‘Story-catching’ in a local authority Youth Service: Two suggested templates

Name of Centre/ Project……………………………………………………….

Name of worker…………………………………………………………………

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When thinking about your work with young people it is important to spend some time thinking about the context. The questions below are to act as a prompt for you, where did the story begin, what happened, what did I do with the young person pay attention to the skills you used, and what was the impact, this doesn’t have to be life changing, a smile is sometimes very significant.

Remember that the lives of young people don’t come in neat box or move in an orderly way through the structure around them, so there may not be a defined end but the steps are important.

Who is the main character of the story? How did their journey begin? What do you know? What have you observed?

What does the young person want to achieve, or to happen? They may not know  or be able to say, at the beginning of their journey with you, but it could be something to explore, or it could be very practical to start with, they need help with school, housing etc. but could develop into more emotional things like relationships at home at school. When working with a young person listen to what they are saying to enable you to work out the starting point. Remember the small steps that they make, they are valuable.

Who or what is getting in the way?

What is the outcome and/or possible future/next steps?

What does the young person say about the impact on their life?

Talk through with each other or your manager, it will help you explore.

Reflective practice:

Please think about your practise as part of this process, what skills did you use and how effective were they? Would you do things differently or the same in the future?

Now write the story.

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Name of Centre/ Project……………………………………………….

Name of worker…………………………………………………………

Date………………………………………………………………………..