The judging process
Judging will take place during August 2011.
Who will judge the awards?
A panel of experts and professionals from across the children and young people’s sector will first judge the entries. This panel will represent the diversity of agencies and disciplines that make up the sector and the judges will have the knowledge and experience to assess each project according to its objectives and available budget. Judges who have a connection with any entry will not be allowed to vote on that entry or lobby the other judges on its behalf.
A second round of judging will be undertaken by a group of young judges hand picked by Children & Young People Now.
What will the judges look for?
The aim of the Children & Young People Now Awards is to recognise excellence. The judges will be looking for examples of excellent projects or organisations. Each entry must indicate clearly to both the adult and young judges the nature and degree of difficulty faced, and how this was overcome, all backed up with hard facts. For the best chance of winning an award, be concise, be clear and remember your entry will be judged by young people as well as sector experts.
How will the entries be judged?
The adult judges will study all the entries, looking for examples of exceptional work. The judging teams will discuss the entries and each judge will award their own mark to each entry, with a shortlist drawn up from these marks.
The young judges will then study all the shortlisted entries, discuss them and each young judge will award their own mark to each entry. The finalists and winners will be calculated from a combination of the adult and young judges’ marks. The adult and young judges will have the right to move entries between categories if they feel the new category would be more appropriate.
Young judges
The views and opinions of our specially selected group of young people are crucial to the judging process. As a result, you can include up to 200 words specifically for the young judges explaining why your initiative or organisation deserves to win an award. This is optional but if included must be submitted on a separate one side of plain A4 paper, single-spaced, in 10-point type or larger.