Index: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 12. Family Literacy - Amber Valley The project provides family literacy support to primary schools in two communities, Ironville and Langley Mill, in Amber Valley. Both are former mining villages, with poor levels of local amenity and community support. The family literacy activity is part of a multi-agency response to a range of issues, including unemployment, advice and guidance, and community organising. All of the activities are under the leadership of the Adult and Community Education Team in Amber Valley. Key Findings Working with tested models is advantageous. It helps to establish and maintain the approach to Family Literacy. Experienced and enthusiastic staff are important to success, especially if the school that participates in the project is itself uncertain of the potential benefits of family literacy as an approach. SRB administration is done through well-developed 'back office' functions at the County LEA and the SRB Partnership. Read On - Write Away: Model of Family Literacy There is an eleven point minimum standard that all family literacy projects must meet if they are to be promoted under the Read On - Write Away! Partnership. Qualified staffing Staff development arrangements agreed Joint planning time before the start of a project Weekly liaison time agreed between tutor and teacher agreed Co-ordination of project agreed, including support mechanism for the tutor Monitoring and evaluation agreed - Baseline assessments (for children and adults), targets set and evaluation methods agreed Curriculum - for adults only, for children only, for both together all agreed. Progression - guidance written into the programme Accreditation - tutors aware of the range of accreditation Language support / crèche support Joint delivery agreement is drawn up. The community education ethos is necessary in communities where there is little learning culture. There is strong evidence from the Amber Valley experience that the life long learning agenda is one to which a very wide range of different players see themselves contributing and the programme has supported very extensive multi-agency networking. Background - Problems to be Tackled In Amber Valley, there is clear evidence of the following problems: Low levels of qualifications amongst parents. National Training and Education Tests under-performance on all indicators. Lack of parental awareness of their role in literacy development. High proportions of children under-achieving - by age 11, many are two years behind their reading age. Unemployment ranging from 8-10%. National evidence that children of illiterate parents often have difficulties themselves with literacy. Early (pre-SRB) interventions in the target communities by the Community and Adult Education service did not have a literacy focus to them. They concentrated on advice and guidance on an outreach basis. The focus, through small group sessions, drop in, and advice, was to raise self esteem, help people make informed choices, handle unemployment, and to tackle depression and despair (especially amongst unemployed men and young people). However, it became evident from this work that literacy was an issue for all sections of the community. It also became apparent that family literacy was perhaps a method for tackling life long learning issues on multiple fronts in the target community. How the Project was Developed At county-wide level, there is a literacy strategy directed by a partnership called Read on Write Away. Originating in Derby when the same LEA served Derby and Derbyshire, its overall aim is to increase literacy levels at all stages across the county. The aim is underpinned by a set of operating principles: to deliver large scale activity; to knit together funding streams/schemes (SRB being prominent amongst them); to embed effective practice in standard practice and to be informed by strong research and evaluation (mid term evaluation was in hand at the time of writing). This strategy has various strands of activity, family literacy having featured in its activities under each of the rounds of SRB. The focus for activity is: babies (pre-school literacy). young people. family/early years. secondary support at key stages and transitions and adult/life long learning. The partnership has been in development since Round 1 of the SRB. It was stimulated by the new chief education officer in Derbyshire, as well as the relationship with the Basic Skills Agency (BSA), and a willingness to take on the BSA's national agenda in Derbyshire. East Midlands was relatively under-developed in terms of family literacy, but there was a conscious commitment to community education models within this strategy. This county-wide partnership provided an overall development framework for the Amber Valley Community and Adult Education Team. Working with the local team and its partners, the Life Long Learning Division within the LEA developed the bid for the SRB project. The focus on a family literacy based approach is well-evidenced from the experience of the Basic Skills Agency. This approach to project design claims the following benefits for family literacy. It: reaches new audiences (90% are likely to be new to post-16 education); it raises standards of literacy; it increases self-confidence and self esteem; it encourages progression (70-80% of adults go on to other forms of education). Parents demand more for themselves and their children and it has an impact on the community in which it takes place, beyond the school and family. The Project Having started in 1997, it had completed its second year at the time of this case study. The core of the project is family literacy, where work with parents (or in some cases, related adults, like grandparents) and children is the focus. Support work is provided in the school setting, where children who are under-achieving are targeted together with their parents. Typical projects involve a group of ten adults and ten children, working for one half day each week. Courses last for a minimum of ten weeks, and the longest to date has been for twelve. There have been four family literacy groups, two at each of the schools in each area. In the morning session (one day a week), they have the chance to work in a small group with a teacher. At the same time, the adults will either be working with a key skills tutor to improve their own basic skills, or supporting the activity with their child. In the afternoon session children, adults, teacher and tutor have the chance to work jointly on a literacy / core skills project. This activity could involve the production of a school magazine, the development of a story book, one-to-one help etc. Parents commented that they: "wish it could have gone on for longer"…that they "really enjoyed it"…that "everything was brilliant". A number have gone onto further key skills training, are getting involved in PTA activity and community initiatives as a result of this activity. Adults have the chance to gain accreditation through the Open College Network. Both adults and children are assessed at the beginning and end of the project activity. The family literacy project is part of a suite of projects under the SRB programme that have an Adult and Community Education focus to them. The other strands of activity are: Guidance - 119k SRB - 8.5k Derbyshire CC - 27k ESF Literacy & Numeracy - 16k SRB - 8.5k Derbyshire CC - 13k FEFC Confidence Building - 13k SRB - 7k Derbyshire CC - 13.5k ESF All run for six years, and are under the same project management within the Adult Education Service. The precise linkages and progression routes from one project to another are not defined in hard and fast terms. Participants in the family literacy activity thus have a range of support available to them. The family literacy and these other activities are seen as being mutually reinforcing. Funding Family literacy is a six-year programme, with a project value of £124,000, with SRB contributing £55,000 of that. £52,000 comes from the Local Authority (County Council) and £17,000 from FEFC. Outcomes and Achievements The project is now at the beginning of its third year. Each of its four projects have been evaluated by other members of the Community and Adult Education Team, and these evaluations have identified perceived benefits, outcomes and achievements from the perspectives of parents, children, and educationalists. Parents: Enthusiasm for the course, Wish to continue involvement through 'story sacks', Sustained parental attendance, Increased parental understanding of children's reading and learning, Increased parental understanding of the skills involved in hearing children read, Increased parental understanding of the skills of handwriting, speaking and listening, More positive parental attitude towards school, A developed love of books and reading and realisation of their educational value, A sense of parental achievement in the completion of their accreditation. Children: Evident enjoyment of learning in children who formerly were disaffected with school and learning, Improved concentration and self discipline, Increased reading, vocabulary, handwriting and listening skills, Positive change in behaviour, leading to an increase in their perceived value of school. Educationalists - both teachers and basic skills tutors Welcomed levels of co-operation and joint working, Consistency of approach as a result of joint planning and co-delivery was seen to be valuable, Anecdotal evidence from schools, which are already committed to this type of approach, is very positive. However, at this stage in the life of the project, activity is concentrated in two or three 'champion schools'. The related guidance work is having problems with employment outcomes. There is a strong view that lasting impact from the suite of projects will only be achieved for both adults and children if employment prospects improve. Further Information Glenda Cresswell Cast Tel: 01773 832 201 Fax: 01773 832 630

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