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Volunteer Speaking English with Confidence
(SpEC) Club Leader Training Programme
Training and Resource Toolkit
June 2014
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1 Speaking English with Confidence – aims and vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1 .2 What is the SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1 .3 How to use this SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
1.4 Context – ESOL in the UK, Skills for Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Purpose of SpEC Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.6 Purpose of the Volunteer SpEC Club Training Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2 The Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
2.1 Accreditation overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
2.2 The Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
3 Setting up and running your SpEC Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
3.1 Principles and best practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.2 Safeguarding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3 .3 Facilitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
3 .4 Skills and tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5 Logistics, regulations and reporting to the City of London . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4 Host organisation roles and responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5 Glossary and terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6 FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
7 Further ESOL study and other useful links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
8 Contact details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
9 Appendix 1 – Further reading and support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
9.1 SpEC and ESOL – an introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
9 .2 Preparing to support learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
9.3 SpEC Club session planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
9.4 Preparing for an ESOL session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
9 .5 Facilitation skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
9.6 Fun activities to introduce English language learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
9 .7 Pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
9 .8 Functional English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
9.9 Everyday English and conversational topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
9.10 Let’s practise what we’ve learned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
10 Appendix 2 – SpEC Club Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
10.1 Getting Healthy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
10 .2 Getting IT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
10.3 Keeping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
10.4 Keeping Safe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
10.5 Getting a Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
10.6 Getting Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96
11 Appendix 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
11.1 Skill Scan and SWOT: Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
11.2 Skill Scan and SWOT: Literacy, Language, Numeracy and ICT . . . . . . . . . . . 116
11.3 Learning Plan and Porfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
11.4 Reflective Learning Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
11.5 Session Planner Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
11.6 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
3 Training and Resource Toolkit
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1. Introduction
Introduction 4
1.1 Speaking English with Confidence – aims and vision
The Speaking English with Confidence (SpEC) project is helping to build a London in which no
individual feels isolated because they don’t speak English with confidence.
Over 48,000 Londoners speak little or no English and nearly 2 million
Londoners don’t speak English as their first, or main, language.
SpEC is creating and supporting a network of conversation clubs, or SpEC Clubs, all over London ,
in the heart of local communities. Meeting in libraries, community centres, schools and places of
worship, the clubs will help London residents from all backgrounds who have little or no English
come together and make friends from outside their own family or community. Learning for as
little as two hours a week and practising essential language skills in a relaxed environment helps
promote health, happiness and builds stronger communities.
The project is funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and is
one of the six winners of the national community-based English language competition. The DCLG
recognises the importance of improved language skills in supporting both social and economic
development. All SpEC Clubs will be run by trained volunteers and supported by London-LEAFEA,
the association of London’s 33 Local Authority Adult and Community Learning Services. Each
borough has a strategic claim in helping us develop work around our six key project themes:
• Getting Healthy
• Getting IT
• Keeping Up
• Keeping Safe
• Getting a Job, and
• Getting Involved.
The SpEC project draws on established good practice, and encourages creative innovation in
areas where service providers have identified a need or an opportunity. The project will build
capacity at grassroots level to facilitate informal clubs for adults who are vulnerable, hard to
reach or struggle to integrate into the wider community. The approach to the project is based
on a “learn by doing” model to give volunteers the skills and confidence to facilitate their own
conversational clubs.
Volunteer Club Leaders
The role of the volunteer Club Leader is at the heart of the SpEC project. Representing a wide
range of backgrounds and experiences, this group of community workers, recent graduates,
teachers and teaching assistants, project managers, care workers, parents and ex-ESOL learners
make a real difference in people’s lives. Our commitment to our volunteers is to provide them
with access to free training (30 hours of face-to-face time) and associated materials. This training
course has been specifically designed to support anyone wishing to receive a full Level 3 Award
in Learning Support (City & Guilds). Each volunteer will also receive mentoring support from the
project staff and bespoke, professional teaching and learning resources (which form part of this
toolkit). The overall vision of the SpEC programme is for volunteers to become facilitator-leaders in
multi-cultural conversational groups by autumn 2014.
