Ennis Area Learning Network
Minutes of Meeting 26th January 2006.
Auburn Lodge Hotel.
Present: Aobhán Haverty; Teresa Larkin; Maura Keane; Finnoula Tuohy; Jacinta Davenport; Alice O Carroll; Emer Mathews; Geraldine Fallon; Sharon O Mahony; Martina Rynne; Mike Ryan; Clare Sheehan.
Apologies: Deirdre Toomey; Janet Webb; Mary Fitzgerald.
CLLN Staff in Attendance: Breda O Driscoll; Marie Killowry; Ann Knox; Seamus Bane.
1. Matters Arising from Updates.
Alice O Carroll from Clare Supported Employment Services informed the meeting of an information day to be held on Feb 6th on services for people with disabilities. The information day will be held in the Temple Gate Hotel and is jointly organised by CSES, CIC and Enable Ireland. All were invited to attend.
2. Network Steering Group Update.
Aobhán introduced this section and outlined the membership and work to date of the group. The group has been looking at the area of Partnership Development as a core aspect of the whole CLLN Equal project. The notion of “working in partnership” has become central to a range of EU, national and local policy documentation and it is assumed that “working in partnership” is now the norm in many areas of service delivery. However there is limited support and “off the shelf” models for organisations and individuals within organisations in terms of making “partnership” actually work.
A questionnaire was conducted by CLLN in the period before Christmas to establish some base-line information on the range and type of partnership work that member organisations are engaged in. This shows that a huge range of relationships have developed between organisations in Clare and often there is no clearly stated organisational understanding of “why work in partnership” or “how to work in partnership”. In order to begin to address this gap and to support its members for future partnership working, the Network Steering Group have engaged with Partners, a Dublin-based training organisation with considerable expertise and experience in this area. The main aim of the engagement is to set up systems and structure that will be of benefit to members in their future working. It is proposed to deliver 3 X 2-day blocks of training over 10 months that would focus on:
· Examination of possibilities and limits of working in partnership;
· Looking at other examples of working in partnership;
· The development of ways of working effectively in partnership.
The format for the training will be varied and involve a variety of approaches. As a way of informing the trainers of any specific outcomes that would be desirable, the meeting was asked to consider two questions, namely:
1. what are the challenges around working in partnership;
2. what is important to include in the partnership training.
The responses will be circulated later as area meetings conclude.
3. Curriculum Steering Group Update.
Seamus provided an update on the work of the Curriculum Steering Group. The update consisted in the main of an introduction to the Community Development Practice course that CLLN is hoping to deliver over the coming months. The Community Development Practice module is one of the modules that can lead to the FETAC Level 5 Certificate in Community Development. The module is aimed at people who are active in their own communities either in a paid or unpaid capacity. It will focus on the role of the person in their community and the strengths and challenges facing them in their role. Through the course participants will also examine their own communities and the elements at play in those communities. The course will be delivered initially, for three hours on one evening per week in each of the area networks between February and March. This course can be an introduction or an opportunity for those in community organisations that would like to further their training and skills. It is the intention of the Clare Lifelong Learning Network to offer further modules in this certificate later in the year in each area. The course may also provide an opportunity for progression to an NUI Maynooth Certificate in Community Development and Leadership that it is hoped to run in Clare later in the year.
Information on the course has been distributed by email to all network members and Seamus informed the meeting that hard copies of that were available for anybody who wanted it. He urged those present to promote the course to any and all volunteers that they might know or come into contact with. As a pilot course the costs would be borne by the Clare Lifelong Learning Network.
4. Equality & Managing Diversity Steering Group Update.
Marie gave an update on the work of the Equality and Access steering group. She gave a brief overview of the rationale for managing diversity training. Key objectives are to:
· Clarify good practice for an inclusive learning environment from both providers and learners perspective.
· Inform on equality legislation as it applies to adult learning.
Training was provided in November 05 for coordinators and programme managers. At this training it was requested that awareness training be made available in all network areas. From this “Equality & Managing Diversity Awareness” training has been arranged as follows:
· Wednesday 15th February Ennis
· Tuesday 21st February Ennistymon
· Tuesday 14th March Kilrush
· Wednesday 22nd March Scariff
· Wednesday 26th April Shannon.
Marie gave a brief overview of work to date in relation to developing learner forums.
The rationale behind the development of forums Marie pointed out was to involve learner participation in:
· Planning
· Policymaking
· Decision making.
Focus group interviews were held with learners in 3 areas in October 05. A number of issues arose which highlighted the need for forums to be embedded in programme provision and sustainable beyond CLLN. Marie then gave an outline of the next stage of work to be done in the development of learner forums. In order for forums to be sustainable beyond the lifetime of CLLN it is proposed to develop resources to engage learners in active citizenship within a number of adult education programmes. From this work it is expected that learner representation will be embedded in learning provision. This will then allow for representation at both a network and county level.
5. ICT Steering Group Update.
This report was delivered by Ann. She reported that the CLLN website is online. All members have a page which they may edit themselves. Members can also upload courses. To do this:
1. Open www.clarelearningnetwork.org.
2. Click on Resources.
3. Scroll down to Update your courses or pages.
4. Follow the link to the page which may be downloaded and printed.
Contact CLLN for a login and password to access your page. On the home page a calendar can be accessed by clicking on upcoming events. Email events to for inclusion in page.
If interested in getting help to upload courses, arrange a time with Ann or Breda and we will visit you to help.
Ann also reported that the eLearning Training for tutors is arranged for April 19th – 21st inc. and May 15th and 16th – both training blocks to be delivered in Ennis from 9.30 – 4.30.
Forms and module descriptors are available from CLLN. The module is from a Higher Certificate in Arts in Literacy Development delivered by WIT.
6. Ennis Area Action Plan – Next Steps.
Seamus explained that this item would build on the planning process engaged in at the network meetings since last September. As such it will be the final such workshop-type exercise in this phase of area planning. From today’s work the material will be compiled into a comprehensive Ennis Area Action Plan. This together with the similar plans from other areas will also be compiled into a county-wide plan for Lifelong Learning that will meet the target outlined in the Clare County Development Board’s strategy on Lifelong Learning. The outcomes of the meeting will be distributed following the completion of each area action plan.
7. AOB
It was agreed to defer discussion on item 7a “Adult Learning Options Exhibition” to the next meeting.
8. Date of Next Meeting.
The next meeting of the Ennis Area Learning Network will be held on Thursday 4th May 2006 at 2pm in Ennis West Partners.