May 2009

A Survey of ESOL Provision in the London Borough of WalthamForest

Introduction

This survey maps current ESOL provision in WalthamForest as it existed in March/April 2009.

It aims to provide:

  • a conceptual map of the current ESOL offer, which is more than a snapshot of current activity, but also flags up the capacity, policy directives and funding streams which shape and define that offer across the different sectors;
  • lists of individual organisations outside the main providers and stakeholders working with local people with ESOL needs, in particular those providing tuition or other direct support.

In addition, it identifies and discusses some overall issues identified during the mapping process.

The survey is based on:

  • detailed interviews with, and information from, the identified main providers and stakeholders: WalthamForestCollege; CLaSS; Metropole Learning; O-Regen and Job Centre Plus;
  • information provided by a range of public sector, voluntary and community sector, and private sector organisations in the borough, and by informed contacts working with them;
  • knowledge of national priorities and delivery mechanisms, for example with employers through Train to Gain.

Methodology

Organisations outside the main providers were identified using existing databases and advice and information provided by individuals in key roles across the borough. This involved:

  • An initial targeted mailing to over 200 voluntary and community and faith-based organisations from existing databases inviting them to ‘put their organisation on the map’
  • Individual approaches to a representative sample of organisations, based on recommendations and advice from informed contacts.
  • Follow up phone calls or meetings with all those responding.
  • Supplementary smaller scale e-mailings to Extended Schools, Children’s Centres and some voluntary organisations.
  • Short visits to organisations with current provision, identified either through the initial mailing or as a result of later contact.

All information is based on self-report by the organisations, which responded to the invitation to participate. It paints the picture as seen by those organisations and those who know them, and has not been subjected to any formal checking beyond this. A generic interview guide was used to ensure comparability, while allowing for a range of responses. This and a copy of the mail-out text is included as an appendix. Groups and organisations recommended by informed contacts are also included in listings, even where direct contact could not be made during the time of the study.

Definitions

For the purposes of the mapping ESOL provision was defined as:

  1. Discrete ESOL classes or other ESOL tuition for adults (aged 19 and over).
  2. Support for English language development provided as part of other formal and informal activities or training, such as family learning, running meetings, vocational or employment training.
  3. Other informal help with everyday reading, writing and speaking in English, such as help with form filling, letter writing, making phone calls.
  4. Referring or signposting people to English classes.

In practice, all organisations reported providing informal help and referring and signposting, taking this for granted as part of their role. More surprisingly, no organisations self-reported that they provided language support for other activities, although when directly asked, it emerged that several had done so in the past. This suggests that there is the potential to:

  • Encourage the development of more ‘language friendly’ delivery, including some language support.
  • Develop the role of community-based organisations in providing informal first step Information, Advice and Guidance for their members as the way of reaching specific groups more effectively.

The big picture

A. Provision

EMPLOYMENT AND PRE-EMPLOYMENT

Provision Type / Including / Delivered where/to / Learner eligibility / Delivered by / Funded through
Train to Gain / Vocational qualifications at Level 2/3
Entry 1 to Level 2 ESOL and LLN skills / In the workplace,
to employees / Not already qualified at Level 2.
Free to learners.
Eligible staff need to be released to attend. / WF College
CLaSS
Private training providers. / LSC
Costs to employers to release staff to attend, provide cover.
Job Centre Plus programmes / New Deal, Basic Employability programmes, including employability, LLN skills, vocational training, work placements. Mandatory and voluntary programmes.
Support for travel, childcare. / Mostly on training providers’ premises, includes workplace, to job seekers, benefit claimants / Job seekers and benefit claimants,
No charge for participants. Penalties for non-participation where mandatory / Private training providers.
Contracts specify targets/outcomes / LSC/DWP
Regional projects targeting local priorities / Reaching the ‘hardest to help’; other development areas and priority groups, including ESOL/LLN alongside other activity. / Mostly on training providers’ premises, includes placements / Meeting specific project criteria / Contract holders in response to tender, mostly private training providers, often in partnership with voluntary sector and Further Education/Adult Education / Includes LSC, London Development Agency, DWP, often with ESF co-financing
PREPARATION FOR LIFE AND WORK
Provision Type / Including / Delivered where/to / Learner eligibility / Delivered by / Funded through
Generic ESOL programmes / Some limited Pre-Entry. Entry 1,2,3 to Level 1 and 2 ESOL.
Access to childcare and other support / Main programmes on 2 WF College sites; 8 CLaSS community sites; some also in community venues, / Resident EU 3 years; first come, first served; fees payable – sliding scale. / CLaSS; WF College; WEA (4 sites); organisations franchised by outside colleges (1 site) / LSC
ESOL + / ESOL in range of vocational and other contexts
Access to childcare and other support / WF College vocational ESOL+; ‘Skilled for Health’ in Library / As above for those on ‘mainstream’ programmes / WF College; some by CLaSS. Includes partnership work / LSC
Preparation for Citizenship / ESOL and citizenship short course. / To local people and beyond in a range of venues across the borough / Seeking to apply for citizenship, qualifying for that route. Fees charged. / ESOL content delivered through WF College; CLaSS; CitizenshipTraining School (local private provider); / Fees
Parents and the Family / ESOL Family Learning; ESOL linked to schools, children’s centres; Storytelling with ESOL / In community venues, mostly schools/children’s centres, includes libraries, to parents / Parent/carer with child in school/children’s centre; fees charged / CLaSS, in partnership; some WF College; WEA with 4 schools; franchised provider; tutor recruited by school/CC / LSC when in partnership; some use of other budgets
‘Bespoke’ community provision / ESOL in response to a particular need, for example, ‘first steps’ provision for new arrivals. / Specific groups on or near their premises; / As determined by initiating organisation. May involve fees / CLaSS, WF College, WEA etc in partnership: directly recruited tutor. / LSC when in partnership; some use of other budgets
Independent Study
(indicative only: little currently in place) / Library-based independent study materials; learndirect centres (neither currently offering ESOL) / Learners wanting to use this route instead of or to supplement other learning / Open access. Library or centre members / Libraries, learndirect centres; other ICT centres / Resource costs,

