Breaking down educational barriers in North East Lincolnshire

Franklin Sixth Form College won the 2023 Community Impact Award from SFCA for their adult and community learning hub work.

The Franklin Sixth Form College Community Hub is part of Franklin College Sixth Form College and provides learning for a diverse population in North East Lincolnshire, with the youngest learners being 16 and the oldest 84 years old. The intent of the Community Hub is to improve lives and challenge inequality by creating opportunities for learning within the most challenging wards of the borough, including East and West Marsh, which are among the most deprived 1% of wards in England. To do this, we collaborate with local family hubs and schools, breaking down barriers of transport, language, and finance by providing solutions such as bursary and supporting parents to find suitable childcare, so children can be cared for and access early years education whilst parents study.  

Within the borough, the community upskilling needs are vast, and it is essential we deliver relevant courses to meet adults’ needs. Tutors are experienced to work with learners of differing abilities, and pride themselves on teaching adults to read and to write a legible sentence, as well as learning to tell the time and manage money; all of which support their life chances and employment skills. These skills ensure that each learner can engage with the local careers service, and they also have access to a VLE which covers health and well-being (Thrive), financial support, and local employment opportunities. Our courses are tailored to the needs of the community, offering Pre-Entry Level (English, ESOL and Numeracy), Entry Level, and Levels 1, 2 and 3, ensuring learners can begin their learning pathway at a level suitable for them and their progression plans. Classes are tailored to busy family lives, with class times 9.30am-2.30pm and evening classes 6pm-8pm offering maximum opportunities for adults to access our courses. 

The team makes a significant impact on the community by supporting and promoting awareness of local agencies through work experience and engaging our learners with local charities such as Women’s Aid, The Ethical Recruitment Agency and Samaritans. We aim to engage the unemployed community by offering outreach sessions at Restart (a local employment centre engaging with the hardest to reach members of the community), and also support community members with complex mental health and learning disabilities who cannot access mainstream education through their own facility within the mental health unit at Bradley Complex Care.  

By developing individual and bespoke programmes for learning, we provide core skills linked to the students’ intended or existing career pathways such as childcare, healthcare and business administration. Working seamlessly in partnership with local employers ensures that the adult community have access to work experience, guest speakers, and community support groups, meaning the local community are upskilled and ready to move into employment, FE or HE.   

The Franklin Adult Community hub is growing, with many success stories. 100% of our Level 2 and 3 Early Years students have gained employment in local early years settings, and other learners have secured roles with the Ethical Recruitment Agency (Care), supporting the local needs of the community and learners. Learners that have completed GCSE Maths are now studying at Russell Group universities in areas such as nursing. 

By offering community-based education, learners can access education by breaking down barriers and support integration quickly; for example, in Immingham our ESOL class promotes and welcomes breastfeeding learners, allowing new mums to engage with learning, make friends to reduce isolation, and access other on-site health and wellbeing services. 

Enrichment for ESOL learners has grown into a local multicultural group with learners sharing experiences and supporting one another; for example, Muslim learners have shared experiences of Ramandan with our Ukrainian refugees during Lent and shared different foods, stories and discussion. We have our more experienced Portuguese learners mentoring our newest ESOL learners who do not speak any English, to allow them to integrate into the local community. 

Our youngest participants (aged 16 and 17), those from other countries, NEETs, and young mums are all participating in courses as a progression plan to support their transition to full time education, providing a supportive transition to positive destinations. 

Having a thriving adult community provision has enabled us as a sixth form college to support our core sixth form college aim of ‘providing the best life chances for our community’. By utilising the skills and experiences of 16-19 teachers and specialist adult teachers, we can offer the best educational experiences for the community, and the experience of teaching across both 16-19 and adult learning enhances learning for all our students. 

Jen is head of adult learning at Franklin. Look out for more blogs from award winners in the coming weeks; you can find the first in the series here.