Spelthorne CLP

Projects

Community Learning in Stanwell

Stanwell is a large village with a strong sense of community, isolated to some extent by its location, with Heathrow airport on one side, a reservoir on the other and a major dual carriageway separating it from Ashford.

Although many activities had taken place in Stanwell in past years there were few learning opportunites on offer in 2007.  With the help of European Social Funding and a newly formed steering committee of local people, the Surrey Lifelong learning Partnership developed and offered a range of classes from April 2007.  SLLP was offered the use of the newly opened Community House by A2 and welcomed into other venues such as the Youth Centre and the two Primary Schools.

Several classes were cancelled in the beginning and the pick up was at first slow but five classes began including essential skills, confidence building for young mums, an IT class and visits from a construction bus for local youths.  From September numeracy classes, managing money and English as a Foreign Language will be running, as well as further computer classes and hopefully a family history class.  20 people have taken national exams to date. 

SLLP has also helped the Scouts and Beavers identify funding for the its centenary arts project and recently looked for funds to help the local church start a sports activity club for young people.  Family Links ran a programme to help parents with skills for the home and Family learning are also looking to put on new classes.

New work will begin in September 2007 to publicise these learning activities and develop classes that the community want. The aim is to continue working with those in classes already and help more people enjoy learning new skills, either just for themselves, or to move into or up in work through qualification or further education.

Making A Difference In Stanwell Moor

Stanwell Moor has few facilities, not even a church, a doctor or a dentist and until recently few, if any, community groups, learning opportunities or sports clubs.  Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership decided that more could be done and with the help of the Stanwell Moor Committee several project were set up.

SLLP identified funding streams which were able to help the Stanwell Moor Football Club, with the result that the club was restarted and will be negotiating to have a proper football pitch in the near future.

Our partners SCC Family Learning set up a mother and toddler class and already 17 mothers and children have visited the Village Hall.  New classes are expected in September, and the local paper boy is even helping by leafleting every household!

Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership with the help of European Social Funding has started basic computing classes in Stanwell Moor village hall.

Spelthorne Borough Council will be taking all of this activity further by conducting detailed research into local wants and needs of the community in the future.

Workshops Bring About Innovative Partnerships

The Spelthorne Community Learning Partnership, led by Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership, recently held two workshops to look in detail at particular problems in the area. The workshops consisted of interested partners from the Community Learning Partnership whose activities matched the broad themes and were in a position to engage in joint activities.

Essential Skills in the Community

Encouraging adults to participate in essential skills (literacy, numeracy, IT) and finding venues in the community brought together SCC Family Learning, Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership, Strode's College, Brooklands College and Matthew Arnold School.

Through discussion the group identified that parents did not frequently participate in school life after their children had left primary school but that schools were now tasked to provide greater community access in the future. These two areas issues were brought together under a pilot scheme aimed initially at the new year 7 parents at Matthew Arnold School, which was able to resource the project in terms of staff and facilities.

Research was conducted in July 2007 to find out what parents wanted to do or learn, with the scheme launching at the new parents meeting in July and again at the start of the school year in September.  The task was to encourage parents to participate in a programme of activities and build a relationship with the school.

A marketing push will take place in September as the children join the school, with the expectation that further courses will follow and that the project can be expanded to parents of other year groups. All partners understand that success will take time and effort. Further meeting are planned to look at other activities identified.

Linking Learning Skills to Business Needs

Earlier discussions had identified the need to encourage younger children to invest in learning basic skills (literacy and numeracy) by understanding that the world of work will be demanding these from future generations.

When children decide to disengage in learning i.e. no longer mentally participate in the classroom even if physically present, it is very hard to encourage them back and it becomes likely that they will not achieve levels of skills needed to get on in the workplace. The workshop group, consisting of Surrey Chamber of Commerce, Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership, the Spelthorne Schools Confederation, Spelthorne Borough Council, the 14-19 network, Connexions and Bishop Wand School met to decide how partners could help.

An idea put forward during the Spelthorne Local Strategic Partnership assembly was to have a skills day to encourage business to engage with the children, to show how literacy and numeracy are needed and demonstrate the breadth of opportunity awaiting them locally. The group was also keen that children considered working locally and understood what was on offer and that business also recognised an opportunity.

The proposal requires further development and this will happen during Autumn 2007.

Constructing a Future in Spelthorne 

Spelthorne Community Learning Partnership secured £75,000 over a three year period to raise construction skills in the borough. The objective is to bridge the skills gap with a mobile construction bus. This bus is designed to provide training in the skills required for the construction industry and is available to schools in Spelthorne Borough. In 2006 the CLP was awarded  an additional £30,000 from BAA to continue the project for a further three years. Click here for more. 

Customer Service Above and Beyond

With the creation of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport the Spelthorne CLP agreed training in the retail sector was needed to support the abundance of new positions in customer service.

£15,000 was sourced from BAA to produce a professional training manual which can be adapted to retail sectors countywide. In addition, three free train-the-trainer session will be offered with participants expected to take the training back to their organisation to support their own students. The next training session is January 19th, 2006. Learn more....

Family Learning Spelthorne CLP have hosted Family Learning Week events in Staines every year since 2003.

Activities are designed to encourage people to participate in a range of activities whilst gaining new skills and obtaining further information on learning opportunities. The most recent festivities drew in over 300 learners who participated in didgeridoo playing, puppet making and scientific activities presented by Thorpe Park. Read the full case study here.

 Visit Spelthorne Borough Council

 Visit Spelthorne CLP at Spelthorne Borough Council Website