|
Some ideas for literacy activities involving young
people. These are smaller-scale initiatives than those
highlighted on the Key
initiatives page.
|
 |
This project supports young parents in education or training,
and is housed in Coram Parents Centre, run by the Coram Family
group. The project helps around 60 parents aged 16-17, supporting
them with travel costs and applying for childcare funding,
to enable them to continue in education until they have gained
qualifications or are eligible for employment.
What's on offer
Many of the young parents have troubled backgrounds, and suffer
from low self esteem and low educational aspirations, or have
barriers that prevent them from fulfilling their aspirations,
long before they become pregnant. Many are refugees or asylum-seekers,
or have grown up in disadvantaged communities; few have had
early experiences likely to result in a successful education.
However, of over 100 young people referred in three years,
around half have had an educational assessment. Staff can
then recommend the most suitable next step, from one-to-one
tuition to help with a CV. Most of those assessed have gone
on to some kind of education: some are in full time college
courses or attend Parents Centre courses, groups, holiday
projects and trips; others just use the drop-in and advice
services. Courses range from an hour's English class per week
to full NVQ courses, and a few young people have progressed
to full time courses, A Levels and higher education.
Meanwhile, the childcare available provides stability for
the babies and a role model for the mothers, helping to raise
their aspirations for their children. However, parents are
not forced to make use of the childcare and some choose to
leave their babies with family members.
What works
From interviews with the parents involved, which form part
of the project evaluation every year, the following important
factors were identified:
- Involving people as individuals
and allowing time to identify their needs and aspirations.
This might mean dealing with their fears about the birth
and their family's reactions, and with their feelings of
failure, before signing them up for education. They should
be supported in taking their own decisions.
- Making education accessible.
It takes time for some people to believe that education
need not be an ordeal. All of the young people are offered
an assessment, including a discussion of their plans and
preferences, and tests in basic skills. Several commented
that this was helpful and "not like a test".
- Making childcare attractive.
At first, putting a baby into childcare can be an anxious
experience, and some of the young mums are very protective
of their children. The process is therefore handled gradually
with mothers first dropping into the crèche to get
to know and trust the workers. The next stage is leaving
the child in the crèche while they are at a class
in the next room, and then finally receiving support in
visiting and choosing longer term childminders.
- Offering all-round support.
This includes providing resources to local families (like
a welcoming environment, the opportunity to make friends,
help and advice, parenting support such as baby massage,
and workshops on subjects like child development and nutrition);
inter-agency collaboration so that problems connected with
health, housing or benefits can be tackled promptly; and
providing emotional support, both through project staff
and through peers. Part of this support comes through organised
activities, including social events, workshops (on subjects
such as photography or healthy living) and day and residential
trips. The peer support means that young people who were
initially withdrawn have become more confident.
- A young people-oriented approach.
The young parents feel that the centre is theirs, and
the programme includes activities that they have suggested.
Their responsibilities as parents are recognised, but they
are also allowed to act like teenagers.
Funding
The project workers are funded by the DfES until March 2004,
and Coram has also secured funding for the parents' travel
costs. Childcare is funded through the Caretolearn scheme
organised by the DfES (a national scheme for all parents from
the ages of 16-19), and the project supports parents in accessing
this money.
Link:
For more information visit www.coram.org.uk
Reference:
This information appeared in the article "Delivering
Confidence" by Liz Brooker, ZERO2NINETEEN, June 2003.
3DVC is an initiative of Write to Read, a literacy project
in Stockton which uses creative means to inspire communication
and is funded by Single Regeneration Budget 6. The initiative
is aimed at young people in year 11 who have been excluded
from school and/or referred to a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU),
and aims to support their job search skills and to boost their
self confidence.
Participants are supported in writing CVs and giving personal
information; filming and video editing are used to support
interview techniques, and there is the opportunity to work
on art and craft skills to enhance personal experience, with
a view to supporting job applications.
Newstart and Connexions have helped to plan and deliver the
initiative, and this partnership is judged to be important
in 3DCV's success. This is shown in increased self confidence,
including confidence in writing, levels of concentration and
interest in learning among the participants, and in participants'
involvement in community projects. A celebration of achievement
evening was well supported by participants, and internal evaluation
has found that participants are completing the tasks set.
Link:
More on Write to Read
This project, run in Tyne and Wear by the inner city young
people's charity Fairbridge, aims to engage young men in a
healthy living programme in which literacy activities are
included.
Around 24 young men take part in the programme, which runs
one day a week for six weeks. It covers various themes, such
as a healthy body (involving going to a local gym), healthy
mind (discussion groups on men's health subjects) and healthy
food (cooking nutritious meals). A number of literacy tasks
are introduced based on these subjects, from which assessments
and development plans are made. The young men can then be
referred to local adult education facilities.
