BLT is currently working in two communities delivering 'words and pictures' for parents and carers with their babies, toddlers and pre-school children:
Johnson Fold Hope Centre (Tuesday mornings 9.30 until 11.30)
Come along to the Hope Centre to join in our parents and toddlers session - Words and Pictures.
At the Hope Centre, the family book project has recently been launched. Ten families are involved and enthusiastically filling their books with the activities they create each week together with their children. By the end of the term they will have a wonderful record of their time at the Hope Centre to take home and keep.
Call Sandra for more details on 01204 332760.
The Oaks Primary School, Sharples: Wednesday mornings 9am until 10am
Some recent evaluation comments:
"My child has enjoyed meeting other children her age and learning new social and educational skills"
"We don't have the room to make things together at home, that is why we enjoy the class"
"I have loved spending quality time with my boys doing craft"
BLT is currently working with the following schools on a range of family learning activities:
Firwood School
Clarendon Primary School
St Bede's
St William of York
Sunning Hill
Heathfield
Bishop Bridgeman
Lever Edge
SS Peter & Paul
SS Simon & Jude
St Ethelbert's
St Michael's
Brandwood
The Oaks
St Peter's Smithills Dean
Case Study - BLT in Schools
Halliwell Year of Literacy Project
A member of the Literacy Trust staff was seconded to work part time in 2008/09 to co-ordinate the Halliwell Year of Literacy project, which was managed by the Every Child Matters Partnership 9.
The ECM9 primary schools (Brownlow Fold, Gaskell, Oxford Grove, St Joseph's, St Matthew's, St Thomas, The Valley and Susan Isaacs Nursery School) identified Literacy as an area of high priority for development and the aim of the project was to offer a wide range of literacy activities to engage children and families in the Halliwell area of Bolton in order to raise standards of literacy.
Children benefited from a wide range of literacy based activities, including workshops delivered by Terry Caffrey, Writer in Residence, at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. As well as a writing competition, a programme of themed literacy workshops was delivered by Bolton Literacy Trust staff throughout the year and further workshops were delivered by Bolton Museum, Lancashire Wildlife Trust and staff from Canon Slade School.
Parents were offered English classes, creative writing workshops and arts and crafts classes, all of which proved to be very popular. Whether at the grocery store or doing some Online Banking understanding English is a key component to their success in accomplishing even the most basic tasks.
All of the schools felt that their pupils had benefited from the project, which gave them opportunities and experiences they would probably not otherwise have had. There was a good deal of evidence that not only pupils' literacy skills were enhanced, but their confidence and self esteem were also raised. School staff appreciated the opportunity to develop the work carried out by other agencies upon their return to the classroom and to utilise these links in the future.
If you are a school, community centre or voluntary group and would like to work in conjunction with BLT, please get in touch. See below for other examples of just some of the sessions BLT can run at your venue.
Family Learning Activities
Bolton Literacy Trust team members facilitate a variety of courses for parents with toddlers and for parents on their own. We pre-dominantly run these courses in schools across Bolton. For sessions with parents together with toddlers, we run courses in community settings.
Share Family Learning - is all about having fun with your children - and learning at the same time! Sessions are based around a fun learning activity that you can then use or adapt with your children at home, such as making activity books, matching and sorting activities, letter, number, colour and shape recognition. Parents attending keep a folder of activities which can go towards accreditation for an Open College Playwork certificate.
Healthy Families is about helping parents to make healthy family decisions - from living on a budget to cleanliness to diet issues to fire safety - a fun and informative interactive course.
Little Learners is a course for parents with their young children. The course explores early literacy skills including rhymes, drawing & marking, puppet work, music and speaking & listening.
Computers Don't Byte is a 5/6 week course for parents. The course helps parents to use a computer to make resources for their children.
IT for the Terrified is a computer course for parents which slowly eases parents into using a computer for the very first time to make that step towards knowing as much as their children!
ESOL Bolton Literacy Trust deliver ESOL for parents in school settings.
Get Online! is a computer course for parents / carers which helps those new to the internet to get the most our of their time online.
Words and Pictures is a 26 week long course for parents with young children which focuses on one letter of the alphabet each week. Songs, rhymes, snacks and stories make these sessions interactive and fun!
The courses vary in cost. Schools and community groups, please contact Sue Hoey on (01204) 332760 for details or to request an information pack.
Share Case Study
Over the years Bolton Literacy Trust's Family Learning programmes have been a great success. We have facilitated Share, Healthy Share and parenting classes in schools, hostels and community venues.
The Share Family Learning programme has often been a way of helping parents to support their child's learning whilst also acting as stepping stone for adults back into learning and work environment.
Hello my name is Sajeda Ismail. Before starting the Share course I was a full time mum. I was not very confident and was apprehensive about doing the course. When I started Share it was interesting to find that it was a small group and the tutor was calm and relaxed and explained everything, so it was easy to understand. The whole atmosphere was lovely and the Nursery Staff were very welcoming, which was a big relief as I had not been involved in anything like this before.
I had left school and worked as a machinist, so I had no knowledge of college. After I had my daughter I stopped working and stayed at home. I had never been interested in anything like this before, so the Share course was a nice surprise. It also offered me the chance to meet other Mums and learn about activities to do at home. It introduced me and my daughter to new and exciting ways to learn and more importantly spending fun, quality time together.
When I finished the course I gained a Level One qualification from the Open College Network in two units called Making and Using Learning Materials and Using Everyday Experiences. I felt fantastic that I had achieved something and it gave me the confidence to go to college and study childcare and many other courses relating to children. I would never have thought about college before doing the Share course. Share provided a step for me, as it has meant meeting new people and learning something new. I now feel more confident to talk and share my opinions with other people.
After the Share course I applied to work in Clarendon Nursery where I had attended the course. I was offered a job as a Special Needs Assistant which I jumped at the chance and I have never looked back since. I feel I have benefited so much from Share in many ways and I have put this into practice in the classroom.
I still have my Share portfolio and can't wait to use the activities with my 14 month old son. I feel parents need to know the long lasting benefits of attending a Share course, as well as helping to support their children.
