12 minute read
South West England
Best Practice
Plymouth Marjon University
RESEARCH CASE STUDY
Professor Tanya Ovenden-Hope from Plymouth Marjon University has championed every child successfully achieving their potential in attainment and development through her research on Educational Isolation. This research began in 2010 as a response to the poor performance, and challenges for teacher recruitment and retention, she observed in schools in disadvantaged coastal areas of England. Leading the Coastal Schools research project (2010-19) she explored whether there was a link between place and school performance and provided insights into the specific elements of the place-based challenges experienced by coastal schools, which led to an emerging idea of Educational Isolation. RETAIN, an Education Endowment Foundation funded project led by Prof Ovenden-Hope, designed, delivered and evaluated a researchinformed intervention to improve early career teacher retention in coastal-rural schools (2015-2017). The project findings demonstrated that access to school support/professional development through externally funded initiatives is essential in the development and retention of a high-quality workforce and therefore targeted support can mitigate placebased limitations in accessing resources in coastal-rural schools.
The Educational Isolation research project (2017-2019) used a national survey of school leaders in England, enhanced through followup interviews and case studies, refined the concept of Educational Isolation. The research established that schools in coastal, rural and ex-industrial areas are most likely to be Educationally Isolated. What this means is that schools that are geographically remote, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and culturally isolated have limited access to the resources necessary to school improvement. In other words, the schools’ place, or location, affects their ability to provide an equitable education for their children, because they do not get access to the same level of resources, such as high quality workforce, access to school support or externally funded interventions, as urban schools.
Prof Ovenden-Hope has used her research findings to support schools and MATs (such as Kernow Learning Trust, CELT, Askel Veur), Ofsted, Educational Charities (such as Talent
Best Practice
Tap) and the DfE through providing seminars, conference, staff development and roadshows, which have shared the importance of understanding the impact of place on school performance and thereby support the targeting of resources where they are most needed. The Ofsted Education Inspection Framework was developed with an understanding of school context following a seminar on Educational Isolation to HMI; the DfE worked with Prof Ovenden-Hope to understand the challenges for Early Career Teachers in hard to reach schools and she supported work on the Early Career Framework; a MAT restructured its school support framework to remove issue of geographical remoteness in school access to professional development. These few examples demonstrate the change effected in schools for the benefit of children’s learning and experiences as a consequence of Prof Ovenden-Hope’s research and commitment to putting this into practice and policy. Understanding the relationship between place and access to resources enables policymakers, agencies, organisations and school leaders to recognise, and target support to mitigate, the challenges of Educationally Isolated schools and thereby provide a more equitable opportunity for ALL children, no matter where they live, to achieve their potential in attainment and development.
BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY
The Marjon Health and Wellbeing approach focuses on student-led, small group, person centred and self-management principles, and has significant impacts across the region. The Marjon Health and Wellbeing Approach has supported the service provision of a range of health care providers, including Sentinel Health and Wellbeing (2013 - present); Macmillan Mustard Tree Centre (2014 - present); Livewell South West (2017 - present); Evalesco Consulting and Devon Doctors (2018 - present).
The regional workforce health and wellbeing programmes have impacted on Devon and Cornwall Police Force (2017 - present) and the Environment Agency (2013 - present). Students are integral to the Marjon Health and Wellbeing approach and the involvement of students supports their learning and development while also bridging an intergenerational gap in line with regional priorities.
Sentinel Healthcare corroborates that the Marjon Health and Wellbeing approach has improved options for treatment and rehabilitation of back pain, guided
Best Practice
improvements in service provision, enabled longterm empowerment of patients and reduced pressure on frontline services. Sentinel highlights that “we are the only back pain service in the UK offering multi-disciplinary support of this type, supporting both prevention and recovery”, which has directly benefited over 1000 back pain patients. Sentinel describes the reach goes far beyond the individual, “The behaviour techniques used in Marjon’s approach have motivated and empowered individuals to maintain adherence to exercise and healthy lifestyles within their own circumstances, beyond the duration of the service. In doing so our service reduces both primary and secondary care referrals reducing cost and strain on front line services. This fills a gap within current NHS rehabilitation provision.
