The YAA?

Youth Achievement Awards

The Youth Achievement Awards are a suite of awards that are delivered by inspiring youth organisations. They are credit-based learning opportunity accredited through Agored Cymru. The accreditation is part of the Agored Cymru Young Leaders Qualification. They are an adaptable, progressive, flexible youth led framework which can be applied to a broad and varied range of youth activities.

The awards are designed to meet the needs of all young people, providing accredited recognition for the work young people do in a formal and non-formal setting

There are a number of characteristics that are distinctive and essential to the Youth Achievement Awards programme at all levels:

The Awards enable young people to:

  • Enhance self awareness and self-esteem
  • Develop communication skills and resolve differences by negotiation
  • Get on with and work well with others
  • Explore and manage feelings
  • Understand and identify with others

Proses

The Youth Achievement Awards use a common process for stimulating and recognising young people’s learning. The process can be applied to any context and content. This means that young people can build a learning programme based on their own interests, rather than follow
a pre-determined path, set by others.

The process is the Plan Do Review process encouraging self and peer reflection, developing core skills essential to supporting learning in other contexts.

 

Participation

The awards are designed to help develop participative practice by encouraging young people progressively to take more responsibility in selecting, planning and leading activities. Empowering young people to choose the activities they will complete in order to achieve the Awards, develop their sense of ownership of the activities and the learning involved. This in itself is highly motivating, and promotes wider further engagement in other areas of a young person’s life

 

Peer Learning

The Youth Achievement Awards are a means of recognising and accrediting young people’s achievement through a peer group approach. The peer group plays a central role in planning and assessing each group member’s learning goals, developing and supporting team working skills and the ability to work with others.

 

Progression

The Youth Achievement Awards are based on the engagement of young people through The Principles of Youth Work in Wales and the New Curriculum in Wales. The young person, supported by a Award Group Worker, progressively takes on a responsibility for their own involvement, their learning and their actions. The progression is reflected in the Award Levels ranging from Challenge through to Platinum.