My Journey: Achieve Guidance

What is ‘My Journey’?

 It is an important and useful tool to help young people, delivery partners and the
Trust measure what skills are developed through a young person’s involvement in
Achieve
 My Journey sessions are personal development sessions that allow each young
person to assess their skills at the start, during and at the end of their journey on
Achieve. It should not been seen as ‘paperwork’
 The My Journey forms are paper forms that will be provided by your Prince’s trust
contact and each young person will have 3 sessions during which they will complete
My Journey activities

There are six trust-wide skills that are assessed by all young people taking part on a
Princes Trust programme. My Journey measures the development of:

Working with others Setting and achieving

Communication
goals

Reliability Confidence Managing feelings

For Achieve over 13’s, young people also chooses a key goal or challenge that they want
to improve from the life skills below:

Being healthy/Breaking habits/Positive citizenship/Being ready for work/Taking care of

yourself and others

A description of each of these skills can be found attached to the My Journey form.

The above skills are assessed at these stages:

1. Start 2. Reflect on Start 3. End

Young people measure
their skills levels at the
start of the programme
Once they have learned
more about themselves
and the skills they assess
their starting skill level
again
Young people:
a. Assess their skills at
the end of programme
b. Answer the evaluation
questions

For Achieve over 13’s, there will be a review stage in between Reflect on Start and the End.
This can be used as a check-in, perhaps during a 1-2-1 to see how the young person is
progressing.

Attitude to learning – there are 5 questions that assess how young people feel about
learning and school:

I feel like school is largely a I am doing well in my

waste of time
I think there isn't much you
can do to become more
clever
I think there is no point in
planning for the future; you
should take things as they
come
learning
I often act without thinking
through all the alternatives
1
These questions are asked at the start and end of the programme (similar to the skills
above but there is no ‘Reflect on Start’ stage) to measure if Achieve has had an impact on
the young person’s attitude to learning.

Purpose of My Journey Sessions:

It’s important to have a session for My Journey as this is an opportunity for young people to
measure their skills and see their own development. It’s also an opportunity for you to
identify areas of support for the young person. However, if just given the form, the young
people may struggle to understand it.

Returning the My Journey form:

The sheets need to be returned to your Achieve Programme executive within two weeks of
the programme ending.

1. My Journey – Start Session

_________________________________________________________________________

Time for session: 45mins-1hour

Session:

1) Ice-breaker to introduce skills

Run an ice breaker or refer back to one the young people have already done and enjoyed.
Refer back to the Induction Pack if necessary.
 Ask young people what skills they used in the ice-breaker and introduce the My
Journey skills. Ask young people why they might need these skills
 Explain the My Journey Scale – this is designed to help them measure their skills.

2) Introduction
 Explain what My Journey is and its purpose (see page 1)
 Explain that the purpose of this session is to think about their skills and help identify
what point they are at on their learning journey as well as what skills they want to
develop

3) Activity 1: Choose an activity from the table below to help introduce the skills:
 This activity is an opportunity to individually ask each YP where they feel they are on
the scale, gently challenge scores over 4 using tips from the ‘encouraging realistic
measurements’ on the next page.

Suggested activities: ‘Ordering the Journey’ Activity or ‘What the skills mean’
Activity

4) Activity 2: Run activity below, choose one from the Activity Menu that fits the
group’s dynamic or design your own (this must include the Scale or Booklets or Posters).
The activity menu can be found at the end of this document.

Suggested activity: ‘I’m a celebrity, what level am I?’

5) Ask the young people to measure and record their skills:

 Explain to YP that they are going to think about what measurements they are going to
give themselves for each skill. Use the Tips below to encourage realistic
measurements.
 Ask the YP to fill in the ‘Start’ column of their My Journey Record Sheet by colouring
in or ticking the level they feel they are at for each skill
2
 _________________________________________________________________________

2. My Journey - Reflect on Start Session Guidance (One to One Session)

_________________________________________________________________________

What is the Reflect on start measurement?

 Young people’s measurements at the start are often unrealistic and usually too high.
 This reflection stage gives young people an opportunity to reassess their start
measurement once they have learnt more about the skills and themselves.
 The score they give themselves at this point is a score of what they think they were like at
the start of the programme, not where they are at the point they do the reflection stage.
 In order for young people to be able to see their progression and to enable The Trust to
measure young people’s soft outcomes, it is important that this measurement is realistic.

Time for session: 15 – 30mins

Session:

1) Explain that sometimes YP overrate themselves at the start of the programme. This could
be because they don’t understand some of the skills or are working with a new group of
people. Explain that very few people are all 5s and 6s. Give an example of a skill you are
trying to improve.

2) Use the skill definitions to talk through what each skill means.

