Interim evaluation by Laura Dewar, Head of Research Belina Grow CIC
Summary
The interim evaluation of the project has been conducted through Belina Grow Community Interest Company (Belina Grow CIC)[1]. Belina Grow CIC is a new organisation dedicated to developing projects to engage and empower disadvantaged women who are currently outside the labour market and to conduct research and evaluation.
Project Ethos
The ‘working in schools project’ was for mothers in Newham who were not in employment, and was focused on those who were economically inactive and facing multiple disadvantage. The project was also designed to match training and support with employer needs in Newham where there is a high level of unfilled vacancies in school support roles. The approach was holistic including seminar sessions, one-to-one support, mentoring and access to the award winning Belina Grow App[2].
The project tutors thought that it was important to offer the support to mothers in their communities across four children’s centres in Newham; places where mothers could feel comfortable. A free creche was offered to mothers who attended the in-person support.
A vital component was also explaining the system so that mothers could navigate accessing training or how to go about finding a job. Many of the disadvantaged mothers on the project had never worked or worked in a different country and so they did not know the process of preparing for work or taking a job or understanding the benefit system. So, a holistic, supportive and nurturing space was offered to those women.
Project Impact
The interim evaluation includes a survey, quantitative analysis and qualitative interviews.
The project supported forty six mothers. There was a good retention rate and excellent feedback from the mothers with the vast majority giving the project a five-star rating. Three of the mothers have already started to work in a school and eight have begun teaching support courses. In addition, many more of the mothers were considering teaching assistant courses when they open in the autumn at Newham college. In view of the distance of many of the mothers from the labour market they had needed to undertake functional skills before they would be ready to move into a job in a school; eight of the mothers signed up for ESOL, maths and English courses as well as steppingstone training for working in schools including health and safety and first aid courses. The current evaluation figures from the project are likely to be an underestimation of the outcomes for the mothers on the project; they are a snapshot of the start of the journeys for these mothers. It will be helpful to revisit the quantitative outcomes a year down the line to give a more rounded assessment of the longer-term impact of the project.
What People Thought about the Project
The project equipped the mothers to know the steps to moving into working in schools.
“I always wanted to work in schools, but I did not how to go about doing that. I did not know what I needed to do and what course I might need to do to become a teaching assistant. The Newham course showed me the way. They helped and guided me about what types of roles I might do”.
There was also positive feedback about the impact of the project from the children’s centre managers.
“Everybody thinks that the project is good. The parents are very positive when they talk to their key workers or family support workers.”
There was also support for the project from the early years policy lead in Newham.
“There is a recruitment crisis in early years and in school support in Newham. So, we are looking for innovative solutions as to how to address staff shortages in early years and schools so the ‘working in schools’ is a project we wanted to support.”
Project Learning
In terms of learning from the project there is a need for better co-ordination with the local college to make sure there is a better connection with their timetable of working in schools courses. There is also the issue with the high cost of these courses and how this might be addressed by the local council. A closer connection also needs to be build upon with the local schools including opportunities for volunteering and job matching with candidates. In addition, with future intakes on the project, more detailed figures need to be kept of the journeys of the mothers.
Next Steps
In the spring budget 2023 the Chancellor announced that couples on Universal Credit would now both be expected to seek work. There is going to be an increased need for support for those who have been considered economically inactive. The evaluation of the ‘working in schools’ project shows that a holistic, tailored, job focused and community based provision could be the answer at supporting those most disadvantaged into training and work. The next intake of the project starts in the summer of 2023 at Sheringham Children’s centre, it builds upon good practice and the lessons learnt from the previous intake. A fuller project evaluation, consisting of the previous intakes and the new summer intake, will be conducted and published later in the summer 2023.
[2] https://www.myiep.uk/news/579514/Belina-GRoW-Go-Digital-with-their-own-app.htm https://getreadyforwork.org/ersa-awards-the-grow-app-innovation/
Belina GRoW CIC 
Leave a comment