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ANNUAL REPORT 2012 – 2013

Community Education

Widening Participation

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The Mary Ward Centre, 42 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AQ

www.marywardcentre.ac.uk

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 2. PARTNERS 3. THE PROGRAMME 4. PARTNER EVALUATIONS & REPORTS 5. THE LEARNERS 6. LEARNER RECRUITMENT & RETENTION 7. LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT & PROGRESSION 8. LEARNER EVALUATIONS 9. IMPACT OF LEARNING IN THE COMMUNITY 10. CONCLUSIONS

APPENDICES

1. COLOMBIAN GOLD 2. ADULT LEARNERS’ WEEK 3. MIND THE GAP

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THE LEARNERS In 2012/13 there were in excess of 800 students on widening participation courses. Learners in the widening participation programme include people who are homeless, ex-offenders, refugees, asylum seekers, people with mental ill health; people aged 16-18, local community/non-traditional learners, and people living in hostels or residential care or people recovering from alcohol/drug dependency. Gender: Figure 1 below illustrates that, of the students enrolling on widening participation classes, 87% are female (by comparison to 86% last year and compared to 76% in the Mary Ward Centre). Widening participation attracts the highest proportion of female learners of all sections in the Mary Ward Centre. This is almost identical to last year and reflects just how community learning (and adult education as a whole) serves the female learner. Many of the partners we work with, by their very nature, primarily work with or attract women, such as The Arbour and Women at the Well. Also it tends to be the mums who drop their children off at the primary schools and therefore it is their representation that is seen at the coffee mornings and community classes; Fitzrovia, Neighbourhood Centre, Islington Bangladesh Association and St Hilda’s East all work with Asian Women’s groups. Millman Street Resource Centre, Mildmays residential centre and St Luke’s all have a high percentage of female members.

Although we are working with more groups that work with men, such as Portugal Prints, Single Homeless Project and the community group who meet at the British Museum the number of male students over 2012/13 has remained almost static.

Ethnicity:

The patterns in figures for ethnicity are a reflection that the Widening Participation programme is positively targeting the make up of the local community, for example, the Bangladeshi community is the second largest community group in Kings Cross and

Gender in Community Education

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Holborn, after white British. The widening participation programme has predominantly attracted learners who are speakers of other languages.

Camden’s benchmark for BME students is 20.25% and the widening participation programme exceeds these expectations, attracting more than 50% BME learners. However, where we have striven to develop classes with a more culturally mixed student make up, we have equally worked to attract more white students of British descent who struggled in school, left school early or have generally low self esteem and confidence. We have been able to do this, in part, through the provision of zumba, yoga and bollywood which have proved useful types of courses for bringing communities together and breaking down barriers between different social groups. The overall number of white learners has increased from 18% in 2011/12 to 30% in 2012/13. With a growing demand for choirs and singing classes amongst older communities in day care and resource centres, we can assume this coincides with an increase in the number of older people with whom we work. In 2012/13 more than a third of our learners were over 60. It was less than a quarter the previous year. The number of white Irish learners has also increased, which reflects the increasing diversity of our partners. 2012/13 2011/12

Bangladeshi 176 26% 154 30%

Indian 11 2% 9 2%

Pakistani 7 1% 2 0%

Any Other Asian Background 16 2% 6 1%

African 23 3% 15 3%

Caribbean 13 2% 8 2%

Any Other Black / African / Caribbean Background 9 1% 4 1%

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Chinese 8 1% 7 1%

Arab 17 3% 25 5%

Gyspy or Irish Traveller 4 1% 6 1%

Any Other Ethnic Group 35 5% 24 5%

White & Asian 3 0% 2 0%

White & Black African 0 0% 0 0%

White & Black Caribbean 4 1% 3 1%

Any Other Mixed / multiple ethnic background 13 2% 6 1%

White - Irish 36 5% 37 7%

White - English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish / British 204 30% 90 18%

White - Any Other White Background 70 10% 60 12%

Not provided 28 4% 47 9%

677 100% 505 100%

The community outreach programme overall attracts a high proportion of students from black and minority ethnic groups, and in particular female students from the local Bangladeshi community. 26% of the students on the outreach programme are from Bangladeshi communities, which is not surprising given this is the largest ethnic community in Camden.

Age:

The outline of student age groups between widening participation and the Mary Ward Centre as a whole continues to follow a similar trend. The majority of learners falls in the 26-59 age range.

Under 19 - 45 46 - 59

60 - 90+

Widening Participation 44% 20% 36%

Centre Wide 46% 24% 30%

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Also the number of older learners we work with is 6% above the Centre average. This can be attributed to the new work we are doing with older communities such as Mildmays, Charlie Ratchford Centre and Henderson Court Resource Centre. In addition we have continued to work with Millman Street Resource Centre, an older Latin American group, Older Bengali Women’s Group at Chadswell and Older Bengali Men’s Group. We have done some very successful work with the Community Worker for Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Older People in South Camden, supporting our programme for members of the older communities in the area.

