Agenda item

Please introduce yourself and outline the responsibilities that your post involves.

I am the Artistic Director of the PALS Theatre in Gravesend. My main responsibilities are to create and develop creative workshops for schools, nurseries and youth clubs – any education establishment, in fact - to design workshops and undertake various admin work.

 

What is PALS Theatre?  Please outline the services that PALS Theatre offers, and how these services are delivered.

PAL stands for ‘Positive Attitude to Life’.  It was established in 2007 to encourage young people to think positively.  We deliver breakfast, lunch and after-school activities, and deliver a Positive Life course and emotional literacy training in schools.  We run PALS Youth Arts Club with Marling Cross Library in Gravesend, which allows young people to work towards a national qualification level 1 or 2, which is equivalent to an A Level.  We also run the PALS Academy, which offers LAMDA qualifications, and we enter competitions.  PALS always encourages young people to develop their own concepts and ideas, so everything that PALS does is original as it has been developed by the young people involved.

 

What type of working relationship exists between PALS Theatre and Kent County Council?  How would you like to see this relationship develop into the future?  In which ways – if any – can collaboration and partnership working between all organisations involved in providing Extended Services in the County be improved?

We have worked in partnership with KCC and the Extended Services team and this has provided a very helpful link to schools and kept us up to date with latest policy.  Emma Jenkins is our contact and she has been very keen to help.  In terms of collaboration for the future, the main issue is the lack of funding to allow us to develop more access to schools.  Extended Services providers still need more access to frontline services at schools.  I am writing letters to all schools to invite them to work with us as an established KCC partner.

 

I am interested in your use of drama and theatre to engage emotional literacy and address behaviour.  Have you had any contact with local Academies?

I have worked with Leigh Tech in Dartford, as they asked PALS to develop a course for them.  They have been receptive to our innovative work, but in many other cases it has proved difficult to make contact with the right people.

 

In your experience, what are the main benefits resulting from the provision of Extended Services? When marketing your services, do you include case studies to show the benefit of what you do?

I can give you snapshots of the sort of feedback that Head Teachers have said our work encourages children to do well beyond the classroom; that our services have brought a child out of her shell and given her vital confidence; that children from vulnerable groups have particularly benefitted; and that they hope our work will continue so that future children can enjoy the same benefits.

 

What are the main challenges for your company – if any - when providing Extended Services, and how can these challenges be resolved?

Many schools say they do not have the funds to allow the engagement with us that they would like to have. I would like to have more understanding of the KCC budget structure so I can set prices that I know are realistic for schools to afford.  I also need to establish more contacts, so I can see which schools arereceptive and want it, so are worth marketing to.

 

In which ways, if any, might the reduction of Government funding for Extended Services in future years, and the possible shrinking of the Extended Services Team, affect the provision of Extended Services?

Our marketing would need to be more targeted, so we don’t waste money marketing to schools which are not receptive, but instead make good value contacts with those which are and which can bring in business.

 

In your view, which Extended Services activities have the greatest impact and benefit for the community, and which programmes are most likely to be sustainable in the future?  We are trying to identify the value of Extended Services.  How can the benefits be evidenced and quantified?

Some schools quote a percentage of change, eg a percentage drop in absenteeism or fewer incidents of bad behaviour. Anything which encourages confidence and helps pupils to be productive for the future will be a benefit, and will reap dividends beyond the end of the school day, but I agree that it is difficult to quantify this. The London Borough of Islington has tried similar theatre projects and has seen successes from them.  Kent schools have the same problems as Islington schools, so if one can benefit, so can the other.  With a limited Extended Service, we need to be more targeted and limit our work to those schools who want to work with us.

 

In your opinion, how can Kent County Council, together with schools and other providers of Extended Services, ensure the sustainability of Extended Services into the future?

They would need to be able to demonstrate the benefits of Extended Services to prove that it gives value for money.  We could collate evidence and a database.

 

Can you suggest any innovative and creative ways for KCC to deliver Extended Services in the County?

As a provider, I feel the KCC could reduce the layers of management which are involved in delivering Extended Services.  I would seek to work directly with schools as far as possible, and management could have a regulatory role.

