The Super Ambassadors programme is a scheme for primary schools in Wales. The scheme has been running for 14 years with 412 schools currently enrolled across Wales. Typically, two pupils from years five or six are elected by their peers each year and undertake Special Missions for the Children’s Commissioner. These either involve raising awareness around rights or collecting data on children’s perspectives on a particular issue so that it can feed into the work of the Children’s Commissioner.
The aim of the evaluation is to assess the impact of the scheme in primary schools, identify the strengths and weaknesses of the scheme and to develop recommendations to increase uptake and impact. The impact of the scheme will be measured against its stated aims:
- To raise awareness of children’s rights and the UNCRC among children and professionals in primary school settings
- To raise awareness of the role of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales among children and professionals in primary school settings
- To provide a mechanism to enable the Commissioner to gather the opinions and experiences of children in Wales
The review is wide-ranging and draws on a range of primary and secondary evidence. These include interviews with and questionnaires for Ambassadors, their teachers, and other children. Furthermore, observations of the Super Ambassadors Conference have been conducted, as well as analysis of resources and reports produced by the Children’s Commissioner.
The children’s rights based research model developed by Lundy and McEvoy (2012a) underpins the methodology of the research. As part of this approach, an advisory group of four children has been established. They have been assisting the researcher in the development of the questionnaire and the analysis of the data, ensuring that the research addresses the views and experiences of children.
