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Document Sample
Charity No. 801971
Production of information for LSC providers’ staff in
the LSC Offenders’ Learning and Skill Service in
custodial provision and an associated resource for
learners
26th February 2008
Produced by: Barbara Waters
Liz Maudslay
Lynn Macqueen
Alice Pennington
Chapter House, 18-20 Crucifix Lane, London SE1 3JW Tel: 020 7450 0620 Fax: 020 7450 0650
Email: skill@skill.org.uk info@skill.org.uk Website: www.skill.org.uk
Company limited by guarantee No. 2397897 England Registered Charity No. 801971
Contents
Introduction
1 Methodology
2 Project Outputs
3 Key findings of the project activities and the issues which they
raise
3.1 Defining disability and learning difficulty in an offender context
3.2 Assessment
3.3 Responding to requirements of learners with disabilities or learning
difficulties in order to ensure access for all
3.3.1 The role of the SENCO
3.3.2 Funding for support
3.3.3 Support which is particularly appropriate for learners in YOIs or prisons
3.3.4 The role of peer mentors
3.4 The Curriculum Offer
3.4.1 The place of Skills for Life
3.4.2 The Use of IT
3.4.3 Learners on very short term learning programmes
4 Areas for further development
4.1 Updating/revising Reaching All and ensuring it reaches all prisons and
YOIs
4.2 Research and the production of guidance on how best to meet the needs
of offender learners with disabilities or learning difficulties on very short
learning programmes
4.3 Creating tools for more holistic and person centred assessment
4.4 Resources for Offenders
4.5 Developing possibilities for identifying and sharing good teaching and
learning practice for learners with disabilities and learning difficulties in
prisons and YOIs
Appendix 1 - Letter and Questionnaire
Appendix 2 – Visits and contacts
2
Report to the Offender Learning Directorate
Learning and Skills Council
Production of information for LSC providers’ staff in the LSC
Offenders’ Learning and Skill Service in custodial provision
and an associated resource for learners
Skill was contracted to provide information to support LSC OLASS providers
in carrying out their responsibilities to learners with learning difficulties and/or
disabilities under the Disability Discrimination Act in relation to learners in
custody. This included specific information for offender learners.
This report described the process and outputs of the work and discusses key
issues and areas for further development.
1 Methodology
From the outset of the project we were committed to engaging with
providers in order to inform our understanding of perceptions around
offenders and disability issues. We adopted a three stage approach
which involved:
a questionnaire seeking comment on the incidence of disability,
current practice and suggestions concerning future support for
providers. The questionnaire was distributed to all prisons, YOIs
and providers through the Regional OLASS teams. A copy of the
questionnaire is attached as Appendix 1. Appendix 2 gives a list of
respondents.
follow up phone calls to a sample of those who responded to the
questionnaire
visits to three prisons/YOIs – HMP Littlehey, HMP YOI Styal,
HMYOI Stoke Heath
In addition we wished to capture the ‘learner voice’ and were grateful
to have the opportunity to do this during visits
Questionnaires and follow up calls
The questionnaires varied in terms of the detail provided, perhaps a
reflection of the range of staff who were responsible for completing the
questionnaire. Details of the respondents to the questionnaires are
provided in an annex to the report.
The questionnaire responses provide a wide range of experiences and
practice, and suggest that the awareness of DDA responsibility may be
patchy across the custodial sector. Perhaps the large number of
establishments who did not reply is indicative of a lack of awareness or
priority given to this issue - or it may of course simply reflect other
pressures and the complexity of the task facing staff in prisons.
3
One clear message from the questionnaires and the follow up calls was
that there is little consistency across the sector. Some education
practice which is routine and fundable in one prison is considered not
to be possible in another: some support which can be easily made
available in some prisons appears to present insurmountable problems
elsewhere. Different interpretations of legal duties and funding
methodologies appear to be the cause of this different practice. The
priorities and approaches to education and support, roles and remits
also appear to contribute to practice. Skill has tried to address this
issue in the Information for Providers produced for this project. There
does not appear to be consistency or equity, and with the degree of
‘churn’ which occurs this signifies huge additional disruption to those
learners with support needs.
People were generous with their time in the follow up calls, and many
spoke with enthusiasm at what could be achieved even in the most
difficult of contexts. Staff are often dismissive of their achievements
and when they hear of practice quoted elsewhere are often surprised
that what they are already doing is being held up as interesting
practice. There is clearly a great need to share, not only interesting
practice, but also ‘the secret’ of how different types of activity can be
funded and facilitated.
The questions of definition, labelling and assessment are understood
very differently in different parts of the custodial estate. Perhaps a
helpful outcome from the project would be the beginnings of a debate
on what learning difficulty and disability means in the context of
offender learning.