Fairbridge has a philosophy based on the importance of building
relationships between staff and the young people involved,
in order to increase their confidence, motivation and self
esteem. This means that although the target group is reluctant
to engage in projects overtly designed to improve their reading
and writing, staff have been able to engage the young people
in basic skills through this project's approach, and the young
people have become confident enough to try new activities.
The fact that the young people valued the subject matter was
also felt by staff to be important.
The project has been internally and eternally evaluated,
and staff have observed that it has led to improved skills
and behaviour among the young men, an increased use of the
library and community facilities, and the development of personal
and social skills which has had an effect on other aspects
of their lives.
The young men's health project has been funded by the Basic
Skills Agency's Adult and Community Learning Fund, and further
funding has been applied for, to allow the project to continue.
Link:
For more information visit www.fairbridge.org.uk
Barriers
to learning
This project aims to raise the aspirations both of pupils
aged up to 16 and of their parents. It is run by Heywood New
Deal for Communities (NDC) and based in local secondary and,
as the project has developed, primary schools. The area suffers
from both poverty and low levels of skills, including literacy.
Some parents may not be able to provide food for their children,
or may have drug and alcohol problems which prevent them making
sure that their children attend school. Many of the parents
are young and were themselves poorly parented; they may have
poor social skills and, particularly, many do not see the
point of education. Some of the young people are themselves
carers for their younger siblings. All of these factors are
barriers to self esteem and to learning, which the project
strives to overcome.
Young people
Some of the support that the project offers is purely practical:
for example, providing young people with alarm clocks or morning
telephone calls to encourage them to get up, if their parents
do not do so - even physically bringing them to school. There
are also breakfast clubs so that the children are fed in the
mornings, and support for young carers. Sessions in 'transferable
skills' are also run for the young people. These form an accredited
course which is actually the first stage of a youth work qualification,
and covers communication, literacy, numeracy and IT skills,
with the basic aim of raising students' confidence and aspirations.
Parents
Activities for parents aim to bridge the gap between home
and school, and to reach out to and get to know families,
in order to reduce barriers to attainment. They include parenting
classes: a course called 'Surviving your teenager' covers
areas like relationship skills, behaviour management and dealing
with adolescence, and involves speakers such as a representative
from a Youth Offending Team, to talk about a person's rights
if arrested, and a school nurse to talk about health. The
project also has links with Sure Start and Home Start, to
enable it to support young parents.
The project runs IT classes for parents, and parents are
lent laptops to use at home. There are drop-in groups which
offer practical support from other parents, and activities
like relaxation and yoga to support the parent as a person.
They are offered trips to places like museums, to show parents
that these facilities are for them and are accessible, and
there are also family trips, which give families the opportunity
to have fun together. Coffee mornings are held in 'feeder'
primary schools to make contact with parents before the children
change schools.
Funding
and monitoring
The project began life with one home-school liaison worker,
funded by the Basic Skills Agency for six hours a week, as
a pilot project to look into schools' links with families.
When the pilot came to an end, alternative funding was sought
to continue the work; the project now has another three workers,
and is funded by the NDC and the Local Education Authority.
The outreach workers all live or have lived in the local community,
which makes them especially able to relate to users of the
service.
An initial monitoring report has suggested that the project
has led to improved school attendance and, since one session
was held in a library, an increase in library use. A full
evaluation will be carried out in 2004.
Link:
Contact michelle.oddy@heartofheywood.org
Granada Television is running a campaign called 'IT's For
Life', encouraging adults back into learning through IT. As
part of this campaign, seven IT learning centres have been
established in sports clubs in the North West region, including
Liverpool FC and St Helens Rugby League Club. All of the centres
are situated in deprived communities, and aim to attract young
people and adults from disadvantaged backgrounds, using sport
as a "hook" into learning.
The computer-based courses available in the centres are open
to everyone over the age of 16, and are fully flexible, depending
on the individual's needs. They range from simply learning
to surf the Internet or use email to full national qualifications.
The tutors and facilitators come from the local community.
This is a new scheme and has yet to be evaluated, but some
positive stories are emerging about learners' achievements.
Two learners have had publicity in the local press, which
has greatly increased their self confidence, and five have
also been featured by Granada in television programmes.
The scheme is funded from several sources, including the
DfES, New Opportunities Fund, UK online and the Learning and
Skills Council. Granada has applied for more funding, to expand
the scheme into other regions.
Link:
Contact vicky.matthews@granadmedia.com
Poeteknix was a six to eight week project for young people
that merged poetry with technology, using PowerPoint to make
poetry visual and to create a moving poetry 'landscape' on
the PC screen. It took place at The B@se, Kingshurst Youth
and Community Centre, Solihull.
