The Wirral’s ‘In the Zone’ programme
Summary:
In the Zone is an interactive programme delivered by a partnership between Wirral Council, Merseyside Police, Wirral Youth Justice Service and Youth Matters. It has been developed to deliver to pupils in schools across The Wirral on themes that may affect them in the community, such as knife crime, exploitation and drug use. It aims to give children the tools and knowledge to identify risks, keep themselves safe in the community and provide guidance on what to do if they need support. Within the fact sheet there are also links for parents and carers to access to gain additional information and support if required.
Description:
In the Zone is a partnership between Wirral Council, Merseyside Police, Wirral Youth Justice Service and community organisation Youth Matters, bringing a different approach to issues around exploitation, knife crime, gangs, drugs, alcohol, and safety on the internet.
Interactive sessions are delivered to year 9 pupils in schools across the Wirral, using games inspired by Pac-Man, Monopoly, and Trivial Pursuit to help children learn how to keep themselves safe in the community and prevent crime.
The programme is themed and contains 5 ‘zones’, with each one lasting between 45-50 minutes. All themes have been developed collaboratively with children and professionals to improve knowledge and understanding of important issues affecting children today. Sessions use a variety of resources and are informative and interactive. They include games and allow children to get hands on and involved with discussions in groups. To facilitate leaning and interaction, the sessions have to be fun. At the beginning of each session children are asked to score where they think their knowledge is and again at the end after completing the session. This helps to ensure the programme remains relevant and effective in identifying learning and future goals.
‘In the Zone’ resources include:
- A Monopoly game with local landmarks. Includes questions on peer pressure and anti-social behaviour.
- A Pac-Man game on online safety and the law in relation to sexting, grooming and exploitation.
- Trivial Pursuit game on exploitation.
- An interactive session with videos and a Snakes and Ladders game for crime and knife crime.
- Beer goggles and a drug box for a drug and alcohol session.
The partnership has produced a helpful factsheet on the programme, which also contains links for parents and carers with additional information and support.
Outcomes:
The partnership is now in its third year and remains responsive to children’s needs and continues to evolve. For example, feedback showed that children would find more information on drugs and alcohol helpful, so the partnership extended to the offer to include drug and alcohol sessions.
Funding the project:
To set up In the Zone, there was an initial cost of £2,500 for the design and printing of the board games. After this initial cost, the primary cost is staffing for the project from various partners. Staff put aside approximately 25 days a year for the programme’s delivery, as for some schools the programme runs over one day and others over two. This is because learning has shown that keeping class sizes below 30 pupils ensures sessions remain interactive.
Contact:
| Name | Kathy Gill |
| kathygill@wirral.gov.uk |