There were several issues raised in the questionnaires and calls about
the funding regime and the forthcoming changes highlighted in the
OLASS Prospectus. People were hopeful that the additional support
needs of so many offenders would be recognised in the new funding
arrangements, but there were concerns expressed that these learners
would not be a priority for the LSC.
Additional feedback
All those whose practice is quoted in the leaflets were sent copies of
the relevant text for their comment. While the purpose of this was to
secure agreement for the content, several commented on the value of
the leaflets, thus providing helpful additional feedback. It was also
extremely useful to attend part of the meeting of the SENCO Network,
who represent one of the most informed group of staff on this topic.
Learner Voice
During the visits, as well as having the chance to meet a range of staff,
it was extremely valuable to be able to speak to learners -
At HMP Littlehey, the enthusiasm for the use of IT was
overwhelming. It gave learners a pride and sense of autonomy
4
which was described as ‘life changing’. Learners spoke of their lack
of self worth, and their low expectations which had potentially
blocked their involvement in education. However, encouragement
from peers was quoted as one of the most powerful motivating
factors.
At HMPYOI Styal, we visited the CALM centre and spoke to
learners who told us how it helped them ‘let off steam’ and get
ready to engage with learning
At HMYOI Stoke Heath, we heard a young man with autism speak
of how the approach and strategies developed with him by the
SENCo and her colleagues had supported him to overcome barriers
he experienced in formal learning situations
These discussions highlighted for us the importance of supporting
people to the point where they can access learning, as well as during
the learning process itself. It reminded us of the importance of the
learner voice and the need to empower learners to understand and
speak of how they need and want to learn.
Within the project as a whole, this information gathering phase of
questionnaire follow up calls, visits, and discussions with learners has
contributed the following:
it has informed the content of the leaflets
it has contributed genuine and current experiences to the
themes in this report
it has raised awareness of the project and has validated the
issue of disability among providers
2 Project Outputs
Information for LSC providers’ staff in the LSC Offenders’
Learning and Skills Service in custodial provision working with
learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.
As agreed the information for provider staff has been split into 8
separate leaflets with an Introduction. Each leaflet can stand alone and
hopefully this will encourage staff to use and digest them more easily.
Feedback from the visits confirmed to the Skill team that provider staff
have limited time for their own support and that breaking the
information up in this way was welcome.
The leaflets cover
Disability and Education legislation
Listening to Learners
Assessment
Responding to support requirements
Modifying curriculum design and delivery to develop inclusion
Measuring Success
Moving On
5
Disability and Ethnicity
These are provided in Word in electronic format ready for the next
design and print stage.
Literature Search – Contextual Overview
A review has been conducted to capture the considerable work that
has been carried out in the fields of support for learners with learning
difficulties and/or disabilities and learning and skills for offenders. The
review aimed to ensure that all existing sources of background and
context were considered and to gather references to further and more
detailed information on duties and responsibilities and good practice.
The work undertaken fed into the design and development of the
information, and formed background to the visits and interviews.
The review is in three main sections:
Legislation and Policy
Research and Reports
Guidance
A bibliography is provided.
The review is provided in Word in electronic format. Having informed
the process and outputs, the review document is primarily for the
OLASS team at LSC. We recommend that it is made available to
other stakeholder agencies in education and to other areas of the
offender estate, including probation services and the Youth
Justice Board, as well as researchers, perhaps through the LSC
website documentation system. We would be happy to put it on the
Skill website if OLASS feel this is appropriate.
Offender Learner Leaflet
We have researched and drafted two booklets for offenders. One
complete but more complex Skill Information Leaflet, which will be on
our website as we believe it would be of interest to a wide range of
users. An Offender Lerner Leaflet, for use in prisons has been
produced as part of this process. A number of issues emerged as the
leaflet progressed which are discussed later in Sections 3 and 4. The
Offender Learner Leaflet is provided in Word format and on audio, and
the Skill Information Leaflet Education in Prisons and Young Offender
Institutions is also provided for information (in Word format and on
audio).
Dissemination
All the documents are provided on Word and in electronic format.
Using our Dolphin software it is easy to convert other documents into
audio files if needed.
The leaflets are designed for print format and will need to be designed
and, we suggest formatted into a PDF, before printing. We
6
recommend you save the Word formats as a basis for other access
requirements, as PDF format is not reliably accessible.
You might consider dissemination on a CD or memory stick to
education staff. We could at that point add sections of the Skill website,
so that staff could load it up and work with it with offender learners.
Our recommendations with regard to an offender workbook could also
be included in this.
We are happy to discuss these options at the final presentation
meeting with OLASS.