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Status:

Students in community outreach are likely to be people with long term mental ill health, or who have low level English, or low literacy levels. They are also likely to include parents with young children, or be homeless or substance users. Some learners will have other issues in their lives that means they are unable to work which is why more than half our learners are not in employment. Over one third of learners are retired and again this can be attributed to our increasing work with partner organisations that provide services to older communities. Surprising is that 14% of learners in community outreach are in employment. In tracking student progression partners report employment tends to be predominantly in part time posts. Examples include crèche work, meal time supervisors, retail or restaurant work

Borough:

Unsurprisingly the majority of outreach students live in Camden, which is in keeping with our committment to provide learning opportunities and support communities in the immediate vicinity of the Mary Ward Centre. Funding from Camden’s Equality and Cohesion fund has enabled us to work with more Camden residents from across the borough. Other students come from the adjacent boroughs of Islington, Westminster and Tower Hamlets.

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A small number (6%) of students come from outside London which is reflective of the greater geographical area that many of our Partners work across, for example, the work of Single Homeless Project covers Greater London and areas within some Home counties.

LEARNER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION: Overall the community education outreach programme has continued to see an increasing trend in the numbers of students starting courses. There has been more than 100% increase in students starting courses this year compared to 2 years previously. Whilst retention rates have remained consistent in previous years, 2012/13 has seen a 7% variant drop in retention although it remains 2% above the national FE benchmark. This can be attributed to running longer courses which, in outreach, is more likely to see some students unable to finish for a number of reasons including pregnancy/child birth, mental ill health or getting re-housed. Outreach classes tend to be small in the groups where students have more chaotic lifestyles, mental ill health or restricted by space and so the loss of just one learner has a detrimental impact on retention figures. Departmental non-accredited course figures for three consecutive years

2012/13 2011/12 2010/11

start finish % start finish % start finish %

1240 1131 91% 1002 970 97% 613 597 97%

Target 2012/13 Variance MW Target Variation from Benchmark 89%

98% -7% 2%

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LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT AND PROGRESSION: Tracking Student Progression: In 2012/13 we tracked 528 learners across 91 courses which covered a total of 1031 enrolments.

2012/13 2011/12 2010/11

1. Number of learners tracked through partners Number of learners tracked through MWC MIS to mainstream courses from 2011/12 to 2012/13 Total no. of students tracked

528 212

528

234

234

135 87

222

2. No. of learners tracked through partners progressing to:

another non-accredited programme 307 87 48

a part-time qualification-bearing programme 57 24 18

a full-time qualification-bearing programme 5 2 2

settled accommodation 3 11 1

training (Work Placements) 3 11

employment 36 36 12

other activity / projects - volunteering - community activities - research - Community Learning Ambassadors - Actively seeking work

110 78

19 52 9

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4 21

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We have been able to successfully track the progression of a sample of students through partnership working. We have been able to make a detailed analysis of the types of courses they have progressed onto, some of the colleges they have enrolled at, the numbers successful in obtaining employment and the type of employment, and any other progression, be it voluntary work, community involvement or other routes. Students are only counted once even if they have done more than one course. The number of students we have been able to track through our partners has increased by 126% on the previous year. This increase is very much down to the relationships we have with our partners and the extra mile they are prepared to go to help us source the information. This increase can be attributed to one of the successful outcomes of the Camden Grant “Mind the Gap”. 58% of students have gone on to take other non accredited courses compared to 37% in the previous year. However the number of people volunteering has dropped from 22% to 15%. The numbers of people who have been successful in obtaining paid work has increased by 1% on the previous year. Through the Centre MIS we have been able to track the number of learners who have gone from a community outreach class in 2011/12 to enrol onto a course within the college, or onto further outreach classes in 2012/13.

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Computing 3 Over 60's 2 English 12 Languages 2 Health & Social Science 0 Health & Social Care 2 Visual Art & Music 5 Business & Management 1 Community Outreach 158 TOTAL 185

We have been able to extrapolate information from a more detailed breakdown of how we track student progression. From a sample of tracking progression with our partner organisations it can be identified more specifically where and what some students have gone on to do:

Non accredited programmes – Healthy heart workshops, mood group project, arts at City Lit, music therapy at the Guildhall, local history group at St Luke’s Centre, Tajweed Arabic at Falcon House tenants hall, computers at Hornsey Lane Estate Centre, sewing at local school, sewing at LAWRS, parenting at Edith Neville children’s centre, social enterprise skills at City Lit, bike maintenance with Bike Works, community options health course, ceramics & sculpture at Bermondsey Move-On centre, exercise with Akademi, reminiscence project with Westminster Kingsway, exercise class at YMCA, exercise and health promotion with Westminster Kingsway, singing and dancing with London Mobility.

