insideeducation from Inside Time in association with:
When I get out of here… If you are reading this in prison, you may be spending some time thinking about your future and how you can make changes to your life. We decided to work on the theme of “when I get out of here…” for this supplement, because planning the future could begin by using your time inside to start making those changes.
were once in this position. They tell us that learning now gives them focus and self confidence. They also find that prison can actually provide an opportunity to discover what you are good at, or to re-visit talent you have neglected, and develop this to the full.
One of the many statistics about prisoners is that many have not had a consistent education or have had such bad experiences in school that they think learning is not for them. We receive feedback from many distance learners, who
Then there are the people who have already gained qualifications - sometimes to degree level or above. Some will need new skills to change direction upon release; some simply want to keep their minds active and spend their time productively. arts activities, music and even opera in prison. Prisoners also help each other learn when they work as classroom assistants or peer mentors. If you know someone who can’t read this article, you might make sure they know about the Toe by Toe reading scheme. This has helped thousands of prisoners take their first steps to literacy. It runs without any classrooms, with prisoners who can read helping others on a one-to-one basis. So learners can work on the wing, at their own pace and with some privacy.
What prisoners say about learning “In prison I was actually stunned to find out that there was an education system in place. Well, in prison you have two routes to take; route A: Education or route B: Cleaning. I thought to myself; well, I’m young and I don’t know what to do in life, but I certainly don’t want to become a cleaner. So I chose route A: Education.”
Distance Learning “I was initially quite fearful and anxious about being in a classroom due to old memories of school so the correspondence route was perfect for me. I was able to study in my own time and didn’t have to worry about comparing myself with others.” Some people assume that distance learning is all about studying with the Open University. That is one of the choices, but academic courses are not for everyone. There are many other, more career focussed courses available.
Last year, as a result of a survey in Inside Time, we published a report, Brain Cells: Listening to prisoner learners. Nearly 500 of you responded: here is what you told us: • 69% said they got involved in education to better themselves. • 41% said it gave them an appetite for learning. • Between 50-60% said they wanted to continue learning after release. • 30% wanted to continue academic study. • Over half the respondents said that learning had boosted their self-esteem, and almost as many said it had changed the way they saw themselves and their future. • Almost two thirds (59%) said they had gained skills in prison that would help them gain legitimate employment on release.
“I am now studying for a BTEC National Diploma in ‘Make up for performing arts’. This course is great as it helps you to build up confidence, and your artistic skills. I am always busy so I am always doing something, which almost helps me to forget about my sentence.”
From Art Materials to Zoology … the A to Z of learning Prison Classes and Workshops There are a range of classes run by the Education Department. These include basic literacy and numeracy, ESOL, art, and various computer and ICT courses. Some prisons have classes in more specialised areas such as starting your own business. A few prisons offer GCSEs. There are also opportunities to get vocational qualifications in many of the skills workshops.
Training for particular roles in the prison Another important area of learning happens in the training for internal prison roles, such as
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listeners, classroom assistants and peer mentors. Some of this training is accredited, and some is provided by external agencies.
“When I became a learning mentor, I had to complete a three week course in practical strategies for supporting basic skills learning. That course was at level two, and the course is part of a teaching assistant’s training. I get so much satisfaction from helping another
prisoner, because I know the things I help them with they could use later on in life and maybe use it towards further education or even their dream job.”
Informal learning Other less formal ways of learning include self-directed study, reading groups and voluntary workshops on subjects such as restorative justice. There are also a range of projects encouraging prisoners to engage in
In 2009, the Prisoners Education Trust funded 402 different courses at different levels. These covered both academic and vocational subjects, including: Accounting, Eco-building Design, Nail Technician Diploma, Wedding Planning, Plumbing Theory NVQ levels 1, 2 & 3. We funded Dreamweaver MX, Drug, Solvent & Alcohol Abuse Counselling, Clinical Nutrition, and Interior Design. Some prisoners chose Farm Machinery Care, Viticulture or Aquarium & Fish Keeping. Others preferred Journalism or Scriptwriting. Languages studied included Arabic, Chinese and Italian. For sporty prisoners, there was Personal Fitness Training, Anatomy & Physiology and Sports Management. Some prisoner learners have given us permission to print the letters they sent when applying for distance learning course grants these demonstrate not just some of the courses available, but explain how each individual has come to choose their course.
