SBY Youth Board

Our Youth Board is being rolled out to new schools year-on-year. It currently includes members of Oasis Academy Brislington and Oasis Academy John Williams, and this year will invite Year 9 young people from Merchants’ Academy.

The role of the Youth Board is as follows:

To provide a youth voice at the highest governance level of the organisation, making services, events and decision-making relevant, appropriate and effective.

To help young people build professional skillsets and experience that may lead to future employment.

To inform systems to improve services for future young people.

To reinforce the mission and values of the organization to internal and external audiences.

Speak with Spark

Speak with Spark focuses on improving students’ presentation skills and their confidence in orating to an audience.

In partnership with the John James Bristol Foundation, every student on the programme participates in a full day Public Speaking Workshop where they develop their communication skills before constructing and delivering an engaging presentation on a topic of their choosing. At the end of the workshop, students are offered the chance to take part in the Speak with Spark Competition where they will go head-to-head with students from other cohorts to deliver a speech at a special event.

Thrive Outside

The Thrive Outside programme aims to support students who find the mainstream school environment challenging or overwhelming due to underlying areas of need. By engaging in practical educational activities in settings outside of the classroom, students can experience success, build their confidence and resilience, and develop their sense of belonging and self-esteem.

Supporting emotional intelligence is central to the programme; students are encouraged to discuss their feelings through wellbeing check-ins at the start and end of every activity, and staff provide support and mentoring catered both to individual needs, and those of the cohort.