Gloucestershire County Council - Community Learning in Schools

Whaddon Primary School - Cheltenham

SCHOOL INFORMATION & BACKGROUND

Whaddon Primary School is an average sized school with around 220 pupils currently on roll. A further 28 children attend the nursery class which is located on the school site. The nursery class aims to provide nursery education and support for families with pre-school children who live within the school locality. The school serves the Whaddon estate area in Cheltenham, where there are a number of social and educational, issues which the school is successfully addressing.

Paul Tate - Headteacher

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT

The Gloucestershire Early Years' Contact Directory states………..

''…Parental involvement is seen as crucial to a child's development therefore close links with parents need to be fostered…'

The projects at Whaddon Primary School aims to achieve this. Over the last few years approximately 20 parents have achieved success in attaining certificates of achievement in Family Learning. In addition to this they have committed to a number of projects, which involve working with their children on practical numeracy and literacy projects.

The Family Literacy programme is currently delivered over a period 96 hours, this is split into 2-3 sessions over a period of weeks set to suit the group over the academic year. It is aimed at parents with children in Key Stage 1 year groups. During this time participants become competent, and confident, in many basic skills.

AIMS OF THE PROJECT

So what is the reasoning behind the projects?

'to help parents keep up with their children…'

School staff are aware of the rapid changing environment we live in, and the need to link with the community. Therefore they are keen to take advantage of funding sources available through the County Council and other initiatives to give parents the same development opportunities as their children. Throughout the projects the aims remain constant:

· To help parents help their children develop reading, writing and speaking skills
· To improve adult literacy skills and links with current school curriculum topics.
· To create Neighbourhood links.

The first is probably the greatest incentive for a parent starting any initiative. Such close involvement with a child's place of learning increases commitment and parental self-esteem.

WHAT KNOWLEDGE/EVENTS DID IT BUILD UPON?

It was known that some parents were unlikely to enter the school environment voluntarily other than to 'drop off' and 'pick up' their children at the school gates at the beginning and end of the school day.

So was the playground the place to begin? ………almost certainly 'Yes'

The headteacher, assisted by his staff, targeted selected parents and children who it was thought would benefit from the planned activities. The 'targeting' took place through casual conversations in the familiar environment of the playground. It was from these conversations that the initial group of 8 parents was assembled in 1997.

Some of the first group to undertake the 'Family Learning' scheme

So where did the money come from to offer these opportunities?

Monies were obtained through bidding, applying for County Council grants and generally keeping abreast of county funding opportunities including :

· Basic Skills Agency,
· GEST and Standards Funds to support Family Literacy ,through ACET
· Family Learning Development Grants from ACET.

ACTIVITIES

One of the projects on offer is 'Family Learning' which has been extremely well received by both the parents and children.

In Family Learning the group of 8 parents met with the tutor three times a week. During one of these three sessions their children joined the group to take part in planned activities such as:

· Shopping
· Visits to the Library
· Organising a small party
· Visits to local places of interest i.e. potteries, parks, theatre and churches.

All of these activities are enjoyable for both parent and child and ensure that parents can 'keep up with their children'.

Group Nature Visit to Prinknash Abbey Park and Pottery

Getting down to work!

Supermarket Visit

One visit involved parents and children going to the local supermarket. This trip was focused on:

· Reading labels
· Finding specific food group items in the store
· Calculating how many items could be bought with a set budget
· Using the checkouts
· Seeing 'behind the scenes' in the bakery

Even 3 years after the visit some of the children still remember the day and comment favourably on their experiences.

Library Visit

Here children and parents:

· became members · took part in organised story reading · completed art activities · familiarised themselves with the layout by locating given titles and topics.

Parents involved in the scheme have noted a marked change in their childrens' attitude to work. Parents are allocated homework after each session. The children appreciate this and therefore work more willingly with mum and dad. In some cases children have continued their supermarket literacy & numeracy awareness when out at the weekends!

Parties

Part of the success of the activities has been the fact that they are all things which people are likely to do. One such was planning a small party. During which members:

· designed invitations · designed and created menus and place settings · arranged catering · planned games and other activities

Holidays

This was quite a large topic as it required nearly all of the skills developed during the course. It was creative as well as academic in that the group:

· 'booked' holidays from brochures
· planned foreign currency exchange
· created mock passports
· made a plane from chairs and other resources.

Naturally there are childcare implications whilst the parents undertake learning. This is where the nursery class, local playgroups and, if necessary, crèches can be involved. Here children can take part in structured learning and play in a safe environment, leaving parents free to concentrate on their own personal development.
	The Nursery Class

Success of Project / Evaluation

………… Know your target group……….…

A major success of the projects has been building a rapport with parents who would not necessarily have been involved in school activities. However it is important to note that any project grants received may have conditions.

These may include the need for course participants to be assessed at the beginning, and end, of a course of learning. To put this in a positive way to a group who may not have ever taken any form of assessment is no easy task. Therefore it is essential to know your target group, and promote the wider picture in terms of benefits to the children.

'We were taught different ways of learning to when we were at school. Learning the way the children do means I can help them with their home work….' Bev Patterson - Course member

'I go to dictionaries a lot more now….'

'It was a really interesting insight to what goes on in school. Learning how to draft a letter properly was fun….' Anne Little - Course member

Recognition

All participants expressed pleasure at the sense of personal achievement. This was especially true when the Mayor of Cheltenham attended the school for an award ceremony in honour of these community learners. Going back to the original theme of 'parents working with their children' what better reward than to receive awards together in front of peers? One member of the early Family Learning group went on to the Whaddon, Lynworth and Priors Neighbourhood Project and gained the 'UCAS Neighbourhood Learner of the year' award in 2000.

Mayor of Cheltenham presenting children and parents with their awards

Future Plans

Whaddon School is very pleased with the progress and enthusiasm of its participants and has plans to expand the community learning aspect of the programmes. This will be achieved by:

Further Liaison with the Whaddon , Lynworth and Priors Neighbourhood Project
Some parents have been so inspired by their learning experience that they have gone on to computer courses at the local Neighbourhood Project. Here parents can undertake a short series of lessons to attain Open College Network accreditation.

Setting aside more community learning space within the school site
The setting aside of a specific room for the projects has proved successful in that there is 'ownership' of the learning space so that work and displays can be stored safely. The school has a number of plans for its buildings and widening the scope for their use. Space for family learning will most certainly be on the agenda. When the building works are achieved there will also be a larger ICT facility which will benefit future schemes.