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Education
Insidetime October 2010 www.insidetime.org
About the Open University and other academic courses
So how do you decide what to study?
For learners interested in academic courses, this Trust awarded grants in 2009 for GCSEs, A Levels and OU Level 1 courses in Astronomy, Law, Philosophy, Mathematics and many more subjects. Many prisoners go on to complete either open degrees or degrees in specific subjects, and a few go on further to postgraduate study.
Decision making - connecting the course to the career
The Open University’s mission is “…to promote educational opportunity and social justice …to all who wish to realise their ambitions and fulfil their potential…” Margaret Hart, Head of Widening Participation and Offender Learning, at the Open University describes how the OU makes studying accessible to prisoners:
The OU has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BIS which puts our work on a secure financial footing and enables up to 1600 learners to study with the OU each year. We have worked extensively with our partners to draft a new Prison Service Instruction which will provide comprehensive guidance for all those involved in the delivery of higher education and distance learning in prisons. We have produced a dedicated prison prospectus.
By Billy Little
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hat don’t you know? What would you like to know? Have you spoken with anyone from your Education Department? If the answer is no, then why not? What’s more important, watching Eastenders or doing something constructive with your time? The choice is relatively simple; do something with your time to better yourself and improve your life chances, particularly towards finding stable employment, or continue to watch Eastenders every time you come to prison.
Coming to prison really shook me up. During this second half, I do feel more confident about being able to turn my life around. I believe that I have found a focus ... Such steps are reinforcing what I really want and need to be doing on my release - taking financial responsibility for me and my family. One of the more unusual courses funded by the Prisoners Education Trust was a Certificate in Watch and Clock Serving, awarded by the British Horological Institute. The applicant had previously worked in a garage dealing with sales of engine diagnostic equipment, and felt he needed a new direction for potential self-employment after release. As he also needs to work from home whilst caring for disabled relatives, he is trying to develop skills which will be marketable. Another was a course in the care of reptiles. The applicant wrote at length about his knowledge of these animals and his desire to use his time in prison to extend his knowledge and enable him to do something useful on release.
Getting guidance For those who want to use their learning to improve their chances of getting a job, choosing the right course can be confusing. There are many distance learning providers, but the courses increasingly expect students to have internet access, for course materials and for emailing coursework. The Prisoners Education Trust is developing a set of Careers Briefings, to give an overview of some of the distance learning routes to careers in different fields. These Careers briefings are available on our website, so your CIAS or education advisor should be able to print them out. We will also send a copy to anyone in prison who request them. Contact: Information, Prisoners Education Trust, Wandle House, Riverside drive, Mitcham CR4 4BH. The Careers Briefings start with general areas of interest, eg; Working with Animals, Working in Beauty, Working in Counselling, Sport, Horticulture, etc. They go on to answer questions, such as: • What are the job opportunities? • What skills & qualities will I need? • What are the entry requirements? Then the Briefings list some of the qualifications you might consider; all qualifications are recognised outside prison. There are brief descriptions of the course length and what
The Importance of Being Educated
The Brain Cells: Listening to Prisoner Learners report noted, that the first five reasons why people – that’s you lot – got involved in some type of education were: 1) occupation of time, 2) bettering myself, 3) improving employment prospects, 4) for the qualification, and 5) for the challenge.
