Out of School Hours Learning

6. Letting people know

Image of a young blonde boy

Commentary

It is not only important for people to know that Out of School Hours Learning (OSHL) exists and when it is available but also to know what and who it is for. The message which goes to young people, parents and the wider community has to be a message that is attractive and inviting and tunes into people’s needs and interests. In this respect there is a great deal to be learned from marketing techniques and from the four ‘AIDA rules’ of advertising - attention, interest, desire and action.

As OSHL grows, centres will explore uses of information technology to find out what other centres are doing and telling others about their own work. There is also a wider audience which needs to be informed of the purposes and successes of OSHL. This is the policy-making and political audience, and the media who do so much to shape public opinion.

Just as schools have realised that surviving in a consumer-orientated economy means both meeting and educating public opinion, so OSHL centres must appreciate that survival, growth and access to resources will depend on good communication with multiple audiences.

Questions to ask

  • Why will our OSHL centre attract young people?
  • What is the primary purpose of telling people about OSHL?
  • What is the offer that needs to be communicated?
  • Who does it need to be communicated to?
  • What are the most effective media for communication with different audiences?
  • What other purposes might be served by publicising OSHL?
  • How might interactive technology be used as part of the information strategy?
  • How many languages should the material be presented in?
  • How is evidence of impact communicated?
  • Is there an information strategy? Who manages this?
  • What role can various people, including young people, play in telling others about OSHL, informally and formally through workshops and conferences at local and national level?

Evidence to show

Examples of documentary evidence

  • posters, artwork in schools and classrooms
  • publicity in the community, street, shops, youth clubs, local businesses, newspapers, local radio, websites
  • flyers, newsletters to parents
  • young person generated publicity, eg student/pupil newsletters, posters, web pages
  • performances, presentations, displays, artwork etc produced as a result of OSHL
  • mention on local/national radio or television
  • inclusion in local or national good practice guides or publications
  • policy and strategy documents
  • evidence of dissemination of impact, eg annual reports, research papers, case studies.

Testing the evidence

Examples of requests a visitor might make

  • How did you find out about OSHL? What about other people?
  • How much do parents know about OSHL?
  • Which one feature of OSHL would you most like to tell people about?
  • What have you done to publicise OSHL? What works best? How do you know?
  • Which young people are not involved in OSHL? What has been done, or might be done, to attract them or persuade them to take part?
  • What advice would you give to someone who wants to attract young people to OSHL?
  • Could you give an example of the impact OSHL has had? How was this publicised?
  • Show me how you use interactive technology to obtain and provide information about OSHL.

Emerging practice

In an emerging centre there is a clear recognition of the importance of publicising and promoting OSHL activities in order to encourage young people to attend. The importance of parents as an audience is acknowledged and steps are taken to find attractive and accessible ways of keeping them informed. Different ways of communicating are being explored and efforts are taken to make OSHL activities attractive and to publicise success to a wider audience.

Key indicator

A sense of information and audience.

Established practice

Established centres have made progress in attracting the young people they think will gain most from OSHL. They have benefited from expert advice as well as involving young people in the process. Participants seek opportunities to publicise OSHL in different ways, using local and national media wherever possible. There is an information strategy which is talked about and reviewed regularly. All stakeholders and a wider audience are kept informed of the purposes and impact of OSHL. Young people contribute to publicising activities and disseminating information.

Key indicator

An informative strategy.

Advanced practice

Advanced centres grasp every opportunity to use information dissemination as a learning experience for young people and tutors. Young people gain confidence through taking the lead in promoting OSHL and through giving talks, being interviewed and interviewing others. Tutors share good practice through case studies. Information technology is used wherever possible to download information, to link with other centres and to raise the profile of the centre locally, nationally and in some cases internationally.

Key indicator

Information dissemination as a learning experience.