Impact and Improvement Programme

As practitioners, we are accustomed to undertaking evaluation at the end of a project or programme (otherwise known as 'summative evaluation') but what about during? This short session helps you get to grips with evaluation approaches that can be used throughout the project's duration to enable you to make changes that ultimately improves impact and outcomes. Designed for people with some understanding of monitoring and evaluation who want to use their evaluation work to learn and adapt the work of their organisation. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand what formative evaluation is 
• Understand how monitoring and evaluation inform organisational learning 
• Use this knowledge to make changes as needed in your organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 11 October 2024 at 10am-12:30pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

Data is an extremely powerful tool when it comes to telling your organisation's impact story. This session will help you determine what 'good' data looks like for you, the different types of data and tools that may be meaningful for your context, and how to choose between them. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand the strengths and limitations of the different data and data collection tools used in monitoring and evaluation 
• Have considered which data and tools may be meaningful in your context 
• Be confident in the rationale behind the choices you make 
• Understand the importance of quality data
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 17 October 2024 at 9:30am – 4pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Establishing, building, and maintaining quality relationships has long been an important component of work with young people, particularly in contexts such as youth work and allied professions. 

When we build quality relationships with young people, several things occur. Young people feel valued and listened to, their voices are amplified, and they experience a genuine human connection, which is so important for how they think about themselves and the world around them.  

If you want to learn more about how quality relationships can add value to your work with young people, then this is the course for you. 

By the end of this course, you will: 

• have an understanding of what makes a quality relationship; 

• understand the connection between quality relationships and outcomes for young people; and 

• have the knowledge and skills required to facilitate quality relationships with young people. 
   

Date and time: 18 October 2024 at 9:30am-4.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Reflective practice is a way of reflecting on, processing and learning from our experiences as practitioners. It has long been considered a key element for anyone working with young people, particularly those in informal/social education projects such as youth work.

Being able to reflect and learn from practice is an important part of any professional development process. It is the learning and insight which comes reflective practice which enables your professional formation.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of reflective practice.

The course will introduce you to key reflective practice models which you will be able to utilise in reflect and learn from your work with young people.

Date and time: 28 October 2024 at 9:30am-3.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Data is an extremely powerful tool when it comes to telling your organisation's impact story. This session will help you determine what 'good' data looks like for you, the different types of data and tools that may be meaningful for your context, and how to choose between them. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand the strengths and limitations of the different data and data collection tools used in monitoring and evaluation 
• Have considered which data and tools may be meaningful in your context 
• Be confident in the rationale behind the choices you make 
• Understand the importance of quality data
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 22 November 2024 at 9:30am-4pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

This is a full day session will enable you to understand how to gather evidence from young people and how to tell the story of their experience and journey equitably and ethically. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to: 

• Understand how and when to involve young people’s feedback into your evaluations
• Discuss the benefits of involving young people in building an evidence base for your theory of change 
• Understand the benefits of adult led, co-design and youth led service and evaluation design 
• Use Equitable Storytelling
• Understand the characteristics of youth participatory research 
• Understand the limitations and challenges of YPR and gaining an overview of how to conduct YPR.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area five of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 13 November 2024 at 9:30am-3:30pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Establishing, building, and maintaining quality relationships has long been an important component of work with young people, particularly in contexts such as youth work and allied professions. 

When we build quality relationships with young people, several things occur. Young people feel valued and listened to, their voices are amplified, and they experience a genuine human connection, which is so important for how they think about themselves and the world around them.  

If you want to learn more about how quality relationships can add value to your work with young people, then this is the course for you. 

By the end of this course, you will: 

• have an understanding of what makes a quality relationship; 

• understand the connection between quality relationships and outcomes for young people; and 

• have the knowledge and skills required to facilitate quality relationships with young people. 

Date and time: 21 November 2024 at 9:30am-4.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Reflective practice is a way of reflecting on, processing and learning from our experiences as practitioners. It has long been considered a key element for anyone working with young people, particularly those in informal/social education projects such as youth work.

Being able to reflect and learn from practice is an important part of any professional development process. It is the learning and insight which comes reflective practice which enables your professional formation.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of reflective practice.

