Evidencing the impact - the Sheffield CU 2014 Participation and Performance Analysis

Did you know there are currently 30,662 children and young people in Sheffield with Children’s University (CU) credits? They have collectively clocked up nearly 1.5 million hours of learning in their own time. Also, 14,000 children and young people have a CU Passport to Learning which enables them to collect credits at validated ‘Learning Destinations’ (approved activity providers) across the city.

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 evidence collected from schools, providers, parents and the children themselves. With over 30,000 children and young people in our city with CU credits, we have a lot of information to work with!

We are very pleased and proud to share with you the 2014 Sheffield Children’s University Participation and Performance Analysis report which provides detailed evidence of the impact of Children’s University in Sheffield.

This builds on our previous reports and includes in-depth analysis of the impact of participation in CU activities on attainment and attendance using FFT estimates, and progress measures. It also includes anecdotal evidence of impact through a number of case studies from both schools involved with CU and Learning Destinations.

Impact on Pupil Premium, SEN and the most deprived (IDACI) children and young people in the city is also examined along with progression routes for post 16 students, which is included for the first time.

And the findings are fantastic! In 2014 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.

So what are you waiting for? If your child is not already part of CU in Sheffield, it’s easy to get involved! Check to see if your school is signed up by asking school staff. To collect credits away from school, just pick up a Passport for £2 from Sheffield libraries. Your child can use their Passport at any validated Learning Destination across the city to collect one credit per hour, and earn CU awards, some of which are presented at special citywide award ceremonies.

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