3 Key findings of the project activities and the issues which they
raise
3.1 Defining disability and learning difficulty in an offender context
The literature search carried out as a background to this work revealed
a very large discrepancy in numbers of offender learners seen as
having a disability or learning difficulty. This uncertainty over definition
was reflected in the questionnaires and interviews carried out as a
precursor to producing our leaflets. It is clear that the profile of learners
in prisons and YOIs does not completely reflect that of learners in
statutory further education provision. While some learners in prison or
YOI will have clearly defined disabilities or learning difficulties very
many others have difficulties in learning caused by a number of factors
– the fact that they have had very spasmodic school attendance; social
factors which have affected their ability to learn; difficulties in
concentration caused by substance abuse or the effects of medication;
emotional and mental health difficulties often exacerbated by the fact
that they are in prison etc. While these learners certainly do fall under
the LSC definition of learners who have ‘significantly greater difficulty in
learning than others of their age’ they might or might not come under
the DDA definition of having an identifiable disability or learning
difficulty.
The issue of whether or not it was important to label certain learners
within the offender context as having a recognised disability or learning
difficulty presented itself as a complex one with different respondents
holding different views and seeing the purpose of labelling in different
ways. There was an acknowledgment of the ‘political’ purpose of
identifying disabled learners as it allowed providers to collect data and
inform reports. There were also some providers who seemed to believe
that it was only if learners were defined as having a recognisable
disability that DDA duties would be triggered; however, in fact the DDA
duties are anticipatory hence the duties exist prior to actual diagnosis
of a disability. In any case providers are charged with responding to the
full range of learners whether or not they are identified as having a
particular disability or learning difficulty.
7
Some education staff were inclined to dismiss, for teaching and
learning purposes, the importance of trying to identify particular
disabilities or learning difficulties. They found the ‘learning difficulty
label’ ‘unhelpful’ and spoke instead of creating an approach which
‘treated all learners the same’. Others, on the other hand, felt they
needed to carry out diagnostic assessments to identify learners with
particular conditions but at the same time recognised that this
approach excluded many learners who obviously had additional
learning needs.
There was a recognition that there were times when a particular
diagnosis could act positively for a learner – this was particularly true
for learners who were told they were dyslexic and welcomed this as it
provided them with an objective reason for the difficulties they had
always faced. However, in other instances learners could see a
disability or learning difficulty label as a stigma, or did not have an
understanding of the definition and how it might apply to them. For
many learners a particular label was less important than being treated
as an individual and being listened to when it came to planning their
learning.
Our approach, reflected in the staff leaflets, was to emphasise that the
most important starting point was to listen to what learners said about
their learning and to identify what was hindering their success.
Identification of any particular difficulties in learning is crucially
important in the offender learning context. If individual learners’
problems with learning are not recognised and acknowledged many of
the other processes and interventions in learning simply will not be
effective because these learners will not be able to be receptive to
them.
On the other hand an approach which starts with an emphasis on a
particular disability or learning difficulty, for example dyslexia, and then
simply attempts to see whether a particular learner has this condition,
will not be inclusive of all the other blocks to learning which many
individuals experience. We have therefore in the leaflets tried to
advocate a person-centred approach which has as its basis the
importance of listening to and observing the ways in which learners
learn and any particular difficulties they might have.
3.2 Assessment
The issues which are spelt out in the section above in many ways were
reflected in education providers’ views on assessment.
Under the DDA learners have the rights to have their learning
requirements assessed. However, there is no laid down formula for the
form this assessment should take and it should not be interpreted as
meaning that they have to undergo a specific ‘screening’ or ‘testing’
procedure. The word assessment can be used in a range of different
ways and contexts, for example relating to disability, learning or prison
8
reception. In the 'Assessment' leaflet we have attempted to clarify the
different uses of the word, exploring the value and difference between
initial learning assessment, formal medical assessment and ongoing
assessment of needs, but this needs to be further explored by
providers and practitioners.
Many providers felt that there was considerable attention paid to initial
assessment but that this assessment was often a universal screening
type assessment to diagnose whether an individual had a particular
condition and felt that this checklist type model which attempted to
isolate a particular disability or learning difficulty was not always the
most effective way of actually finding out what approaches would most
help an individual learner. In addition to this they felt that the process of
initial assessment often seemed to be separated from a clear analysis
of what was required next, hence in the leaflets we have emphasised
the importance of seeing assessment as an ongoing rather than a one
off activity. Certain providers felt that there had been too much
emphasis on initial testing/screening for dyslexia at the expense of
looking more holistically at the range of difficulties a particular
individual learner may have. It may be helpful to review these early
stages within the Offender Learning Joureny.
The amount of information about prior assessments which was
accessible to education staff varied enormously with many, particularly
in the adult sector, receiving no records of earlier educational
experience. While a few education staff reported very good relationship
with other departments many more were concerned about the way in
which information from other parts of the establishment, especially from
those dealing with health, was often not available to them. Certain facts
which were very important for education staff, for example knowing that
a learner needed glasses or being told that a learner was on
medication which might make him have difficulty with concentration,
were simply not passed on to them. The excuse often used seemed to
be that this information was ‘confidential’ hence should not go outside
the health department. This ignored the fact that this kind of information
is able to be passed on providing the individual concerned has given
explicit consent for it to be shared.