3) Use some of the real life examples from the Booklet and the Scale to gently challenge
them if their measurements are 4, 5 or 6. The Scale signifies a young person’s willingness
to improve and the turning points (within the arrows on the levels) signify the amount of
support they need to do this.

4) Ask the young person to look back at their start measurement and consider the
measurements they initially gave themselves. Were they being over-confident? Having
spent some time working on those skills on the programme, do they still think this is the
right measurement of where they were at the start of the programme?

5) Ask the young person to record their new measurement for what they were like at the start
of the programme in the ‘reflect on start’ column measurement of their Record Sheet.

Tips for Encouraging Realistic Measurements

 Stress that we are all still on our journey, not at the end of it; very few of us are 5s and 6s in all the
skills. Give an example of a skill where you have a low measurement.
 Encourage YP to use the Scale and the Learning Curves examples within the Booklet /
Posters:
 Ask them to think of examples from their own lives which demonstrate their skill level. Ask the
young people to think of themselves in general and not let how they are feeling that day emotions
affect their scores.

 Gently coach the group to challenge their measurements by seeing if their examples match the
learning curve and Scale descriptions.

 The scale signifies the YP skill level, their motivation to improve and the turning points (within the
arrows on the levels) signify the amount of support they need to do this. Use the key turning points
(within the arrows on the My Journey Scale) to help challenge young people, i.e. if they need
support to improve they are not 6s.

 Explain that it is important not to judge others. It is not about ‘being the best’ but about being
honest. If they score too high they will not be able to see the progress they make later on. Also, if
3
 we know what they would like to improve on we can support them to get help, but if they rate
themselves very high for everything then we won’t know.

 Explain that we all have strengths and weaknesses and that identifying our weaknesses is
important to help YP with their personal development and identify what support they would like from
The Trust.

 In later sessions, recall examples of young people’s achievements on the programme. Using
examples of things they have achieved, ask young people questions such as “after having done ‘x’,
would you still say you were ‘x’ score in ‘x’ skill at the start of the programme?”

 Do not give out the Record Sheet until the end of the session

_______________________________________________________________________

3. My Journey - End Session Guidance

_________________________________________________________________________

Time for session: 30 – 45mins

1) Introduce the session

 Reiterate the points from page 1 on what the My Journey session is and why we run
it.

2) Activity

Suggested activity: ‘Look back at your journey’

3) Choose an activity from the Activity Menu or design your own (this must include the
Scale or Booklets or Posters)

4) Ask the young people to measure and record their skills:

 Explain to YP that they are going to think about what measurements they are going to
give themselves for each skill. Use the Tips below to encourage realistic
measurements.
 Ask the YP to fill in the ‘End’ column of their My Journey Record Sheet by colouring
in or ticking the level they feel they are at for each skill.

5) Programme Evaluation
 At this point, young people should also complete the evaluation questions on the
reverse side of My Journey Record Sheet. Explain that their answers help us to
improve the programme.
 ‘Tell us how much the programme helped each skill’
o This question asks them how much the programme helped each skill rather than
an external organisation or experience.
o Ask the group at what point in the programme they used each skill to help them
complete this question – make it part of ‘Look back at your journey’
 Check all elements of My Journey and the Programme Evaluation have been filled in.

6) Returning the Record Sheets to obtain soft outcomes and programme evaluation
nationally
 The Record Sheets must be returned to your Princes Trust Executive within two
weeks of the programme ending.

4
My Journey Activities Menu

 Choose one or more Activities from the Menu that fit the group’s dynamic or design your own,
however, this must include young people using the My Journey materials; either the My Journey
Scale or Learning Curve Booklets or Learning Curve Posters.
 The activities were suggested by staff, if you have another activity which works well please
email the evaluation team and we can add it to the Menu.
 These group activities can be easily amended to use in a one to one session

Ice-breaker to introduce skills:

 Run a team building/ ice breaker / game with the young people
 After the ice breaker discuss and review with the young people what skills they used, for
example, communication, coping if a tower falls down, working with others and introduce the
My Journey skills using the definitions on the Scale or Booklet). Ask young people why they
might need these skills.

Introducing the Skills Activity

Activity Name Description
Ordering the  Divide the young people in to 4 groups and give each 2 skills and the
Journey cut up Levels Worksheets. Ask them to sort the levels into the correct
order (1-6). Then as a group discuss the order they have put the levels
in and why.

What the skills  Write the Skill headings on flipchart paper around the room or on a
mean table if limited on space, write the descriptor on post it notes.
 Divide young people into small groups and ask them to match the skill
descriptors with the correct skill – these could be cut up or written on
post it notes (e.g. listening with communication). As a group discuss
where they have put the sub headings and why.

