Contributors

Huge thanks to the following organisations and people for their time and input to the toolkit:

Pathfinder Providers

who volunteered to share experiences of setting up and delivering their PEP provision, made contributions to the toolkit, provided case study and learner journey information and acted as critical friends as we progressed towards the final version of the toolkit in September 2009:

• Canterbury College – Glenn Floyd and Rhona Foley
• City College Brighton and Hove – Elizabeth Funge, Donna Keenan, Steve Lewis and Vernice Halligan
• Fareham College – Claire Middleton, Debbie Goodall, Nigel Duncan, Theresa Kemp and Tracy Baldwin 
• Oxford Cherwell Valley College (OCVC) – Ingrid Widdows, Lesley Donoghue, Phil Neave and Mairi Smith
• Working Links – Beverley Foard; Matt Brill

 

Learners

who shared their stories and experiences of PEP, making the toolkit real and exciting:

• Pippa Howell, Canterbury College
• Steven Murch, Canterbury College
• Traverse Morgan, City College Brighton and Hove
• Helen Tibble, Fareham College
• Rebecca Cooper, Oxford and Cherwell Valley College (OCVC)
• Hayley Blundell, Working Links

 

Businesslink: Kim Fletcher and Bob Thomas

Employers: Sainsbury’s: Dean Piggott.  Chives, The Caterers: Debbie Trewerne

Jobcentre Plus (JCP): Steve Gill and Sid Taylor, Surrey and Sussex JCP

Kent Probation: Donna Leigh, ETE Manager

Learning and Skills Council (LSC) South East staff: Fiona Willmot, Sue Ormiston, Rachel Malic and the Integrated Employment and Skills (IES) team; The PET Progamme Leads Group; Peter Holland; Jane Spurgin; Jazz Barton; Michelle Williams; Lesley Burch; Sarah Cullimore; Bill McCardle. Significant contributions from Valerie Koffman regarding qualifications and the QCF, Lisa Baxter for funding and ILR, and Yasmin Miller and Ellena Thompson for continuing the development of linked items such as the Basically... documents and the IES Noticeboard.

Learning and Skills Council National Office: Christine Ingall, Senior Policy Manager Employability, LSC National Office.

Nextstep South East: Lyndsey Whitehead

South East England Development Agency (SEEDA): Bruce Cavalier, Helen Mead

Step Forward Consultancy Ltd in association with pic productions

 

 

Website design/development

 

Martin Higgins – Blu Shine

“In the spirit of the toolkit content, we thought it would be fitting to hire a web designer who had been affected by the recent economic downturn. Businesslink were extremely helpful and sent us the specifications for a number of such businesses which were shortlisted, and Martin Higgins of Blu Shine was hired as a result.

Martin had a strong background working in IT in the city, but had lost his job during 2008 along with many of his colleagues. With a baby on the way, Martin decided to positively use his expertise to set up his own web design and new media company - Blu Shine. We were thrilled to find Martin and have been extremely impressed with the quality of his work, his commitment and willingness to ‘go that extra mile’. He has designed a website that is everything we asked for, plus so much more we hadn’t considered. I really hope this contract is positive for his business and family.” (Sara Whalley, Toolkit Author, Inspire2learn Ltd)

 

“I was really pleased to be awarded the contract to design this website for the Learning and Skills Council South East. I hope to build a strong network and develop my portfolio of work within the education and skills sector in the future.” (Martin Higgins, Blu Shine Ltd)

Website: www.blu-shine.com
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Tel: 0800 756 6924

 

 

Authors

The LSC SE sought consultants with specific skills and expertise to lead, develop and contribute to this toolkit as follows:

 

Offender Learning aspects in Toolkit: Kim Hailstone

Kim is a highly experienced multi disciplinary consultant who has over 20 years experience in the private, public and voluntary sectors. Kim is an educational development professional with a specialist interest in offender learning. Kim’s educational background includes comprehensive experience in Skills for Life delivery at both strategic and operational levels.  She has particular expertise in organising and developing accessibility to learning by disadvantaged groups.

Kim is currently retained by the South East LSC as a Senior Skills Consultant within Offender Learning and IAG, however her portfolio of work also includes National ESF Project Management, Fund Raising initiatives, fund allocation and bid assessment for Grundtvig and Transversal EU funds and implementation of Workforce Development and Skills for Life Policies on behalf of London and South East Regional Development Agencies.

Kim is also a Senior Partner within her own organisation, Island Associates. In her independent portfolio of consultancy, Kim chooses to undertake work that has a positive ‘Social Echo’. Kim has a demonstrable track record in both partnership development and the addition of social value to a diverse range of activities and this overarching ethos continues to inform and enhance her work.

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Case Study and Learner Journey Author and Short Film Production:   Michelle Johnson, Step Forward Consultancy Ltd

Step Forward Consultancy Ltd is a small Sussex based company employing 2 full time members of staff and works with a range of associates to offer a suite of services including: training, facilitation, bespoke consultancy, project management, media production and research. We work with a range of clients including the LSC, The Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), SEEDA, NIACE, QIA and CfBT. We also work extensively in the Family Learning arena offering K’NEX training for practitioners and work as a delivery agent to support the STEM agenda.

Step Forward’s highest profile work is the GO Local Government and GO Fire & Rescue Service campaign and associated Awards. Step Forward has been supporting this national DfES sponsored initiative since 2004 by providing a range of consultancy, training and mentoring opportunities for local authority Officers and by developing a number of key documents integral to the campaign.

Michelle retrained as a Skills for Life numeracy tutor in 1999. She has worked as a sessional tutor, Family Learning Co-ordinator for East Sussex County Council, and now as an independent education consultant specialising in workforce and organisational development. Michelle is a Fellow of the Institute for Learning holding a Masters degree in Education, with specialist areas in Leadership & Management and Skills for Life Whole Organisation Approaches. Michelle is the founder director of Step Forward Consultancy Ltd.

Tel: 01825 760 501 
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Toolkit and Website Author and Project Manager: Sara Whalley, Inspire2learn Ltd

Sara Whalley has a professional background in education, having been a teacher in both the primary and FE sector, and Head of Skills for Life in a college where she project managed award-winning partnership work with the NHS. She has a first class honors degree and a post graduate qualification in ‘Facilitating Change and Quality Improvement in Organisations’. Sara is the Founder and Director of Inspire2learn Ltd and in her spare time volunteers as Chair of the Governors for Glyne Gap special school in Sussex.

Led by Sara Whalley, Inspire2learn Ltd provides bespoke consultancy and training to a diverse range of organisations both in the public and private sectors. The company has developed a strong profile of contracts working with clients such as CfBT, LSN, the LSC, SEEDA, Tribal, The Workplace Basic Skills Network and various smaller organisations in the UK and abroad. Specific areas of expertise include supporting sustainable change and improvement, partnership working, and communication.

Recent specialist work has involved assisting the LSC SE and partners to develop systems and processes related to IES, specifically improving participation for PEP, including new methods of communicating information. This work has resulted in significant impact and a number of practical and sustainable outcomes such as the IES Noticeboard, plain English ‘Basically…’ documents, this PEP Toolkit website and the formation of sub-regional clusters which are helping to broker and develop relationships.

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