Spring 2015
Offender Learning Newsletter
Welcome to the Education and Training Foundation's second offender learning newsletter.
“I have been fortunate to spend quite some time over the last few months with passionate and
committed education and training professionals who work in prisons and other settings across the
justice sector. I have heard first hand – both from students and tutors – just how important your work is,
how much of an impact on individuals you can have, yet also how challenging your everyday working
lives can be.
“At the Foundation we’ve been delighted with your response to our offer to support you in more ways.
Over 300 of you are now on our mailing list and many practitioners, managers and leaders have been
involved in developing the support for your workforce.A couple are featured in this newsletter and you’ll
find many more in the offender learning section of the Excellence Gateway.
“Many of you have already taken part in an event or downloaded a new resource and I’m delighted to
confirm that we will expand our programme of support from this month onwards. Specifically, we will
building on what you told us you need around the themes of communications, professional
development and resources – support for managing challenging behaviour is just one example. We will
also be creating brand new resources such as a new maths challenge (comparable to the six book
challenge for English) linked to a learning mentors programme. All this and more will be available
through the Excellence Gateway or via our Supporting You page.
“Collaboration is key to identifying and sharing resources that really meet the needs of the workforce,
so do keep sending us your examples of effective practice so we can share them with others. If you
have found this newsletter useful, please feel free to forward it on to colleagues. Do keep in touch so
that we can be sure that our support offer always meets your needs.”
Olivia Dorricott, Director of Leadership, Management and Governance
Teaching and
Learning toolkit for
offender learning
The Teaching and Learning
Toolkit on the Offender
Learning Exhibition Site is
designed to support
practitioners. The toolkit
includes materials gathered
from many years of research
and development and over time
it will provide links to new
materials and effective practice
examples. The toolkit includes
such items as; support for
assessment; ideas for
motivating reluctant learners;
classroom and workshop
learning materials; equality and
diversity support; and English,
maths, ESOL and ICT
resources and information.
A guide accompanies the
Offender Learning Exhibition
Site launched in 2015 on the
redesigned Excellence
Gateway. Its purpose is to
explain how you might use the
Teaching and Learning Toolkit
on the Exhibition Site. It will
also help provide you with
examples of how you could use
the resources in offender
learning contexts and the kinds
of things it would be helpful to
think about to develop you
teaching and learning practice.
Some of the resources in the
toolkit will be useful for offender
learning but were originally
developed for a wider audience.
The toolkit and the guide have
the following sections:
• Teaching and Learning
• English, Maths, ESOL and
ICT
• Vocational Training
• Equality and Diversity
• Using Technology
Leadership &
management in
offender learning
events
How do you manage to
effectively develop your own
leadership and management
skills?
In recent surveys you told us
that your greatest challenges
are to ensure staff can access
flexible development
opportunities and feel
connected. To help address
these issues the Foundation ran
three events in February and
March for managers and
leaders.
The aim of the events was to:
• Identify development needs
and those of wider staff
teams
• Share the latest
developments of the
‘Leadership Toolkit for
Offender Learning’
• Provide the tools to assess
and monitor CPD
We spoke to Sheena Maberly,
Southern Cluster Head of
Learning, Skills & Employment
North East Prisons, NOMS
North East about the events.
“I was fortunate to be a member
of the facilitation team for the
Foundation's leadership event
held in London on 9 Feb. This
was the first of three events
held across the country on the
theme of staff CPD, organised
in response to feedback from a
diverse range of people and
organisations involved in
offender learning obtained in
2014.
The day proved to be everything
you would expect from an
offender learning event of this
nature and some of the key
features are listed below.”
Who was there?
“A diverse group of participants,
but all with a clear interest in,
and commitment to, improving
offender learning through
effective staff CPD.”
What was involved?
“A mixture of presentations; with
content including potential tools
for CPD and relevant, effective
communication to colleagues,
plus highlights of the Offender
Learning Toolkit in general, plus
group activities and
discussions.”
What was the "added value"
“As anticipated, the professional
networking and sharing of
information was clearly helpful
and inspiring to many of those
who attended.