It is possible to study just about anything now through a distance learning course. This, of course, means that there can be no valid reasons for not educating yourself whilst incarcerated! Are you up for the challenge? Could you put all your fears aside and crack on with something that really interests you? With the field of distance learning opening up on a yearly basis, the choice that is now available is beyond
you would need to achieve to complete it. These are courses which do not require internet access, so all can be achieved by distance learning from in prison. The Briefings list the course provider and address.
Who pays for distance learning? Prisoners taking distance learning courses can apply for funding from Prisoners Education Trust or other relevant funders. You can find out about other possible funders in the Prisoner Funder Directory, or insideinformation, which should be in the prison library. This lists all the charities that help individual prisoners. The Trust raises voluntary funds from other charitable trusts and foundations willing to support our work, as well as from individual donors. In addition, we administer access to funding for initial Open University courses on behalf of the government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). BIS also provide some funding for level 3 and vocational courses not available in prison. This enables access to courses such as GCSEs, A levels, distance learning based BTECs and other courses.
Being realistic Studying, especially by distance learning, is not always easy. Sometimes, trying to learn in the prison environment can be frustrating, and keeping focussed on the end result takes commitment and willpower. There are moments when learners think; why bother?
years. Just about everything that they taught me has been passed on to others when they started their courses. Once the little things are out of the way, and you know who to see, where to go, how to set out your work, and what to do if things go wrong… and they will at some point!... then the studying part of the course is entirely down to you. The most humbling experience is watching those who you have worked with receive their well earned, certificate, diploma or degree. I can guarantee that at least eight out every ten then go on to assist others in some way or other. Some are Active Listeners, Toe-by-Toe mentors, or working in their spare time as classroom assistants. Essentially, they are passing on the knowledge that they themselves once struggled to get their heads around… it’s a very worthwhile and humbling experience watching another person develop through your help – and it costs nothing! So what’s it going to be - another night of Babs Windsor telling someone on the other side of the jump how much of Rover’s wotsits her family is, or will you aspire to challenge yourself?
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belief. It is possible to study just about anything now through a distance learning course. This, of course, means that there can be no valid reasons for not educating yourself whilst incarcerated! Some time ago a man who had spent the past 22 years on one type of Class ‘A’ or another undertook a distance learning course in drug and alcohol counselling. Not only did this course empower him with a far greater insight than any penal mercenary (psychologist) could ever have provided, it got him off the gear and into employment. They do say that “fair exchange is not robbery”, and given that the distance learning course taught him how
to be a counsellor, it becomes difficult to argue against giving up a few hours of your time a week for such a reward. The man in question now works in a rehabilitation centre, earning good money, but more importantly he is back living with his wife and children. Having entered prison with no qualifications, completed the basic Levels 1 and 2 Numeracy and Literacy, I moved straight into the field of distance learning. It was a little bit of a daunting experience, not knowing how to structure an essay, write a reference or compile a bibliography, but there were, luckily enough, some decent people, who I am eternally grateful to for their support over the
The information is there, all you have to do is ask or submit an application. Who knows - it may even change you, your life, and that of your family. Education is important, without it there is no personal development, progress or possibility of proving to yourself that you are capable of doing something different with your life.”
Billy Little LVCM (Hons), Bsc (Hons) Soc Sci (Open) Dip SP & C (Open). Currently studying for a Masters Degree in Criminology & Social Policy. Prisoner. When you get out of here, how will you have spent your time? I came into prison without a qualification to my name; now I have letters after it.
Education
Insidetime October 2010 www.insidetime.org
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Education is the key to Rehabilitation by Noel Smith
I
spent over 3 decades in and out of prison and laboured under many educational regimes. I entered the prison system as an illiterate child, and I was not alone; according to Home Office figures 130,000 people are or have been in prison in this country in any one year, and 81% of them have educational skills that are below Level 1. Finally, in the 21st century, the prison system is waking up to the fact that you cannot have ‘rehabilitation’ without first having ‘education’. In recent years the prison education system has become proactive in giving prisoners at least a basic level of education, but, although this is much better than no education at all, it is still not good enough. Like most attempts at rehabilitating prisoners in this country, educating only to basic skills level is a half-hearted effort. People with poor educational skills will always be attracted to crime and the financial rewards it offers. You don’t have to have any qualifications to throw a brick through a jeweller’s window or cosh a security guard, and there are no interviews or forms to fill out for these ‘jobs’. One of the main reasons why our reconviction rates are so high is because we learn nothing from prison, except how to commit more crime, and are released back into the same circumstances that caused us to commit crime in the first place. Prison is all wasted time and opportunity for most people, a mere conveyor belt that takes us from dead-end to dead-end.