Part time qualification bearing courses – CIEH qualification/catering, Westminster Adult Learning literacy, French at Mary Ward Centre, book keeping at Mary Ward Centre, ESOL Life in the UK, ESOL at Working Men’s College/Mary Ward Centre/Latin American Women’s Rights Service/WEA, L2 jewellery at Kensington and Chelsea College, IT Clait at St Pancras Library and adult numeracy at Westminster Kingsway, ESOL with sewing at Working Men’s College, L1 childcare at Mary Ward Centre, money mentor training at Toynbee Hall

Employment – part time technician, reception work, childminding, dental assistant, teaching assistant, care work, painting and decorating, sewing repairs work, part time nursing and catering.

Volunteering – help out at their local community centre, the Salvation Army, within their sheltered housing, with Age Concern, Crisis at Christmas, London Community Furniture Project, at local churches, schools and hospitals, Camden Parent Partnership, Community Service Volunteers, at a prison, with a Time Banking scheme, and help at local luncheon clubs,

Other – Exhibited work with Craftivist Collective and Save the Children, member of school association of parents, received an Adult Learners’ Week certificate of nomination, participated on community project at the Wallis Collection, part of buddy system supporting residents with dementia in a sheltered housing project,

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set up a student led play reading group, set up a fund raising group for community activities, re-housed into higher care needs accommodation.

LEARNER EVALUATIONS: During 2012/13 a total of 721 students on non-accredited courses completed a course evaluation. These have given a fairly accurate idea of how successful classes have been. The table below illustrates the responses. The results of the student evaluations in 2012/13 demonstrate that students continue to enjoy the Widening Participation programme – 99% of students said that their courses were good or excellent and 94% said they had learnt a lot; 93% said information, advice

London This is Where I Live “The inspiration for SHP’s artwork comes from a collective brainstorming of what London means to everyone. In this discussion we spoke about making a piece that represents the real London for people who live there rather than just representing the tourist perception. We decided to include people queuing at bus stops in the rain, urban foxes, free museums, tower blocks, markets, the beautiful green spaces, buskers, social unrest, multiculturalism, the proliferation of CCTV cameras, an obscure 1984 George Orwell reference and last but not least Boris Johnson (London’s mayor, aka Union Jack Ass) stuck on a zip wire during one of the Olympic events. Everyone worked on their own different drawing then we photographed all the individual images and collaged them together to provide our unique collaborative view of London, the city where we all live.”

Lara Hailey – Outreach tutor at Single Homeless Project

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and guidance was good or excellent; 97% were happy with the support they received in class (this is so important when, for many of the students, this was their first learning experience in many years).

Records of comments are kept with the evaluations and spreadsheets from which we are able to respond to students’ queries and celebrate with them their achievements – of a textile class at the Calthorpe Project one student said “this class has helped me develop my memory; I now remember skills I haven't practiced for a long time and I’ve learnt to manage my stress.” A student from Crisis shared with us “I have been depressed and overeating but your lovely course helped me to keep away from food. I am now busy and looking forward to more. I had never made anything using a needle and thread before.” Almost three quarters of the students have said that attending courses has helped them increase their self confidence. 66% of students felt that attending classes had helped them develop their communication skills and 69% of students claimed that learning had helped them improve their health and well-being.

% OF RESPONSES TO SOFT OUTCOMES 2012/13 (from a sample of student evaluations)

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“The class helped to increase my self confidence” 79 “The class helped to develop my communication skills” 66 “The class helped me develop an interest in further study at the MWC” 53 “The class helped me develop an interest in further study elsewhere” 17 “The class has helped me think about doing an accredited course” 30 “The skills I have learned helped me apply for paid / voluntary work 30 The skills I have learned have helped me consider paid or self employed work 11 “The class has helped improve my health and well being” 69

Using the evaluation sheets we are also able to collect information about other courses that students would be interested in taking. This helps us work with our partner organisations in planning further activities. Where possible we endeavour to respond by providing the students with information on courses that run at the Mary Ward Centre or details of courses at other colleges or centres.

