Tailored Enrichment Programmes to Engage More Learners in education

At Novus, engaging learners in education so that they can gain the skills and qualifications necessary, to succeed upon release is crucial to their rehabilitation. However, with some offenders only serving short sentences it can be a challenge to engage them in purposeful activities during their short time in prison. 

HMP Durham is a prison where a lot of offenders serve short sentences so, in order to engage as many learners in education as possible, they tailor their programmes to learner's interests and provide engaging opportunities through hands-on, interactive experiences. 

Bridget Hamilton visit at HMP Durham 

Recently, the English department at HMP Durham had a visit from author Bridget Hamilton. Alongside her own successful writing, she has worked with Gateshead Youth Council, Kielder Observatory, HMP Northumberland and BBC Radio Three.

As part of the Local and Community History Month, Bridget delivered three sessions exploring heritage and personal histories with learners. They examined poetry by Dean Atta, our childhood memories and even local legends.

The learners put together some fantastic work and were inspired by Bridget to think differently about writing with a learner commenting: 

I look at things differently now and have realised there are different ways to write and present ideas

The project culminated in the creation of Zines representing 'Life in the community'. At the beginning of the project, the majority of learners were keen to work independently on their Zines however, by the end all learners engage in group work and shared that they felt more confident and had improved their communication and teamwork skills. One learner commented positively on their teamworking experience:

I felt very comfortable working in groups. I don't usually 

The sessions with Bridget were a real success with learners engaging well in the sessions and learners who were generally harder to reach, keen to get involved. Programmes like this ensure learners are able to take part in opportunities that are tailored to their interests and engage those who wouldn't engage otherwise, through interactive experiences sparking a lifelong interest in learning. 

To learn more about how we engage learners in our education provision, take a look at our news section.