“Taking time out of busy day
jobs tends to be difficult for all of
us, irrespective of our precise
job role and employing
organisation. However the
content and format of the day
appeared to be welcomed by
everyone who had taken the
time to attend and this was
reflected in the feedback
received.”
And a final reflection...
“Colleagues from across
different prisons, regions and
partners seemed to value the
opportunity to focus on effective
and in some cases novel
approaches to staff CPD in
particular.
“It's likely that we'll be able to
facilitate further workshops
around this theme in the future
in order to enable colleagues to
reflect on what's been
successful to date and potential
further improvements for the
future.”
What is the Leadership
Toolkit for offender learning?
The toolkit is free to use and is
a series of just in time tools and
activities. The toolkit aims to
support professional
development, equipping you to
be a more effective leader and
manager and so more able to
drive improvement in the
service your organisation
provides to learners.
The toolkit is available on the
Education and Training
Foundation’s online learning
here.
Life skills for HMP
Dartmoor
Prisoners at HMP Dartmoor
have been given the
opportunity to gain important
life skills through Duchy
College (part of the Cornwall
College Group) and an
innovative social enterprise
project.
The idea has been established
by Bristol-based independent
cafe chain Boston Tea Party
and social enterprise company
Green Shoots and makes use
of discarded coffee grounds
taken from their chain of cafes
in Bristol.
After being transported to the
Dartmoor site, the grounds are
mixed with mushroom spore
and cultivated, under
supervision from the team at
Duchy College. The delicious
oyster mushrooms are
cultivated for six weeks, before
being transported to Bristol and
used in the Boston Tea Party
coffee shops.
Foundation Learning Team
Lead at Duchy College, Anne
Wintercrane, said: “One
important aspect of the course
that I try to get over to the
prisoners is the idea that
learning is a lifelong journey
and education is perhaps
something that they could
engage with on their release.”
The teaching sessions are
delivered over an eight-week
period and the project, which
provides valuable horticultural
training and life skills, has
proved to be a hit with the
participants
Anne continued: “When they
start the qualification, I have
found that many of the
prisoners are quite
apprehensive about learning,
having not engaged in
classroom activities for a long
time. I have designed the
course to be as interactive and
inclusive as possible.
“Prisoners over 50 years of age
were given the opportunity to
apply to work on the project
and have gained a City &
Guilds Level 1 Practical
Horticulture Skills Award in the
process. The mushroom project
itself has been a great success
and we are pleased to have
provided this valuable
qualification alongside it.”
During sessions, the students
take part in a range of activities
including crosswords, quizzes
and practical activities like pH
testing and soil sampling.
One participant remarked: “A
good course, well delivered, the
opportunity to develop a
supportive group atmosphere
has built people’s confidence in
their ability to learn.”
Another commented: “The
course has been a real eye
opener; I did not know that
there was so much to know
about plants and fungi.”
The oyster mushrooms are said
to be delicious and have
already been served in Boston
Tea Party cafes in central
Bristol and the chain is looking
to roll them out to other cafes in
the future.
For further information contact:
Danny Branley, Head of
Learning and Skills, HMP
Dartmoor T: 0182232 2025
and deliver local strategies. We
have an excellent track record
of sharing our expertise with
others, which has led to an
increase in staff capacity and
capability in the region where
delivering or supporting
individuals with autism
Innovative
partnership: North
East Autism Society
and HMYOI
Deerbolt
Synaptic is the name of this
new and innovative partnership
between North East Autism
Society – Thornbeck College
and HMYOI Deerbolt. The
name and logo for this
partnership was designed by
prisoners who work in the
design and print shop at
HMYOI Deerbolt.
The aim of this partnership is to
share expertise and resources
to further meet the needs of
prisoners with autism, learning
difficulties and, or disabilities in
custody.
The clear focus for North East
Autism Society’s work, and the
basis for its reputation, is the
provision of a wide range of
services for individuals with
autism, learning difficulties and,
or disabilities. Our character is
built on a known specialism
and it is this specialism that has
enabled us to maintain a strong
strategic position in the North
East of England. We continue
to operate as a key strategic
player working in collaboration
with others, including working
with local authorities to develop
HMYOI Deerbolt holds in
custody men aged between 18
and 22 years, primarily from the
North East and Yorkshire and
Humberside. We look after
young people with challenges
including; educational, medical,
and social and substance
misuse problems. Poor coping
in custody prevents young
people from, engaging in
activities, gaining qualifications,
undertaking offending
behaviour programmes and
thinking about and planning for
a positive future. Of the young
men in custody it is known that
between 20 – 30% have
learning difficulties or difficulties
that interfere with their ability to
cope.
