London Literacy Champions. Volunteer Training

Transcription

1 London Literacy Champions Volunteer Training

2 Training content PART Welcome and Introduction Exploring literacy and why it s important Champion role 10 minute break Overview of offer to families Making a difference outcomes for families Working together with parents Lunch

3 Training content PART Family Activities Safeguarding Practical information Recap and evaluation

4 What you hope to bring Swap places to be next to someone you don t know. Introduce yourself to your partner and share two or three experiences or skills you hope to bring to this project. You ll have four minutes to share two minutes each. When we come back together I ll ask to you introduce your partner and share one thing they hope to bring to the project.

5 Working agreement Think about what kind of things will help us get the most out of today some ground rules for ways of working together.

6 Project overview Delivered by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with 12 London boroughs. Funded by Team London, the Mayor of London and the Reuben Foundation. The project sets out to improve young children s literacy in London through training and empowering volunteers from local communities.

7 Project aims To engage volunteers in promoting the importance of literacy, empowering local people within their communities. To empower parents to find ways of supporting their own children s learning by increasing parents awareness, confidence and day to day interaction with their children. To increase children s enjoyment of books and print, contributing to children s early literacy development.

8 Exploring what literacy is and why it s important

9 What does literacy mean to you?

10 Why parents are key to their child s learning and development In your groups, come to an agreement and arrange the statement cards into a ranked order in the shape of a diamond, deciding where to place the level of importance for each

11 If you couldn t read, write or communicate well What effect could this have day-to-day and on your life as a whole?

12 Hello Campaign Poor communication impacts on... Mental health Educational achievement 50-90% of children with persistent SLCN go on to have reading difficulties Only a fifth of children with SLCN reach the expected levels for their age in English and Maths at age 11 Behaviour/vulnerability 2/3 of 7-14 year olds with serious behaviour problems have language impairment Children with SLCN are more likely to be bullied Criminality 40% of 7 to 14 year olds referred to child psychiatric services had a language impairment that had never been suspected Disadvantage Cycle Employability..communication skills are the most important employability skills and a lack of them in a candidate is a deal breaker... for many employers. (Sir Michael Rake, BT) 60% of young people in young offender institutions have communication difficulties Children from low income families lag behind high income counterparts at school entry by sixteen months in vocabulary. Vocabulary at age 5 has been found to be the best predictor of whether children who experienced social deprivation in childhood were able to buck the trend and escape poverty in later adult life

13 The importance of literacy Literacy makes people aware of their basic human rights and enables them to fight for and protect their rights. Literacy enables people to have a greater degree of control over their own lives. Literacy helps people to become self reliant and resist exploitation and oppression. Literacy provides access to written knowledge and knowledge is power. In a nutshell, literacy empowers. Kassam, Y. (1994). Who benefits from illiteracy? Literacy and empowerment. In Z. Morsy (Ed.), The challenge of illiteracy: from reflection to action. New York: Garland Publishing.

14 Literacy Champion role

15 When and how will you work with families? You will work with individual families over X weeks for an hour a week, offering a minimum of X sessions to each family. You will work with a total of five families between of September 2011 until May You will meet with families at an early years setting or school and there will be a visit to the library. You won t work in families homes, but will be encouraging parents to read at home with their child and find opportunities in day-to-day life to support their child s literacy.

16 The role of the London Literacy Champion What s the purpose of your role? You are there to inspire and motivate parents to support their own children s literacy by offering ideas, opportunities, practical information and encouragement. You will be offering peer support to the parent Your role is not to teach, but to find out from parents what will help them most and work together to engage their child in talking and sharing books.

17 The qualities of a London Literacy Champion Mutual respect and positive regard Understand that this may be hard for some parents, and that they are taking a big step by working with you. Be yourself They will respect you for it. Accept differences This doesn t mean you always have to agree, but respect their point of view. Empathy Try to understand where they are coming from. Intention to be of service Here to help!

18 Offer to families Positive experiences underpinned by what we know supports children s learning

19 Making a difference Outcomes for families and recording families progress

20 Scrapbooks A scrapbook for each family to use during sessions. Together you can make the scrapbook into a visual record to show the family s learning journey reminders of books shared, visits and activities. The scrapbook can include children s drawings, collages, stories, nursery rhyme lyrics, quotes, photos and lots, lots more. You can use the scrapbook in the final session as a prompt for discussion. The family can keep the scrapbook at the end of the project.

21 Outcomes for parents and children Parents increase their awareness, confidence and engagement in supporting children s literacy and learning. Children increase their enjoyment of books and improve their basic literacy skills.

22 Key areas of assessment Sharing books: includes parents familiarising children with books, looking at the pictures together and talking about these, and reading to and with their children Talking: includes parents talking, listening and responding to their child. This involves talking with their child about their interests, recalling stories and experiences together and developing conversations. Visiting the library

23 Welcome session Finding out what families are already doing How often in a typical week do you share books with your child and talk with your child about something they are interested in? How much does your child enjoy books and stories? How often in a typical week does your child ask to hear a story? Does your child have a favourite book? Is so what is it? How often do you visit a library? Does anything get in the way of spending time sharing books or talking? How much do you feel you know about why it s important to share books and talk with your child?

24 Library visit Preparation for a library visit Have you visited a library before? Discuss when the library visit will be and if the parent needs any further information in advance for example, how you will get there, what you will do there and who will be coming along too. At the library you might include: A short introduction to the library and what it offers, for example of free computers and any free courses or activities that might appeal to families. Exploring the child s interests by choosing appropriate books together Getting a library card. After the visit Did you and your child enjoy the library visit? Would you visit a library again?

25 Middle sessions At the beginning of the session ask the family if they have brought anything to add to the scrapbook. Ask informally: How often have you spent time sharing books with your child? Describe what activities you did with the family in this session and what they enjoyed. Volunteer observation How well do you feel the child listened throughout this session? How well do you think the child engaged throughout this session?

26 Final session How confident did you feel before the project about: sharing books with your child? talking with your child. visiting a library. And how do you feel NOW? Remind parents of how they rated their awareness in the Welcome Session so you can discuss: How much do you feel you know NOW about why it s important to share books and talk with your child? Have there been any changes in how much your child enjoy books and print, and in their ability to listen and join in with stories since being involved in the project?

27 Working together with parents What challenges do you think some parents face, which may prevent them from supporting their child s literacy and learning? In pairs, look at all the statements and pick two or three to explore. Come up with: Possible solutions consider routines, confidence and awareness. Open-ended questions you can ask parents to help them find their own solutions.

28 Lunch

29 Supporting early literacy ORIM

30 Sharing books Creative stories Library and visits Family activities Divide into groups of three. In your group put yourself in the shoes of either the volunteer, parent or child. Swap when you move to the next table. You have 15 minutes to explore each table.

31 Safeguarding

32 Practical Information

33 Recap and evaluation