The DDA is very clear that, if this permission is given, relevant
information should be shared between different members of staff
teaching the same individual. While the DDA Code of Practice does not
explicitly mention information shared between workers from different
areas (e.g. education and health) it is implicit that everything possible
should be done to create a holistically supportive environment for
addressing learner needs. If this is to happen in prisons and YOIs there
need to be structures in place which allow for this holistic sharing of
relevant information. The issue raised by many respondents was that
there needed, in prisons and YOIs, to be a whole organisational
response towards supporting learners with different sections of the
prison or YOI working together and supporting each other in creating a
9
holistic approach. Partnership working between the National Offender
Management (NOMS), Youth Justice Board (YJB) and LSC to ensure
support from all NOMS pathways could develop this structure.
3.3 Responding to requirements of learners with disabilities or
learning difficulties in order to ensure access for all
The kinds of support which might be required by learners with
disabilities or learning difficulties varies greatly and is dependent both
on the type of disability or learning difficulty and on the nature of the
individual. Responses to questionnaires and interviews revealed a wide
discrepancy in how well organisations were responding to these
requirements and it is clear that one important issue is the need for
greater consistency across the offender sector. To give just one
example, while we were told of an organisation where a wheel chair
user was simply not able to attend any classes because they were held
on an upper floor in a building without a lift we were also given another
example where staff had worked together to provide a simple ramp
which allowed a similar learner to attend a particular class.
While some respondents held the attitude that they just got on with
responding in the best way they could in others there appeared to be a
lack of awareness of how to respond to all but the simplest
requirements and this often resulted in staff believing that learners with
a disability could only be catered for by bringing in specialist expertise.
While some disabilities do require specialist support many do not.
Reaching All has many examples of simple support strategies which
could be employed by regular teaching staff to improve access for
learners with a range of disabilities and learning difficulties, however,
many staff were not aware of this resource. Some teaching staff who
had seen Reaching All felt they also needed some personal guidance
or training in order to be able to effectively employ the approaches
suggested it suggested.
3.3.1 The role of the SENCO
We were struck by the way in which YOIs were often far better able to
provide for the full range of learners than adult prisons and also by the
important role that SENCOs played in facilitating this. Some of the
important roles which SENCOs were able to carry out included:
Acting as an ‘interpreter’ of the often complex ‘learning difficulty and
disability’ jargon and explaining to staff what a particular label might
mean and how particular conditions, for example autism, might
present themselves
Being a mentor to staff, observing particular individuals and
suggesting possible approaches
Putting on in house training for staff either through putting on short
courses or sending round briefings
Providing specialist expertise and also knowing where to turn to if
further information is required
10
Acting as a co-ordinator in order to develop special programmes for
groups of learners with more complex needs
Currently there is no similar role in the adult estate and enabling a
SENCO role to be created in prisons or for a group of prisons might be
a very positive approach to ensure all offender organisations meet their
DDA and PSO obligations if funding was made available.
3.3.2 Funding for support
While much of the additional support required by learners with
disabilities or learning difficulties requires changes in approach and
does not involve additional resources there are also instances where
additional resources are needed. In some instances this support can
be expensive (for example providing an interpreter for a deaf learner or
one to one support for a learner with more complex learning
difficulties); in others the financial output is small (for example,
providing a dyslexic learner with coloured overlays). While in further
education it is clear that this additional expenditure can be provided for
through Additional Learning Support resources it appeared to be far
less clear in prisons exactly who was responsible for this payment.
Some respondents cited a range of adaptations and support personnel
– replicating facilities on ground floors and upstairs, transcribing,
special keyboards, shorter sessions, time out rooms, Learning Support
Assistants etc – while others seemed unable to cater for learners who
had these requirements. It was difficult to understand why something
can be achieved in one setting but is regarded as impossible in
another.
There is an important issue about who holds the budget for any
equipment or adjustments. Contractors’ budgets have historically
covered consumable materials and accreditation costs only. Recently
the LSC has funded increased ICT equipment for learners through the
LSC providers but with OLASS due to publish its new funding
arrangements in the coming months it is essential that clear information
is provided on how meeting additional support needs is to be funded in
the future.