High-quality learning and progression for learners and volunteers
This is an ambitious project, which aims to engage over 7,000 adults with ESOL needs in London
before the end of 2015. By providing an informal, fun, friendly and accessible environment a SpEC
Club might be the first step to giving vulnerable or isolated adults a voice and greater control o f
their lives in the UK. The project promotes digital literacy, including the use of social media, and
supports volunteers to deliver sessions that focus on developing employability and micro-business
skills .
55 TTrraaiinniinngg aanndd RReessoouurrccee TToooollkkiitt
The project also provides advice and guidance about progression into learning, other volunteering
opportunities and job opportunities for club members and volunteers alike.
We are creating hundreds of spaces across London to help people speak English with confidence.
How can you help?
1.2 What is the SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit?
The SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit will reflect two sides of the volunteer experience on the
programme:
a) it will complement and support volunteers through the training programme, and
b) it will support volunteers in setting up and running conversational clubs once they have
completed the training programme.
The SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit is a high-quality resource made specifically for the
Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme with the aim of helping volunteers to engage
with the project aims. These are set out in the context of ESOL in London and the UK, and of the
barriers to learning faced by many adult learners of English.
The SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit includes:
1. How to use the SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit, where to get further support, FAQs, glossary
of terminology.
2. The framework for the Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme, and all the materials
that you will be given during the course.
3. Teaching and learning materials and resources to provide you with at least 30 hours of SpEC
Club facilitation and learning activities that will:
• support community and social cohesion
• encourage and develop digital literacy
• engage with ideas of citizenship and integration.
These 30 hours of materials have been designed around the six core project themes:
• Getting Healthy
• Getting IT
• Keeping Up
• Keeping Safe
• Getting a Job, and
• Getting Involved.
They show differentiation for less able learners and ideas for extension activities for more able
learners .
4. Resources to help you set up and run a SpEC Club, including programme induction information ,
initial assessments and learner self-assessments, lesson planning, activities to promote
interaction and communication and evaluating learning.
5. Best practice guidance on how to establish a SpEC Club (including health and safety,
safeguarding and equal opportunities).
Introduction 6
1.3 How to use this SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit
As well as this hard copy, the SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit will also be available online.
The Toolkit will be your main point of reference for the duration of the programme and beyond. I t
contains everything that you will need to ensure success throughout the training programme and
lots of resources and ideas for SpEC Clubs.
The Toolkit has also been designed to encourage you to develop your own resources as you go
through the Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme.
1.4 Context – ESOL in the UK, Skills for Life
• ESOL refers to English language provision for anyone who has come to the UK to settle and
live permanently, who speaks a language or languages other than English.
• The number of people living in England and Wales who cannot speak any English is 138,000
(2011 Census).
• In London, 22% of residents – or 1.7 million people – use a main language other than English.
• The 2011 Census also showed that in the London Borough of Newham nearly one in ten
people either speak English poorly or not at all.
Why is it important to learn English in the UK?
• Globalisation means more and more people are being brought together for millions of
different reasons. English is often adopted as the international language of communication.
The language of English and the way it is used is helping to redefine both community
and individual identities and has a huge impact on politics, patterns of income/wealth
and social inclusion as well as new models of citizenship. Think, for example, about online
social media connections that have dramatically changed the way in which people use
language, present themselves and think of themselves as citizens of different communities –
both ‘real’ and ‘virtual’.
• Poor understanding of English can be a real barrier to accessing work, healthcare and
basic provisions.
• Lack of good language skills leaves people isolated, which means weaker and less healthy
societies. Learning English breaks down barriers, improves access to the culture and points
of interest in the UK, and helps people who are new to the country to integrate socially.
• People living in the UK who do not have a good understanding of English face barriers in
accessing work, healthcare, and basic provisions. There is clear evidence that good ESOL
provision is of direct relevance to promoting community cohesion.
• Without a good understanding of English, accessing the job market in the UK is particularly
challenging. Learning English opens up both employment and study options in London
and the rest of the UK. ESOL is a very significant aspect of supporting the government’s
employability and skills agenda and is supported by Trades Unions across sectors.
• Migrants to the UK bring with them a huge range of skills and talents and make vita l
contributions to life in this country. They also bring with them a great number of dreams and
ambitions for the future. Improving their English language skills is one way to helping them
achieve these, and continue to make a positive impact on this country.
