LUTON CULTURE
Using ILFA for team evaluation and museum development
Luton Culture is an independent charity that opens up cultural opportunities for all in Luton. The trust consists of two Museums (Stockwood Discovery Centre and Wardown Park Museum), the Hat Factory (Arts venues), Luton's libraries and community centres. The Learning Team is a cross-trust team made up of the museums schools service, the schools library service and the arts for schools programme.
What made you choose the Inspiring Learning for All framework to work with?
It is a useful and recognised framework for measuring GSOs and GLOs for our work with school groups.
What aspect of your organisation’s work or project did you choose it for?
The learning team evaluation. We have also advocated the framework in museum development documents:
When and how did you use the framework?
The Learning team hand out evaluation forms during all sessions, both on site and in school. We ask teaching staff to complete and either hand back there and then, or post in later.
Which aspects of the framework were most relevant to you?
- Generic learning outcomes
- Generic social outcomes
- Planning toolkit and examples and sample questions online
Which single aspect of the framework was most useful?
- Generic learning outcomes
What impact did the framework have on your organisation and/or project?
ILFA has embedded the discipline of evaluating our service, reviewing and responding to - and we continue to review and develop within the framework. It's also a useful reference point and tool for introducing to new staff and for use internally within our verifying teams.
Last year we applied for the LOTC quality badge for our services for schools at both museum sites and we found that similar language was being used and that the processes we had embedded with ILFA were useful and relevant.
I have used the tools for improving performance for approaching service reviews, but also project planning when putting together funding applications etc.
Did the learning you gained from using the framework inform future developments?
We continue to review and develop our service for schools. We completed a very detailed review of our service in 2012 and are mid-way through another, in-line with current changes to the national curriculum.
“Don't feel you need to use the whole thing, or do everything.
Use the parts of the framework to do what is achievable within your
resources and your needs (evaluation, planning)”