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Case Study: Humberside Learning Consortium: Football Basics

Background

This organisation provides accommodation including supported housing throughout the North of England. In Hull, this organisation offers two supported housing schemes. Firstly, it provides hostel accommodation for single people aged 16 -35 yrs, self-catering but with 24hour staff support. Secondly, a project providing safe, self-contained furnished flats for single women aged 18 - 45yrs, with access to staff support. Both offer access to the communal facilities at the main centre, including launderette and an ICT suite offering training.

Proposal

To engage adults aged 16 - 35 yrs in basic skills support through an innovative Sports Development Project through the theme of Football. The project will run for 7 weeks, ending with a trip to the KC Stadium to watch a football match. There will be various incentives for learners that will engage, retain and motivate them for the duration of the project.

Learners will have the opportunity to take basic skills accreditation from Entry Level through to Level 2, with all learners receiving in-house tuition and accreditation from the local Adult Education Service. The organisation will provide a support worker during training sessions and visits to support and encourage learners, and to be a ‘familiar face’ to them.

Learners will also have the opportunity to use and also learn some Information Communication Technology skills. This will be through their initial assessment called ‘Football Basics’.

Football Basics is a new innovative means of assessing adult literacy and numeracy using an easy-to-follow journey through a virtual football club. The assessment tool incorporates contextualised questions that are mapped to the Core Curricula.

How the scheme will work

The project will run for 7 weeks starting in September 04. An informal introductory session will be held in the centre, to discuss the aims and objectives of the project. The organisation expects that there will be a good response to this course and expect around 10 learners to attend.

The project addresses literacy, language and numeracy issues embedded in activities such as:

• Healthy Eating.
• Costing Match Day tickets.
• Buying tickets.
• Costings for football kits.
• Gentle exercise, marking up results on charts and graphs.
• Writing match day reports.

The support worker and the basic skills tutor will work in partnership. Learners will also use ‘local’ materials produced by the Basic Skills Resource Centre, entitled ‘Perfect Pitch’. These booklets use information about the stadium to help learners brush up on their reading, writing and number skills. The basic skills tutor will guide learners and negotiate which sections of the book to work on at their own pace. The questions are linked to the National Standards and are referenced to the Adult National Core Curricula. This will enable learners’ work to be used as part of a portfolio of evidence towards accreditation.

Funding will support the organisation to be able to buy match day tickets, support worker costs and resources. For those learners who complete the project they will each receive an England Shirt.

Outcomes

• Learners completing this programme will have been engaged and motivated into a basic skills learning programme in a context that is familiar and of interest to them.
• Learners will gain in confidence and self-esteem.
• Learners will have had a positive learning experience and therefore be motivated into progressing onto other learning opportunities.
• Learners achieving accreditation will count towards the basic skills growth targets both locally and nationally.
• The centre will have made positive links with the local Adult Education Service and will continue to support the centre through various basic skills and ICT programmes.

Outputs

• Out of ten learners, 4 will achieve basic skills accreditation.
• All learners completing the course will receive in-house accreditation certificates.
• 4 will move onto other positive outcomes.
• 4 will work towards basic skills accreditation.
• 1 will progress into employment.
• 10 will have negotiated Individual Learning Plans (ILPs).