Monitoring & Evaluation
Hearing what children and young people have to say is only the first part of learning to listen!
Follow the 5 steps on The Listening Cycle to help you Listen, Reflect, Respond, Review and Monitor. This will help you take what you hear to the appropriate group (e.g. PCC, youth leaders, worship group) and record how suggestions are actioned, implemented and monitored.
Remember to feed back what's happening so that the young people know they have been listened to. It will not always be possible (or appropriate) to implement everything they suggest, so it's important to make sure they understand how any decisions were made.
1. Listen
- What do you want to know about?
- When will the listening happen?
- Who will be involved?
- Who will facilitate?
2. Reflect
- What have you learned from listening?
- What are the main points the children/young people want to be taken forward?
- Who needs to hear what's been said (e.g. PCC, youth leaders, worship group)?
3. Respond
- What needs to happen/change?
- Who will take the lead on this?
- Who will feed back the response to the children/young people?
4. Review
- Who/which group is taking the actions/decisions forward?
- What needs to happen next?
- Has a date been agreed to review what's happened?
5. Monitor
- What has changed as a result of implementing the agreed action(s)?
- Who will feed this back to the children/young people?
- What (if anything) needs to happen next?