The Mustard Tree Macmillan Cancer Centre provides access to Marjon Health and Wellbeing programmes to improve the care of people diagnosed with cancer. Programmes are delivered by Marjon staff and students helping over 500 people. The Mustard Tree Macmillan Cancer Centre states that these have “enabled the creation of a service which is unique within Devon and Cornwall NHS provision, for patients diagnosed with cancer. Patients participating in Marjon’s programmes are in a better physical and mental condition than those who have not engaged, patients have reported that their ability to cope with treatment, including recovery from surgery, is improved. Patient benefits are wide ranging and include improved quality of life, social interaction as well as reduced negative effects of treatment and anxiety levels.”. It is noteworthy that the programmes are accessed by people for free which especially improves long-term prospects for patients struggling financially. NHS Livewell South West report “the impact of Marjon’s research has supported us in achieving our aims of reducing health inequalities across the city, improving people’s quality of life and wellbeing, reducing pressure on front line primary care and to support people in their community.” Livewell South West suggest the partnership with Marjon Health and Wellbeing has supported them to secure funding to deliver new effective services within the community and influenced the delivery approach of their services, for example, “Our routine assessments on the impact of the service, conducted by nurses, indicated 80% accelerated healing rates in people. For the last three years our wellbeing classes have supported over a thousand people each year and people have reported high levels of satisfaction in measures of quality of life and functional capacity.”
Devon and Cornwall Police testify how the impact of the Marjon Health and Wellbeing Approach has improved health and wellbeing for Police officers and supported their aim to put officer health and wellbeing at the forefront of modern policing. The Detective Sergeant holding the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ role for Plymouth states “Four hundred officers have attended since 2018. We have also trained 32 Police Personal trainers to deliver and apply Marjon approach to health and wellbeing for our workforce” and “The collaboration with Marjon University has produced some startling results allowing our senior management team to better understand what specific wellness support is required for each team. Some of the key findings included 86% of frontline officers were experiencing MSK pain in work; 52% had never had a health check prior to the visit; 93% said the visit improved how supported they felt by the organization.” The impact of our MHW approach has been seen as leading the way for wellbeing within thePolice Force.
Best Practice
University of the West of England
BEST PRACTICE CASE STUDY Future Quest
Outreach Hub The Future Quest Outreach Hub enables students, parents and carers and school staff to access information and opportunities available in their area as well as creating an axis for sustainable partnership working to shape outreach across the region. This is achieved by:
> Building expectations - Challenging the discourse around aspiration-raising and rolemodelling a new language of expectations through outreach activities with learners, workshops with delivery staff and teachers, advisory groups with school leadership and local outreach providers, partnership governance and demonstrating impact through evaluation. > Cultivating collaboration - Creating networks and facilitating opportunities to enable learners, parents and carers, school staff, providers and partners to work together to co-design new and innovative outreach activity, challenge and improve provision, develop reflective practice and recognise and utilise each other’s strengths. > Advocating impartiality - Supporting learners to research options and explore possibilities by providing objective information, advice and guidance on the Future Quest website, offering sessions with careers guidance professionals, signposting to a range of information sources, outreach and work experience opportunities and working in collaboration with other providers to facilitate access. > Personalising experience - Enabling individual learners to build their own personal narratives for the future by developing activity that encourages exploration of strengths, mapping goals and pathways and experiencing the worlds of higher education and work. There will be opportunities to share stories through case studies and through the #IAmFirstGen campaign. > Connecting opportunities - Building connections between existing collaborative partnerships and local providers of education, skills and employment to ensure that all learners have access to a full range of opportunities that supports them to visualise clear pathways for the future. Provision will be targeted to address gaps and tailored to meet the needs of the participants.
