9 minute read
Stage One: Outreach
Give opportunities, new skills and career aspirations to young people in disadvantaged areas.
As well as working with schools, True Potential has helped create a school that could set disadvantaged people on the path to success. Through its sister organisation, set up by company founder David Harrison, it supported the launch of the Beacon of Light in Sunderland. The initial £150,000 contribution from the Harrison Centre for Social Mobility (HCSM) to the sports and education facility was more than a mere financial donation, however.
It was the catalyst for a new education programme run by HCSM at the centre that aims to complement core skills in maths and English to inspire a new generation of innovators and entrepreneurs – and provide support and education for those that need it most.
The Beacon is located in Sunderland Central parliamentary constituency. Sunderland Central is ranked 24th out of the 29 North East constituencies for social mobility, according to a report by the House of Commons Library. In terms of youth social mobility, it is ranked 357th out of 533 English constituencies, placing it in the bottom third nationally.
The Harrison Centre at the Beacon hosts workshops which give teenagers and young people the skills, confidence and experience necessary to get on in the world of work.
There are four programmes in total aimed at ages 14 to 19+ and attracting young people from across the surrounding region, many of which are from disadvantaged backgrounds. The young people True Potential engages with receive a head start in pursuing their career ambitions, but True Potential is rewarded too; by unearthing talent that could drive its business forward in future. During the coronavirus crisis, True Potential and its partners at the Foundation of Light stepped up their efforts to ensure people in disadvantaged communities were not further left behind. The Foundation redeveloped the programmes delivered at the Harrison Centre – Back in the Game and Back on Track – to move to an inclusive e-learning programme of delivery.
All 34 Back on Track participants continued to be engaged by course tutors through Microsoft Teams, and for learners who did not have access to technology or the internet, tutors posted workbooks and course resources to learners at home and drove to participants houses to pick up learner work to continue the assessment process.
Harrison Centre learners completed qualifications across the four months of lockdown which included: Maths and English, Personal and Social Development, ICT, Sport, Health and Social Care and Customer Services, all of which had a module of managing finances embedded into the work programme. Learners have now returned to staggered classroom delivery with 98% of learners returning to face to face delivery.
On the Back in the Game programme, tutors developed 15 new programmes specifically designed to meet the needs of lockdown, engaging the adult learners and their children together in course activities to ensure positive family relationships over the course of lockdown.
Within three weeks, tutors had developed new schemes of work to provide accredited programmes focusing on health and wellbeing, physical activity, work skills and employability as well as managing finances and home cooking skills. Within a month of launching the programmes, the Foundation had enrolled 76 learners on programmes, offering daily contact with participants via Microsoft Teams to support participants through their programmes.
To ensure the hardest to reach learners can benefit from the Harrison Centre’s employability programmes, the team is taking forward examples of what has worked well in lockdown to include a mixed delivery approach from September, with online learning and face to face classroom delivery. Delivery over lockdown has been a real success and has generated new ways to support young people to make the most of their talents and potential.
Here are some highlights from The Harrison Centre at the Beacon:
BACK IN THE GAME (19+)
A programme designed to support jobseekers across the North East in finding work by raising skills and confidence while assisting learners throughout the application to work process.
In 2019 over 150 adult learners accessed employability and industry specific qualifications through the Harrison Centre. Additional industry qualifications added to the portfolio in 18/19 including: Engineering, ICT/Digital, Health and Social Care, Customer Service and Retail .
Further qualifications added to the portfolio in 19/20 included; Construction, Self-employment workshops and Hospitality.
Key outcomes of the Back in the Game programme include:
100%
of learners benefitting from work experience 100%
of learners achieved qualifications 100%
increased confidence
100%
increased health and fitness 100%
increased knowledge of the labour market 100%
financial awareness
76%
progressions from this programme into employment, training or education
Participant Examples
Participant A completed the Back on Track programme from September 2019 to July 2020.
As part of the programme, the participant completed five different qualifications including a Level 2 certificate in Personal and Social Development and a GCSE in Maths. The GCSE in Maths was a significant barrier to this participants progression, as it really limited what options could be taken across employment, access to College or an apprenticeship.
The participant joined the Foundation as a shy 16 year-old, with a fear of public speaking and concerns around interacting with larger groups. The course tutor offered information, advice and guidance to identify a personalised timetable and learning programme that would help the participant establish what they wanted to do beyond the course. At the point of entry to the programme, the participant had no idea of life beyond the programme so the course tutor pulled a programme together that worked on employability to identify key skills which could then be mapped to a range of industries as the course progressed.
