|
Birmingham
Partnership Spring 2002 Volume 1, Issue 9 Releasing
Change! Contents Briefing: Education News:
Employment News:
Board Profile: Changes taking place within Birmingham Partnership for Change!!! Planning Ahead by Eric McKenzie (Interim Chief Executive) Although it might be said that 'the world is in a constant state of flux', planning for what we hope will happen remains vital to the successful running of an organisation - regardless of whether the organisation operates within the commercial or voluntary sector. Over the next few weeks BPC will thus be engaged in reviewing its year's performance against the targets we set ourselves in last year's business plan. We will also be using the information gathered through this exercise as a guide to mapping out our activities for the next 12 months. Within our Vision there is a presumed outline of our intention to work as a conduit between the African Caribbean community and statutory, commercial and voluntary organisations. The aim being to assist all these sectors by informing and enabling them to adopt strategies designed to address the challenges faced by members of the African Caribbean community in the world of employment and education. Even at this initial stage of the planning exercise the initiatives and projects that emerge as demanding most of our attention remain the same as in previous years. This means we will continue to work with our partners to implement our key strategies in Education and Employment. While planning to carryout work in these areas BPC has constantly had to stop and ask itself whether or not it is capable of taking on these challenges. The question we have had to ask ourselves is - 'can an organisation, which does not deliver a direct service to an end user, influence the nature of the services received by end users?' BPC has
grappled with this conundrum since its inception with varied success.
Resolving this conundrum has presented us with many organisational challenges
not least, but due to the limited resources at our disposal. Yet despite
these challenges we continue to make that all-important difference.
By making a difference to the life chances of a single member of the
African Caribbean community or the working practices of a single voluntary
organisation, or private company means there is good reason to continue
our planning exercise. Education News By Sandra Oliver, Education Officer Raising Expectations and Achievement in Literacy (REAL) - Launch Birmingham Partnership for Change (BPC) and the National Literacy Association (NLA) launched the REAL Project on Monday 25th February 2002 at the Novotel Birmingham. This was part of BPC's prioritised strategies for education in 2001/2002. The launch was well attended by a diverse audience, which included schools, the local education authority, teachers, governors, supplementary schools, local businesses, Government Office West Midlands, REM and Questions Publishing. We applaud
the contributions made by all those involved in the project, especially
our wonderful teachers, parents and children from St Francis, Nelson
and St John's schools.
Appointment of Project Manager We are delighted to announce that Ms Paula Edmondson has been appointed as Project Manager for the REAL project. Paula took up her post on 15th April 2002 and is based at Birmingham Partnership for Change in Birmingham. She is responsible for the day to day management of the REAL project.
New Opportunities Funding for REAL Birmingham
Partnership for Change was awarded a grant for £5,000 from the
New Opportunities Fund for software programmes and support materials
for parents, carers and governors. The Local Education Authority's GCSE performance for the year 2001 showed a decline in the A*-C results for African Caribbean boys. African Caribbean boys achieved 17% A*-C in 2001 compared with 19% in 2000. African Caribbean girls achieved 34% in 2001 compared with 31% in 2000. Although African Caribbean girls improved their performance, they remain below the LEA average of 41%. Both African Caribbean boys and girls fall far below the highest performing group - Indian Girls - with 65% A*-C. Black
Boys Can, a supplementary school founded in 1999 by a group of concerned
Black professionals, was officially launched in Birmingham on Saturday
20th April 2002. The event was chaired by Wilton Powell, OBE and launched
by Bill Morris, General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers
Union. Eight supplementary school teachers from Black Boys Can benefited
from the 'Training of Supplementary School Teachers' event organised
by Birmingham Partnership for Change in April/May 2001. The Personal and Academic Development of Vulnerable African Caribbean Pupils (PAD) As part
of its key strategy to raise achievement in education, Birmingham Partnership
for Change worked in collaboration with Windsor Fellowship to provide
the above additional support programme. The University of Central England
in Birmingham conducted the evaluation of PAD. The report concludes
that '…the programme has been successful in meeting the following
objectives: improving the attainment of African Caribbean pupils by
5%, enhancing self-esteem, improving their motivation to do academic
work and providing the pupils with appropriate careers guidance.' BPC
is well placed to work with schools and the LEA to support them in developing