The course will introduce you to key reflective practice models which you will be able to utilise in reflect and learn from your work with young people.

Date and time: 26 November 2024 at 9:30am-3.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of socio-emotional skills development and its significance for work with young people.

The importance of socio-emotional skills development should not be underestimated. We know that socio-emotional skills are the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, economic resource, psychosocial resources and cognitive ability (Flèche, S., W. Lekfuangfu and A. Clark, 2019). We also know that there is a strong connection between quality practice and socio-emotional skills development.

This course will introduce you to our six socio emotional skills domains - emotion management, empathy, initiative, problem solving, responsibility and team work, and how you can contribute to the development of these skills with young people with the young people you work with.

Date and time: 1 November, 10.30am-3.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

This is a full day session will enable you to understand how to gather evidence from young people and how to tell the story of their experience and journey equitably and ethically. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to: 

• Understand how and when to involve young people’s feedback into your evaluations
• Discuss the benefits of involving young people in building an evidence base for your theory of change 
• Understand the benefits of adult led, co-design and youth led service and evaluation design 
• Use Equitable Storytelling
• Understand the characteristics of youth participatory research 
• Understand the limitations and challenges of YPR and gaining an overview of how to conduct YPR.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area five of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 4 December 2024 at 10am-4pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

This day workshop will equip you with a firm understanding of when to use a range of different creative data collection tools and how to analyse the data they produce. 

By the end of the day, you will be able to: 

• Understand why and when you might use creative data collection tools 
• Develop awareness of the breadth of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations in analysis of creative data sets
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story 
• Sharing your impact by telling your organisations story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time:13 December 2024 at 9:30am-4:30pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Establishing, building, and maintaining quality relationships has long been an important component of work with young people, particularly in contexts such as youth work and allied professions. 

When we build quality relationships with young people, several things occur. Young people feel valued and listened to, their voices are amplified, and they experience a genuine human connection, which is so important for how they think about themselves and the world around them.  

If you want to learn more about how quality relationships can add value to your work with young people, then this is the course for you. 

By the end of this course, you will: 

• have an understanding of what makes a quality relationship; 

• understand the connection between quality relationships and outcomes for young people; and 

• have the knowledge and skills required to facilitate quality relationships with young people. 

Date and time: 12 December 2024 at 9:30am-4.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Reflective practice is a way of reflecting on, processing and learning from our experiences as practitioners. It has long been considered a key element for anyone working with young people, particularly those in informal/social education projects such as youth work.

Being able to reflect and learn from practice is an important part of any professional development process. It is the learning and insight which comes reflective practice which enables your professional formation.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of reflective practice.

The course will introduce you to key reflective practice models which you will be able to utilise in reflect and learn from your work with young people.

Date and time: 11 December 2024 at 9:30am-3.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

This day workshop will equip you with a firm understanding of when to use a range of different creative data collection tools and how to analyse the data they produce. 

By the end of the day, you will be able to: 

• Understand why and when you might use creative data collection tools 
• Develop awareness of the breadth of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations in analysis of creative data sets
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story 
• Sharing your impact by telling your organisations story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 23 January 2025 at 9:30am-4:30pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

Understanding impact across a range of services or organisations can be a challenge. Equally, understanding the impact all youth provision has in a place or area seems daunting, as they may each have different theories of change and evaluation plans. This short session will help you to think through ways to demonstrate collective impact through shared measurement. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what shared measurement can look like 
• Understand where your organisation could contribute to shared measurement in the youth sector currently and moving forward.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area seven of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 17 January 2025 at 9:30am-1pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Understanding impact across a range of services or organisations can be a challenge. Equally, understanding the impact all youth provision has in a place or area seems daunting, as they may each have different theories of change and evaluation plans. This short session will help you to think through ways to demonstrate collective impact through shared measurement. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what shared measurement can look like 
• Understand where your organisation could contribute to shared measurement in the youth sector currently and moving forward.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area seven of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 21 February 2025 at 10am-1:30pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

Monitoring and evaluation are a fundamental aspect of delivering provision for young people. This day session will equip you with a basic understanding of how to plan and undertake monitoring and evaluation in order to evidence impact. 

