SwapPlus ISSUE 001, the Turquiose Edition
Newsletter for Volunteer Tutors[Sunday, May 18, 2008]
SwapPlus ISSUE 001, the Turquiose Edition
The Newsletter for Volunteer Tutors in the Dunoon and Cowal area of Argyll.
Hi and welcome to the first edition of SwapPlus. This is intended to be in support of our SwapShops with some advance notice of events, follow ups on topics covered and items contributed by tutors in the spirit of Swapping Good Ideas. We all constantly learn by the experience of others so swap away. The format will probably change as the editor learns and pictures can be included if you have any. You will notice a contact section toward the end and if you are willing to have your details included please send them to the editor either by Email or a note via Sallie. 
Contents:
Green Mapping
Capability Guides
SVQ/NVQ’s
Tutor Corner
Contacts and useful web-sites
Dates
13 Mar – Celebration of Learning , Inveraray (changed from 20 Mar)
1 Feb (Fri) – Deadline for written work by tutors or learners for the Celebration of Learning booklet. (to Sallie please)
Conference
Enable Perth
I recently went to a conference in Perth run by ENABLE, where some very interesting workshops were held. I attended a couple of them but one in particular I found of great interest was “Green Mapping” and thought it would be nice to share my findings with you. I think it is something that you can take and adapt and would be a great tool to use with learners as individuals, or as a group event. So in a short version please read on.
Green Mapping: The idea behind this is to show environmentally friendly hot spots on your hometown maps. This helps visitors to your area find out about places of interest that are not usually listed on ordinary maps. So for example if you were showing parks and recycling centres you would do so with symbols. Enable in Clackmannanshire adopted this concept and adapted it to show accessibility into public places for people with disabilities, members from Enable went along to try out different places and rated it with symbols to show good access or difficult access. This allowed whether they wanted to visit the attraction and gave them an understanding of restrictions and accessibility before they arrived at an attraction or place of interest. Enable also printed their maps and they are now included in their local housing association induction pack so people if new to the area can see what is available within the community. Green mapping can be adapted and designed to suit all different needs and requirements and it may be something that our learners might like to do as an activity, e.g. a learner’s map of Dunoon. For more information you can log onto www.greenmap.org, or to see how a local council has used it log on to www.falkirk.gov.uk. At the next swap shop I will also bring in information for people who do not access or have not got access to computers.
People with disabilities to make a decision as to Rhona Grant - 13 November
At the end of the Year, Sallie would like to say a big thank you to all of the tutors that have put so much into the literacy & numeracy service in the last year. These contributions all make a difference to learners.
Deaf & Deaf Blind Awareness
A few tutors have expressed an interest in this course, but there is still time to apply if you are interested. It is an introductory course that provides participants with an understanding of deafness and deaf people and demonstrates how to communicate well with people who are deaf or deaf blind. Let Sallie know if you are interested. (Those that have already put their name on the list don’t need to get in touch again.) Lorna will confirm dates and times in the New Year.
Drop In Volunteers
Many thanks to the tutors that have been providing additional support in the Drop In. It is making a real difference to the learners. We need to organise a rota for next term. As a tutor it is a good way of developing your own experience, so if you would like to volunteer to help, even occasionally, please let Sallie know and put your name on the calendar in Woodside 2 on the date(s) you will help. 
Capability Guides
These were mentioned at the last Swap Shop and are now just about ready. They are a set of guide lines for tutors and learners that have been put together by Nicky and Sallie based on what we do already and what is done in England. They will be of use if your learner is not quite sure what they want to do or if you are struggling to think of ideas.
There is a large blue folder in Woodside 2 with all the guides in. It also contains example forms and work logs, blank lesson plans etc if you need them.
Courses for Your Learner
Lorna has lots of classes starting in the New Year, so if your learner is looking for something more, pick up a leaflet. In terms of literacy & numeracy classes, Sallie is planning a Get Writing class, Make Your Experience Count confidence building and Number Crunching. The Number Crunching will be everyday maths and arithmetic and tutors are welcome to come along too. It will be fun and relaxed and hopefully help to explain some of the basics like fractions and percentages. 
Scottish Vocational Qualifications/ National Vocational Qualifications
I ran a small 2 hour introductory session on SVQ’s/NVQs during the month of October and November. The following topics were covered:
What are they?
Who does them?
What are the different levels?
What are the benefits?
Lets go through the folder
Lets look at the different terminology and jargon used
I will be looking to run it again after the New Year. If you have learners or know of someone who is about to sit a Scottish Vocational Qualification or is already sitting one and needs a little support understanding the structure, and concept behind them, or as tutors you would like more information so you can help them, then please feel free to contact me or give my details out,
01369704669 Rhona Grant
Useful Website
www.adultliteraciesonline.com - Learning Connections website which is not very inspiring in appearance but there are some good materials.
New Tutor Training
An ITALL course for new tutors will run from around end of January, so if you know of anyone who is perhaps thinking of volunteering now is a good time to get in touch with Sallie. Any long standing tutors who pre-date ITALL are also welcome to join the course.
Tutor Corner
Duncan Findlay: I have been a tutor for about three years but only had one student. We were working on numeracy and progressed to an Open Learning course Core Mathematics 3 with the James Watt College. It consisted of 4 modules which covered the following topics:
- Decimal numbers and Rounding
- Scientific Notation
- Ratios and Percentages
- Graphs and Gradients
- Algebra and Equations
- Trigonometry and Pythagoras
We worked through each module together and there was a test paper for which I acted as invigilator. The paper was sent off for marking by the college. We were only meeting once a week, so it took quite a while to get to the end of the 4 modules. There was a final project to be completed. This was designed to bring together all the elements of the course but had to be completed by the student alone. Unfortunately we have not really had the support from the college that we could have expected and the work has not come to a satisfactory conclusion yet. I feel that if I get involved any further in completing the project it would become my work that was being submitted and that is not really fair to the student or the examination system. 
Contacts
Sallie Condy
Adult Literacy & Numeracy Worker
Dunoon
01369 704669
sallie.condy@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Duncan Findlay
Volunteer Tutor and SwapPlus Editor
Lochgoilhead
01301 703260
The Editor is grateful to all who have contributed to this first issue of SwapPlus. I am happy to have your comments on the content and layout and will try to act on those for the next issue.
SwapPlus ISSUE 001, the Turquiose Edition was posted by Nasreen Kharegat. To discuss any of its subject matter further please contact n.kharegat@switchontoliteracies.co.uk
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