It is shameful that a man can spend a decade or more in prison and come out without any sort of skill or educational qualification that would be of use in the outside world. And yet, this is what is happening. Criminals are, on the whole, reckless with other people’s property and lives because they have no self worth themselves, and here I speak from experience. Being given the encouragement and opportunity to gain useful educational qualifications or skills whilst in prison could be a way of lowering the reconviction rates. If anyone is really serious about lowering reconviction rates and rehabilitating prisoners then surely education is the key?
Had I not received encouragement from people outside of prison I might be sitting here now none the wiser and with only reoffending and more imprisonment on the horizon
One of the things that frustrated me about prison education was the fact that any prisoner applying to go onto full time education had to be prepared to suffer a financial penalty. The
average weekly wage for those on full time education is around £7, compared to £30-plus for the prisoner who chooses to labour in the prison workshop. It is the same in every prison and this financial disparity creates a dilemma for a lot of prisoners. Prison workshops are full of prisoners putting washers onto bolts or folding plastic bags for outside companies when they could be learning to read and write, or even furthering whatever education they might already have. Unfortunately there is very little incentive for them. I can only speculate on the reason that the prison authorities make education a very poor prospect compared to workshops, but I believe it is all to do with profit. Most of the mind-numbing labour done in prison workshops is for commercial companies, who get their work done on the very cheap and presumably spread a bit of their profit in the direction of the authorities who have sanctioned this situation in the first place. It is my belief that if prisoners could earn as much by taking educational classes then a lot more of them would choose that option. When it came to getting educated in prison I was fairly lucky in the end, though I did stumble around for three decades. Had I not received encouragement from people outside of prison I might be sitting here now none the wiser and with only reoffending and more imprisonment on the horizon. At one time, before the dark years when Michael Howard became Home Secretary and set about slashing prison education budgets to the bone, prison education departments would encourage prisoners to take up higher
education courses and fund them for it. But nowadays any prisoner who wishes to be educated above Basic Skills level will have to fund it all himself. The standard advice from prison education departments is now to ‘write to a charity and see if they will fund you’. A sad and shameful state of affairs and an indictment of just how little the government really care about prisoners with a genuine desire to change and improve their lives. I have met men who after 20 years of imprisonment still cannot read or write, and by any standards this cannot be right. Since the realisation by government that offending behaviour can be linked to lack of education, most prison education departments are now interested only in targeting for Basic Skills and little else. It is like putting a sticking plaster over a gaping wound, but quotas have got to be filled and boxes ticked in our modern Key Performance Indicator linked prison system. Education is still too much of a low priority in our prisons. Compared to the drone-work of prison workshops, prison education remains a poorly paid and unattractive prospect to the average prisoner. And until the financial disparity is rectified it will remain so. The way in which the prison authorities have handicapped education in favour of workshops is criminal, and if, as I do, you believe that education is one of the routes to rehabilitation, then you must question the purpose of prison.