By the end of the day, you will: 

• Understand terms related to monitoring and evaluation 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to measure change 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to conduct an evaluation 
• Understand why fidelity monitoring is important and how it relates to evaluation and innovation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time:

25 September 2024 at 9:30am-3:30pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

Formative evaluation refers to the learning aspect of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) and allows organisations to modify projects and activities along the way in order to improve outcomes and impact. It is distinct from summative evaluation, which is about looking back once an activity or project has finished. This short session is designed for people with some understanding of monitoring and evaluation who want to use their evaluation work to learn and adapt the work of their organisation. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand what formative evaluation is 
• Understand how monitoring and evaluation inform organisational learning 
• Use this knowledge to make changes as needed in your organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 13 September 2024 at 9:30am-12pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Establishing, building and maintaining quality relationships and ways of connecting and being with others has long been an important component of work with young people, particularly in the context of informal and social education contexts such as youth work, and allied professions.

When we work relationally with young people, several things occur. Young people feel valued, and listened to, their voice is amplified, and they experience a genuine human connection which is so important for the way we think about ourselves and the world around us. For this to happen we must be intentional in our approach, putting relationships at the heart of our practice

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of relational practice, who are keen to embed its principles in their face-to-face work with young people.

The course will introduce you to the principles and practices which inform relational practice and an opportunity to embed your learning in the context of your practice.

Date and time: 26 September 2024 at 9:30am-4.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Leading impact, evaluation and quality improvement in an organisation is a complex role accompanied by a particular set of demands; often involving cultural change in organisations to be achieved with minimal resources and authority. It is a journey of learning and reflection for both individuals and organisations. If this is a journey you recognise, whether you're just starting out, or looking to advance your existing impact leadership skills, you’ll find this three-part course has something for you.

Date and time: 6 September, 9.30am-4pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Reflective practice is a way of reflecting on, processing and learning from our experiences as practitioners. It has long been considered a key element for anyone working with young people, particularly those in informal/social education projects such as youth work.

Being able to reflect and learn from practice is an important part of any professional development process. It is the learning and insight which comes reflective practice which enables your professional formation.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of reflective practice.

The course will introduce you to key reflective practice models which you will be able to utilise in reflect and learn from your work with young people.

Date and time: 30 September 2024 at 9:30am-4.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

This course is designed for practitioners who are new to the idea of socio-emotional skills development and its significance for work with young people.

The importance of socio-emotional skills development should not be underestimated. We know that socio-emotional skills are the strongest predictor of life satisfaction, economic resource, psychosocial resources and cognitive ability (Flèche, S., W. Lekfuangfu and A. Clark, 2019). We also know that there is a strong connection between quality practice and socio-emotional skills development.

This course will introduce you to our six socio emotional skills domains - emotion management, empathy, initiative, problem solving, responsibility and team work, and how you can contribute to the development of these skills with young people with the young people you work with.

Date and time: 23 September, 10.30am-3.30pm

Find out more and sign up here.

Monitoring and evaluation are a fundamental aspect of delivering provision for young people. This day session will equip you with a basic understanding of how to plan and undertake monitoring and evaluation in order to evidence impact. 

By the end of the day, you will: 

• Understand terms related to monitoring and evaluation 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to measure change 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to conduct an evaluation 
• Understand why fidelity monitoring is important and how it relates to evaluation and innovation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time:

19 July 2024 at 10am- 4pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

This practical half-day session will walk you through all the stages of developing a theory of change. At the end of this session, you will leave with a draft theory of change for a project or service. If you are not familiar with theories of change, you may wish to do our introductory session before joining this practical workshop. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Refresh your understanding of Theory of Change models and how to use them 
• Draft a theory of change for your project or organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Accreditation options

We offer a NCFE accredited version which costs an additional £75 per person. Please email training@ymcageorgewilliams.uk for more information. 

