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6
6. 'Hooks' into Learning
Issues
A number of SRB projects have recognised the need for 'hooks' to bring people back into learning, whether at school age or beyond. In some regeneration schemes, this has been achieved by introducing motivators such as work experience or job interviews. In others, it may be via family learning programmes through which parents and other carers can become involved in lifelong learning.
For many communities served by SRB schemes, unemployment is the norm. Children and parents may not see the relevance of education and qualifications to their lives. In 1997, almost 19 per cent of 16 year olds on Tyneside were out of education, training or employment six months after the end of their compulsory education, and thus failed to gain the necessary skills and make adequate preparation for the labour market.
The concentration of unemployment, low skills and qualifications that characterise many of the areas on which the SRB is focused often lead to 'postcode discrimination' on the part of employers.
Tackling the Issues
- Tyneside Challenge is part of a scheme which engages 'young people in opportunities for learning and supports their progression to the labour market', mainly using vocational experience as a motivator. It targets under-achieving Year 11 students who have the ability to achieve GCSE grade C or its equivalent, by stimulating their interest and motivation. This, in turn, helps them to develop and apply their abilities in school and on a chosen training or work placement.
One student said: 'The experience given in the world of work has given me a different view about what you need at school.' A training provider said: 'The six trainees we have on our programme have been an asset to our company and I am very proud of the progress they have made. They were brought to us as "under-achievers and prone to truancy", but we have found none of these traits in the pupils.'
Pupils have to sign a contract - with their parents, the school and the training provider - in which they promise to attend school, to be on time and to behave well. Those who break this contract are taken off the Challenge.
Students spend ten days (or twenty half-days) during the autumn and spring terms with a training provider or employer in their chosen vocational area. They have to complete a competence-based diary that helps them to identify their strengths and weaknesses, to plan and record their learning with the training provider and to provide a record of their successes and achievements.
At the end of the programme pupils receive a certificate in recognition of their achievements. Some of the training can contribute to an NVQ accreditation.
- Northern Arc Regeneration Scheme, Bristol: The prospect of work – a specific vacancy – has been shown in numerous Joblink or Jobsmatch schemes to be a powerful motivator for learning. The customised training programmes being developed by Northern Arc directly with employers offer further confirmation of this.
Two linked projects, the Employment Project and the Guidance Project, are designed to fulfil the strategic objective: 'to enhance the employment prospects, education and skills of local people, particularly the young and those at disadvantage, and promote equality of opportunity by:
- offering professional, informed and independent education, training and careers guidance, particularly for those who are unemployed and the low-waged;
- referrals to other support; and
- the provision of accredited guidance skills training within the area.'
The Employment Project is similar to the Joblink and Jobsmatch projects initiated by Task Forces in the eighties and continued under City Challenge. It is designed to: 'provide a link between unemployed people with skills and employers with job vacancies and, by using customised and existing training provision, equip people for the jobs which are available'.
Although based at a Job Centre, the project operates on an outreach basis, with the brokerage taking place at drop-in centres in the community. It originated as a scheme to promote the use of local labour in construction, but then broadened its focus.
- Family Literacy, Amber Valley: Early (pre-SRB) interventions in the target communities by the Community and Adult Education Service did not have a literacy focus. They concentrated on outreach advice and guidance. 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 lifelong Learning issues on multiple fronts in the target community.
The focus on a family literacy based approach is proven by the experience of the Basic Skills Agency. This approach to project design claims the following benefits for family literacy.
- It reaches new audiences (90 per cent are likely to be new to post-16 education).
- It raises standards of literacy.
- It increases self-confidence.
- It encourages progression (70-80 per cent of adults go on to other forms of education).
- Parents demand more for themselves and their children.
- It has an impact on the community, beyond the school and family.
Work with parents (or in some cases, related adults, like grandparents) and children is the core 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 target area. In the morning session (one day a week), participants 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 may 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.
Key Lessons of Good Practice
- The development of the scheme in Tyneside, where the TEC is central, has meant that the whole structure fits into existing systems, which has made progress easier than it would otherwise have been.
- There has been success, especially in South Tyneside, in overcoming young people's concerns about travel to work, where many of the job opportunities and training providers are not close to where the young people live.
- The Northern Arc project's key to success has been its responsiveness to individual needs and aspirations, and its flexibility of delivery. For example, it does not require authorisation for approval of specific training programmes.
- For family literacy, experienced and enthusiastic staff have been important to success, especially if the participating schools are uncertain of the potential benefits which a family literacy approach may bring.
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