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Planning for success
Introduction
“Being well sorted out in the areas of finance, health and safety, child protection, administration and communication will not make you a good [ theatre] worker, but failure in these areas can undermine your work.” Mark Bick in Mailout magazine, April/May 2001.
Planning for change and growth within the youth theatre movement is an important topic. Most people find change stressful. Nevertheless all youth theatres must expect to keep up-to-date and change over time in order to survive and thrive. NAYT believes that the successful ones will be those which plan to take account of change and have clear aims to underpin their work. This section looks at some of the key elements of planning for successful and effective youth theatre work.
Why plan?
Why plan at all? Here are just a few reasons:
All of the above, and more, are realities that no youth theatre can avoid. The challenges of maintaining membership, balancing the books and keeping up-to-date with current trends mean that preparing and planning for change is vital.
Having a mission statement
To underpin planning NAYT recommends the adoption of a mission statement. The draft statement that follows - and it is important to stress that it is only a draft - has been provided for debate and amendment to suit individual circumstances by Steve Marmion of the Theatre Royal in Plymouth.
Mission statement
Aims and principles
As well as a Mission Statement NAYT believes it is a sound idea to have a statement of aims and principles. This is needed to convey the reasons why a youth theatre exists in the first place. ‘Aims’ express the essence of a particular youth theatre by explaining what it is and what it does. A good question to ask is: “What makes our youth theatre unique?” Nick Nuttgens gives the text that Crucible Youth Theatre, based at Sheffield Theatres, uses to describe its aims and principles:
Aims and principles Crucible Youth Theatre (CYT) aims to challenge young people to develop Confidence, Creativity and Consideration for others, in the context of a professional theatre.
CYT is for young people of all races and social backgrounds who are keen to develop their interest in drama and performance in a concentrated way.
CYT is lucky to be based in a professional theatre and an important aspect of its work is the teaching and learning of theatre skills, aiming for professional standards. In particular the older members aim to work at an advanced level of commitment. The skills CYT focuses on are devising and acting within a theatre ensemble - in other words, working all together as a company.
Because most CYT members will not go into the professional theatre CYT workshops aim to teach ‘transferable skills’ as well as theatre skills. These skills fall into three categories:
Creativity Creativity is about getting ideas, experimenting, and making things that didn’t exist before. It can be very exciting. But making a good piece of theatre is hard work. It is the combination of discipline and fun that makes theatre feel like a real achievement when it comes off.
Personal development CYT aims to help its members to:
In CYT we aim to improve our emotional intelligence’ so we can think feelingly and feel thoughtfully. However, youth theatre is not primarily for therapy. If a member feels that they need more concentrated personal attention we will happily refer them to an appropriate support agency.
Social development Social skills are approached through:
CYT encourages and supports its members in developing their leadership skills eg in directing. Our philosophy is that the most desirable quality in a creative leader is the ability to encourage the creativity and leadership of others.
CYT tends to put on new plays and devised performances but will consider any kind of show. The things it looks for in a show include:
CYT is a part of Sheffield Theatres’ Education Department. It is part of our job to reach out to young people in Sheffield. We have a special responsibility to try out new ideas.
CYT aims to have a membership that reflects all the different kinds of young people in Sheffield and roundabout.
CYT has a Committee elected by the members which discusses policies and plans and gives advice to the workers. All members are given regular opportunities in workshops and productions to contribute ideas and constructive criticisms to the workers. Final decisions rest in the hands of the Youth Theatre Director, in consultation with the Education Director of Sheffield Theatres.
Crucible Youth Theatre hopes that every member and worker will leave with a store of rich memories that will enhance their personal lives, their careers, and their ability to contribute to society as creative citizens.
Business plans
Many youth theatres have a committee structure that allows them to set objectives for the year ahead and to discuss their plans for new activities. Many larger groups have also worked hard to create a 3-5 year Business Plan. This is best devised through negotiation and discussion and kept under regular review. Experienced youth theatre groups report that it is of real benefit to involve the membership, staff and volunteers as fully as possible in all planning and review procedures.
Business plan There is no such thing as a standard business plan, although there are some common formats. Your plan will be unique to your organisation and you must present it in a way that feels right for you. The scheme that follows is based on ‘Mapping the Future - a guide to business planning for small arts organisations’ published by the Voluntary Arts Network (VAN) in association with Arts Council England.