7 Training and Resource Toolkit
1.5 Purpose of SpEC Clubs
The SpEC project is creating a new network of SpEC Clubs – informal spaces for people with little
or no English to practise and improve their spoken English. They will be based in the heart of the
community – in children’s centres, schools, places of worship and community centres – and they
will be run and managed by volunteers.
1.6 Purpose of the Volunteer SpEC Club Training Programme
The programme content has been designed to help volunteers:
a) Develop the skills to facilitate innovative and successful conversational clubs.
b) Develop the skills and knowledge to support learning of ESOL.
c) Obtain full accreditation for the City & Guilds Supporting Learning Qualifications.
Introduction 8
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2. T he Volunteer SpEC Club Leader
Training Programme
9 Training and Resource Toolkit
2.1 Accreditation overview
The set of City & Guilds Learning Support qualifications support the professionalisation of the
learning support workforce. The qualification suite is underpinned by the National Occupationa l
Standards for Learning Support staff. All the Certificate qualifications contain three common
mandatory learning outcomes, which include the essential knowledge, understanding and
professional practice required of all practitioners. They are contextualised for each specialism.
Level 3 Award in Supporting Learning
This Award equips the learner with the necessary skills, knowledge and competences to support
learners with different needs in a range of contexts.
• Accreditation no.: 600/6837/1
• City & Guilds no.: 6259-03
• Type: QCF
• Credits: 6
• Guided learning hours: 30
What careers can this lead to?
Progression opportunities include becoming a learning support practitioner or senior learning
support practitioner and other specialist roles .
Further study
Candidates may progress to other specialist qualifications, including:
• Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Literacy, Language and Numeracy Learning
• Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Disabled Learners
• Level 3 Certificate in Communication Support for Deaf Learners
• Level 3 and 4 qualifications in Teaching and Training, and
• Level 4 qualifications in Career Coaching and Mentoring.
2.2 The Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme framework
The Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme Framework integrates the learning outcomes
for the City & Guilds Level 3 Award for Learning Support Practitioners and will prepare volunteers
to facilitate and design SpEC Club activities. The Volunteer SpEC Club Leader Training Programme
will be delivered using an experiential approach where volunteers learn by doing in a fun and
engaging way. The SpEC Training and Resource Toolkit supports direct delivery of five sessions
plus self-study elements. It also contains further reading and practical information for SpEC Club
Leaders, including suggested activities for SpEC Clubs. Volunteers will monitor and share their
learning through an active Reflective Learning Log and Trainer feedback.
Approach
The training programme approach has been designed to provide volunteers with the opportunity
to:
a) Develop the skills to facilitate innovative and successful conversational clubs
b) Develop the skills and knowledge to support learning of ESOL
c) Obtain full accreditation for the City & Guilds’ Level 3 Award in Supporting Learning.
TThhee VVoolluunntteeeerr SSppEECC CClluubb LLeeaaddeerr TTrraaiinniinngg PPrrooggrraammmmee 1100
The approach to the training model has been outlined as follows.
Volunteer SpEC Club Leader
Training Programme
1. F ace-to-face: 2. S elf-study: 3. Buddy system:
30hrs up to 10hrs • Optional
• 5x 6 hour sessions • 2x hours/week • I nformal peer-to-
peer learning and
support
Assessment Materials
Training Support Materials
Content Overview
The delivery of the sessions will be guided by the following key principles:
• Active learning
– A learn by doing approach will be taken. Volunteers will learn ESOL and facilitation
principles, apply these in a practical setting, reflect and apply their learnings further.
• Themes
– C onversational themes that are valuable for personal development and everyday English
will be woven throughout the training programme content. These include themes such
as Getting Healthy, Getting IT, Keeping Up, Keeping Safe, Getting a Job, and Getting
Involved.
• Combined delivery approach
– L earning will be delivered primarily through group work of approximately 15 volunteers.
Within these groups, volunteers will work in smaller groups of two to five to hone their skills
and practical knowledge .
• Assessment and review
– T o ensure progress and the opportunity to achieve accreditation, assessment has been
built into the programme.
– T his will take the shape of multiple choice tests, observation, reflection journals and peer
assessment.
– P rogress of each volunteer will be reviewed at specific stages to ensure that programme
requirements are being met.
An overview of the training programme content has been outlined in this Toolkit.
11 Training and Resource Toolkit