Date and time: 25 July 2024 at 10am-2pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

This short training session will introduce you to a range of different approaches to understanding the assets and needs of the communities your work hopes to support – this is a fundamental first step for any programme or project design. By ‘communities’, we mean both geographical (a place or space) and shared identities or experiences (young people with caring responsibilities, for example). 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of context mapping and other key terms 
• Understand the choices to be made when context mapping 
• Understand how a context map can be used to inform a theory of change.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area one of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time:

11 July 2024 at 9:30am-12:30pm

Sign up and find out more here.

This practical half-day session will walk you through all the stages of developing a theory of change. At the end of this session, you will leave with a draft theory of change for a project or service. If you are not familiar with theories of change, you may wish to do our introductory session before joining this practical workshop. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Refresh your understanding of Theory of Change models and how to use them 
• Draft a theory of change for your project or organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Accreditation options

We offer a NCFE accredited version which costs an additional £75 per person. Please email training@ymcageorgewilliams.uk for more information. 

Date and time: 19 June 2024 at 9:30am – 1:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This short session will familiarise you with the purpose and uses of a theory of change and how they can be constructed. A theory of change helps you, and other people, to be really clear about what you do with and for young people and the reasons for your design decisions. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what a ‘theory of change’ is, including how they are constructed and used
• Understand how to use a theory of change as a tool for developing your approach to evaluation 
• Begin to consider how you might draft a theory of change for one aspect of your provision or for your whole organisation or service.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 7 June 2024 at 9:30am-12:30pm.

Sign up and find out more here. 

This is a full day session will enable you to understand how to gather evidence from young people and how to tell the story of their experience and journey equitably and ethically. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to: 

• Understand how and when to involve young people’s feedback into your evaluations
• Discuss the benefits of involving young people in building an evidence base for your theory of change 
• Understand the benefits of adult led, co-design and youth led service and evaluation design 
• Use Equitable Storytelling
• Understand the characteristics of youth participatory research 
• Understand the limitations and challenges of YPR and gaining an overview of how to conduct YPR.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area five of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 21 June 2024, 09:30am - 3:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This one day course is designed for practitioners at the start of their journey of understanding socio-emotional skills and their development. This course will introduce you to our Framework of Outcomes for Young People, our six domains of socio-emotional outcomes, their importance, and how they are linked to human growth and development. The course will also provide opportunities for reflection on your own socio-emotional skill development as a practitioner.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Name and describe socio-emotional skills;
• Describe how an environment can affect socio-emotional skill development; 
• Relate socio-emotional theory considering complementary perspectives; 
• Understand your own socio-emotional skills;
• Recognise the connection between your own socio-emotional skills and the young people you work with;
• Understand the relationship between socio-emotional skill development and the wider context of human growth and development theory; and
• Describe and apply knowledge that supports socio-emotional skill development in practice.

Date and time: 9.30am-3pm, 14 June 2024.

Find out more and sign up here. 

This course is designed to introduce you to socio- emotional skills, and the practices that support their development with young people. The course is grounded in the College’s Quality Practice Tool providing you with a way of measuring the quality of your provision, with a particular focus on staff (or volunteer) practices that develop socio-emotional skills.

The course is delivered in three modules over one day. You can take part in one or more of the modules.

Module 1: 9:30am on 03 May 2024.

Module 1: An introduction to socio-emotional skill development practice:

The first module identifies four areas of high-quality socio-emotional skill development practice and their indicators.

Module 2: 12:30pm on 03 May 2024.

Module 2: Measuring socio-emotional skill development practice with the Quality Practice Tool

The second module introduces the Quality Practice Tool and how to use it to measure quality practice.

Module 3: 3pm on 03 May 2024.

Module 3: Observing colleagues practice and feeding back effectively

The third module focuses on how to observe practice to support continuous quality improvement.

