European Social Fund in England

Equal access for all Ellington community initiative Berkshire LSC CFO

The work for this project addressed the underachievement of people from minority ethnic groups in a recognised pocket of social deprivation.

Ellington Primary School is situated close to the centre of Maidenhead and serves a predominantly minority ethnic community, over 85% of its pupils come from Pakistani heritage backgrounds. There had been concerns about low achievement among the pupils and lack of participation among adults. In response to this, the LEA led the Equal Access for All initiative. The aim was to establish a school based learning centre, initially operating during the school day, supported by a part-time crèche. An outreach worker was also included in the project's plan. Through this the project aimed to engage the whole community in learning and training opportunities, increase the participation rate of minority ethnic groups accessing the LEA adult education programmes and improve Key Stage 1 and 2 results for minority ethnic pupils at schools in the area through working with parents and involving them in the life of the school.

The project exceeded its target number of 32 new learners, engaging in more than one learning activity, and doubled this figure. Many learners took part in three or more different activities. All the beneficiaries accessing the learning programmes were Asian women, the majority of whom were of Pakistani origin, with children at Ellington school and coming from the locality of the project. There was also a cohort of secondary school leavers. There were a high percentage of beneficiaries who spoke little or no English and whose career opportunities were consequently disadvantaged. Programme topics included Asian sewing, health promotion, pre-school practice, cross cultural-awareness and ICT.

Before the project many of these women were isolated at home. The beneficiaries reported that they appreciated having local learning available in an environment which was 'female friendly'. As a group of learners, they grew in confidence and became more open, being able to establish what they want to learn and why. Many began to take an active interest in the life of the school and took an interest in their children's education and school issues.

One of the participants explained: "To understand the purpose of the Ellington Community Learning Centre you have to understand the needs of the local community. In north Maidenhead there is a largely Pakistani community, within which the women especially have little opportunity to learn and improve their Basic English and other important skills within a community in which women are usually excluded from the mainstream lifestyle. They are deprived of the opportunity to participate in the local community. The best way of bridging the skills and language gap is to bring the skills courses to the community

The project highlighted the importance of good partnership working, especially with other service providers. Positive working relationships were developed especially with WEA, Berkshire College of Agriculture, East Berkshire College and the Pre-School Learning Alliance.