Noel Smith - Ex prisoner
Education support to help relocation Alan C Runnette
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ith the changing of technology of industry and different styles of support offered to inmates. These are now included in the comprehensive education system which is a respected and credible programme that supports students gaining employment. Education is normally divided into two sections; the Main Education department and the Workshop Education Department. The Main Education is tailored to the delivery of full and partime education delivering a range of courses from English Speaking for Overseas Learners (ESOL) to Literacy, Numeracy from beginners level to Level 2, level 2 Literacy and Numeracy is equal to GCSE (C Grade).
many other courses based on Skills for Life. The CSCS course prepares the student for his / her release if they wish to work on a building site. Following the successful completion of CSCS a certificate with the students name and CSCS No is issued by the examining board, this is a passport to enter a construction site, (No CSCS Card no job). The CSCS card is mandatory for site office staff, delivery drivers and all staff that work in the Construction Industry. The British Institute of Cleaning Science (BICS) is another extremely important course as it instructs students in the disciplines of cleaning to a high standard where they can study and pass various levels in cleaning and become Qualified Assessors. These skills can be used before release and after, in hospitals, schools, office blocks etc. Following a Business Study course the student has the knowledge to start his / her own company. The Workshop Education is a very important education programme based in the workshops. This mainly covers The Laundry, Gardens, Gymnasium, Metalwork and associated Engineering Disciplines, together with Woodwork, Craft, Re- Cycling and many more Workshops.
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Computer Studies is a very important course as it offers certificates to a very high standard. Other courses on offer are Drug and Alcohol Awareness, Business Studies, Construction Skills Certification Scheme, together with
An Education Classroom can be found in most workshops and students that don’t want to attend fulltime education can choose to study and pass all the Skills for Life courses studying in their workshop and the students cells at a pace that they feel comfortable with. This is a really excellent way to encourage students to accomplish aims that in the past couldn’t be
release. For the longer term inmate Open University Courses can be taken to the levels of Bachelor of Science Degrees, in recent years two students at HMP Parkhurst achieved their BSc in their particular discipline which was celebrated with The Principle of Open University together and Senior Management and Lecturers. © prisonimage.org
achieved due to them being dyslexic, slow learners or a student that has had a bad experience at school and was disadvantaged from the start. There have been many recent studies into dyslexia in prisons and it is clear from research that a very high percentage of inmates are dyslexic. It is certainly a major requirement in Prison Education for a teacher / lecturer to recognise and understand his student’s difficulties this can only come with long term teaching skills and experience and cannot be read out of a text book. My personal experience and day to day involvement with prisoners in education has made me aware that many perceived difficulties in learning are mainly due to the students lack of self esteem and confidence. Once this has been overcome then the student, with encouragement, will realise his full potential. Educational courses can be achieved by applying for Open Learning Courses that cover hundreds of subjects that when passed will inspire the student to apply for work on
It is important that full liaison with various prison education colleges is increased and more government funding should be made available to encourage inmates to develop skills that can be used outside the prison establishment. The full uses of a theoretical programme in Plumbing and Electrical Engineering should be offered. When the student is transferred to another location he/ she will be transferred to a prison that offers practical work to complete their full examination in Plumbing and Electrical Engineering. With a Business Studies Diploma the students will realise that they can lead a life without crime, and be encouraged stop re-offending. From a career in the commercial world it has personally been a privilege to be part of Prison Education in recognising and helping prisoners who thought that they “could never learn” to prisoners who have achieved high standards in both education and work disciplines, and will, if given the chance on release, never return to their previous lifestyle.
Alan C Runnette BSc. CEng. Mech E. Cert Ed. MIfL - Tutor and Lecturer - HMP Isle of Wight
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Education
Insidetime October 2010 www.insidetime.org
How getting educated helped to turn Jason’s life around The Longford Trust supported Jason in media and communications. This is his story ...