Aims
- To reach new audiences of young people for libraries and
arts
- To re-introduce young people to libraries and words so
that they could see the potential of library resources to
support their interests
- To help young people to develop ICT skills via a different
approach to the use of ICT
- To support young people in finding new ways of expressing
themselves
- To build on the developing links between the youth centre
and library, and to extend participation in poetry and reading
related activities
What went
on
Poeteknix was designed and facilitated by poet Martin Glynn,
with the support of library staff, youth workers and an arts
development officer, who met with six young people for evening
sessions and two whole days in half term week. They were inspired
by Martin to write poems, and then brought them to life using
PowerPoint on a suite of PCs to which they had access.
Librarians took two of the young people on a book buying
trip, where they selected resources for a Resource Box, such
as books on typography and graphics, rhyming dictionaries
and magnetic poetry, to give them ideas and help them to research
concepts for the project. The Resource Box remained with The
B@se at the end of the project, for use by other young people
at the centre. The young people also had a trip to the Arts
Complex based at Solihull Central Library to see a performance
by Linton Kwesi Johnson supported by Martin Glynn.
Celebration
and evaluation
As part of the project, postcards of each of the participants'
poems were professionally produced, and each young person
was given 100 copies of their postcard as well as copies of
each other's postcards, which they enjoyed signing for people
at the launch event. This was held at Kingshurst Library,
to showcase and celebrate the work of all the young people
involved in the project. The project was also documented on
video and each of the young people involved in the project
received a copy of the video.
The video documentation formed the main evaluation of the
project, which showed an improvement in the young people's
skills and confidence. It was felt that Martin's original
concept of Poeteknix, his skills as a poet and his ability
to relate well to young people were major factors in the success
of the project. The joint working relationship between the
Library Service, Arts Service and Youth Service was also a
contributing factor.
Poeteknix took place between May and June 2002. It was partly
partnership funded by Arts Council England. There is now a
Homework Club jointly run by the B@se and Kingshurst Library,
and joint programmes with the Youth Service are planned for
the future.
The East Leeds Second Chance School is part of a Europe-wide
initiative to help young people who have left the school system
without qualifications to move from benefit dependency to
full time employment. It was opened in 1998 and is one of
28 in Europe.
The students
The school takes on 150 students aged 16-24 in a year, with
50 at any one time, some of whom have not been to school since
the age of 12. Most are referred by the local social services
or employment agency. Three quarters have learning difficulties,
and students may also come from homes with various problems
such as drug abuse, neglect, violence or unemployment for
two or three generations. Many students have very low levels
of self esteem, and the headteacher comments that their biggest
initial barrier to learning is their attitude. They have to
want to attend, but after that it is up to the tutors and
trainers (rather than 'teachers') to inspire them to believe
that they can still achieve.
What goes on
Students and tutors are usually on first name terms, and work
together to develop individual learning plans. Tuition takes
place in small groups, and there are also day and residential
trips. The curriculum includes literacy and numeracy work,
sports, drama, teamwork and customer service skills, help
with job-seeking, and discussion groups. For example, the
'News Group' involves students meeting the tutor twice a week
over a cup of coffee to discuss articles they have noticed
in the press or on the TV or radio, which builds their confidence
as they develop their reading, speaking and listening skills.
Tutors take a creative approach to subjects, for example by
using students' Play Stations to introduce to other forms
of technology.
The school also runs creative writing workshops, as some
students are unable to express themselves except through writing
poetry or rap. These workshops, which also develop students'
vocabulary and speaking and listening skills, are double-staffed
with a basic skills tutor who maps the work to the basic skills
core curriculum. This has been such a success that the school
now has Grundtvig 1 funding to work with two European schools
to develop the writing into a virtual book, with students
exchanging ideas by email and using multimedia to make the
final product. It is hoped that this will broaden the horizons
of the young people, as well as improving their skills.
Results
The school has a 71% success rate in helping students into
full-time employment, and has won an award for its teaching
methods from Adult Learner's Week. It was inspected by the
Adult Learning Inspectorate in 2003 and given a Grade 1 for
teaching and learning.
Funding and the future
Second Chance Schools were originally funded directly by the
European Union for two years; the idea was that governments
would then take over, but in most countries this has not happened.
The East Leeds school now receives funding from various sources
including the European Social Fund, Jobcentre Plus and Neighbourhood
Renewal, and it has a contract with the Learning and Skills
Council. The school is opening satellite schools around Leeds,
and will be taking on younger students through the government's
Entry to Employment scheme. A centre is to open at Leeds United's
football ground, in partnership with The Prince's Trust.
Link:
For details of Grundtvig, Adult Learner's Week and adult learning
in general visit NIACE at www.niace.org.uk
This project, still in its early stages, is run by Halton
and Warrington Youth Offending Team (YOT). It aims to recruit,
train and support volunteer mentors to work with young people
aged 10-17 who have offended or are at risk of offending,
in order to improve their basic skills and reduce offending.