good practice by setting specific improvement targets to raise the achievement
of African Caribbean pupils. The PAD model is one that should be adopted
and supported by the LEA and schools. The Education Officer was invited to address the Excellence Challenge Forum, which was held on Wednesday 20th March at St George's Sixth Form Centre, in Birmingham. BPC's key strategic objectives in education were outlined. A number of schools expressed an interest in the work of BPC, specifically to raise achieve in education. Employment News By Heloise Shervington, Employment Development Officer Careers in the Professional World The third 'Careers in the Professional World' seminar was held on 25 March 2002. For the first time in its three-year history, the event was held on campus at the University of Central England. UCE was an ideal setting for the event as it gave the young people an idea of what university life is all about and enabled them to meet with and speak to undergraduates studying at the university. UCE is keen to engage with young people, who may not consider a university career, as part of its Widening Participation agenda. The event presented the university with an opportunity to raise the awareness of African and Caribbean young people (some of whom, in 3-4 years time, will be under-graduates) to the university and some of its many courses. Again, over 200 Year 10 African and Caribbean pupils from schools across Birmingham attended the event, the aim of which is to raise awareness to employment opportunities within the professional services and financial sectors. Black professional people who, for the life of this event, have been totally committed and supportive of it facilitated interactive workshops. Workshop facilitators were: Steve McDonald,
Management Surveyor, Birmingham City Council The Careers in the Professional World Planning Group - Birmingham Partnership for Change, Careers & Educations Business Partnership, Birmingham Forward, Birmingham & Solihull Learning & Skills Council and the Economic Development Department - are planning a second event for those pupils who were not able to attend the event in March. The Careers
in the Professional World event focuses on the professional and financial
services sectors, where it is predicted there are and will be some 50,000-employment
opportunities over the next 8-10 years. As African and Caribbean people
are under-represented in these sectors, it is essential that young African
and Caribbean people are aware of these facts. The changing demographics
of Birmingham - the decrease in the white working age population and
the increase in the African and Caribbean working age population - make
it critically imperative that young African and Caribbean people are
aware of these facts. It is important that they are encouraged and supported
in achieving good educational qualifications in order to access the
highly skilled, well-paid job opportunities. The 'Can Do It event' was attended by over 200 Year 9 African and Caribbean pupils on Saturday 9 March 2002, at the Aston Villa Football Club. The event seeks to address the under-employment of African and Caribbean people within and across a variety of sectors and aims to bring African and Caribbean pupils into contact with future employers, who answer questions and provide information on the day. Exhibitors included the BBC, The College of Law, Birmingham, The Engineering Employers Federation and HSBC. Black companies and organisations were well-represented and included Birmingham Partnership for Change, Black Education Arts Training (BEAT) Ltd, Community Roots Enterprise Centre, Nurses Association of Jamaica (UK) and the Society of Black Lawyers. Workshops were facilitated by TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) the Army and West Midlands Police and proved to be extremely popular with the young people. Dr Robert Beckford's workshop 'Investing in your children - Love, Faith and Discipline' gave parents the opportunity to enhance their parenting skills. As in previous years, evaluation of the event indicated that Year 9 pupils and their parents were very positive about the event. Research into the Contribution of African and Caribbean people to Birmingham's Labour Market Birmingham Partnership for Change is working with the Advisory and Financial Skills Task Force to address the under-representation of African and Caribbean people in the professional services and financial sectors and has commissioned Labour Market Solutions to undertake a substantial piece of research. The research aims to reveal the levels at which African and Caribbean people are employed. It also seeks to examine the recruitment, retention processes of employers within these sectors and how these affect the employment and development of African and Caribbean people. A survey of professional services and financial sector employers and a review of African and Caribbean owned/managed professional services and financial sector companies are just two of the activities being used as part of the process. The research
will be completed by the end of May and will its findings will be used
to inform BPC and the Advisory and Financial Skills Task Force as to
what strategies and actions should be implemented to increase the number
of African and Caribbean people employed within the sector.