The above chart summarises the range of provision currently delivered in WalthamForest, providing an overview of the current offer. It aims to show how the offer is shaped, and how it is responded to at a local level by the main providers and the more mobile and transient education and trainers providers mostly to be found in the private sector, but also including organisations such as the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA).

The chart shows provision in two main areas:

  • Employment and pre-employment
  • Preparation for life and work

Current government policy objectives put a heavy emphasis on employment and employability as part of the drive to raise skills and to bring people into employment and maintain them there. This is reflected in the way funding is allocated, with the majority currently being directed to employees in the workplace through the ‘Train to Gain’ programme. A further substantial tranche of provision is delivered mostly through Job Centre Plus with a range of nationally prescribed programmes, many of them mandatory. Other, usually short-term and regionally funded, programmes target local priorities, and groups seen to be omitted from or not accessing the ‘standard’ provision.

Alongside these programmes, a range of provision, mostly delivered through CLaSS and WalthamForestCollege, has been developed to meet more generic ESOL needs in the borough. At its heart is the range of courses offered in CLaSS’s eight and the college’s two main centres, both providing good quality provision at a range of levels with internal progression opportunities. Unlike the Employment and Pre-employment offer, this is mostly open access, although at present there are specific constraints in what can be offered using LSC funding, in particular:

  • ‘Beginner’ learners, assessed as pre-entry[1]
  • Spouses in their first year in the country, when their need is greatest
  • Migrant workers in their first six months.

The need to charge fees, especially for those people in low-income employment who are not able to demonstrate they qualify or who are unable to supply the required evidence, is a further barrier to attendance, with a particular impact on the attendance of older women noted by providers.

The offer also includes ‘bespoke’ courses run with and for a particular target group or community organisations. Often this is delivered in partnership with a main provider, but it includes also the small and valuable contribution made by local organisations both in the public and the voluntary and community sector who find creative ways of responding to local need.

From the learner’s point of view, the two areas exist alongside each other, and the entry routes are very different. For many people in the benefit system, the need to attend mandatory programmes may cut across other education and training plans, with learners moving between the two. Others may not know what other options are open to them. Both learners and organisations across the map need to be aware of the twin paths to learning, so that they can choose appropriately. This puts good Information, Advice and Guidance at the heart of any ESOL strategy.

B. Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG)

The listing that follows outlines and summarises the main and potential sources of IAG in WalthamForest.

