What Young Inspectors Do
The aim of the young inspectors is to carry out individual inspections as agreed with services to highlight what is working well and where there is an area for improvement.
Once an inspection has been completed the young inspectors provide details of their findings to a service to let them know the outcome of an inspection.
The young inspectors also aim to highlight the key areas that they feel:
- What is working well?
- What are they worried about?
- Suggested actions to make improvements
There is an expectation that services will provide feedback to the young inspectors on what will be changed as a result of an inspection
Each year the young inspectors choose a ‘Rotherham’ charity to support and hold a fund-raising event, this will be a charity that will support children and young people of Rotherham.
In recent years young inspectors have supported – Rotherham Christmas Toy Appeal; Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice: Safe at Last; Children’s Ward Rotherham Hospital & Paige’s Project.
The Young Inspectors programme has been recognised with awards both nationally and locally. Subsequently there have been enquiries from other local authorities about our programme and we have supported other local authorities to set up their own Young Inspectors programme.
Young people aged 11-24 are encouraged to join Young Inspectors Group. As part of promoting the Young Inspectors Programme, there have been visits to schools, media stories, promotion at events such as Rotherham Show.
Young Inspectors wherever possible will work in a joined up approach and have supported other young people groups such as Youth Cabinet & LAC Council to ensure that the voice of young people is heard in Rotherham.
Our expectations for Young Inspectors:
- Take part in our Young Inspector Training session
- Be available for inspections during the school Holidays
- Attend fortnightly meetings
- It is totally voluntary so you can choose what inspections you what to get involved in, how often and the type of activities you want. You will not be asked to do anything you are uncomfortable with
Young Inspector's Rules
- No Violence
- Be Resilient
- Respect Each Other
- No Bullying
- Be Kind
- Don't Judge People
- Listen
- Have Fun
- Don't Stereotype
- Respect Each Other's Opinions
As a Young Inspector Coordinator and also a young person I feel that being part of inspecting Children & Young People's services and helping them improve their service is a great way to identify the positives and improvements for the services
Ashlea Harvey - Young Inspector Co-ordinator