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The Baby Borrowers - Piloting the Teaching Resource

As part of BBC Learnings campaign, specially edited DVDs of The Baby Borrowers series
plus related lesson plans are being made available to all schools throughout the UK. The
teaching materials, for use within Citizenship, Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE)
including Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) and all UK nation equivalents, seek to
encourage pupils to talk about the realities of teenage parenthood, to discuss sexual
relationships and the personal decisions that teenagers face as they move into adulthood.
To assess the content of the teaching pack The Baby Borrowers team offered pilot
workshops to a cross section of UK schools. The purpose of the pilot workshops was:

To establish the degree of need for such a pack

To gather teachers opinions and use their expertise to develop a well informed,
sustainable and invaluable PSHE and Citizenship resource

To gain feedback from pupils to ensure that the pack would be relevant and engaging

Eight workshops were held, two in each nation, with pupils aged between 13 and 16, ensuring
that each section of the teaching resource The Experiment, Relationships, Parenting and
The Carl and Kayleigh Story was piloted prior to launch.

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The Pilot Schools


Schools were selected for a number of reasons including their geographical location, category
and the rate of conception within the area.
The workshops were held in state and state opted out, controlled and community schools,
single sex schools and schools of religious preference (Roman Catholic) as well as nondenominational.
To test the packs usability within school scheduling, each workshop was timed to last for 1 to
1 hrs. They were held with, on average, 18 students and schools were encouraged to invite
pupils with varied ability, including ESL (English as a second language) pupils.

A non-denominational, non-selective state


controlled school for girls and boys aged 11-18.
Total no. of pupils: 948.
Workshop Held: The Experiment
School Year: Year 10 (age 15-16)
No. of Pupils: 16

A non-denominational, non-selective state


school for girls and boys aged 12-18. Total
no. of pupils: 728.
Workshop Held: Relationships
School Year: S1 (age 12-13)
No. of Pupils: 15

A Roman Catholic non-selective state


controlled school for girls aged 11-18. Total
no. of pupils: 600.
Workshop Held: The Experiment
School Year: Year 10 (age 15-16)
No. of Pupils: 22

A non-denominational, non-selective state opted


out school for girls and boys aged 12-18. The
school has a wide socio-economic mix as well as
over 30 nationalities. Total no. of pupils: 900.
Workshop Held: The Carl and Kayleigh Story
School Year: S4/S5 (age 15-17)
No. of Pupils: 12

A non-denominational, non-selective bilingual state school for girls and boys aged
11-18. Total no. of pupils: 541.
Workshop Held: The Carl and Kayleigh Story
School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15)
No. of Pupils: 21

A non-denominational, non-selective state


community school for girls and boys aged
11-18. Total no. of pupils: 1302.
Workshop Held: Relationships
School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15)
No. of Pupils: 24

A non-denominational, non-selective state school for


girls and boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils: 808.
Workshop Held: Parenting
School Year: Year 10 (age 14-15)
No. of Pupils: 16

A non-denominational, non-selective
state community school for girls and
boys aged 11-18. Total no. of pupils:
873.
Workshop Held: Parenting
School Year: Year 9 (age 13-14)
No. of Pupils: 15

Teacher Evaluation of the Pilot Workshops


The feedback received from teaching staff and educational experts was positive with the
resource cited as a valuable tool for teaching PSHE and Citizenship.

Great potential for supporting the revised curriculum


Education expert, Northern Ireland
Teachers were asked a series of multiple choice questions and space was provided for
comments on:

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The usefulness of the pack


Recommended changes or additions
The level of interest in receiving the pack

Multiple Choice Question A: WORKSHOP CONTENT


How would you rate the content of the written lesson plan?
Unsatisfactory 0%
Poor 0%
Okay 20%

Excellent 50%

Good 30%

80% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the written lesson plan as good or
excellent. Of the 20% who rated the written content as okay, concerns were raised over the
length of the lessons and lack of timings. Amendments have been made to ensure lessons
are snappy and succinct and timings have been included.

An excellent insight to parenting - certainly changed pupils ideas


Teacher, Wales

Multiple Choice Question B: AGE RANGE


How suitable did you feel the content was for the 1116 age group?

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Unsatisfactory
0%
Poor
0%

Okay
10%
Good
10%

Excellent
80%

90% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the suitability of the content as good or
excellent. The 10% who viewed the suitability as okay felt that the content may not be
appropriate for under 13s. The suitability can be gauged by each individual school based on
their own understanding of their pupils maturity.

An excellent resource for exploring young peoples attitude to


parenting and beyond
Education expert, Wales

Multiple Choice Question C: SENSITIVITY


How would you rate the sensitivity of the written lesson plan?
Okay
0%
Unsatisfactory
0%
Poor
0%

Good
40%

Excellent
60%

100% of teaching staff and educational experts felt that the sensitivity of the pack was good or
excellent. This was based on the inclusion of class discussion and the opportunities for pupils
to contribute their own opinions and viewpoints both on a personal basis, and through
reference to The Baby Borrowers couples. Additional positive comments were made in
relation to the DVDs themselves and the appropriate nature of both the content and language
used throughout.

Multiple Choice question D: OVERALL EXPERIENCE


How would you rate the overall experience of the teaching resource?

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Okay
0%
Unsatisfactory
0%
Poor
0%

Good
30%

Excellent
70%

An active way to stimulate the pupils thinking on this issue


Teacher, England
100% of teaching staff and educational experts rated the overall resource as good or
excellent.
In the early stages of piloting, a call was made for more activities across the range of learning
styles (audio, visual and kinaesthetic) to ensure all learners were engaged throughout.
Changes were made to reduce the length of each element of the workshop and to include
more drama and group based activities. Later workshops which incorporated these changes
were praised for their stimulating delivery and inclusive structuring.

All activities were relevant and fun. Variations of activities


appropriate to all ability spectrum of pupils
Education expert, Wales

Pupil Evaluation of the Pilot Workshops

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The pupils feedback corresponds directly to the four teaching sections of The Baby
Borrowers Teacher Pack

The Experiment Workshop

Pupils were engaged throughout The Experiment pilot sessions and actively participated in all
aspects of the lesson. They stated that the appeal of the workshop was being able to watch
people their own age cope with real life babies, to talk about the programme and to debate
the surrounding topics.

Its a really good way to connect with teenagers about parenthood"


Pupil, 15, Northern Ireland
Felt they had not learned
anything
3%

Felt they had learned


something
97%

97% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value and were interested in
participating in additional sessions with The Baby Borrowers resource.

I have learnt how difficult it is to look after children and there will be
many choices we will have to makeit has reminded me not to jump
into a decision without thinking about it
Pupil, 15, Northern Ireland

The Relationships Workshop

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The Relationships workshop gained the least positive response from pupils as they had to
write for a large portion of the lesson. The lessons have now been changed to include tasks
to appeal to all learning styles, with alternatives such as drama based exercises.
Felt they had not learned
anything
15%

Felt they had learned


something
85%

85% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value, and of the 15% who felt they
hadnt, most had watched the DVD with intent, and been engaged with and actively
participated in discussion and group based activities.

I enjoyed when we acted out the agony auntI learned about


relationships and that love is a strong word
Pupil, 14, England

The Parenting Workshop

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Pupils participated well throughout this session producing work of a high standard and
commenting on the interactive nature of the activities. They stated that the appeal of the
workshop was being able to share their opinions and being shown how people cope with the
experience of having children, rather than simply being told about it.

I enjoyed watching the DVD the most because it gives you a (sic)
insight of how hard it would be for young couples to bring up a baby,
Pupil, 14, Wales
Felt they had not learned
anything
3%

Felt they had learned


something
97%

97% of pupils felt that they had learned something of value.

Children are a lot harder to look after than I thought and you should live
your life a bit before having kids
Pupil, 15, Wales

The Carl and Kayleigh Story Workshop

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Of all the sessions this workshop came out as the strongest amongst the pupils.

This programme should be used because it can change a lot of


peoples minds at this age!
Pupil, 17, Scotland
The workshop offers pupils a number of chances to work with peers, discuss situations and
form opinions. Additionally, the activities allow the pupils the greatest opportunity to connect
with the teenagers featured in the show, as they become actively engaged with Carl and
Kayleighs relationship.
Felt they had not learned
anything
0%

Felt they had learned


something
100%

100% of pupils felt that they had learned something valuable and the majority were interested
in participating in additional sessions with The Baby Borrowers resource, primarily to watch
how the other couples coped in order to compare how different people handle different
situations.

It was all really good! Like to do it again!


Pupil, 15, Wales

Summary of Baby Borrowers pilot workshop feedback


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The overwhelming response to The Baby Borrowers Teacher Pack was incredibly positive.

Use this in school!


Pupil, 16, Scotland

Excellent introduction to parental responsibilities from a teenagers


view ideal for the classroom
Teacher, England
Teaching staff praised the attitude of the pack as a celebration of teenage capability and
honesty within an educational resource. The resource was applauded for its lack of
patronising content, and the way it was delivered with a teenage attitude and innovative style.

Excellent discussion with pupils


Teacher, Scotland
Teenagers who participated in the pilot workshops viewed the sessions as interactive and
exciting and were keen to view more of The Baby Borrowers DVDs in subsequent lessons.

It was really good. I learned a lot about relationships. Enjoyed it


Pupil, 15, England

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