South Ayrshire: Animating Childrens’ Voices

One of my favourite projects this year has been working with South Ayrshire Children’s Services to create an easy-to-read PDF and animated version of their Children and Young People’s Services Plan. Their plan is based on speaking to local families, communities and people working with children, and now South Ayrshire was looking to share their hard work and next steps with their communities.

Storyboard for animation with handwritten notes for direction

We started working with South Ayrshire Children’s Services on a learning partnership last year, when we developed a visual style and branding, alongside our research and strategic support with developing their Childrens’ Plan. Our highly visual approach has helped more members of their community engage with them. For example, local services have asked to put up pages of the plan in their child-facing offices as nice visuals for families. They have found that local people have started to recognise South Ayrshire Children’s Services and kids have said that the design feels like it is ‘for them’. This success in connecting with their communities has led to the idea that an animation could be a fun and accessible way to share the plan with local families and staff and show that their voices are being heard.

We worked closely with Gillian Carroll (Children’s Services Planning and Performance Lead Officer) to develop the language that turns the official service plan into something that is public-facing. We were conscious of de-stigmatising asking for help and showcasing the hard work of the many people who help South Ayrshire children grow up well. Reading information from an official council document can be stressful, particularly when things are tough, so we wanted to make sure that the design was welcoming and helpful for children and adults.

The ultimate test for this project was asking South Ayrshire children to read the script we had written alongside Gillian. If the words don’t sound right, or weirdly ‘grown up’, you can hear it. Gillian travelled around schools in South Ayrshire to get young people involved in the animation process, and we cut it together. Children and young people had a chance to see the script and the initial storyboard. What makes this even more powerful is that the children were so excited to have their voice included, that they asked if they could present the animation to their schools. We would like to express our special thanks, alongside South Ayrshire Children’s Services, to all the children who have lent their voices to make it possible.

Since the animation was launched in South Ayrshire, we have had this feedback from our South Ayrshire:

“I loved to see Ida’s visual representation of the voices and views of our young people in South Ayrshire come to life. The children involved in the creation of the animation have been so enthused to see their voices come to life and they have even asked to present the animation to their schools at assembly. Our Children’s Services Plan in South Ayrshire is a large document but ultimately it shares how we will work together to do the things that families told us they want us to do. This animation is the perfect way to communicate that directly to children, young people and families. I can’t thank Ida enough for what she has created. I also use the animation in all my training, briefings or workshops with staff as it is the perfect way to share our vision and continuously thank and remind the workforce of the importance of their work”

Gillian Carroll

Feedback from around the South Ayrshire Children’s Services office:

“I love the animation – I really think having an animation of a plan is so impactful and you can really feel the vision”

“Voice of the child really comes through here, obviously we can hear the children on the script but I mean you can feel that this came from the children”

“The shapes and visuals are so linked with the plan – you instantly look at this and know it’s children’s services”

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