14 February 2020 ESL Briefing

Dear Colleagues

What a week – we heard on Monday that we were going to be visited by Ofsted on Wednesday and Thursday for a short inspection of our FE and Skills provision which includes community learning and apprenticeships. Whilst I can’t divulge the results until our inspection report has been published, I can say that this was a most positive inspection and we were thanked by the inspection team for our open, honest and helpful approach. Huge thanks and congratulations to everyone involved – it was great to see team members pulling together and going the extra mile to evidence the very best of our work.

Brexit has been hugely stressful for many of our staff and users who are either EU nationals or with friends/family members who are EU nationals. Agi, Community Learning Tutor, has done a great job making sure that learners are provided with information and advice on how to apply for settled status. Information has been made available for learners through Google classroom and a training course has been delivered for Development Workers, Tutors and partner agencies.

This work has been particularly important to support learners who face particular challenges in accessing information, particularly those learners who don’t use English as their first language. We know, for example there are people who identify as Somali who have an EU passport because of their experience living in the UK or other European countries. Through Agi’s work, team members now have a higher awareness of issues and are better prepared to give critical advice.

With news of more cases on a daily basis, it is clear that the Coronavirus is now well and truly in the UK. One of our tutors fed back some concerns about an English language class where learners may have been in contact with others in China that had contracted the virus. Acting swiftly, the tutor sought official advice and it was agreed that group sessions would be closed for a fortnight. The Development Worker, Lucy, took action to ensure this decision was handled sensitively, phoning all learners individually to make sure they understood and were comfortable with what was happening. During the two week class closure, course materials were provided online and the tutor made themselves available to mark work submitted.

Two fantastic examples of how some of our work is supporting learners with their citizenship and wellbeing outcomes, all part of our rights based and safeguarding culture.

Best wishes

Jane Taylor