HMYOI Deerbolt has robust
systems in place to manage
crisis behaviour; self- harm,
violence, withdrawal from
socialising, damage to property
but our intention is to prevent
these. We do this by assessing,
supporting and communicating
with young people with
disabilities or learning
difficulties and working with
them to prevent crisis. We
encourage engagement in
custody to reduce the likelihood
of re-offending. We all know
that every contact matters and
we all want to make a positive
difference with our prisoners.
The training and partnership
work with experts from the
North East Autism Society will
help us to recognise and work
positively with our prisoners
who have learning difficulties or
communication difficulties.
Thornbeck College is an
Independent Specialist College
which forms part of North East
Autism Society’s post 16
provision. We have developed
sustainable partnerships with
schools, colleges, work based
learning providers, care
providers, housing
associations, employers and
local communities which have
led to outstanding outcomes
for individuals with autism,
learning difficulties and, or
disabilities.
Our College Tutors are now
delivering training into HMYOI
Deerbolt and we will continue
to work together to further
develop this fantastic
partnership.
Pictured: (l-r) Ian Begg, Head of
Safety and Admissions at HMYOI
Deerbolt, Gabrielle Lee, Governing
Governor at HMYOI Deerbolt,
Christine Dempster, Director of
Education at NEAS, John Phillipson,
CEO at NEAS.
North East Autism SocietyThornbeck College will
Provide services which will
benefit individuals in custody
and will include:
• Assessment and support
strategies
• Communication strategies
• Sensory strategies
• Information formats
• Staff training (quality
assured by Northumbria
University)
• Quality – progress impact
measures
HMYOI Deerbolt plan to share
resources and provide:
• Provision of design and
cost price promotional
material from the print shop
• Provision of PAT testing
• Provision of welding any
metal repairs or sculptures
• Taskforce projects
• Subject specialist
vocational expertise.
This partnership is the first of
its kind within the region and
will have a major impact for
both providers.
Christine Dempster, Director of
Education (North East Autism
Society)
Gabrielle Lee, Governing
Governor, HMYOI Deerbolt
For further information contact:
[email protected]
Free maths teaching
workshops
Do you teach maths in offender
learning (prisons or YOIs)? If
so we have a series of free
CPD workshops that offer you
the chance to develop your
maths skills and confidence in
teaching and learning. The
workshops are being held
around the country until the 11
June and are specifically for
teachers and trainers working
in offender learning.
The 'Maths Vitalisers for the
Secure Estate' are one-day
workshops run in partnership
with the National Centre for
Excellence in the Teaching of
Mathematics (NCETM).
You will have the opportunity to
develop your personal maths
knowledge and explore
strategies for engaging
students with key mathematical
ideas and sustaining their
engagement.
There are still places available
at the following events.
NE Tuesday April 14th
Sunderland Book now
SW Thursday April 16th
Swindon
Book now
NW Tuesday June 2nd
Manchester Book now
EM Thursday June 4th
Nottingham Book now
SE Tuesday June 9th
Guildford
Book now
YH Thursday June 11th
Wakefield Book now
For further information, click
here.
We are also producing a guide
for maths teachers in the
Secure Sector and a short
video of effective practice.
We’d love to hear your
thoughts about issues you’d
like to see the guide or film
address, or any examples of
effective practice - please
contact Cheryll Stirr.
Become an
NCETM Professional
Development Lead
(FE)
Could you help meet the
need for more teachers of
Level 2 Maths in the FE and
skills sector?
Join the NCETM team of
Professional Development
Leads who can deliver
face-to-face CPD sessions for
groups of teachers and
lecturers teaching maths up
to Level 2.
The National Centre for
Excellence in the Teaching of
Mathematics (NCETM) has
already trained 83 FE PD
Leads who delivered the
NCETM FE GCSE
Mathematics Enhancement
Programme (MEP) in 2014,
which successfully up-skilled
over 2,000 teachers.