3.3.3 Support which is particularly appropriate for learners in YOIs or
prisons
As noted in the Contextual Overview, despite the different definitions of
disability and learning difficulty (Section 3.1), the learner population in
prisons and YOIs contains a high number of individuals with emotional
or mental health difficulties1. Many of these learners require an
1
Social Exclusion Unit (2004, p68) Reducing Re-offending by ex-prisoners
Department of Health and HM Prison Service (2001) Changing the Outlook: A Strategy for
Developing and Modernising Mental Health Services in Prisons
NACRO (2007) Effective Mental Health Care for Offenders: the need for a fresh approach
HM Inspectorate of Prisons (2007) The Mental health of Prisoners: A thematic review of the
care and support of prisoners with mental health needs
11
extremely flexible approach to learning. For a variety of reasons some
of them may find long periods of concentration extremely difficult and
require learning to be delivered in short bursts with regular changes of
activities or rest periods in between. Others may become easily upset
or angry and need to have a place where they can go to cool down
before being able to continue with their learning. We found many
instances where education staff were very sensitive to these variations
and had devised a range of different strategies in order to respond to
them which we have included in the leaflets. It is important that this
good practice which is particular pertinent to teachers working in
prisons and YOIs should be built upon and shared. It was the view of
many educational staff that this type of practices should be recognised
(and funded) as an essential part of support for learning.
3.3.4 The role of peer mentors
Several of the responses we received both in questionnaires and
through interviews spoke of the value of using peer mentors to support
learners with disabilities or learning difficulties. Learners we spoke to
also spoke positively of the value of receiving support from other
offenders. Peer mentoring of course needs to be carefully and
sensitively managed. However, the fact that so many respondents
spoke so positively about it suggests that it is an area of support which
could usefully be fostered and further developed. Many respondents
argued that this type of support should be both recognised and that
more funding was necessary to train peer mentors to provide this
essential support mechanism for learners.
3. 4 The Curriculum Offer
Curriculum content is of course a very important factor in how well
learners achieve success in learning. Learners who have difficulty with
learning, for whatever reason, and learners who have become
disengaged with learning in the past need to feel positive about
learning and feel that the subject matter both interests them and is
relevant to their lives.
3. 4.1 The place of Skills for Life
Much teaching in prisons and YOIs is strongly focussed around the
Skills for Life curriculum. For some learners this represents a positive
option to catch up on skills which they have missed out on but this is
not true for all learners. Some teaching staff felt strongly that some of
their learners, particularly those with emotional or mental health
difficulties, were not yet ready to follow a structured curriculum and
would benefit far more from an opportunity to follow more creative
curriculum areas. Others recognised that many learners with learning
difficulties were better able to learn by having basic skills embedded in
practical or vocational opportunities (a finding strongly endorsed by the
OFSTED report on learners with learning difficulties, Greater
Expectations). However, Government directives on Skills for Life often
resulted in literacy and numeracy being the mainstay of the educational
offer with other areas, when they existed, seen as being vulnerable to
12
funding cuts. This potential mismatch between curriculum offer and
how learners with disabilities and learning difficulties might learn best
reflects an important issue which needs to be addressed if the
requirements of all learners are to be met.
A person centred approach to learning requires staff to find out what
aspect of learning appears most relevant and attractive to learners.
Within the Skills for Life curriculum framework it is possible to adopt a
wide range of different approaches in order to respond to different
learners. This creative use of the framework is advocated in many
Skills for Life documents. However, at the same time, some teaching
staff felt pressurised to try to ensure they moved as many learners as
possible through the various Skills for Life levels hence recognised that
they often felt they had to teach to test material. It is unclear why the
staff felt in this position as this is not the LSC approach, however local
programme teams may have individual interpretations that differ. The
Information for Providers supports the national LSC approach that
learning should be fit for the learner to ensure appropriate progression.
While achieving formal accreditation can be very important, particularly
for those learners who have never before gained any external
certificates, it is important that the pressure to get as many learners as
possible to succeed in tests does not outbalance the other important
aspects of Skills for Life teaching in particular communication skills and
wider key skills.
3. 4.2 The Use of IT
Institutions contacted varied widely both in whether and how they made
use of Information Technology as a learning tool. Some learners were
unable to access computers at all. Others had considerable access
and staff made use of IT both as a means of engaging learners whose
disability or mental health difficulty made it impossible for them to
attend classes by enabling them to follow programmes on the wing,
and also by using various software programmes within the classroom
setting. This varying access related to the different security concerns at
each prison. Learners interviewed were particularly positive about
being able to use computer programmes. They felt it gave an adult
status to their learning and also helped them to become autonomous
learners in that they could carry out tasks and correct their own
mistakes without always needing to refer back to the teacher. In the
last few years newly developed software has made an enormous
difference to the learning of disabled learners, for example speech
based software for learners who are blind or severely dyslexic or the
range of programmes which can support learning for people with
learning difficulties. It is important that disabled learners in prisons and
YOIs do not miss out on these positive features of support.
