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Department for Education and Skills, 2004
Background
The National Institute for Adult Continuing Education (NIACE)
carried out this external evaluation of the Step in to Learning
training and development programme. All the staff who completed
the training programme by the end of December 2003 were asked
to complete a questionnaire and distribute questionnaires
to four parents in their nursery. Staff and parents from 210
nurseries responded. In addition, nine nurseries were visited
before the training, with 15 follow up visits; a further 10
nurseries were visited after staff had received the training.
There was an additional research tool added in January 2003
to track parents sign-posted to learning provision by nursery
staff. Nineteen parents were contacted by telephone and interviewed
monthly.
The researchers concluded that the training has made a significant
contribution to raising awareness of the nursery staff. Nursery
staff reported that they now sign-post more parents into literacy,
numeracy and language provision than they did before; 80%
of staff now said they did so, while 33% said they had made
changes in their signposting practice since the training.
They did this in various ways, such as attending college enrolments
with parents, putting them in touch with learndirect or contacting
a local Get On team.
When asked about follow-up, 40% of staff said they knew the
parents had attended provision. 135 parent tracking cards
had been received indicating that parents had attended a range
of courses. Some nurseries had set up formal links through
partnerships with local learning providers.
Parents and carers using the nurseries were aware that they
needed to brush up their literacy, language and numeracy skills,
and a significant minority (10% of those who responded) said
they would like to get help with reading and writing.
Most staff reported that, having done the training, they
felt more confident about how to respond to parents enquiring
or asking for support with literacy. However, some staff felt
reluctant to initiate the subject with parents in case it
damaged their relationship. This reluctance contrasted with
findings from the parents' questionnaire where the vast majority
of parents (92%) said they felt confident in asking nursery
staff about how to get help. A number of nursery staff (40%)
also identified literacy needs among their colleagues.
The report makes a number of recommendations, including the
suggestion that family literacy, language and numeracy provision
should be delivered on site since parents expressed a preference
for local provision. This has been incorporated into the Step
in to Learning mainstreamed programme.
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