The NCETM is now delivering
the Education & Training
Foundation Maths Pipeline
project and is recruiting a
further cohort of PD Leads to
help with this work.
The NCETM welcomes
applications to join the team
of PD Leads from anyone
already involved in
providing mathematics CPD
in the FE and skills sector.
Applicants should have
experience in organising and
delivering professional
development, and should be
teachers and trainers from:
• Training providers
• The secure estate
• FE colleges particularly
those working with
work-based and vocational
learners
• HE institutions offering PD
for the FE and skills sector
or be independent
mathematics consultants.
The PD Lead programme
includes two, 24-hour
residential workshops, an
interim task and a commitment
to plan and offer future PD
opportunities. On completing
the programme you will be
accredited by the NCETM to
provide professional
development up to and
including Level 2 in the FE and
skills sector.
More details on how to apply
and the dates of the two
residentials are available online
at www.ncetm.org.uk/PDLSP
New resources for
ESOL practitioners
in custodial settings
The British Council and Bell
Foundation launched new
resources for ESOL
practitioners in custodial
settings at a well-attended
English Nexus Offender
Learning Conference in
Birmingham on 13 March.
Delegates heard a keynote
presentation on the findings of
the literature review, A Prison
within a Prison, commissioned
by The Bell Foundation. The
report highlights the dearth of
information on the level and
nature of ESOL need in
custodial settings in the UK and
abroad.
It identifies key success factors
such as having a prison-related
syllabus that teaches the
language needed to enable
integration, including access to
prison services, work areas and
other classes in education.
The challenges to effective
delivery and the few published
examples of innovative ways of
overcoming barriers are also
covered. Download the report
2015. You can download those
completed so far here.
Two practical workshops
followed the launch of the
report and resources: the first
on Teaching with few or no
resources with a focus on using
questions; the second on
Energising ESOL through CPD.
Both left delegates with
activities to take back and use
with colleagues and learners.
The conference closed with a
stimulating live streamed
discussion between delegates,
online participants and
panellists representing Ofsted,
prison education researchers,
practitioners and Offender
Learning providers on how the
sector can address the
challenge of delivering ESOL
and get the best for learners.
Watch it here
The British Council’s new
resources for ESOL
practitioners address some of
the needs identified in the
report.
They include teachers’ packs,
on themes such as food and
buying things in prison, health
and wellbeing, work and study;
lesson plans; self-study
workbooks; and continuing
professional development
modules for teachers.
DVDs with all the resources,
which include videos and
audios will be sent to UK
prisons at the end of June
A report of the conference and
presentations will be made
available via the project’s
ESOL Offender Learning online
forum. Subscribe here
Making maths and
English work for all
From January to March 2015
the education and Training
Foundation undertook a major
review of employer views of
qualifications in maths and
English.
This is the first major study of
its kind with 1400 employers,
learners and training
organisations taking part.
Key findings
There are three interrelated
themes that figure strongly in
this review:
• Functional Skills are
gaining widespread
recognition across small and
large employers. Employers
who know about
them like the approach they
embody i.e. applied skills,
flexible assessment and
problem solving.
• Functional Skills are
benefitting learners because
they focus on helping people
to acquire skills that are
valued by employers. They
are needed because
otherwise those who have
not achieved a good pass at
GCSE have no public
certification of the skills they
have acquired.
• The system of Functional
Skills is not broken but could be
improved. If government
continues with the policy of
investing in the literacy and
numeracy skills of young people
the current arrangements for
Functional Skills are a good
basis on which to build.
However, there are steps
government and others can
take to accelerate the rise in
employer recognition and
further improve the relevance,
rigour and value of these
qualifications.
Download ‘Making maths and
English work for all’
If you haven’t already visited the
offender learning Exhibition Site
then make sure you have a look
and bookmark it as new content
will be added on a regular basis.
Please pass this newsletter on to
your colleagues and encourage
them to sign up to our offender
learning mailing list and/or submit
an article by emailing
[email protected]
T: 020 3740 8280
E: [email protected]
W: www.et-foundation.co.uk
Twitter: @e-t-foundation