1B: What is 'success' in learner achievement?

Success at a personal level is about making sure that every student makes a personal learning journey as powerful as the ones described here.

Success at an organisational level is about finding ways to capture as much information about these learning journeys as possible.

‘I’ve been attending literacy classes here for two years, for two hours a week. When I first started I could only recognise a few letters of the alphabet and a few common words. I could spell my own name, but not my kids’ names. I struggled a lot at school and got left behind – that’s how that happened. Things changed at work, and suddenly I was being asked to reply to messages. I used to take them home and get my wife to answer them. It got to be too much pressure, so I came here.

‘It’s helped me a lot. I actually enjoyed taking my son to hospital recently when he broke his arm! This was because I could find my way around by reading the signs, and I could follow the messages board while we waited in the accident and emergency department!’

Andy’s tutor says Andy can now express himself in writing, and though his spellings can be a bit iffy, he can usually make himself understood by sounding out words to gauge their spelling. He has a number of non-accredited achievements under his belt and will be starting work on City and Guilds 3792 in the near future.

Faizah works with her classmates to correct the errors in the sentences, so all contribute to learning.

 

She told us, ‘I am Faizah, and I come here to the centre three or four times a week. I have learned how to put sentences together, when to use commas and full stops and different ways of spelling. You know, I have learned a lot. I feel more comfortable when writing letters and filling in application forms and when I have to read out loud to people.

‘I had an assessment when I came and they said I was slightly dyslexic. You see the reason I started to come here was because I have a baby and so I am not working and wanted to learn something so eventually I want to get an office job. I have never taken any exams but I hope to take a test in a couple of months’ time.’

Jamal’s tutor outlines Jamal’s learning history.

‘Jamal comes from Afghanistan. He is 17 years old and a Pashto speaker. Farsi is his second language. He left his country because of the difficult conditions he was suffering and the violence in his area. It took him about a month, travelling by lorry to get to England before he was picked up by the police. He had heard that Pashto speakers lived in Oxford, so it seemed like a good place to start.

‘Jamal had no knowledge of English when he arrived in the country and had to start learning from the absolute beginning. He found life very difficult at first and he had to rely on his friends to help him get around, go shopping and talk with officials. He was referred here by social services.

‘One thing Jamal will always remember about his time with us is when he had his first assessment and couldn’t write the word “Oxford”. This made his friend laugh, as his room had a poster of Oxford on the wall, with city’s name printed in large letters on it, and he obviously hadn’t understood what it said.

‘Jamal now feels confident to find his own way around, is happy to ask for directions and information, can make himself understood and has gained in confidence. He would eventually like to go on to college. His ultimate ambition is to work in the IT industry, or with computers in a large business.’

Caroline’s tutor, Andrea, describes her progress.

‘Caroline used to work part-time in a bakery and wanted to change career. She attended a Move On class for several weeks last year. She was a very capable learner and came with many skills already. She wanted to gain more confidence with writing and to improve her spelling. At the same time as attending Move On, she also did a maths class and started working towards a teaching assistant’s certificate at a local college.

‘She took and passed communication skills at Level 2 in June and rang me in September to thank me for my support. By then she was working full-time as a teaching assistant. She told me that without the Move On course she would not have had the confidence to go on and do what she is going to do next. This year she is beginning a degree in English and history, and may use this to teach in primary schools later on. In Caroline’s case, Move On certainly lived up to its name!’

Chas’s tutor describes his learning journey.

‘Chas was referred to me by his key worker. Chas was considering starting an Open University course called Openings to Maths, Science and Technology, but was uncertain about whether his maths skills were good enough. He had left school 14 years ago without any qualifications and didn’t remember much about what he had learned.

‘We started by doing initial assessments linked to the adult curriculum. Even at this stage it was clear that Chas had a talent for maths. He was surprised and pleased by the results, which showed him to have only a few gaps at Level 2. He then undertook a 10-hour programme of study with me. He worked on maths topics which would support the OU course he wanted to do. He learned quickly and was prepared to do a fair amount of study in his own time. He started his OU course and found it enjoyable and straightforward. He has now registered to take the numeracy test at Level 2. He is looking forward to completing his OU course, and is planning to take a full GCSE maths course.’