I
am now an official Bachelor of Arts graduate from the University of London. What is really strange is that I now have the confidence, ability and determination to succeed in whatever I put my hand to. Even though we are in the most depressive recession for a long time, which affects ex-offenders extremely hard, I have managed to secure a funded place on one of the most prestigious broadcast journalism courses in the country, supported by a huge media group. I am also on a short list for another media group’s scheme which provides a year’s training to work within programme acquisitions. Essentially my options are bright and it is all down to taking a chance, asking for help and putting in the work. My life was not meant to turn out this way. I had a traumatic childhood which consisted of abandonment, fear, abuse, starvation, shame, chaos and an acute understanding that I was not like everyone else. I still remember being encouraged to steal an orange from a market stall at the tender age of 10. From that moment on, I realised that I could take things and get away with it. That revelation kept me stealing until I first got arrested at 13. The main problem with getting arrested was that no-one actually asked me why I was doing this, everyone just told me to stop. Unfortunately my crime career escalated until I ended up in the Old Bailey at 15 and was sent down a week after my 16th birthday. Young offenders’ institutions were like living in a wild jungle as the tension would surge through the wings and one had to defend
one’s space constantly or be eaten by the vultures. After being transferred to the most brutal young offenders’ training camp in Dorset, I realised that I never wanted to be a criminal. I was only serving a two-year sentence but found myself surrounded by others serving four and five years. I took some education classes and managed to gain a place on a brick-laying course. On release, I never had any direction and found myself back at my mother’s house with my friends knocking on my door. The second day of release was greeted with police officers searching my friends and arresting them for possession of weed. I realised nothing changes, if I don’t change. So I secured a job as a yard labourer and worked for three months. During that time my friends who were not in prison were starting to sell drugs and were showing me the proceeds, which was far more than my meagre £3 an hour. I quit my job and went back to street life full time. Throughout this period I was completely hooked on drugs and alcohol which distorted my perceptions to the point where anything I should know as bad felt so good. Needless to say I ended up back in prison for two periods of remand for robberies. I was acquitted for those crimes which propelled me to commit more crimes. I lasted 18 months before being arrested again and sentenced to a three-year prison term. During that sentence I turned 21 so I had to move to an adult prison. Initially I was scared but adult jails are full of drug addicts so I felt right at home in the place. I had given up on trying to do anything else with my life and spent my time plotting on crimes to commit once I was released. I came out of prison and lasted another nine months before being recalled and convicted of a commercial burglary. My sentence was another three years and I had a heavy case hanging over me which would have finished me off for a long time. At the time I was sharing a cell with a guy of my age who came back with 10 years. I really felt it for him and wanted a chance at life. My next cell mate was serving
14 years and he ended up dying in prison. Luckily that other heavy case fell through and I understood that I had another chance at life. I went back to education and was directed to attend a prison radio course. I completed a B-Tech National Diploma at distinction level, which was my highest qualification and started my hunger to complete more courses. I ended up at an open prison where I worked for the prison magazine and was the main reporter. I was released in Sussex which saved my life as I was not back in London dealing with the madness. I started addressing my drug addiction problems, met new friends, volunteered at charities and practised my skills at various radio stations in the area. One of the producers at a radio station suggested that I should attend university as most professionals working in radio had degrees and I would be able to move faster through the ranks. I applied for a foundation course at Sussex University and Goldsmiths, University of London. I received the dreaded rejection letter from Sussex but managed to gain a place at Goldsmiths. The only problem with Goldsmiths was the area surrounding the college; it had been my stomping ground throughout my teenage years. I took a huge risk and it paid off. I gained a foundation degree in media and communication with a first. I also received an award for academic excellence and was paid £500 for being a good student. I think the law has now changed but whilst studying for the foundation course, I was allowed to sign on which helped me throughout my course. However, I had to think about applying for a BA. My initial thought was that I never had any money, so really had nothing to lose in applying for the loans, if it meant that I would gain a qualification, experience and confidence that would ensure that I could change my life. I received offers from five good universities but chose to stay at Goldsmiths as I liked the college; it was a completely different world to the surrounding area. After completing my first year, I got myself into a lot of debt. Banks