Percentage (%) of responses Where A = excellent & D = unsatisfactory

A B C D

“Overall I really enjoyed the class” 607 84% 109 15% 11 2% 0 0%

“Overall I learnt a lot from the class” 537 74% 142 20% 24 3% 0 0%

“Overall the teacher helped me in class” 590 82% 108 15% 12 2% 0 0%

“Overall what the teacher said made sense to me” 558 77% 128 18% 18 2% 2 0%

“Overall the pace of the class suited me” 532 74% 137 19% 32 4% 0 0%

“I was happy with advice & guidance during the course” 537 74% 137 19% 12 2% 0 0%

“Overall I would like the course to continue” 559 78% 114 16% 15 2% 2 0% “I was happy with the information about other opportunities when the course finished” 454 63% 146 20% 37 5% 5 1%

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Methods used to gather student feedback: Course feedback forms This is the main method we use in gathering information. As well as gaining feedback about students' views on the quality of the courses we provide we have also used feedback forms to gather information on the suitability of the courses, the ‘soft’ or additional benefits the students have gained alongside the identified learning outcomes, and changes in attitudes or intention in relation to further learning or other progression routes that students might wish to take. Student group feedback During 2012/13 it has become apparent that more of our learners find it difficult to engage in individual feedback, particularly at places such as Mildmays, St Luke’s Community Centre and Millman Street Resource Centre where dementia impacts on memory of what they have done. Equally AT some of the classes where there are very large numbers of students, gathering group feedback has proved a more successful and appropriate way of getting information. Tutor course evaluations Each course was evaluated by the tutor who delivered it. As well as recording their own views on how courses could have been improved and what had made them successful, tutors recorded the RARPA assessments for students and any additional benefits which students had reported to them or which they had observed during their teaching. Informal feedback and celebration events Throughout the year there was a variety of opportunities for informal feedback, such as at the celebration for Adult Learners’ Week in May 2012, as well as through regular visits and meetings with partner organisations enabling us to collect information that otherwise might have been overlooked. In fact, these visits and the accessibility of the staff managing and delivering the project were identified as key strengths by many of our partners and strengthen the importance and need for good communication in community outreach.

IMPACT OF LEARNING IN THE COMMUNITY: Providing learning opportunities in the community has: Helped people into mainstream learning – During 2012/13 following a period delivering classes in textiles, a group of students from St Hilda’s East had aspirations to take on some more formal accredited learning that might help them get a job. With careful planning between St Hilda’s East and the Mary Ward Centre we worked on the idea of introducing Level 1 Childcare and the expectations that would be required of the learners. The outcome of this was very successful and, with previous objections to learning outside of St Hilda’s or even Tower Hamlets, some of the students have now enrolled on Level 2 Childcare at the Mary Ward Centre. Improved the way people feel about themselves – Evidence from learner feedback shows that students have reported that their self confidence has increased and learning has helped to improve their communication skills; students have also reported that learning has helped improve their health and well being. Partner reports indicate that learning has helped many individuals with issues of mental ill health feel better about themselves when they are learning with others in a social setting.

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Helped people back into work or volunteering opportunities – Working with our Partners and tracking progression it is evident that taking part in learning opportunities has given some people the confidence and communication skills to help them get jobs, particularly in retail, catering and childcare fields. Community outreach has had some very successful volunteering outcomes this year. For example one student on Level 2 ESOL class at the Mary Ward Centre had a background in arts and teaching experience from Germany. She was finding it difficult to obtain work here so she volunteered at Islington Bangladesh Association on the Colombian Gold Project and then went on to volunteer at Mildmays where students need more one-to-one support. The volunteering gave her enough confidence and experience to get work at the Hackney WickED festival. She has recently enrolled on a PTLLS course. Brought communities together – Partners have indicated that our celebration events, exhibitions and multi partner projects have been very successful in bringing communities together; the Colombian Gold Project (for exhibition in the British Museum in October 2013) and the Celebrate London Map (exhibited in the British Museum in October 2012) were particularly successful projects in terms of community cohesion, where groups from different cultures and communities across Central London came together and celebrated their work in the British Museum. The impact of such projects often serves to build bridges between communities who would not usually come together.

Brought Partners together – Partners have commented at meetings how valuable it is to be able to exchange good stories or share any issues. Bringing partners together has helped groups to share resources and promote activities in one another’s centres, for example Holborn Asian Women’s Association now works closely with several of the primary schools in the area.

Learning about willow weaving and willow sculpture in a “natural classroom” environment of a local community garden.

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Helped to reduce isolation – “Investing in our communities to ensure sustainable neighbourhoods” is one of the strategic objectives of the Camden Plan. Within this objective it states that essential for a community to thrive is that its residents are safe and just as importantly feel safe. This includes our older and more vulnerable residents who we want to be able to live within the community making it a community for everyone. Offering accessible courses to our more vulnerable learners has helped to reduce feelings of isolation and allow opportunities to make new friends or be part of a community group. This has been especially the case with our older learners, our learners facing homelessness, mental ill health, and also lone parents. Not only does learning in the community help to alleviate feelings of being alone but through our involvement in community activities, such as the Queens Square Fair, we positively encourage students and groups to take up other social opportunities.