At the start of the course, a team building programme was established to help all participants work together and build confidence as a group. This really helped the participants get to know each other and for this participant in particular, really helped to ease anxieties on public speaking and engaging with their peers.
Participant B joined the Back on Track programme at Stanley in September 2019 and remained with the course until July 2020, successfully completing six qualifications.
During the programme, Participant B displayed inconsistent levels of motivation but academically was very gifted. There was no consideration for career choices beyond the course and had caring responsibilities at home for their Nan. When the participant joined the Foundation, the learner enjoyed sport and really engaged in the practical side of delivery. As a result, when the tutor was devising the personal learning programme, Sport became one of the core aims of the course.
This really helped with motivation, with engagement levels becoming more consistent as the course progressed. Running alongside this, the Foundation supported key employability skills through a Level 2 certificate in Personal and Social Development and supported the learner to achieve their Maths and English qualifications as part of the programme also. As the course progressed, the worries of public speaking became less and less and the participant ended up being one of the most vocal members of the group and a real mentor to some of the more quiet members, offering support during learning tasks and at challenging times in the course.
When the course was forced to teach online over the lock down period, the participant’s attendance remained high, with work always returned on time and to a high standard. When the Foundation could return to face to face teaching at the end of June 2020, Participant A was one of the first learners to return to the classroom to complete their learning, achieving all five qualification aims, including Maths.
With support from the course tutor, Participant A applied for an apprenticeship at Caterpillar and although they had no idea what career they wanted to take, they knew they wanted to work at Caterpillar as their Granddad had worked their previously.
Participant A successfully passed the interview, with outstanding feedback from the panel and is now continuing their programme of study whilst following in Granddads footsteps at Caterpillar.
During lockdown, Participant B took the decision to move in with Nan and become a full-time carer which is a credit to the skills that were developed on the course and the true nature of this participant. During lockdown, Participant still engaged around their caring responsibilities and began to talk more about a career in public services, in particular the armed forces.
The course tutor facilitated the development of these aspirations, offering IAG in relation to the different careers on offer as part of the armed forces and what entry requirements each role had. Towards the end of the course, Participant B identified a Uniformed Public Services course at East Durham College.
The course tutor supported with the College application process and after a successful initial assessment and interview, Participant B has been accepted on to complete a Level 3 Uniformed Public Services qualification which started in September 2020.
BACK ON TRACK (16+)
A programme which engages, inspires and educates young people aged 16-19 by helping them achieve nationally recognised qualifications, improve their numeracy and literacy skills and gain practical working experience.
In 2019 a total of 43 learners engaged on the programme with learners from Sunderland, South Tyneside and County Durham accessing the Harrison Centre for programme delivery. Qualifications delivered include: Maths and English Functional Skills/GCSE , ICT/Digital, Health and Social Care, Personal and Social Development , Sport and Active Leisure, Customer Service and Retail.
Key outcomes of the Back on Track programme include:
100%
of learners achieving qualifications 98%
pass rate in Maths and English
100%
of learners achieving a work placement 100%
of learners increased their knowledge of the local labour market 100%
of learners increased their confidence, motivation and self-esteem
70%
progression into employment, education and training
HARRISON ENTERPRISE CHALLENGE
In 2019 a total of 20 learners participated in developing presentations on ideas relating to increasing awareness of the importance of saving responsibly. Learners worked in teams to generate ideas for an app which would be engaging for their peers aged 16- 19. The programme delivery was linked to their ICT qualification and not only provided learners with the opportunity to develop employability skills but also obtain a qualification at the end of delivery.
Key outcomes of the Back in the Game programme include:
100%
of learners increasing confidence 100%
of learners achieved a qualification in ICT
100%
of learners developing presentation and communication skills 100%
of learners working as a team and building leadership skills 100%
of learners increasing ICT skills
APPRENTICESHIPS
The Foundation’s apprentices have benefitted from receiving tuition from the Harrison Centre, allowing them to achieve key aspects of their qualification.
The cohort of 10 apprentices are completing a Level 2 or 3 Business Administration apprenticeship and are supporting our wider employability programme delivery as part of their off the job training.
Key outcomes of this programme include: apprenticeships
100%
achievement of qualifications
100%
progression routes for apprentices with wider 100%
