Woking CLP

Projects

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Turning the Page for a New Start

Far too many of our children are leaving school without the necessary reading and writing skills to lead to a successful and fulfilled life.  Last year's exam results showed that there is a core of five primary schools failing to get enough of their 11-year-olds reading to the required standard.  Steve Thomas of the Sheerwater and Maybury Partnership said: "It's absolutely vital we catch these children as early as possible".

The charity is committed to providing services to help youngsters around Woking and to encourage them to get reading.  The partnership aims to provide a book every term for children facing problems at school.  It also provides out-of-school reading sessions for children.

Steve added: "For somebody to enter secondary school at age 11 with a reading age of 7 is unacceptable.  It's happening in every secondary school.  Nationally one in five children are coming out of primary school with a reading age significantly below age 11.  In Woking it's nearly double that.

If we can catch them early and get them excited about books and get them passionate about reading it will make such a difference for the rest of their lives".

Of course there are a huge number of variables that affect the ability of an area's youngsters to read or write.  Areas where families speak English as a second language, families with only one parent or which have low incomes often suffer.  Particular areas in Woking that have high numbers of residents who struggle to read and write include Sheerwater, Maybury and Lakeview.

Community Learning Adviser with Woking Community Learning Partnership, Sian Sangarde-Brown, said: "Nearly all people in Woking who don't read or write well are in work and are supporting themselves and their families.  However, they're often prevented from promotion, deserved salary increases and training.  Family life can suffer and financial difficulties can ensue."

The reading difficulties of adults are often inherited by their children.  Regardless of the hard work of schools, if children are not reading at home they are put at a disadvantage.

Sian added: "It's especially sad if parents cannot contribute to their children's academic attainment and feel uncomfortable in social settings.  Children of adults who can't read and write well can easily fall into the same pattern and have low aspirations.  For many, not being able to read or write is a source of great shame and most develop techniques to hide behind".

The Sheerwater and Maybury Partnership relies entirely upon donations and volunteers to continue its work.  Call 01483 757931 to help.

[Woking News and Mail, 12.2.08]

Hands On In Woking

'Hands On' at Lakeview is now in its second year of offering weekly ICT classes and can now cater for up to eight learners as new ICT equipment has recently been installed. All computers have headphones. 

After much work to involve volunteers and deliver “train the trainer” sessions,  a weekly ICT drop-in has been running since July 2006 on Monday evenings for all residents over 16.  The project, led by the Lakeview Action Group also runs workshops  on Wednesday evenings and some forthcoming titles include:

• An introduction to the Internet
• Shopping on the Internet
• An introduction to Word
• An introduction to Excel
• An introduction to PowerPoint
• Using EBay
• How to create posters
• File Management
• Learn how to type
• An introduction to Email

Residents with laptops are encouraged to bring their own as the Lakeview Social Centre can act as a wireless “hot spot”.  Job skills, literacy and numeracy are also available.

For more information see our good practice publication 'New Lives Through Learning'.

Making Sense of the Mind in Woking

Following the success of the pioneering BBC One series Human Senses   and The Human Mind, the BBC approached Woking CLP to present Making Sense of the Mind, an exploration of the wonders and intricacies of the  human mind through experiments, demonstrations and discussion.  Fifty people   went to the event to try out tests at the Cornerhouse in Woking. More...

The Blue Prince Mushroom Farm

The Blue Prince Mushroom Farm closed in May 2003 making 129 people redundant. Three weeks before closure, a local Nextstep Adviser, Surrey Care Trust Project Worker, and representatives from Woking Job Centre   and A4E (Action for Employment), started to visit the mushroom farm.  Their objective was to assess the needs of the employees facing redundancy and offer appropriate advice.

The workers came to the WCLP meeting to request help in person. The Partnership responded immediately and put into place provision which was available the following week. This included local English classes from Guildford and Woking Colleges, a Job Club, training in First Aid, Skills for Work, Telephone Skills, etc.  Nearly half the employees attended sessions and some have now found new employment.

Visit the case study page to download the full Getting Back to Work  good practice case study.

Free Literacy lessons in Maybury, Spring-Summer 2007

Volunteers have been working with a group of Asian ladies in Maybury to improve their Literacy. Many have been on ESOL courses and are still improving their English. The Volunteers have been trained in using the Butterfly Phonics method of reading and have been using it to encourage    the ladies to improve both their written and spoken English. The Sheerwater and Maybury Partnership paid for the training and the Community Learning Partnership found funding for materials and expenses.

Attitude!

The Community Learning Partnership worked with local police officers to   help a group of young people secure Local Network  Funding to run a youth club in Old Woking.  Attitude runs every week because of the support of parents and adults in the area who work as volunteers.

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