MAMÁ 3: MARIA NATALIA CALDERON, EDAD 17 AÑOS

In the survey, co-ordinators and managers were asked about whether they offered learning support provision, the number of learners receiving such support, and the kinds of approaches taken to working with young people with literacy and numeracy difficulties. A significant difference in the provision of learning support was evident between Youthreach centres and CTCs, with 92 per cent of Youthreach centres offering learning support compared with 79 per cent of CTCs. Otherwise no variation was evident in learning support provision by centre characteristics and profile or by ETB. The picture changes somewhat when we consider the proportion of learners in receipt of such support across centres, with significantly higher prevalence of support in smaller centres, Youthreach centres and those with a larger proportion of young people with learning difficulties (see Figure 6.5). Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of learners in SENI centres receive learning support compared with 53 per cent of those in other Youthreach centres.

FIGURE 6.5 PROPORTION OF LEARNERS IN RECEIPT OF LEARNING SUPPORT BY CENTRE CHARACTERISTICS

Source: ESRI survey of Youthreach Co-ordinators and Community Training Centre managers.

In terms of the specific approach used, almost all co-ordinators/managers reported using a combination of individual (one-to-one) and small group support from centre staff for young people with literacy and/or numeracy difficulties. In almost six-in-ten cases, centres drew on specialist support in the form of ETB literacy tutors or cooperation hours while a quarter of centres indicated that they used other forms of support. These other forms incorporated a variety of supports including designated staff or class periods, online learning and broader supports from the advocate or counsellor. CTCs were significantly more likely to draw on external support, with 90 per cent doing so compared with 49 per cent of Youthreach centres. This pattern was evident even taking into account size of centre. SENI centres do not differ from non-SENI centres in the type of supports offered. Some variation in the use of external support is evident across ETBs.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

YR CTC Low Medium High Small Medium Large

Type of centre Prevalence of learning difficulties Size

FIGURE 6.6 NATURE OF ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH LITERACY AND/OR NUMERACY DIFFICULTIES

Source: ESRI survey of Youthreach Co-ordinators and Community Training Centre managers.

In one centre, learning support was provided to all learners, not just those with serious literacy or numeracy difficulties, to remove the stigma attached to receiving support and to enhance the learning of all young people:

All students meet with the Literacy and Numeracy Teachers either 1:1 or small group- even the stronger students because that way there is little stigma as everyone knows everyone goes out to these sessions. For the stronger students it’s their chance to be brought ahead so that they can work away and can be paired up with other students when they come to the bigger group. For weaker students it’s the chance to reinforce what’s being taught to them and also introduce them to new materials in the smaller setting so that they are less intimidated when the Maths teacher for example brings a new formula to the table in the bigger setting. (Co-ordinator/manager, survey response)

In the interviews, staff also reported using a range of online supports for literacy and numeracy, including the Level 2 NALA Write-on for those leavers with particular difficulties:

At the moment there’s two doing that. … So, they’re working on that and they will progress to Level Three but it’s just to start them off and I think it builds their confidence then because they know they’re going to achieve that so then they know they can do the next step. (Moy, Staff)

Some centres had also developed links with local literacy services to provide

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Other Specialist/external Small group Individual %

additional supports for their learners:

Every Tuesday and Wednesday they will take the weaker, the much weaker ones for an hour on a Tuesday and Wednesday morning to work on those. (Suir, Staff)

Others used volunteers to run paired reading programmes:

We did the paired reading programme, a volunteer-led programme where people come in and read. There’s all - it’s amazing it worked, it was all in the one room. So, paired reading went well. We’ve been blessed with students on placement, in volunteers, so we would have people in working one-to-one. You met one or two learners today; did need a bit of support in the classroom. But the classrooms are small enough, you could - you can work with them. And in fairness, there’s people meeting us lunchtime now, catching up with stuff that they’re very weak in. (Bann, Co-ordinator/manager)

In the survey, almost half of the Youthreach co-ordinators and over a third of CTC managers expressed dissatisfaction with the learning support they could offer, with SENI centres, not surprisingly, being more satisfied (see Chapter 7). Some of the centres visited as part of the case studies highlighted the lack of learning support available to them, particularly when compared with the levels of provision in second-level schools. One co-ordinator described how they were able to provide some ’one-to-one learning support but would like to see more’. In another centre, a staff member with responsibility for learning support felt that there is a disparity between learning support provision in Youthreach and that in mainstream school, with similar arguments being proffered in the survey responses and consultative workshops:

I really feel strongly, we don’t get any learning support, so no special assistance, nothing. So, if they have an assistant at school, that’s dropped when they come here. And I don’t see why that’s the case, you know … their needs haven’t changed. (Bann, Staff)

A very high proportion of our students come to us with special education needs. Some come with an existing diagnosis for a learning difficulty and these students would have had access to supports and resource hours in school – these do not travel with them. Some will come to us with no diagnosis, but through assessment and relationship building we will begin to see learning difficulties and will sometimes fund educational assessments (out of our own budget) to provide the young person and their parent/guardian with accurate information on their learning difficulty. Some will come to us with very

poor language, literacy and numeracy skills, purely because they have missed huge chunks of their education and never really received any meaningful supports. Regardless of the reasons, there is a glaring need to provide a Youthreach version of the excellent and resourced supports provided in mainstream schools. The SEN Initiative is ideally placed as the obvious solution to this and would provide a proven and viable route to providing SEN supports within Youthreach. (Co- ordinator/manager, survey response)

Existing staffing levels were not seen as sufficient to provide the amount of support needed by the current population of learners:

Technically, all students could avail of this but there’s only one staff member trained to provide learning support and this isn’t her only duty in the centre. Therefore, she can only work with the students who have the greatest need. (Co-ordinator/manager, survey response)

Adequate literacy and numeracy support was seen as the bedrock for achieving positive outcomes in terms of qualifications and personal development among learners:

In my opinion I feel that dedicated resource hours from fully trained learning support teachers would help improve literacy and numeracy skills. Access to these types of support would lead to students attaining more self-confidence, thus ensuring that the student would remain on the programme leading to acquiring accredited qualifications. (Co- ordinator/manager, survey response)