Learning Advice in Community Settings

LEAD ORGANISATION

New Directions, Reading Borough Council

PROJECT SUMMARY

New Directions is the Learning and Employment Service for Reading, run by Reading Borough Council. This project set out to plan and deliver a three-day advice course for frontline staff operating in a range of adult and community settings. It aimed to equip staff working with learners with the skills and underpinning knowledge to provide impartial information and advice on courses and further learning including progression into higher education. Successful completion of the course led to an OCN Learner Adviser award.

IMPACT

15 participants completed the course and achieved the OCN award. Each participant attended for 3.5 days. By the end of the course participants were able to:

• Understand what makes a good learning experience
• Identify sources of information and support learners
• Use interview skills to identify learning needs and aspirations
• Present information on learning opportunities to others

All participants attended a half-day reflective practice workshop held a number of months after the training to see if and how the course had impacted on practice. All participants were able to recount examples of how the course had helped them with their job roles and enabled them to seek out information and advice to support learners.

Further progression from the Learner Adviser award could potentially be either to one of the NOCN's qualifications in Information, Advice or Guidance, or to NVQ Level 2, 3 and 4 in Information, Advice and Guidance.

As part of this project, a feasibility study was undertaken to assess the possibility of developing the course as an e-learning package, to be delivered via New Directions' VLE. Planning and delivery of the resulting e-learning course subsequently formed a separate project funded by Progress South Central.