The Employment Officer was recently successful in obtianing funding from Jobcentre Plus and the Community Fund. These additional resources will support activities to develop and take forward Diversity in the Workplace. David Cragg, Executive Director, Birmingham & Solihull Learning and Skills Council As the first Executive Director of the Birmingham and Solihull Learning and Skills Council (LSC), David Cragg leads a pioneering strategy to plan and fund all post-16 learning, below higher education, for the sub-region. David's role in heading one of the 47 local offices of the 10-month-old national LSC is the culmination of a substantial and varied career dedicated to learning and skills development, in teaching, industrial liaison and economic development. David's commitment to public and private/sector partnerships was apparent even at the start of his career in further education teaching. Here, he developed and led a specialist unit to provide training and consultancy services for business and industry which ultimately led to the prototype for a national network of Language Export Centres, a partnership between business users, further and higher education institutions. Armed with extensive experience of working with industry gained in a college industrial liaison role, David joined Birmingham City Council where he held senior management roles in further education and economic development. He became
the first Chief Executive of Birmingham Training and Enterprise Council
(TECO) in 1990 and took on responsibility for Solihull eight years later
when the area was transferred from Central England Training and Enterprise
Council. Under his leadership, Birmingham and Solihull TEC gained a national reputation for innovation and the effectiveness of its pioneering work in building public/private partnerships. David was also instrumental in establishing the country's first operational Business Link along with colleagues at the Birmingham Economic Development Partnership, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Birmingham City Council. In 1997, David was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Central England in recognition of his services to higher education and industry. In 2000, he was awarded an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours in recognition of his services to training and education. The Learning and Skills Council was launched on April 2, 2001, taking over the role of the former Training and Enterprise Councils and The Further Education Funding Council. It is a national organisation operating through 47 local offices with a budget of £7.3 billion in 2002. The LSC is responsible for all post-16 education in England - other than the university sector - including the planning and funding of further education colleges; school sixth forms; work based learning for young people; workforce development; adult and community learning; information, advice and guidance for adults; education business links.
Changes taking place within Birmingham Partnership for Change!!!- By farideh Sajjadian, Executive Officer (Editor) I am pleased to announce that Doreen Osbourne has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of Birmingham Partnership for Change. We all take this opportunity of wishing her the very best in what, we are sure, will be a challenging role. By the time this newsletter hits your desk, Eric McKenzie (Interim Chief Executive) will have left the organisation. We would like to thank Eric for his "unpacking" skills, his cutting edge opinions, his focused and methodical approach to work and also his knowledge of venues pertaining to City's leisure and culture!!! Bishop Joe Aldred has stepped down as the Chair of BPC and Errol Robinson has been appointed as the Interim Chair. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Bishop Joe for all his contribution to the organisation as the Chair and a former Board member during the years 1998-2002. You must by now know that Kathy no longer works for us and Denita Miller has taken up the position of the Receptionist/Admin Assistant. After leaving school and working at Tyndallwoods Solicitors Denita decided that she wanted to pursue a career as a Legal Executive, so for the past two years, Denita has been studying full time at Sutton Coldfield College to complete a Legal Secretary's Course. Whilst at college, she took part in work experience with Rowchester Chambers and also temped during the holidays at Atkinson Spence Solicitors and successfully achieved the full Legal Secretary's qualification. Denita
now hopes to take up the Legal Executives Course on part time basis.
For the past two years the organisation has been operational with only 5 members of staff. However, due to acquisition of further funding we are pleased to announce that Paula Edmondson is now in place as the Project Manager on the Raising Educational Achievement in Literacy Programme (REAL). The programme comes from a stable of initiatives from National Literacy Association and its management will be through BPC. Operational over 2 years in 3 primary schools in Ladywood and Hockley, this exciting ICT development involves the use of hand-held portables in and outside the classroom. The PSION 5mx with its advanced uses is to be given to 120 children for use in school and home, revolutionising ways of approaching class-based and homework literacy tasks. It will also be the basis of exciting family learning opportunities and extended literacy activity. Pupils are already using them under careful guidance of their class teachers and are mesmerised by the PSION's compatibilities (infra-red zapping of saved information to PC's as well as most PC compatibility) and the fact they have one each. As is the case of many such projects the need for quality evaluation is ever present and the impact of the equipment on literacy gains will be charted by the University of Central England and networks with our usual partners will form part of a larger group interested in and working towards continued educational success for African and Caribbean young people. The last but not the least, we are recruiting a new Outreach Worker to support the Employment Development Officer (Heloise Shervington) in promoting the business benefits of diversity in employment and hopefully the new recruit will be in place latest by May 2002. |