 

Would you place the onus on a school to contact you, so you can market yourselves directly and discuss their requirements?

Yes, I would like us to become an approved, vetted provider so we can contact schools and liaise with them directly.

 

The Select Committee has been looking into the possibility of the management of Extended Services, bookings and access to schools being taken on by a social enterprise company, which would manage the work for several schools.  Have you considered your company buying in more services so that you can offer this sort of package to the schools you work with?  The co-ordinator of services could be based in one school and serve several other to make it cost effective.

This sounds good, and it would be good to group schools and use their premises in this way. I like the idea of an outside provider taking over the school premises at 4pm and running them from then on, to provide activities and services. This is what I had imagined ‘the school that never sleeps’ would look like.

 

What about people being able to access a school? How important is access, and where would you get funding to improve it?

As we are a limited company, we get our income from fees from clients. We are changing to be a Community Interest Company (CIC), so we can access Government funding and can offer workshops to schools at a reduced rate. Money is a key issue for a school when deciding to try out the sort of services that we offer.

 

How would you convince a school to use your company and justify the cost?

Once I manage to make a contact at a school that is interested, I find that they do want what we offer, so convincing them is not a problem. Getting through to make the initial contact is a challenge. Some schools have to delay signing up as they need to access match funding, and some charge the parents for the activity.

 

What are your costs and charges?

For after-school clubs, we charge £30 per hour for a group of 20 to 30 children, which makes £1.50 to £2 per head.  However, some schools have trouble covering this cost, and have to charge each child who is taking part.

 

We have heard from other interviewees that some parents do not value an activity if it is provided free, and are more likely to make a commitment to it if they are paying something for it.

Yes, I can understand that.

 

If you are charging a school so much per pupil, and there are not enough pupils taking part, how do you make up the shortfall? Do you accept a lower rate for that hour’s activity?

Yes, sometimes I do have to do this.

 

Being a Community Interest Company is a good idea, as it gives you good options for how you spend available money.  A CIC can apply for funding on behalf of clients it is working with, so I would fully support your intention to do this.

 

What age groups do you work with?

From nursery age to 18.

 

Do you come across any other barriers to your work, other than those you have already told us about?

No, most people are receptive to what we do, once I can make contact and explain our aims.  All our employees are CRB-checked and vetted, and schools are happy for me to havethe keys to lock up their premises after the clubs.

 

The Select Committee has been looking for case studies which will demonstrate the benefits of Extended Services.  You talked about it raising their self-esteem, but can you also link it to attainment?

It definitely also helps with a child’s literacy, and I can send the Select Committee some data on this.

 

As you are based in Gravesend, have you approached Gravesham Borough Council to do any work with them?

I have approached them but they were not very receptive.

 

I recommend that you persevere and ask to talk to the Leader, Mike Snelling, who is also a Member of the Kent County Council. 

It would be good if we could get to work with Gravesham.

 

As grants are reduced, is there scope to extend the commerciality of your company? This will take time, but how long might this be? When could the service that you give become self-supporting?

I will have a clearer idea of this when I have completed the process for becoming a CIC.  It is hard to predict, as each year that we have run so far has been different as our company has established and grown.  CIC status will help us to move forward.

 

We know how Extended Services relates to a school’s core business. Do you have any activities which are part of formal courses, or which lead to qualifications?

We offer the Arts Award, a recognised national qualification, which supports young people as artists. There are 3 levels, which are the equivalent of GCSEs and A Levels, and we offer LAMDA qualifications and the Duke of Edinburgh awards.

 

Why would you say that your business should be supported by public money?

Because the community and young people are at the heart of what we do.  We offer positive and productive activities for young people, and we link young people and the community in a positive way.  This link will be the future model for so much service delivery in the UK.

 

From Gravesend, how far across the county are you able to reach with your work?

We currently work in Dartford, Gravesend and Medway.

 

It would be good if you could work with Canterbury City Council as well. Perhaps Select Committee Members could help you with new contacts in your existing and new areas. We will chat outside the meeting.