3. 4.3 Learners on very short term learning programmes
During our consultation we had contact with education staff who ran
courses lasting several months or years but also some who had
learners for very short periods of time, sometimes as short as weeks or
13
even days. We became very conscious that the majority of guidance
documents available for staff working with learners with disabilities and
learning difficulties tended to have a strong further education bias and
were often based on the assumption that learners would be with a
teacher for at least a year. We recognised that the approaches for
supporting a learner with a disability or learning difficulty who is only
going to be with you for a matter of weeks presents a very different
scenario and saw how there is a need for more research to be carried
out in this area and more specific guidance produced for teaching staff
in this situation. It is also vital that the tutors engaged with learners for
short periods ensure that information is passed forward with the learner
to the next provider (custody or community) through the learner’s ILP.
4 Areas for further development
4.1 Updating/revising Reaching All and ensuring it reaches all prisons
and YOIs.
Why this is important:
In the tender for this work it was clearly stated that the leaflets we were
asked to write should not repeat information in Reaching All.
Reaching All, however, does give considerable material which is
complimentary to the leaflets especially in the way in which it shows
how different disabilities and learning difficulties might present
themselves in a learning context and also gives practical examples of
how teaching staff can make adaptations in order to support learners
with disabilities and learning difficulties.
What needs to be done
Reaching All was written in response to DDA Part 4 (Education).
Since then the DDA has been amended and hence Reaching All
needs to reflect these changes. In addition to this Reaching All
contains an annotated bibliography at the end listing useful references,
websites, disability organisations etc. This needs to be checked for
ongoing accuracy and also revised to include any relevant recent
additions. Reaching All might also benefit from the inclusion of more
up to date examples of good inclusive practice in prisons and YOIs.
Finally, it would be very useful if any updated copy of Reaching All
were disseminated to all institutions so that it reaches teaching staff to
use in supporting learners. It was originally published through the
Offenders’ Learning and Skills Unit (OLSU) in the Department for
Education and Skills (DFES) now the Department for Innovation
Universities and Skills (DIUS).
4.2 Research and the production of guidance on how best to meet the
needs of offender learners with disabilities or learning difficulties
on very short learning programmes
14
Why this is important
We have shown in the report above that many offender learners attend
education programmes for very short periods of time. This might be for
a variety of reasons – they are on remand, they are waiting to be
transferred to another institution, their sentence is very short, “churn”
etc.- and it needs to be recognised that these different reasons will
demand different types of short learning programmes. We have also
seen that many of the Guidance documents on working with learners
with disabilities and learning difficulties comes from a further education
perspective and assumes that learners will be in a particular class for
at least one year. There is a clear gap in Guidance which can support
teaching staff who are working with learners for very short periods of
time to use this time most effectively and this gap should be addressed
by the DCSF and DIUS.
What needs to be done
Such a project would require a period of initial research. This would
include desk research to see what literature was available about
working with learners with learning difficulties and disabilities on very
short programmes. It would also involve meeting both teaching staff
and learners who are in this situation. The purpose of this would be
twofold – both finding out the kind of resources which teachers would
find most useful and also finding out from teachers and learners how
they feel very short periods of time can most effectively be structured
and used and whether they have examples of good practice.
Examples of thoughtful and creative practices where time and
resources are limited, need to be identified, validated and made eligible
for funding. In addition Guidance need to be produced which
specifically addressed teaching staff working with these learners under
these constraints.
4.3 Creating tools for more holistic and person centred assessment
Why this is important
This report has looked in some detail at the complexity of the offender
population and how the difficulties faced by many of these learners are
multi faceted and cannot be diagnosed neatly through a disability led
assessment. Instead there is a need for a far more person centred
approach which can both identify particular disabilities or learning
difficulties but also look more holistically at the complex range of
factors which might affect an individuals learning and how these might
be best addressed.
In addition to this the information we received from teaching staff was
that many of them felt that education and health departments in prisons
and YOIs often worked extremely separately and that there would be
great benefit in them collaborating in order to ensure that relevant
information was passed between them providing the individual had
15
agreed to this. As a joint commissioning model is developed by NOMS
and the LSC this could be given consideration.
What needs to be done
Desk research on assessment of people with disabilities and learning
difficulties needs to be undertaken. Also current methods of
assessment in prisons and YOIs need to be examined and information
gained from those who carry out assessments. Following this a
framework needs to be created which enables organisations to place
any assessment they carry out within a clearly person centred context.
This framework would include showing how structures could be
established which made closer links between education and health
departments and how both departments could work more closely
together in order to better support individual learners.
4.4 Resources for Offenders
We have had a considerable amount of feedback from our visits as to
how to take this forward. As a deliverable we have drafted a short
introductory leaflet on disability and education for offenders. We have
dropped the idea of any other kind of deliverable eg CD-Rom,
flash/memory stick, as the education providers indicate that it was not
possible for offenders to ‘own’ anything but a paper leaflet. The levels
of literacy both researched in the literature review and described by the
providers mean that even the relatively simple leaflet we have drafted
is unlikely to be useful and would not be given out. The main purpose
of the leaflet we have drafted is therefore for dissemination as
part of the standard induction process for prisoners when they
arrive.