This publication covers the whole subject in much more detail than is possible here and suggests that a business plan should contain five sections:
It should be clear that a business plan is much more than a simple list of things you want to get done. In particular, it must include a detailed budget and a realistic timetable.
Health and safety
As part of planning NAYT promotes the importance of health and safety awareness throughout the youth theatre movement. Having both a policy and procedures for Health and Safety helps to ensure that everyone involved with your youth theatre (members, staff, volunteers, audiences, etc.) are made to feel safe and protected from accident, injury or illness.
Introduction A serious and thorough approach to health and safety matters should be a key feature of every youth theatre, large or small. It need not be daunting. This is said because much in the field of health and safety seems complex and meant for larger enterprises than most youth theatres. But it is essential to establish and follow safe practice within all activities. In particular, you should exercise diligence and common sense at all times. Good health and safety policy and practice are not optional extras. Youth theatre activities can be hazardous. But they do not, generally, pose too many high levels of health and safety risk. In fact, most risks that are posed can be removed or adequately controlled with a careful approach.
Risk assessments - what is entailed? All of the regulations about health and safety emphasise the importance of making ‘risk assessments’. Linked to this is the prior need to identify hazards. Here are the definitions:
Hazard: Anything that has the potential to cause injury or harm. Risk: The likelihood, great or small, of the potential for harm being realised and causing an accident or incident.
Hazards and risks: What you should do Making a ‘risk assessment’ has no fixed rules but the accepted advice is to adopt the procedure as follows:
One good idea is to use a chart as below. Drawing up a table has the advantage of creating a document to show to other people. As long as it is regularly reviewed, it can form a starting point for good health and safety practice.
Example
Another strategy is to have a person with the overall responsibility for health and safety. Appointing such a person is one way to avoid things being overlooked. It should be stressed however, that good health and safety practice is actually the responsibility of everyone.
Identifying risks in youth theatre activities From an NAYT survey of the health and safety literature with youth theatre in mind, certain high level risks with potentially serious consequences were identified. These include:
Other risk areas and issues identified include:
First aid training It is recommended by NAYT that regular session leaders undertake a course of first aid training. This should be refreshed and updated approximately every three years. Relevant training organisations include St. John’s Ambulance and British Red Cross.
Accidents Under the Health and Safety Act 1974 an accident book must be kept and all accidents entered in it as they occur. Accident reports on members should include: Name, date, time, place, adults present, brief description of accident and action taken. Whilst organisations with less than five employees are not obliged to maintain an accident book, every youth theatre organisation striving for best practice in safety will record accidents as they occur. A suggested method is to have a blank accident chart on the rear of session registers.
An imperfect world It’s an imperfect world and occasionally, accidents do happen. But it is the job of all responsible youth theatre organisations to be health and safety conscious and to show that they have taken every action ‘so far as is reasonably practical’ to manage and minimise the risks.
Special note The information above offers general advice on good health and safety practice only. There are legal requirements in respect of health and safety including, eg rigorous regulations for electrical installations. All youth theatres, in establishing policy and practice, are urged to seek the advice of local health and safety experts. For example, the team operating within your local education authority may be able to offer advisory help. Also, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) can offer detailed help and a wealth of information.
Child protection
What follows, offering information and advice about child protection, is primarily meant to raise awareness of the many different areas and issues which require attention by youth theatre staff. NAYT stresses that there can be no substitute for local expert advice, guidance and training.
Introduction The parents of youth theatre members will want reassurance that their sons and daughters are safe. The media is full of stories about paedophiles, and it would be naïve to imagine that the providers of theatre and art activities for young people were somehow exempt.
Staff responsibilities It is a good idea to devise a policy document for your group with a title such as: “Our policy on staff responsibilities towards members.” This can be about ways to attend to the physical and pastoral care of the young people involved in your youth theatre. It can cover a range of topics such as health and safety, child protection and child abuse.
Inappropriate relationships Youth theatre leaders should never enter into inappropriate relationships with members, even if they are beyond the age of consent. Inappropriate relationships are not only sometimes sought on the part of staff. Participants can make what they see as perfectly reasonable advances in an inappropriate situation. In addition, it has been known for a staff member to be accused of inappropriate behaviour by a participant where a one-to-one situation has occurred.
