5A: How to achieve success in leadership and management

Management commitment

Improvements in the provision of literacy, numeracy and language provision across the establishment must be managed effectively at both strategic and operational levels. Management structures should be clearly defined and roles and responsibilities understood. In managerial terms, these responsibilities are shared between the:

• head of learning and skills
• education manager
• literacy and numeracy coordinator
• special educational needs coordinator.

With the exception of the education manager’s role, these are relatively new positions established as part of the Youth Justice Board’s enhancement programme for juvenile YOIs, which began in 2002. These roles should be clearly defined in relation to implementing the PLUS strategy as part of Skills for Life. Individual managers should understand the boundaries of their role in relation to that of other managers.

At operational level, the special educational needs coordinator and the literacy and numeracy coordinator(s) should work together to ensure that support resources, in particular the deployment of learning support assistants across the YOI, are maximised in relation to attaining positive literacy, numeracy and language learning outcomes for those young people with the lowest attainment levels. They also have a role in ensuring that teaching and training staff are properly supported.

An holistic and coherent approach

The role of the head of learning and skills is designed to ensure that the vision can be achieved. He or she should ensure that the importance of learning, in particular literacy, numeracy and language learning, is fully understood by all staff and that they understand their roles in promoting this.

At senior management level, this includes influencing other governor-grade staff, in particular the head of resettlement and the head of inmate activities, in ensuring that there is consistency of activity across all areas of the establishment.

In addition, the head of learning and skills should ensure that there is effective communication between all community providers of education and training, Yots, Connexions and other relevant agencies.

The head of learning and skills should be responsible for ensuring there is a clear statement of purpose for the literacy, numeracy and language learning of young people, encapsulating the principles and aims that underpin all learning programmes from initial assessment through to the end of sentence and beyond.

The procedures should describe what happens in a logical sequence and contain guidance on standards describing the expectations across the entire YOI in quantitative and qualitative terms.

All staff should be kept up to date on strategies and approaches to literacy, numeracy and language teaching and learning as used in mainstream settings. These should also be in line with research evidence of ‘what works’ or is ‘promising’ (as defined by the Youth Justice Board’s effective practice strategy).

Staff development

The successful implementation of the PLUS strategy as part of Skills for Life relies on the skills and knowledge of a range of practitioners in supporting learners. A whole-organisation approach to literacy, numeracy and language provides exciting opportunities to involve a wide range of staff. This includes residential care workers, arts and other specialist practitioners, volunteers and mentors, as well as teaching staff and youth workers. The combined strategies will mobilise staff’s own interests and resources, while providing opportunities for them to learn new skills in relation to their support or teaching role.

This also presents challenges, however, and all staff should be provided with access to learning and development provided within the Skills for Life training infrastructure at Levels 2, 3 and 4 and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) for Youth Justice. The principles of the PLUS strategy, which is a part of the Skills for Life strategy, have been embedded in all training provided through the NQF for Youth Justice, including the juvenile awareness staff programme (JASP) for Prison Officers, and Effective Practice In-service Training for Education, Training and Employment designed specifically for custodial establishments.

Managers should look to these complementary infrastructures to provide all staff with meaningful continuous professional development that has supporting learning through the improvement of literacy, numeracy and language skills as its principal theme.

Staff roles: heads of learning and skills and education managers

The head of learning and skills and the education manager should monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in literacy, numeracy and language provision across all learning contexts, using appropriate means, such as session observations. In addition, they should seek the views of staff and young people in ways that enable all young people, regardless of their attainment levels, to make a useful contribution.

Outcomes from self-assessment procedures should be reported in an annual self-evaluation report to the governor of the institution and to the Youth Justice Board, which will play a major part in determining the development priorities for the establishment.

Using reliable data, the head of learning and skills should ensure that there is a three-year education development plan for improving provision. There should also be a detailed one-year plan outlining what the establishment wants to achieve over that period in relation to:

• the literacy, numeracy and language attainment of young people
• the knowledge and skills of staff working in the YOI
• the resources needed to achieve these aims.

Staff roles: literacy and numeracy coordinators

The literacy and numeracy coordinator is central to ensuring the implementation of the PLUS strategy as part of Skills for Life across the establishment at operational level, as well as for monitoring its effectiveness. Their priorities should be to:

• promote the PLUS strategy, as part of Skills for Life, so that it is embedded in all learning and skills aspects of the establishment
• ensure that relevant literacy, numeracy and language information is recorded to a high standard so that individual and group performance can be assessed
• manage literacy, numeracy and language budgets so that resources are used effectively and efficiently
• monitor the effectiveness of the establishment’s literacy, numeracy and language policies so that high standards of practice are achieved
• contribute to the establishment’s development plan in order to ensure that the literacy, numeracy and language needs of young people are identified and met appropriately
• ensure that initial assessments are undertaken so that effective individual learning plans (ILPs) are produced
• ensure that there is appropriate initial training and subsequent continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for all staff to ensure high-quality practice in relation to literacy, numeracy and language provision
• liaise with Yot staff and other agencies as part of learners’ transition process into and out of custody so that this is done smoothly.

It is important that literacy and numeracy coordinators are provided with the time in addition to their teaching commitments to fulfil these responsibilities effectively.

The learning environment

In considering the impact of context on learning, there are at least three different kinds of context, which should be taken into account:

• learning environment (for example, secure, community)
• the subject matter to be learnt (for example, literacy, numeracy, ICT)
• what the learner brings to the learning situation (for example, motivation, attitude).

Familiar and comfortable learning environments allow the use of more effective learning strategies; unfamiliar or threatening environments may inhibit young peoples’ learning. For example, if the young person associates negative experiences of learning with mainstream school, learning is likely to be inhibited if the current learning environment resembles a school.

Equally, certain kinds of learning environments are associated with particular kinds of learning activities. For example, if a classroom is mainly used for practical work, for example, art, drama, or woodwork, then young people may find it difficult to focus on tasks that require them to write, particularly if they have been taught these skills elsewhere.

Accommodation is essential in terms of motivating young people and respecting them as learners. All classrooms, workshops and other learning environments across the YOI should as far as possible replicate equivalent learning contexts in mainstream environments.

Use of resources

Resources should be used effectively and efficiently. The head of learning and skills should ensure that the progress made by learners in literacy, numeracy and language represents best value for money. In YOIs providing for both juveniles and young offenders, costs should be separated when calculating the value for money provided by the literacy, numeracy and language provision.

The Youth Justice Board has a human resources (HR) and learning strategy with a National Qualifications Framework for Youth Justice. This comprises a range of new qualifications and training opportunities designed to support all staff in the youth justice system to work in ways that have been shown to be effective in reducing offending and re-offending by children and young people. More information can be found at: www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk/PractitionersPortal/LearningandDevelopment

The learning resource centre

The learning resource centre in each establishment should provide a full service in terms of supporting the independent learning of young people. There should be a wide range of fiction and non-fiction material available, and this should be relevant to the attainment levels and interests of young people.

Making links with local libraries can help to ensure that reading materials are regularly circulated and kept up to date. In particular, the learning resource centre should contain a good range of reference and other reading material that is accessible to readers with a low level of attainment but that is not patronising or designed for a younger age range.