We therefore propose that as OLASS takes this forward, the booklet be
broken up into a ‘workbook/notebook’ style publication where education
staff can work with prisoners in education session to build up their own
information in words and formats that they can understand. This would
require more time and piloting than is available in the current project
but is our recommendation for future work, as it is more likely to meet
the aim of informing offenders about disability and education rights.
4.5 Developing possibilities for identifying and sharing good teaching
and learning practice for learners with disabilities and learning
difficulties in prisons and YOIs
Why this is important
The primary purpose of the questionnaires and interviews carried out
during this project was to gain information which would inform writing
the DDA leaflets. However, responses enabled us to see that certain
organisations had developed innovative and creative approaches both
in terms of creating specialist provision for groups of learners with more
complex needs and developing specially designed approaches to
support individual disabled learners. While we make mention of some
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of this practice the purpose and nature of the leaflets did not allow us to
describe it in more than the briefest detail.
Education staff working in prisons and YOIs are very isolated and, as
we have shown in our report, the good practice Guidance documents
often fail to address their particular needs. The work carried out to date
has convinced us that there could be great value in carrying out a more
systematic survey to identify good practice and dissemination.
What needs to be done
A focus group of keen practitioners could manage a project to conduct
a more systematic survey identifying good practice currently taking
place in prisons and YOIs with these learners. As agreed good practice
is identified it needs to be written up describing how providers saw the
need for this kind of practice, how they set about establishing it, how it
might be adapted to other contexts etc. The outcomes could be
brought together into a resource for providers and also disseminated at
an event particularly targeted at staff working with offenders with
disabilities and learning difficulties. Such an event might also allow
OLASS to pull together and disseminate some of its other current work
on offenders with disabilities and learning difficulties.
The Skill team found this a very interesting, stimulating and much needed
piece of work. As the project proceeded we were able to see much more
clearly where further development should be concentrate to achieve good
outcomes for learners and to address the issues raised by Ofsted in their
Annual Report 2006/2007 (Quality and Standards: Educational provision for
children and young people in secure settings, p56).
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Appendix 1 – Letter and Questionnaire
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Information booklet (Learning support) for LSC providers in
custodial settings
The accompanying email from Ruth Knapton from the national OLASS team
outlines the nature of the project which Skill has been asked to undertake on
behalf of the LSC.
We are delighted to be involved in a project which will contribute to
improvements in the nature and quality of support being provided for those
adults and young people in OLASS who have additional support needs.
Studies suggest that a significant number of learners in this group may have a
learning difficulty or disability which might, without appropriate support, hinder
their access to learning.
It is difficult to identify briefly what is understood by ‘learning difficulty and
disability’ but in general terms we are talking about learners who:
experience significant difficulties with learning
find communication, concentration and memory to be challenging
experience mental health difficulties
have challenging behaviour
have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia
have visual, hearing or mobility impairments that might impact on their
learning
experience other long term health conditions
have a history of disrupted learning experiences and difficulties with
learning
(Definition taken from Developing Access to Skills for Life for Offenders with
learning difficulties or disabilities, DfES 2006)
This email is being sent to all OLASS providers. Its purpose is twofold:
to inform you about the development of the providers’ booklet (and the
associated learner resource)
to seek your views and support in its development
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How can you help?
STAGE ONE
We would be grateful for your input this project in several ways; firstly by your
response to the attached questionnaire by 9th November 2007.
Our analysis of your responses will help shape the booklet and will provide us
with examples of interesting practice you have developed.
We will also include issues you raise in the final project report for the LSC by
the end of February 2008. Comments will NOT be attributed to individuals or
organisations.
STAGE TWO
In addition we will follow up a percentage of the responses for telephone
interviews to gain a more detailed understanding. Please provide the name
and contact details of an appropriate person for an interview, which will follow
the lines of the questionnaire response. Telephone interviews (which should
last about 20 mins) will take place before 14 December 2007
STAGE THREE
Finally, we would like to make visits to a small sample of providers across the
range of learners (adults, young people – male and female) to discuss our
emerging ideas and get your feedback.
This will enable us to re-draft in light of your views. Please indicate if you are
willing to be visited. Visits are planned for January 2008. A discussion
meeting with a provider should last about one and a half hours.
On the same day as a visit to the provider, we would like to meet with some
learners to trial the learner resource, at an early stage in its development. We
would hope that you could facilitate contact with offender learners for this
purpose. A brief discussion with a group of offenders should last not longer
than an hour.