IAG providers / Organisations/ Role/s / Services provided
Next Step Adult Careers Service / Provide impartial guidance to adults across the borough. Service currently under review as part of national re-structuring, to be merged with learndirect adult guidance including help line. 3 staff currently work in the borough. / Provide 1:1 free guidance service to adults 20+ through regular ‘surgeries’ across the borough and follow-up support. Work in partnership with providers, providing in-house surgeries and visiting groups to provide information on progression routes. Run group workshops to maximise impact and extend reach.
Worknet / Service aimed at encouraging local people to improve skills and take advantage of 2012 Olympics work opportunities. Currently under review but likely to continue. / Outreach workers covering different parts of the borough provide information on routes into work and training relating to the 2012 Olympics. Arrange and support referral to this and, where appropriate, signpost into other provision.
Job Centre Plus / Advisers work with Job Centre clients on 1:1 basis; advise others on JC+ offer. Other staff include specialist assessors, and providers of JC+ programmes / Discuss aims and needs, carry out initial screening using Fast Track written task, explain mandatory and voluntary programme, refer to programmes, carry out ESOL assessment; reviews, monitor and support progress, support progression.
Providers / Range of specialist and non-specialist roles, including Student Services, tutors, reception staff, advice workers, assessors. / Provide initial advice and guidance to enquirers on the phone and in person; discuss needs, carry out assessment and match with own offer, including appropriate support; facilitate application process or refer on where appropriate; carry out reviews and discuss and negotiate progression
Advice centres and services / Examples include: Advice Centres, Libraries, Citizens Advice Bureau, local authority help lines. / Should be able to provide information on and promote ESOL learning opportunities and routes and refer appropriately. Libraries and specialist advice centres such as the Refugee Advice Centre have established referral routes and contacts.
Public sector front-line workers / Health Service practitioners such as Health Visitors, schools and children’s centres, Housing Associations, Social Services, etc / Provide immediate information, advice and encouragement and refer on. Potential for continued support where an on-going relationship exists.
Voluntary sector and faith-based organisations / Represent, meet and work with target communities in a variety of ways. / Encourage and support potential learners; provide initial information and support referral. Where possible, provide on-going support.

With a complex map of provision to navigate, high quality, impartial information, advice and guidance is essential if learners are to know what is available and make informed choices about their best route into learning. IAG is usually the first point of engagement, and the encouragement and support provided are particularly important for first-time learners without experience in the education system.

Similarly, IAG needs to be available to support progression. Discussions with providers indicate that internal progression, from one course into another with the same provider, is systematically supported by learner reviews and tutorials. Advice staff and tutors are less likely to be able to advise on alternative progression possibilities with another provider. A good model is provided by CLaSS, where a visit from a Next Step guidance worker is built into the end of course discussions on next steps for learners.

As shown in the chart, a range of organisations and individuals are involved in providing IAG on ESOL in the borough. The Next Step Adult Careers Service is best placed to provide the impartial and over-arching guidance needed, and to co-ordinate and distribute up to date information on new possibilities or changes to the ESOL offer. The current team works energetically to reach as many people as possible. With only three staff in total, however, their reach is necessarily limited. The service is currently being re-structured nationally and locally.

Public sector front-line workers, faith groups and voluntary and community organisations have an important role to play in engaging, motivating and signposting people to the provision best suited to their needs, and supporting them in making that important first step. At present, most systematically refer to one or possibly two providers, usually CLaSS, less often Waltham Forest College. With support and training, their support could be the most effective way to reach and engage ‘hard to reach’ learners and to signpost them more effectively from the outset.

The Offer by Organisations

This section comprises listings of organisations in the voluntary and community, public and private sectors identified through the mapping process.

a)Voluntary and Community Sector, including Faith-based groups

  • A very small number of organisations responded to the initial, deliberately light touch, invitation to ‘put your organisation on the map. ’ A series of reminders sent by email each prompted one or two more responses. Follow up with organisations on the basis of recommendations from informed local contacts identified some further examples. Overall, the small number of organisations identified appears to reflect current reality in terms of ESOL delivery.
  • The two faith groups running provision identified through the mail-out were both wary of providing information, which they saw as potentially intrusive and not serving the organisation’s own interests. Another respondent suggested that this reflected some anxieties about the council’s role in relation to the sector.
  • The most enthusiastic responses were received from organisations, which had offered ESOL in the past, and hoped that the study would help them to re-establish this, or who had not and would like to. It became clear that this was a dynamic and volatile situation, with partnerships changing in response to capacity and funding opportunities.
  • No organisations reported attempting to develop language skills alongside other activities or training, although some had run courses such as ESOL with Fashion or Parenting with ESOL in the past. However, most made use of the language skills of staff and service users to make activities and training accessible to participants with ESOL needs, and offered other informal help. This suggests that this is an area with the potential for further development.
  • All those questioned used an established referral route to signpost potential learners to classes, if they did not offer them, or as progression from their own provision. CLaSS was the most frequently quoted referral route, often alongside Waltham Forest College. The importance of comprehensive and impartial Information, Advice and Guidance emerged as an important issue, particularly in relation to progression from more informal community-based provision.
  • Overall, while there are issues of funding and resourcing which are limiting provision at present, the large network of faith-based and other voluntary and community sector groups, each serving a separate community, is ideally placed to support and engage learners on the first stage of their journey. Trust will need to be built, and more comprehensive information provided if they are to take up this role.

All the organisations included either responded themselves to the invitation to take part, or were recommended by informed contacts working in the sector. The listings are colour coded to show: