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Citizen empowerment, social action and fostering a culture change to make giving a social norm are at the heart of the political and civil society agenda. Hence the need for an evidence base for our work is ever present.

We are familiar with seeing children as the recipients of charity, as vulnerable or in need. The Go-Givers programme functions from the other side of the coin, developing children’s understanding and motivation to help others. The Go-Givers central line of inquiry is not ‘how can we help children?’ but ‘how can children help their communities?’ and are we effectively supporting them to do so? This section details some of the ways we have explored these questions - and some of the answers!

“This website is accessible, inspirational and free! The resources are up to date, thought provoking and easily adapted… causes teachers to scribble down ideas consider their longer term practice.”

Helen Jones, Headteacher, Chevening Primary School, Kent

See more background on Go-Givers here.

How do we measure success?

One obvious way is to see how many teachers and schools we are reaching, and at what rate.

At the end of the 2010-2011 academic year, 16,607 people had registered on the Go-Givers website since it was launched in June 2007. 13,068 of these are primary teachers working in 6,442 primary schools in England.

During the 2010-2011 academic year, 117 Go-Givers lessons were downloaded 57,266 times.

These stats and many more are collated annually:

• 2010-2011 Go-Givers Yearly Evaluation Report
• 2009-2010 Go-Givers Yearly Evaluation Report
• 2008-2009 Go-Givers Yearly Evaluation Report

How do we measure the impact of Go-Givers on pupils?

Numbers are important. But we also want to make sure we incorporate teachers’ feedback and Pupil Voice, a central tenet of our work, in the way we evaluate outcomes.

“It has improved our children’s understanding of events in the world and how to respond to people and places in need.”

Sarah Hobbs, Teacher, Brookside Primary, Somerset

Pupil Outcomes Evaluation Study 2010-2011

In the 2010-11 academic year, Go-Givers used a newly designed age-appropriate methodology to conduct a pupil outcomes evaluative study. The study uses pupil mindmap data from 503 pupils aged 4 to 11 from 29 classes in 17 schools and in Somerset and North Somerset and their teachers’ feedback. See the full report and a reflection on the process.

Somerset & North Somerset Pupil Outcomes Evaluation Report 2010-2011

In our study, an average of 90% of pupils in each school class demonstrated a positive shift in one or more elements of understanding, thinking skills, attitudes or empathy related to giving and social participation. In 96% of classes, teacher say that their Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education (PSHCE) learning objectives are achieved to a great extent by engaging with Go-Givers resources, even when trends are less clear in the pupil data. All participating teachers reported that they will incorporate Go-Givers into their curriculum planning for the next academic year.

Some of implications of this study are:

• Children that engage with Go-Givers show capability of extracting general principles of equality and fairness from specific, personal examples of unfairness.
• Children that engage with Go-Givers are able to grasp the relationship between rules, rights and responsibilities, including the consequences of their own behaviour on the safety and fairness of others.
• Children that engage with Go-Givers expand their concept of giving to include interpersonal support as well as philanthropy and understanding the value of interventions such as charities.
• Children that engage with Go-Givers expand their concept of giving to include interpersonal support as well as philanthropy and understanding the value of interventions such as charities.
• Children that engage with Go-Givers sometimes indicate ambivalent emotions such as sadness, guilt and anxiety about the issues they care about, but indicate a sense of empowerment and recognition that their individual behaviour will make a difference.
• Even brief Go-Givers interventions can be impactful in promoting citizenship-oriented knowledge and attitudes.

Go-Givers topics chosen by teachers: the size of the word reflects in popularity

How do we know we are filling a gap?

In November 2010, Go-Givers conducted some scoping research on similar programmes and a market research survey of our users to determine the feasibility of introducing a membership subscription.

We learned that:

• Users indicate that Go-Givers is filling a gap for PSHCE resources
• There is a significant population of users that value the programme enough to pay a fee
• There is a significant population of users that value the programme but are constrained by their school/individual budget and would lose the benefits of the programme if a fee was imposed

We concluded that:

• Imposing a fee would compromise our inclusive approach. While charging a membership fee could result in deeper engagement because users have made an investment, it would likely result in a significant loss of breadth of participants.
• Go-Givers is meeting teachers’ goals for PSHE and citizenship learning. There has been a growing demand for Go-Givers. This upsurge suggests that in today's political and economic context, primary school teachers are looking for ways to inform and empower their pupils about the social issues of the day.
• Through an inventory of similar resources and programmes, we appear to be the only visible programme that supports an in-depth active citizenship process for primary pupils to campaign on a social issue of their choice through the Make a Difference Challenge, an opportunity usually reserved for secondary students and older.
• Go-Givers supports the current scholarship in child development and education that demonstrates that young children are vital members of civil society.

“I think it would be a terrible shame if money had to get in the way of delivering your lovely resources to our children who get such a lot out of them.”

Teacher, Anonymous

See the full report on our Scoping Research.

How do we know that children want to help?

We asked them! We don’t often hear from our youngest citizens about what they care about, how they’d like to change the issues that affect them, and who they think can help them.

Care to Make a Difference: Survey of Key Stage 2 Pupils’ Attitudes and Behaviours

In a survey of almost 400 Key Stage 2 pupils conducted in 2009 in Hampshire and West Berkshire, we inquired into the concerns of young children and found them to be remarkably empathetic, aware, and ready to mobilise. Children are also full of creative and original ideas to make the world a better place and why it’s important to help.

“There isn’t a way to get thoroughly involved! I feel at the moment children’s voices aren’t being heard, we seem to be drowned out by the monsterous bellows of adults.”

Madlen, pupil, St Catherine’s RC Primary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

An overwhelmingly high proportion of children consider themselves to be improving the lives for the people they know, through their interpersonal actions. However, few children engage in wider community-oriented behaviours that involve helping their wider community, making a case for their readiness to engage with Go-Givers.

See the full report here.

How do we know that children can make a difference?

Pupils demonstrate a number of educational and attitudinal outcomes from being engaged with Go-Givers, but how do we know that communities are benefiting too?

“Before I started the Make a Difference Challenge I felt selfish, but now I feel more kind.”

Pupil, London

We hear about it and see it in our daily work, but it’s most readily apparent through the Make a Difference Challenge, where children champion a cause of their choice and decide how they want to tackle it.

See some of their campaign stories here.

See the Make a Difference Challenge 2011 Evaluation report here.

“Campaigns like this bring communities together. They help children and members of the community to think about one another and how everyone can be a part of improving their community and life for everyone in it. Campaigns like this also help people to recognise the power and passion of children to make a difference to the area they live in.”

Serin Patel,Teacher, Kensington School, Newham

“Go-Givers gave children the chance to have a voice and do something they feel passionate about...this has been a very emotional ride”

Daisy, pupil, Abbey Primary, Sutton

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