Evidencing the impact - the Sheffield CU 2013 Participation and Performance Analysis

Any school, or Learning Destination will tell you that being part of CU and being celebrated and rewarded for taking part in out of school activities makes a difference. 

Here in Sheffield, we do lots of work looking at the impact of participation in these activities, through lots of data analysis, but also through case studies and anecdotal evidence collected from schools, providers, parents and the children themselves. With over 26,000 children and young people in Sheffield having over 1,200,000 Children's University credits between them, we have lots of data to work with!  For the first time we are able to publish a complete report which outlines the real difference being part of CU in Sheffield can make.

We are extremely pleased and very proud to share with you the Sheffield Children's University 2013 Participation and Performance Analysis which evidences the impact of out of school learning accredited and celebrated by CU in Sheffield.

This is our most detailed report to date and includes in depth analysis of the impact of participation in CU activities on attainment and attendance, using a variety of measures including progress and Fischer Family Trust estimates. These estimates show both estimated levels and grades for specific subjects as well as the 'chance' or likelihood of achieving a range of results.  Impact of the most vulnerable children and young people in our city is also examined.

And the findings are fantastic! In 2013 at both primary and secondary, Sheffield children and young people involved in CU activities did better than their non CU counterparts and often exceeded their estimates. As they progressed through the CU Award levels, their performance improved, particularly once they had achieved the Gold Award for 100+ hours of participation. These findings are reinforced by previous local impact reports which have been produced in Sheffield on an annual basis since 2009.

This year Sheffield CU were also awarded Quality in Study Support (QiSS) Advanced status, the final level of a 3 step national quality assurance framework that schools and learning organisations can utilise to demonstrate that they deliver quality provision that makes a real difference to children and young people. 

You can find the report by clicking the link above, or the link on the right hand side of this page.