Targeted Outreach Through the targeted higher education outreach programme Future Quest aims to support learners with knowledge of higher education and potential future pathways. It helps them to understand the skill requirements for study and future life, while encouraging the ability to develop self-reflection, selfawareness and self-belief.
Best Practice
By the end of July 2019 Future Quest had engaged with 5100 eligible learners as well as another 2800 learners not in the original targeting criteria in 40 schools and two colleges. It undertook 245 different activities which amounted to 6000 hours of interaction.
The Future Quest phase one impact evaluation report showed programme successes with learners in: >Increasing knowledge of how to get to higher education > Advancing a realistic understanding of the role that higher education could play in their future > Developing positive personal traits such as confidence, grit and curiosity > Building strong speaking, listening and writing skills
Informed by phase one evaluation findings and research by Harrison (2018) on the lens of ‘possible selves’ and access to higher education, Future Quest created a progression framework which maps onto a learner's educational journey and informs the key outreach intervention points and aims. The framework has progressive phases which follow the learner on their journey to deciding their future. Within these phases are learner outcomes that are measurable goals which can be achieved by the learner during the phases of their progression and which also align to Gatsby benchmarks and Ofsted’s inspection framework.
Using the progression framework, Future Quest created and developed programmes of targeted higher education outreach activities, promoting social mobility among identified postcode areas where higher education progression is lower than might be predicted from GCSE results. CASE STUDY Covid-19 response
UWE Bristol responded quickly to the changing situation in March 2020 and quickly put together strategies to ensure its staff, students and wider community were safe and supported during the pandemic.
Staff A large number of the University’s staff managed the transition to remote working. This has involved many working flexibly around child care or caring duties, with the focus for UWE being on output not hours worked. It continues to have a core team on site supporting its students who remain living on campus.
Wellbeing is a significant focus, with all of its key messages from the Vice Chancellor including a note on wellbeing and it has developed a number of resources to support both students and staff that align to its Mental Wealth First strategy.
Staff have demonstrated their ability to adjust to the world of digital. In order to build on this momentum it has provided daily digital skills training sessions to colleagues across the campus with more than 500 colleagues engaged in these so far.
Students Teaching for the remainder of 2019/20 was online, and the University remained open, although the buildings were closed. It communicated alternative assessment arrangements for all students and ensured that this crisis did not negatively affect their final grade. It communicated regularly with students, paying particular attention to its most vulnerable students. The UWE Cares cohort of care leavers,
Best Practice
estranged students and carers were all contacted individually to ensure they were safe and able to continue with their studies remotely. The University made sure that students had access to IT and provided financial support to those in need.
Some students remained living in University accommodation and it supported them by creating an online community to look after themselves and each other. Students who left UWE Bristol accommodation did not have to pay for their final term’s accommodation.
The University had already developed online and remote mental health support for students and staff and continued to promote its online counselling, the 24/7 crisis textline and to encourage students to use its SAM App to help understand and manage their anxiety. Its employee assistance programme provided staff with additional support during this period. As it moves into the new academic term, UWE Bristol is developing a blended approach to student learning, utilising digital and oncampus activities.
It has created an extended start for new and existing students to help them settle in. The programme will help them to engage with programme teams, their cohort and the University more widely in a low-risk environment, where they are free to experiment with new technologies, enhance their digital capabilities and build the confidence to succeed whether online or face to face. This builds on the University’s experiences of working digitally with its students, and with applicants during the past few months: digital engagement can be a positive step in helping young people to overcome social anxieties and build trust in each other and it saw strong engagement in its online and digital activities during lockdown.
Transitions both to university and from year-to-year are critical moments for students and are frequently remembered through their lives. These experiences are usually derived from meeting other staff and students as well as experiencing the culture of the university. Clearly, many students are concerned about what university will be like this year, in particular how teaching will run, how technology will be used and how they’ll interact with each other. Block 0 is designed to allay some of these fears.