Activities to help young people measure their skills:

Activity Name Description

My Journey Young people move around the room and look at the Learning Curve Posters
around the room on the wall. Ask them to think about what each skill means and to think about
where they would be on the curve and why. Go through each skill as a group
discussing the meaning, share with the group some of your scores (ideally low
scores). Ask for volunteers to share their scores and the reasons they have
chosen them. Gently coach the group to challenge their own scores by seeing
if their examples /reasons match the learning curve descriptions.
Booklet / Learning Similar to ‘My Journey around the room’ but using the Booklets or Scale instead
Curve led Share of posters.
and tell Look at the first skill and discuss what it means (referring to skills definitions)
pick a few examples and describe to the group what they might look like in
practice for the skill (using the LC booklet for your reference). Share with the
group some of your scores (ideally low scores). Ask for volunteers to share
their scores and the reasons they have chosen them. Gently coach the group
to challenge their own scores by seeing if their examples/reasons match the
learning curve descriptions.
PowerPoint led Put the learning curve and skills definitions on to a power point presentation
Share and tell and discuss.

I’m a celebrity, This game shows young people that even people they admire (e.g. role
what level am I? models, celebrities) will not have high measurements in all the skills.
Put numbers 1-6 around the room or if space is limited draw a bull’s eye on
flipchart paper. As a group, write celebrities or role models (these could be
from the sector or a favourite group theme) on post it notes and assign one to
each young person. An example could be a famous footballer or band member

5
 who is very good at working with others in their team but hates doing press
conferences as has low communication and confidence skills
Go through the skills and ask young people to stand by the number (or stick on
bull’s eye if limited space) that they think represents where their character is
on the scale.
Stand by your Place numbers that represent the scale levels on the floor or put flipcharts
score around the room numbered one to six. Call out relevant scenarios to the group
and ask the young people to move to the sheet they feel best represents them,
such as working with others and how they would manage. You could use the
1-6 scale examples within My Journey Learning Curve Booklet to help.
Alternatively, go through the skills and ask young people to stand at the number
that they feel best describes where they are on the scale. When they have
decided which sheet represents them for a scenario, ask a few of them to
describe why they have put themselves there.

Scenario line up If young people do not feel comfortable enough to share their own
measurements, you could call out example scenarios of a made-up young
person and ask them to stand next to the score that feel is appropriate for that
person. When they have decided which number represents the person, ask a
few of them to describe why.

Bulls Eye Draw a bull’s eye on a piece of flipchart with rings numbered 1-6, starting with
1 at the centre, and ask young people to write their name on a post-it note and
stick it on the ring that best describes where they are on the scale. Repeat for
each skill. If young people do not feel comfortable enough to share their
measurements could call out scenarios instead or use ‘x’s instead of names on
post its.

Draw and discuss Split young people into small groups and get them to plot on a graph where
they are on each skill and discuss amongst themselves why they would give
themselves a particular number. Alternatively, you could make up scenarios
for an example person or celebrity and ask the YP to plot levels.

Mirror, Mirror Using photographs or images to represent scenarios the young people may
find themselves in, discuss the different skills needed in the scenario and
discuss what the various reactions could be depending on their skill
development using the My Journey scale. For example a picture of a bus/train
pulling away could prompt discussions on reliability, managing feelings, setting
and achieving goals and communication.

Pairs Split group into pairs. Give them two of the characteristics and ask them to
discuss. Ask them to describe what each characteristic means and give 2
scale examples. Staff go first giving an example. Pairs present back to the
group.

Experience Small group discussions to share their experiences, e.g. times when they’ve
Sharing found it difficult to communicate, and looking at how they can support each
other during the programme.

Relate to Staff think up examples related to the programme or sector e.g. a football
programme match/setting up a business and come up with different skill scenarios
They could also ask young people to list the skills in importance for the sector
(creates discussion but you should emphasise that actually all the skills are
incredibly important for the sector)

Scales Show the young people physical examples of different-sized objects and ask
them to identify the smaller or larger item. Then show them two pieces of
scrap paper that are very close in size or a piece of paper crumpled up and

6
 an un-crumpled piece of paper and then get them thinking about
measurements and measuring tools. Ask them how we can measure things
we can’t see (e.g. confidence).

- Tell the young people that they all have these skills but some skills may be
Bringing the skills more advanced than others. Give relevant examples of how these skills can
to life present themselves, e.g. “A single mum who clothes and feeds three children
with very little money and has them all in bed by 7.30pm has skills in
communication, working with others, setting and achieving goals, reliability
and coping”
Relate the skills to employment using an example such as, “Every day I
attended I turned up five minutes ahead of the start time. This shows an
employer that I am reliable, pay attention and am self motivated”
- Use funny examples. For example, share an experience you have had, such
as riding an ostrich on holiday and then relate it to being determined and setting
a goal which you then completed.
- Encourage the young people to be creative and try to come up with their own
unique examples. Depending on their confidence, ask them to either write it on
the flipchart or tell the group.