These different occurrences mean that responsibility for the probity of both sides of the working relationship lies with the staff member. If a member of staff is working with a young person on a one-to-one basis, this should be conducted in a public area or, if this is not possible, in a designated room with the door left open.
An additional situation to be aware of is giving lifts home to participants in a private vehicle. If a young person has no way of getting home after a session, staff should put the young person in a taxi rather than use their own vehicles. If this is not possible and the member of staff has to use a private vehicle, they should inform another person of the situation before leaving. In either case, staff should attempt to contact parents or guardians of the young person to confirm these arrangements.
NAYT’s code of good practice Here are guidelines used by NAYT and widely issued in a document at our events such as the annual Workshop Weekend and the Big Youth Theatre Festival. The document is called: ‘A code of good practice for youth theatre workers, volunteers and senior members’.
Code of behaviour
If feasible it is good practice to appoint a designated child protection worker for your group. However, all staff, volunteers and senior members should be made aware of the good practice codes and guidelines that are to be followed.
Discipline Discipline is essential for productive creative activity to take place, but it is never appropriate to use physical force to maintain it. Youth theatre staff do have the right to challenge disruptive, aggressive, offensive or illegal behaviour. In the case of mild infractions you might ask the member to sit out of the rest of the workshop or rehearsal, but stay in the room. For more serious breaches you might tell them to take a week off to reconsider their membership and to contact the leader for a letter of permission to continue. In the unlikely case of grossly offensive or violent behaviour, ask the person to desist immediately. If they persist then you have little alternative than to suspend the activity and call for help.
Disclosure ‘Disclosure’ is the new term for what, in the past, has been called police checking or screening. New arrangements now make it more feasible for youth theatre groups to check all staff and volunteers against official records, although there are registration costs entailed. The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) is an executive agency of the Home Office set up to help organisations make safer recruitment decisions. By providing access to criminal records and other information, the CRB will enable organisations to identify who may be unsuitable for certain types of work and positions, especially those involving contact with children or vulnerable adults.
With the advent of the Disclosure service there are concerns being raised about the balance to be struck between the need for child protection and the need to allow everybody to have a place and a purpose within the community. The CRB has established a code of practice which includes detailed guidance about disclosures. The guidelines are designed to combat unfair discrimination. This is in a context where there are millions of people with past criminal convictions, possibly involving imprisonment. Many of these people can still prove to be perfectly capable and safe staff and volunteers.
Child abuse The Children's Act 1989 recognised that it is a moral duty of all citizens in the UK to report any child they believe to be at risk of physical, emotional or sexual abuse, or neglect. It is specific advice that a member of staff should not undertake to keep secrets for a participant. As with most work with young people this is about judgement on the part of staff. If you believe a young person is at risk as a result of keeping information secret, you should seek advice.
The important point for youth theatre staff is to be aware of the possibility of abuse. If there is any doubt regarding a participants well being, then again advice should be sought. Some people who recognise signs and symptoms of abuse are worried that their intervention may make a bad situation worse (eg breaking up a family, etc.) However, only 1.5% of referrals result in a child being officially registered as ‘at risk’. The point of contact if you believe a child is at risk should be your local authority’s social services department. You may also approach the Police, your local Youth and Community Service who will have specific procedures.
Child protection statement Through a Child Protection Statement groups should make clear their commitment to child protection in terms of further action. This can be included on literature about your youth theatre. A useful wording is:
“As an organisation working with young people we undertake to follow the child protection procedures agreed for our local area by Social Services. It is our duty to refer to Social Services any incident that may undermine the welfare of the child.”
Child protection declaration As a basic protection measure it is advisable to get all staff, sessional workers and volunteers to complete and sign a declaration. Within a pro-forma you should state your confidentiality policy, eg:
“The information you give will be confidential to our designated child protection worker and immediate line-manager.”
The respondent should state their name in full on the form and use capitals. There are five questions requiring ‘yes/no’ answers. The first four also need to state ‘if yes, please give details’ and have a space for responses.
The respondent should then sign and date the following statement:
“I understand the above information is sought in the interests of child protection, and declare that I have made a full and accurate response to all the information requested.”
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