School resources
Schools-720p-231030.mp4Watch the video here to learn more about Research in School from Amy Stringer from the West Midlands team.
Learn more about the West Midlands School Leaflet and how the West Midlands are building relationships with Schools. You can also learn more about the School Research Network microsite which the West Midlands Network have created here.
Here are links to articles of case studies where you can see examples of what type of research we are supporting in schools;
A new study to improve children's language and communication skills is an example of a four-year study which is in schools between 2022 and August 2025. The study will involve over 1,000 children aged between five- and seven-years-old, from primary schools across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and North London.
On this link is a Impact case study – Our school-based research which has been conducted by the NIHR. There are lots of examples of research studies which have been run in school settings.
COMBAT is a wide scale study which is supported by the NIHR and has taken place in many schools. This project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
There is a useful research brief which has been put together to describe exploring the potential of a school-based online health and wellbeing screening tool: Young people’s perspectives.
Initiatives to help engagement with school
In the East of England, you can find out about how they are interacting with schools with Rebo and his Research Adventure. Find out more here.
In the West Midlands, you can find out more about how they are engaging with schools with the PSHE page where you will find resources to help you teach primary classes (KS2) different concepts within Health Research.
These lesson plans cover aspects such as Ethics, Consent, Clinical Trials and Randomisation.
The NIHR School for Public Health website includes further information about research with schools;
https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/category/research/children-young-people-families/improving-child-health/
https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Principles-for-engaging-with-CYP-June-2021.pdf
Research consent in an educational setting
You should have already completed the NIHR Learn training on Informed Consent with Children and Young People. If you have not done this, please do this e-learning now.
A child cannot give consent if they are younger then 16 years old.
Consent or assent can be difficult for a child to understand. Think about the term consent - a child or young person won't always know what it means, you could try other terms such as opting in and opting out or joining in or not, try to check the understanding of your potential participant as the consent conversation develops. You may need to say to the child or young person - your answers are for research purposes and will not be shared with the school. As researchers it may be important for recruitment to be seen as separate to the school in some circumstances
Children may feel there is a right answer they have to give, as there is always a right or wrong answer in school. You need to support them to make this decision themselves, this can take time. Children don't usually get asked an open ended question such as 'do you want to be part of this research project'.
Try not to use yes/no questions, use a selection method or a conversation, images are very good, try not to use real drawings to help the conversation. information needs to be as accessible as possible, easy read training could help with this if you can access this type of training. Language and structure of how you speak needs to be set to the right level.
There is huge variation between age groups such as 7 to 11 so may need to tailor it quite a lot. Sometimes children and young people may have a short attention so information needs to be quick, simple and to the point.
This course introduces the requirements of the process of informed consent with children in research
Safety in schools
Schools have a duty of care to make sure their students are safe at all times which means you will need to be DBS and vetted, background checks, you may not be able to be a lone researcher, be wise to being in classrooms, being a pair - you need to be safe as well and the child, full safeguarding checks. You need to be able to reassure the school that the researchers are fully able to protect the child, safeguarding trained. Be child focused and aware of dangers around.
Similar to prisons you need to expect a whole level of gatekeeping, you may need an introduction to how the school runs.
You will have a duty once you step foot on the school premises to keep children safe, safeguarding procedures and escalation.
Schools increasingly appreciate insight. Some schools may have capacity to want to know more about the findings others may want just a brief overview, ask them. You must feedback to them in some type though.
Think about how you are going to give feedback to the kids, can you do an assembly or a website, and adults as well as parents. Think about opening the door at the very beginning for the child so that when they are older.
Top tips for engaging and recruiting in schools
It's the headmasters or headmistresses decision but it may not be them leading the project. It could be a teacher.
There is usually a wellbeing lead so if your school study fits in this category this may be a useful link for you.
Some schools have activities week, can your therapy or research offering fit around this?
If your research study supports the school being able to make a positive change this will be helpful.
The school engagement lead is not necessarily in every council, because they may not be funded by the council, there may be no relationship between the LA and the school because they may be an academy. In this case there is a loose legal relationship.
The council is the overarching body. So like a GP practice is independent but NHS is overarching body. Schools are either LA controlled, some are controlled by independent academies, some academies are national. Engaging with a national academy is useful. An academy has their own indemnity and insurance.
Time is a limited resource in schools,
Look out for head teachers association, they may have newsletters and are usually local authority. The Education department in the LA usually have access to this. Academies can be quite independent and not interact. There are more academies then LA school.
Early intervention can save millions on adult health. The school is also a participant in research. Give schools the option for how to liaise with their community their students and how they want to deal with consent issues, this may be contradictory to how our ethics have been approved. Be careful asking for demographic information as children may not know this when they are younger, best to gather this at a school level.
Ofsted categories are outstanding; good; requires improvement; and inadequate. Ofsted can show you that a school has time to support something, struggling schools may not have time to take on external projects.
There is no requirement for any school to support research. Increasingly in teacher training there is more emphasis on research involvements or findings. There is no requirement for a teacher to make sure what they are doing is right or wrong.
There are further resources in the awesome table