What is the HYP HOP manual and "The Letter"?

The HYP Hop Workshop manual and "The Letter" DVD are a sex and relationships education resource.

"The Letter" is a drama depicting the impact of a sexually transmitted infection and unplanned teenage pregnancy as seen through the eyes of young people. The HYP (Healthy Young People) Hop Workshop manual is a sex and relationships education resource containing a number of workshops reflecting the fact that sexual health should not be considered in isolation and other influences such as relationships, self-esteem, substance misuse, media and peer pressure cannot be ignored.

The resource will be particularly useful to educators, health and social workers, Connexions personal advisers and youth and community workers who are facilitating sex and relationships education programmes for young people.

The resource seeks to support education programmes in order to empower young people to make informed decisions concerning their personal and sexual health and improve their confidence in accessing primary health care and sexual health services.

HYP HOP aims to provide good quality sex and relationships educational resources and training programmes that embrace culture and diversity. We are happy to discuss any issues relating to the delivery of SRE programmes.

What does the resource contain?

The HYP Hop Workshop Manual includes the following workshops:

• Confidentiality, Consent and Young People
• Let's Talk
• Love - What's It All About?
• Self-Esteem and Personal Values
• Contraception
• Sexually Transmitted Infections
• Media and Peer Pressure
• HYP (Hip) Hop

Plus:

• "The Letter" DVD
• 3 sets of high quality resource cards
• CD rom containing 3 specially composed backings for the HYP (Hip) Hop Workshop which uses hip hop music as a vehicle for sexual health messages as well as downloadable copies of the exercises and resource cards

Who wrote the resource?

Carol Robinson BSc (Hons) Community Health, RGN, NDN cert. Specialist Contraceptive Nurse, Cert Ed.

Carol Robinson is Director of HYP Hop and Lecturer in Sexual Health at Canterbury Christ Church University. Carol has had many years experience of working within sexual health and this has included working as a Sexual Health Outreach Nurse working with young people.

Her work has involved needs assessment and research to inform the development and provision of sex and relationships education programmes to young people, parents/carers and professionals.

The drama and HYP Hop workshops have emerged from these experiences. Carol was highly commended in the Nursing Standard Nurse of the Year Awards 2004 for pioneering this innovative approach to teaching young people about sexual health and emotional well-being.

HYP Hop is acknowledged as an example of good practice by the National Teenage Pregnancy Unit 2005 and a summary of the HYP Hop project can be found on the DfES Every Child Matters website www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

HYP HOP is a registered Asdan Centre. Click here for HYP HOP Sex and Relationships Education Asdan Module Challenges

The resource aims to:

• Gain the interest, trust and respect of young people by working with them and engaging them rather than just the delivery of information
• Explore values, beliefs & attitudes, which influence young people's lives
• Consider social and moral dilemmas that young people may come across in everyday life
• Develop skills relating to decision making and making informed choices
• Provide relevant ways to help young people take and share responsibility
• Help young people to feel positive about themselves and improve their confidence in accessing sexual health and primary health care services
• Provide a safe environment in which young people can identify with the scenarios and characters within the drama

Comments from young people

"Great fun"

"I've learnt about all sorts of things that I would normally have felt too embarrassed to ask"

"Brilliant"

"Lots of questions answered and lots of involvement"

"Different from other things we do in school so listen better"

"Found out how easy it is to catch infections and their effects"

"Found out how to use a condom"

Feedback From Existing Resource Users

"A tricky subject dealt with appropriately and leaving a clear message"

"An excellent launch pad for PSHE discussions"

"Drama was age appropriate"

"Workshops stimulating, interactive and had a clear delivery of messages"

"I have been successfully using the HYP HOP workshop manual and DVD within the sexual health outreach service for the past year" The resource pack is very well received by young people and as a finale to a two day conference on sex and relationships a year 10 group performed a play inspired by The Letter." Advanced Nurse Practitioner in sexual health(06/04/2007)

"We had a really good residential in Belgium, Hyp Hop went down really well, especially the DVD and especially Sergeant Clap! The feedback from the young people was all very positive" Youth Worker (30/08/2007)

"I am using the HYP HOP pack and I can't remember the last time I was so excited. It is so refreshing to get hold of something that is so comprehensive and flexible, thank you." PSHE Teacher

HYP HOP also provides ongoing support in the form of web based information and updates

Samples

Below you will find some samples from the HYP Hop workshop resource. They are free to download for evaluation purposes.

• Download a short scene from "The Letter" DVD (7.5MB WMV format)
• Download an example of a HYP (Hip) Hop rap created by a group of young people (1.01MB MP3 format)
• Download a sample worksheet, "Contraceptives - Urban Myths" (60KB PDF format)
• Download a sample of the "Seeking help & advice" workcard (57KB PDF format)

Downloadable resources are for evaluation purposes only and remain © Carol Robinson, HYP Hop Ltd., 2005.