would offer interest free overdrafts which I thought I could max out on clothes and parties. I also was allowed to have credit cards which again were maxed out due to my lack of experience dealing with financial matters. As a criminal I would just spend money as I could always get more. However, as a student, I could not work full time as I had to study. I really struggled through the summer of my first year but was then pointed in the direction of The Longford Trust. The charity funded exoffenders through degree programmes and I thought I had nothing to lose in applying. I received a scholarship for my second and third years of study which helped enormously to pay off some of my financial debts. The scholarship also provided an extra bit of breathing space and time to focus more attention towards my studies. I still had to work part time but did not have to work more than 15 hours a week. Education has truly changed my life and university is one of the most rewarding experiences that I have had. I have met some really fantastic people from all walks of life and found most people really accepting of my situation. I never forget my first appearance on television where I was being interviewed about knife crime and some of my class mates happened to be watching the programme. I had a lot of explaining to do but most people thought I was inspirational to be able to turn my life around. Today is truly amazing as I do not have to wake up looking for an immediate fix to escape the monotony that used to be my life, living in fear of getting arrested or one of my enemies finally catching me off guard, knowing that I was causing destruction and not knowing any way out of that lifestyle. As I said before, I am now a graduate but I still have a long way to go as more young people need to understand that there is more to life than crime, violence and drugs. I would not have succeeded without the support from the Longford Trust and special thanks goes out to my mentors Joe Baden and Steve McCormack who have allowed me to become the person who I was always meant to be.
The Open University welcomes clarification of new PSI The Open University has received reports of a variety of concerns about support for Open University students since the award of the third set of third set of contracts for learning provision awarded by the Learning & Skills Service now the Skills Funding Agency. We work closely with colleagues in BIS, NOMS, The Skills Funding Agency and the Learning Providers themselves to address all concerns raised and meet on a regular basis to address any issues which arise in relation to Open University study in the prison estate. We welcome the latest Prison Services Instruction PSI 33/10 which has clarified the roles and responsibilities of all agencies involved in delivering our courses, without whom our students would be unable to study successfully. Our meetings with partners take place on a quarterly basis and we review (amongst other areas) delivery and support issues which may affect Open University students in prisons. If readers have concerns, which may inform our discussions, we would ask that they write to us through our Newsletter – Inside News which is sent to all Open University students in prisons and secure units. We may publish letters and our response. Please contact us via Inside News, The Offender Learning Team, The Open University, Hammerwood Gate, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes MK76BY.
Families wanted!
Offender learning matters Helping prisoners to:
LEARN
● build self confidence ● develop transferable skills ● achieve qualifications ● provide a means to change Distance learning works to help change direction.
Who can take part?
We offer: ● GCSEs & IGCSEs ● Book-keeping & Accounting
● A levels ● Business and Management
NEW
NEC’s range of courses allows offenders to study at their own pace, in their own time with the support of a specialist tutor, even if they are transferred to a different prison. Many prisoners studying NEC courses receive funding. Talk to your Education Officer or Distance Learning co-ordinator today.
[email protected]
We thank families with a £15 shopping voucher for the first interview and a £25 voucher for the second interview. Work pay is not deducted for fathers who take part.
SKILLS
www.nec.ac.uk Part of LSN
We are looking for fathers with children under the age of 18 who are due to be released before December 30th 2010. We would like to interview fathers, their partners or ex-partners and children (if aged between 4 and 17 years) twice – once before the father’s release and once within 6 months afterwards. All responses will be kept confidential and comply with data protection laws.
What we offer
NEC – experts in offender learning 0800 389 2839
We are looking for Mums and Dads to take part in a research project on the impact on families of fathers in prison. The project is run by Ormiston Children and Families Trust and Cambridge University and funded by The Big Lottery. We want to understand the experiences of fathers, partners or ex-partners and children during a father’s imprisonment and afterwards. Findings will be used to develop new services for fathers in prison and their families.
A not-for-profit organisation
If you and your family are interested please call 01223 767369, email:
[email protected], or write to ‘Dads Inside and Out’ c/o The Institute of Criminology, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DT. If Ormiston works in your prison, you can ask them to forward your name to us.