This short training session will introduce you to a range of different approaches to understanding the assets and needs of the communities your work hopes to support – this is a fundamental first step for any programme or project design. By ‘communities’, we mean both geographical (a place or space) and shared identities or experiences (young people with caring responsibilities, for example). 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of context mapping and other key terms 
• Understand the choices to be made when context mapping 
• Understand how a context map can be used to inform a theory of change.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area one of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 24 May 2024 at 10am-1pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

This short session will familiarise you with the purpose and uses of a theory of change and how they can be constructed. A theory of change helps you, and other people, to be really clear about what you do with and for young people and the reasons for your design decisions. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what a ‘theory of change’ is, including how they are constructed and used
• Understand how to use a theory of change as a tool for developing your approach to evaluation 
• Begin to consider how you might draft a theory of change for one aspect of your provision or for your whole organisation or service.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 15 May 2024 at 1pm-4pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

This is a full day session will enable you to understand how to gather evidence from young people and how to tell the story of their experience and journey equitably and ethically. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to: 

• Understand how and when to involve young people’s feedback into your evaluations
• Discuss the benefits of involving young people in building an evidence base for your theory of change 
• Understand the benefits of adult led, co-design and youth led service and evaluation design 
• Use Equitable Storytelling
• Understand the characteristics of youth participatory research 
• Understand the limitations and challenges of YPR and gaining an overview of how to conduct YPR.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area five of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 4 April 2024, 09:30am - 3:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This practical half-day session will walk you through all the stages of developing a theory of change. At the end of this session, you will leave with a draft theory of change for a project or service. If you are not familiar with theories of change, you may wish to do our introductory session before joining this practical workshop. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Refresh your understanding of Theory of Change models and how to use them 
• Draft a theory of change for your project or organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Accreditation options

CPD Accreditation for this workshop is available at an additional cost of £15 per person. Please email training@ymcageorgewilliams.uk for more information. 

Date and time: 20 March 2024, 09:30am - 1:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

The College understands the importance of socio-emotional skills as the fundamental building block of all human development. As such, they are fundamental to our Outcomes Framework. This half-day session will enable you to understand socio-emotional skills, the importance and role of quality practice in building socio-emotional skills, and how to measure both quality and skill development using our suite of tools. 

By the end of this session, you will: 

• Understand what socio-emotional skills are 
• Understand the importance of quality environments to promote socio-emotional learning 
• Understand how to measure both the quality of environment and the development of socio-emotional skills over time.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 22 March 2024, 09:30am - 1:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This session is designed for people with some understanding of monitoring and evaluation who want to learn more about the different types of data they might use and how to choose between them. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand the strengths and limitations of the different data and data collection tools used in monitoring and evaluation 
• Have considered which data and tools may be meaningful in your context 
• Be confident in the rationale behind the choices you make 
• Understand the importance of quality data
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 13 March 2024, 9:30am - 4:00pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This day workshop will equip you with a firm understanding of when to use a range of different creative data collection tools and how to analyse the data they produce. 

By the end of the day, you will be able to: 

• Understand why and when you might use creative data collection tools 
• Develop awareness of the breadth of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations in analysis of creative data sets 
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story 
• Sharing your impact by telling your organisations story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

SESSION ENDED

Understanding impact across a range of services or organisations can be a challenge. Equally, understanding the impact all youth provision has in a place or area seems daunting, as they may each have different theories of change and evaluation plans. This short session will help you to think through ways to demonstrate collective impact through shared measurement. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what shared measurement can look like 
• Understand where your organisation could contribute to shared measurement in the youth sector currently and moving forward.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area seven of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 21 February 2024, 10am - 1:30pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

This short session will familiarise you with the purpose and uses of a theory of change and how they can be constructed. A theory of change helps you, and other people, to be really clear about what you do with and for young people and the reasons for your design decisions. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what a ‘theory of change’ is, including how they are constructed and used
• Understand how to use a theory of change as a tool for developing your approach to evaluation 
• Begin to consider how you might draft a theory of change for one aspect of your provision or for your whole organisation or service.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: Thursday 8 February 2024, 9:30am - 12:30pm

Sign up and find out more here. 

Monitoring and evaluation are a fundamental aspect of delivering provision for young people. This day session will equip you with a basic understanding of how to plan and undertake monitoring and evaluation in order to evidence impact. 

By the end of the day, you will: 

• Understand terms related to monitoring and evaluation 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to measure change 
• Have a basic knowledge of how to conduct an evaluation 
• Understand why fidelity monitoring is important and how it relates to evaluation and innovation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 10 January 2024, 09:30am - 3pm

Find out more and sign up here. 

