girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 948. Workshop Held: The Experiment School Year: Year 10 (age 15-16) No. of Pupils: 16

on-denominational, non-selective state opted school for girls and boys aged 12-18. The ool has a wide socio-economic mix as well as r 30 nationalities. Total no. of pupils: 900. rkshop Held: The Carl and Kayleigh Story ool Year: S4/S5 (age 15-17) of Pupils: 12

A non-denominational, non-selective state community school for girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 1302. Workshop Held: Relationships School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15) No. of Pupils: 24

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A non-denominational, non-selective state community school for girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 873. Workshop Held: Parenting School Year: Year 9 (age 13-14) No. of Pupils: 15

A non-denominational, non-selective bi-lingual state school for girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 541. Workshop Held: The Carl and Kayleigh Story School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15) No. of Pupils: 21

A non-denominational, non-selective state school for girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 808. Workshop Held: Parenting School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15) No. of Pupils: 16

Workshops perts was positive with the

enship.

vised curriculum” ducation expert, Northern Ireland

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• The usefulness of the pack • Recommended changes or additions • The level of interest in receiving the pack

Multiple Choice Question A: WORKSHOP CONTENT How would you rate the content of the written lesson plan?

Unsatisfactory 0%

Poor 0%

Excellent 50%

Okay 20%

Good 30%

80% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the written lesson plan as good or excellent. Of the 20% who rated the written content as okay, concerns were raised over the length of the lessons and lack of timings. Amendments have been made to ensure lessons are snappy and succinct and timings have been included.

“An excellent insight to parenting - certainly changed pupils’ ideas”

Teacher, Wales

Multiple Choice Question B: AGE RANGE How suitable did you feel the content was for the 11–16 age group?

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Excellent80%

Good10%

Okay10%

Unsatisfactory0%

Poor0%

90% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the suitability of the content as good or excellent. The 10% who viewed the suitability as okay felt that the content may not be appropriate for under 13’s. The suitability can be gauged by each individual school based on their own understanding of their pupils’ maturity.

“An excellent resource for exploring young people’s attitude to parenting and beyond”

Education expert, Wales Multiple Choice Question C: SENSITIVITY How would you rate the sensitivity of the written lesson plan?

Excellent60%

Good40%

Okay0%

Unsatisfactory0%

Poor0%

100% of teaching staff and educational experts felt that the sensitivity of the pack was good or excellent. This was based on the inclusion of class discussion and the opportunities for pupils to contribute their own opinions and viewpoints both on a personal basis, and through reference to The Baby Borrowers couples. Additional positive comments were made in relation to the DVDs themselves and the appropriate nature of both the content and language used throughout. Multiple Choice question D: OVERALL EXPERIENCE How would you rate the overall experience of the teaching resource?

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Excellent70%

Good30%

Okay0%

Unsatisfactory0%

Poor0%

“An active way to stimulate the pupils thinking on this issue” Teacher, England

100% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the overall resource as good or excellent. In the early stages of piloting, a call was made for more activities across the range of learning styles (audio, visual and kinaesthetic) to ensure all learners were engaged throughout.

Changes were made to reduce the length of each element of the workshop and to include more drama and group based activities. Later workshops which incorporated these changes were praised for their stimulating delivery and inclusive structuring.

“All activities were relevant and fun. Variations of activities

appropriate to all ability spectrum of pupils” Education expert, Wales

Pupil Evaluation of the Pilot Workshops

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The pupils’ feedback corresponds directly to the four teaching sections of The Baby Borrowers Teacher Pack The Experiment Workshop

Pupils were engaged throughout The Experiment pilot sessions and actively participated in all aspects of the lesson. They stated that the appeal of the workshop was being able to watch people their own age cope with real life babies, to talk about the programme and to debate the surrounding topics.

It’s a really good way to connect with teenagers about parenthood"

Pupil, 15, Northern Ireland

Felt they had not learned anything

3%

Felt they had learned something 97% 97% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value and were interested in participating in additional sessions with The Baby Borrowers resource.

“I have learnt how difficult it is to look after children and there will be many choices we will have to make…it has reminded me not to jump

into a decision without thinking about it” Pupil, 15, Northern Ireland

The Relationships Workshop

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The Relationships workshop gained the least positive response from pupils as they had to write for a large portion of the lesson. The lessons have now been changed to include tasks to appeal to all learning styles, with alternatives such as drama based exercises.

Felt they had not learned anything

15%

Felt they had learned something

85%

85% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value, and of the 15% who felt they hadn’t, most had watched the DVD with intent, and been engaged with and actively participated in discussion and group based activities.

“I enjoyed when we acted out the agony aunt…I learned about relationships and that love is a strong word”

Pupil, 14, England The Parenting Workshop

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Pupils participated well throughout this session producing work of a high standard and commenting on the interactive nature of the activities. They stated that the appeal of the workshop was being able to share their opinions and being shown how people cope with the experience of having children, rather than simply being told about it.

“I enjoyed watching the DVD the most because it gives you a (sic)

insight of how hard it would be for young couples to bring up a baby,” Pupil, 14, Wales

Felt they had not learned anything 3%

something 97%

Felt they had learned

97% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value. “Children are a lot harder to look after than I thought and you should live

your life a bit before having kids” Pupil, 15, Wales

The Carl and Kayleigh Story Workshop

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Of all the sessions this workshop came out as the strongest amongst the pupils.

“This programme should be used because it can change a lot of people’s minds at this age!”

Pupil, 17, Scotland

The workshop offers pupils a number of chances to work with peers, discuss situations and form opinions. Additionally, the activities allow the pupils the greatest opportunity to connect with the teenagers featured in the show, as they become actively engaged with Carl and Kayleigh’s relationship.

Felt they had not learned

anything0%

Felt they had learned something

100%

100% of pupils felt that they had learned something valuable and the majority were interested in participating in additional sessions with The Baby Borrowers resource, primarily to watch how the other couples coped in order to compare how different people handle different situations.

“It was all really good! Like to do it again!” Pupil, 15, Wales

Summary of Baby Borrowers pilot workshop feedback

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The overwhelming response to The Baby Borrowers Teacher Pack was incredibly positive.

“Use this in school!” Pupil, 16, Scotland

“Excellent introduction to parental responsibilities from a teenagers

view – ideal for the classroom” Teacher, England

Teaching staff praised the attitude of the pack as a celebration of teenage capability and honesty within an educational resource. The resource was applauded for its lack of patronising content, and the way it was delivered with a teenage attitude and innovative style.

“Excellent discussion with pupils” Teacher, Scotland

Teenagers who participated in the pilot workshops viewed the sessions as interactive and exciting and were keen to view more of The Baby Borrowers DVDs in subsequent lessons.

“It was really good. I learned a lot about relationships. Enjoyed it” Pupil, 15, England

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