MAGNET+ PROJECT

IMAGINE Pilot - Surrey County Council

Social Governance model
Project carrying organisation :
Surrey County Council (Public)
Kingston upon Thames United Kingdom
Contact :
VO
Vincent O
100 %

Local partnership and roles

Surrey County Council

Public local authority
  • Coordination of the Surrey pilot
  • Recruitment
  • Coaching
  • Participant assessment
  • Post-training follow-up
www.surreycc.gov.uk

Stanwell Events

Registered charity
  • Co-producing pilot site partner
www.stanwellevents.org.uk

Woodland Trust

Woodland conservation charity
  • Horticultural expertise
www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

Governance International

Networking non-profit organisation
  • Network development
www.govint.org

The Army Training Centre in Pirbright

The Army Training Centre (ATC) in Pirbright
  • Co-producting pilot site partner
www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/our-schools-and-colleges/atc-pirbright

Surrey Outdoor Learning & Development

Public social service
  • Co-producing pilot site partner

Royal Horitcultural Society

Gardening charity
  • Horticultural expertise and advice
www.rhs.org.uk

Ashford and St. Peter’s Hostpitals

Hostpitals
  • Co-producing pilot site partner
www.surreyoutdoorlearning.uk

Goodsted

Private company
  • Collaboration with software provision
www.goodsted.com

Participants recruitement

Process

Surrey County Council (SCC) is looking primarily to direct towards training opportunities those young people furthest from the labour market. Those recruited are judged to be at very high risk of offending/re-offending and entering or re-entering the criminal justice system. The SCC offer is aimed at ensuring the most high-risk and disadvantaged young people are prioritised, given that they have the potential to most benefit from participation.


Referrals to date have mainly come from people working with young people under the Targeted Youth Support (TYS) offer, but SCC remains open to other sources.


Referrals are assessed by a Surrey CC service management panel who risk rate (using a RAG - red, amber, green - system) to prioritise those referred.

Conditions for participation
  • Motivation
  • Being under the compulsory education leaving age of 18
  • There are no minimum educational qualification requirements

Training Programme

The training

The training takes place at four Surrey pilot sites in collaboration with the different partners involved and its duration will vary from individual to individual.

A minimum of twelve weeks on the project is expected as that is considered the least time likely to be needed for any participant to undertake a meaningful amount of learning and activity in order to gain either a learning qualification (or credits towards), or to capitalise upon an employment opportunity.

All the young people have Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) – these set out a learning pathway with a vocational focus – as such they set a trajectory into employment.

Participants initially receive on-the-job training on how to use and maintain various tools safely and properly. In this framework, National Vocational Qualification awards are offered and support is also provided to help young people to achieve Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) awards.

Participants also receive functional training (literacy and numeracy), at entry level, level 1 and level 2 as individually appropriate and are supported in developing their understanding levels (for example of plant growth) and have the chance to practice workplace processes (for instance the use of small tools).

Furthermore, soft skills are developed in numerous ways - by positive social exposure and by involving young people at every stage of the project, in the design and delivery. Young people are also encouraged to give presentations, walk/talk tours and to take the lead on developing SCC social media presence, photo editing and producing a professional video to capture the project journey.

Young people will need to demonstrate competence – and be supported in understanding how to do so – in order to attain awards accredited by AQA.

Coaching and assessment

The staff team in charge of the training also coaches, assesses, accredits, and generally support participants in different ways.

Qualified youth and community workers help young people work towards qualifications, support them in learning and offer ongoing personal support to young people.

Youth Offending Team (YOT) education specialists from within SCC write functional skills programmes and subsequently verify individual attainment collaborated by external verification.

The same process is followed for AQA provision where this is then delivered and verified with Surrey Outdoor Learning and Development (SOLD) acting as an examination centre.


Co-production

The full co-production model is implemented - every element of the end-to-end process is designed, planned, delivered and evaluated through co-production.

All decisions are made in the closest possible collaboration with both partners and participants all of whom are regarded and treated as assets.

  • In the first instance that entails an attempt to genuinely involve local communities, and other relevant actors in areas where pilots are taking place, in all aspects of programme development, delivery and legacy planning (post-project)
  • In the second instance, it means supporting and encouraging participants to be actively involved in all aspects of that participation

Post-training opportunities

Participants are supported across and beyond their time on the training programme. They are supported into employment, volunteering, other meaningful activity as agreed between themselves and their support network, and in line with any statutory requirements placed upon SCC.

Funding and expenditure

Expenses are mainly related to
  • Staff costs related to full-time support and teaching staff
  • Staff costs related to sessional teaching staff
  • Staff costs relating to sessional support and coaching staff
  • Staff costs relating to staff management and supervision
  • Staff costs relating to administration and record keeping
  • Equipment (including personal protective equipment) and materials costs
  • Costs of consumables for young people
  • Transport costs for young people
  • Overheads costs
Funding sources are
  • European Regional Development Fund
  • Surrey County Council own resources