--SESSION ENDED--

Formative evaluation refers to the learning aspect of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) and allows organisations to modify projects and activities along the way in order to improve outcomes and impact. It is distinct from summative evaluation, which is about looking back once an activity or project has finished. This short session is designed for people with some understanding of monitoring and evaluation who want to use their evaluation work to learn and adapt the work of their organisation. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand what formative evaluation is 
• Understand how monitoring and evaluation inform organisational learning 
• Use this knowledge to make changes as needed in your organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 17 January 2024, 10:30am - 1:00pm

Find out more and apply here.

This session is designed for people with some understanding of monitoring and evaluation who want to learn more about the different types of data they might use and how to choose between them. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Understand the strengths and limitations of the different data and data collection tools used in monitoring and evaluation 
• Have considered which data and tools may be meaningful in your context 
• Be confident in the rationale behind the choices you make 
• Understand the importance of quality data
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area four of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 24 January 2024, 09:30am - 4:00pm

Find out more and apply here. 

The College understands the importance of socio-emotional skills as the fundamental building block of all human development. As such, they are fundamental to our Outcomes Framework. This half-day session will enable you to understand socio-emotional skills, the importance and role of quality practice in building socio-emotional skills, and how to measure both quality and skill development using our suite of tools. 

By the end of this session, you will: 

• Understand what socio-emotional skills are 
• Understand the importance of quality environments to promote socio-emotional learning 
• Understand how to measure both the quality of environment and the development of socio-emotional skills over time.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 08 December 2023, 10am - 2pm

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This is a full day session will enable you to understand how to gather evidence from young people and how to tell the story of their experience and journey equitably and ethically. 

By the end of the session, you will be able to: 

• Understand how and when to involve young people’s feedback into your evaluations
• Discuss the benefits of involving young people in building an evidence base for your theory of change 
• Understand the benefits of adult led, co-design and youth led service and evaluation design 
• Use Equitable Storytelling
• Understand the characteristics of youth participatory research 
• Understand the limitations and challenges of YPR and gaining an overview of how to conduct YPR.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area five of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 19 September 2023, 10am - 4pm

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This day workshop will equip you with a firm understanding of when to use a range of different creative data collection tools and how to analyse the data they produce. 

By the end of the day, you will be able to: 

• Understand why and when you might use creative data collection tools 
• Develop awareness of the breadth of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations of creative data collection tools 
• Understand the benefits and limitations in analysis of creative data sets
• Be comfortable taking a measured approach to telling your organisation’s story 
• Sharing your impact by telling your organisations story.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area six of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 29 September 2023, 09:30am - 4:30pm

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This short training session will introduce you to a range of different approaches to understanding the assets and needs of the communities your work hopes to support – this is a fundamental first step for any programme or project design. By ‘communities’, we mean both geographical (a place or space) and shared identities or experiences (young people with caring responsibilities, for example). 

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• Understand the meaning of context mapping and other key terms 
• Understand the choices to be made when context mapping 
• Understand how a context map can be used to inform a theory of change.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area one of our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 23 October 2023, 4pm - 7pm

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This short session will familiarise you with the purpose and uses of a theory of change and how they can be constructed. A theory of change helps you, and other people, to be really clear about what you do with and for young people and the reasons for your design decisions. 

By the end of this session, you will be able to: 

• Understand what a ‘theory of change’ is, including how they are constructed and used
• Understand how to use a theory of change as a tool for developing your approach to evaluation 
• Begin to consider how you might draft a theory of change for one aspect of your provision or for your whole organisation or service.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 08 November 2023, 1pm - 4pm

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This practical half-day session will walk you through all the stages of developing a theory of change. At the end of this session, you will leave with a draft theory of change for a project or service. If you are not familiar with theories of change, you may wish to do our introductory session before joining this practical workshop. 

By the end of the session, you will: 

• Refresh your understanding of Theory of Change models and how to use them 
• Draft a theory of change for your project or organisation.

You can find more resources to help you with this area of work in area two our Resource Hub. 

Date and time: 23 November 2023, 10am - 2pm

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