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Dynevor
A guidance officer, Mike Burridge, is based in the Dynevor Information Centre, located in the main shopping area of Swansea, and within easy reach of the Careers Service, the local Further Education College, and the West Wales Training and Enterprise Council (a government funded, locally organised body which administers funding for individual training for young people and adults; business support and corporate training; and the development of quality assurance programmes for employers and firms in the area).
Within the Dynevor Information Centre is a 12-station training room which, for the past three years, has offered unemployed residents the free opportunity to learn about using computers, the Internet, World Wide Web, e-mail, newsgroups, video conferencing as well as learning how to publish multimedia materials on the Web. These courses have been accredited : out of over 600 clients, more than 500 have gained qualifications, gone on to further education or employment. Supervised access to the Internet is available for people wanting to find information about job opportunities to research employer or educational information. A similar facility exists in the nearby Reference Library. We hope to extend this facility shortly to a residential area of Swansea as part of the EC URBAN community development programme.
People can walk in off the street, telephone for immediate help or make an appointment for a guidance interview. There is a reference library of directories, journals, newspapers and magazines which the officer can use to help identify opportunities, or which a client can consult independently if required. In addition a free-standing multimedia personal computer holds a database (ECCTIS) of Educational, Career Counselling and Training Information, which lists all current university and higher education, college and further education courses nationally, and the TIS (Training Information Service) database, with a range of locally relevant training opportunities and providers. There are also a number of diagnostic computer programmes, such as 'Adult Directions' and 'Job File Explorer,' which the adviser can employ to help clients orientate themselves towards career and training opportunities suitable to their interests and enthusiasms.
CORE is a member of the West Wales Adult Guidance Network, an organisation which maintains contacts between education providers, training providers, careers services and guidance organisations in order to ensure the highest standards of impartial advice and guidance for the citizen.
Members have regular meetings to exchange information about:
Mike Burridge is currently completing NVQ (National Vocational Qualification) Level III - equivalent to A' Level (Maturita/Abitur) standard in Advice and Guidance. Mike has been offering guidance since 1990 to a wide range of clients, from post graduates to those with special needs. While we have been part of the West Wales AGN since its inception in 1993, Mike has been instrumental in compiling the AGN's new quality standards manual, which accredits and recognises providers of adult guidance throughout West Wales. CORE has achieved the quality standard in guidance awarded on the recommendation of independent assessors.
As well as informal guidance, Mike provides first level "signposting" guidance to local residents, whereby he refers clients with specific guidance needs for in-depth guidance and/or counselling to specialist providers or educational institutions. For example, a referral could be made to the Careers service for psychometric assessment to assist a client who needs help in identifying an appropriate career path. Often, clients may present with a guidance need but on discussion, particular issues are identified which need intervention from specialists in, e.g. housing, substance abuse, welfare benefits, or other matters. Last year he referred 350 clients for in-depth guidance, education provision or training.
The guidance officer provides impartial educational advice and information to students undertaking courses provided by CORE - from needlecraft to languages - on further education they may wish to undertake, and employment possibilities that may follow. In addition, working in partnership with the Probation Service, he gives guidance to ex-offenders about suitable education opportunities, referring many to programmes which will help them to improve their basic skills in literacy, numeracy or Information Technology.
Each year since 1990 CORE, and the guidance workers, have been involved in "Adult Learners' Week," organised nationally by NIACE This is a national celebration of adult education, supported by the government Department for Education and Employment, the European Union, and local authorities and education institutions throughout the county. Each year distinct themes are identified, such as, for 1998, Learning Works, Family Learning, Learning for All, and Fit for Learning. During the week, television and radio programmes, public service 'advertisements' featuring well known actors and celebrities, and local and national meetings and conferences highlight the importance and relevance of lifelong learning. Local and national press feature nominees and awards of `Adult Learner' or `Adult Learning Group' of the Year, with inspirational case histories. A freephone (0800 100900) telephone number is publicised and thousands of people call national and regional help lines to pursue details of educational opportunities which interest them. In addition, locations such as the Dynevor Information Centre are publicised and CORE guidance workers help to maintain the Welsh national and local helplines, and follow up the results of phone calls thereafter.
The importance of lifelong learning is highlighted in the Fryer Report, from the National Advisory Group for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning (NAGCELL), which says "Mechanisms should also be put in place to give learners and would-be learners timely, and appropriate, information, guidance and support. They need to be encouraged and stimulated into taking increasing control over their own learning, planning for its development and investing in their own futures. This means that appropriate measures should be established to record learning achievements and units towards full qualifications, especially in the early stages of people's lifelong learning career where boosting confidence and self esteem through recognition of progress can work wonders for motivation and morale. " The report has influenced the White Paper on Lifelong Learning. CORE, as a community education service, endorses the need to encourage 'permanent education' and has been at the heart of developing a partnership approach to Lifelong Learning which has culminated in Swansea declaring itself a 'City and County of Learning,' "dedicated to encouraging and promoting in its citizens the concept of lifelong learning". We are members of the national organisation "Learning Cities".
The Community Education Officer, Yvonne Burgis, also based in the Dynevor Information Centre, and her team of community tutors provide a range of services helping young people, specifically, to gain information about education, lifestyle choices, current affairs and community information.
The Dynevor Centre holds a library of paper-based resources on issues affecting young people in particular, presented from their perspective. Resources on subjects such as racism and bullying, drugs and alcohol, health and welfare topics can be consulted, along with information on environmental affairs, transport, housing and financial matters.
We hold licences for five copies of a computer-based information database produced by the National Youth Agency; two copies are based at Community Network Centres in outlying estates of Swansea; one copy is based in a district Library, and is operated in partnership with the Library Service, and the fifth copy is loaded onto a laptop which is taken out to other youth centres and youth clubs by a community tutor, so that young people can access information in their familiar surroundings.
The database covers education, health, housing, relationships, finance and is regularly updated by the National Youth Agency. Local information on each topic can be input into the database. Quarterly reports are generated by each machine covering the type and frequency of use of the database; these are returned to the NYA to monitor the effectiveness of the database provision.
Dynevor is also the base for the DAPS project - this is a three year, Welsh Office-funded programme in which a team of young volunteers are trained and supported by a project worker so as to be able to disseminate correct information about the effects of a variety of substances, including drugs and alcohol. In this way we hope to minimise the risks taken by young people who ingest possibly toxic or intoxicating matter and reduce the harm they are likely to come to by using or being exposed to substance misuse.
The Youth Service also operates a scheme of Detached/Outreach Youth Work, where youth workers go out to meet young people on the streets, or away from youth centres, and try to encourage vulnerable young people to deal with problems and issues which face them.
CORE has the first franchised training programme for youth work, provided through the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, which enables youth workers to gain qualifications leading to degree level (detached youth work is one of the modules available); and during the training programme youth workers are able to familiarise themselves with the use of the Youth Information Database.