With offender learners, we would be encouraging them to think of the support
for learning they have received (both within the criminal justice system and
elsewhere), issues of disclosure, and their right to support in other learning
situations. Feedback from offenders will influence not only the make up of the
resource, but will shape guidance for providers in how to introduce the card to
offender learners.
Please fill in the questionnaire below and return it to me (Lynn Macqueen) as
an email attachment to almac1@ntlworld.com
Or, if you prefer to print it off and complete it and post or fax it please use the
Skill address below.
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For any enquiries about the project, please contact Lynn Macqueen (01455
610155 or 07747 108994) or by email almac1@ntlworld.com
Many thanks in anticipation of your support
Lynn Macqueen
on behalf of Skill: National Bureau for Student with Disabilities
Skill Fax: 020 7450 0650
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Chapter House
18-20 Crucifix Lane
London SE1 3 JW
skill@skill.org.uk
www.skill.org.uk
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QUESTIONNAIRE
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Learning and Skills Council OLASS Project
NAME OF LSC OLASS PROVIDER
PRISON/YOI for this LSC PROVISION
NAME OF CONTACT PERSON
ROLE:
CONTACT DETAILS:
ADDRESS
EMAIL (if available)
TELEPHONE
Q1 Please identify the challenges you have encountered in meeting the
needs of offenders with learning difficulties or disabilities in the
prison/YOI.
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Q2 Please identify the kinds of support which have been most
commonly required (including where you have not been able to fully
meet the support needs e.g. because specialist resources were
required.)
Q3 Please comment on the nature of the learning difficulties/disabilities
you have encountered -(you may wish to make reference to the DFES
categories above but as formal diagnosis will often not have taken place
for learners it is your personal experiences which are important here.)
Q4 Please note any observations you might have on how the need for
support varies with age, gender, ethnicity or any other applicable group.
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Q5 Please outline one (or more) example(s) of interesting practice – and
the nature of that practice – which you as a provider and/or you in
partnership with others have developed in supporting learners with
learning difficulties or disabilities.
Q6 One of the outcomes of this project will be a booklet for providers
on meeting their responsibilities in relation to learners with learning
difficulties and disabilities. Please comment on the kind of information
or support you would wish to see included in the booklet
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Q7 Are there any other observations you wish to make regarding
support for LSC providers in supporting learners with learning
difficulties and disabilities?
Q8 Are you willing to be involved in a telephone follow up interview? If
so would you please supply appropriate contact information
Q9 Would you be willing to host a visit to include a facilitated discussion
with learners in relation to the draft learner booklet?
Please return this questionnaire by email almac1@ntlworld.com to Lynn
Macqueen by 9th November 2007
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Appendix 2 – Visits and Contacts
Visits were made to:
HMP Littlehey Education Manager
HMYOI Stoke Heath Education Manager
HMP YOI Styal Learning and Skills Manager
3 in total – all visits made in January 2008.
Calls made to all 3 in preparation for the visits and in response to the
questionnaires received
Follow up telephone calls were made to:
HMP Camp Hill Education manager
HMYOI Feltham (2) Head of Education/L Supp manager
HMP Ford Education Manager
HMPYOI Hindley SENCo
HMP Hewell Grange Learning and Skills Manager
HMP Holme House OLASS Manager
HMP Kirklevington Grange Education Manager
HMP Leeds Education Manager
HMP Leyhill HoLS
HMPYOI Norwich (2) Education Manager/HoLS
HMP Nottingham (2) Education Manager/ HoLS
HMP Stocken Skills for Life Co-ordinator
HMYOI Thorn Cross SENCo
HMP Whitemoor Education Manager
14 calls in total – each lasting between 20 – 30 mins.
All calls made in December 2007
Questionnaire responses were received from all of those listed above plus:
HMP Albany Education manager
HMP Birmingham Education Manager
HMP Blundeston Education Manager
HMPYOI Brinsford SENCo
HMP Buckley Hall Skills for Life Manager
HMP Bullwood Hall Head of Regimes
HMP Coldingley Education Manager
HMP Dartmoor OLASS Manager
HMP Durham/Acclington/Castington OLASS Area Manager
HMP Foston Hall (6) LSM/IAG/Tutors
HMP Frankland/Deerbolt/Low Newton Area Manager
HMP Full Sutton Education Manager
HMP Highpoint Head of Reducing re-offending
HMP Leicester Education Manager
HMP Long Lartin Education Manager
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HMP Maidstone Education Manager
HMYOI Northallerton Dep. Education Manager
HMP Onley Learning and Skills Manager
HMYOI Rochester Education Manager
HMP The Verne OLASS Manager
HMYOI Werrington Team Leader
HMP Whatton Skills for Life Co-ordinator
47 responses received – some representing the views on more than one
organisation and/or more than one staff member
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