Around 30 young people are involved.
Initially mentors focus simply on building a relationship
with the young person. Later, in conjunction with the school
or college, they support the young person with their homework
or with extra work to improve their literacy and numeracy
skills. They also provide general mentoring to improve the
young person's life skills and opportunities, and to help
them to maintain their school or college place.
The first evaluation of the project takes place in September
2003, but indications are that the young people's skills and
behaviour have improved and their aspirations have been heightened.
There has also been an increase in library use.
The project has been funded by the Youth Justice Board as
a round 8 literacy and numeracy project, with Connexions providing
a venue and expertise. Education departments and volunteer
bureaus have also provided expertise. When the Youth Justice
Board funding finishes, general mentoring, perhaps with basic
skills 'add-ons', will continue and will be absorbed by the
YOT.
Link:
Contact julie.horton@halton-borough.gov.uk
Tackling Skills, run through the Foyer Federation, the BBC and
football clubs, aims to help young people develop their literacy
and communication skills by using sport to inspire and motivate
them. Participants are people aged 16 to 25 who have not responded
to formal education and are residents of Foyers (and therefore
in housing need) or are referred by the Prince's Trust. BBC
Sport reporters act as mentors to them, and over two months
aim to build their confidence as they are trained at their local
BBC studios in the skills needed to become a working journalist.
Participants are also allocated a Foyer education worker
and member of the local football club staff, who provide additional
support. They work through a course booklet that can count
towards a formal qualification, and get to interview a football
player, manager or member of coaching staff - researching,
recording and editing the interview to make it ready for broadcast.
The young people also accompany journalists to interviews,
press conferences and a match, where they write a match report
for the BBC Sport website.
Some have gone on to work experience at the BBC or have taken
football coaching badges; staff believe that Tackling Skills
gives the young people the "injection" of confidence and energy
that they need, while developing their written and oral communication
skills. The programme is funded through the Football Foundation,
the BBC and various smaller grants.
Links:
Txt, Lies and Audiotape is the third project of a three-year
New Opportunities Fund programme run as a partnership between
Tate Modern and the St Thomas the Apostle College in Nunhead,
a Catholic all-boys secondary school. Thirteen Year 8 boys,
some who were in danger of exclusion, took part in an art
and literacy based project, working with an artist educator
and two teachers from the school.
What went
on
The students studied a range of contemporary art from the
Still Life/Object/Real Life display at Tate Modern, exploring
the idea of appropriate and inappropriate forms of language.
They took the formal writings of gallery text panels and translated
them into text messaging language -with all the abbreviated
words and heavy use of slang. The students then took the resulting
text messages and developed them into designs, which were
later printed onto T-shirts. The idea was to make the T-shirts
comparable with the quasi-official T-shirts that were sold
in the gallery shop.
Overcoming
obstacles
The three-year partnership made it possible to develop a strong
working relationship. As half of the sessions took place at
school and half at the gallery, there were logistic difficulties
in holding joint planning sessions. This was overcome by getting
the boys to spend the last part of the session writing up
their journals which allowed the teachers the time to review
and plan future sessions.
Txt, Lies
and Audiotape 2
The follow up project aimed to create an alternative audio
guide to accompany the Nude/Action/Body suite at the Tate
Modern, to be available for public visitors to borrow from
the Clore Information Room.
Over the ten-week project, students explored the power and
subjectivity of descriptions, examining audio guides for the
visually impaired. They developed descriptive skills by working
in pairs, one student drawing an artwork that could only be
experienced through another's description of it. This emphasis
on descriptive work led into a mini project entitled 'Due
to unforeseen circumstances this art work has been temporarily
removed from display.' The idea was to create a parody of
a text panel to inform visitors about an absent work. Students
got involved in making their own stone carvings and metal
sculptures to provide them with an appreciation for the qualities
and limitations of materials and also an insight into the
artists' working methods.
The school's
view
"The partnership between Tate Modern and The St. Thomas
the Apostle College has increased in value over the years
as more pupils and staff have benefited from the scheme.
The boys have enjoyed the challenging combination of gallery
based tasks with practical art activities which they could
not otherwise have experienced.
Participation in the 'after hours' projects at Tate Modern
has enhanced critical and contextual understanding of twentieth
century art and has engendered a greater maturity, both
academically and socially, in the boys. The effects have
been most evident through the boys' ability to lead discussion
within school and in their willingness to tackle complex
issues with confidence. The improved quality of analysis
of artworks at KS3 and KS4 can be attributed to the input
of pupils and staff involved with Tate Modern projects."
Kate Bennett, The St. Thomas the Apostle College
| 80px.gif)
