In the words of students, the course began one snowy day with a group of learners gathered in a room full of anticipation and trepidation. Unsure why they were there and what to expect. They were eager and keen. A very mixed group – two volunteers, one YMCA worker, one worker from the Meridian Centre, one self employed guy, one person from Inspired Neighbourhoods and one from InCommunities, one primary school learning mentor and one East European migrant worker – six women and three men.

The students had a range of language difficulties, two in particular had difficulty with written English. Their range of needs included:

ESOL (English as a second or other language) – tutors transcribed for one person (Nusrat) and gave a lot of one to one support to several others and encouraged inclusiveness. Soon Nusrat began to do more of her own writing

Lack of confidence – tutors encouraged and challenged students at all times and gave them ample opportunity to ask for help, helped them give presentations with prompt and constructive feedback

Dependency – tutors acknowledged this but tried to get students, for example to visit other providers, network among themselves, develop better knowledge of local provision and make other contacts.

Lack of IAG (Information, Advice and Guidance) understanding – some needed a lot of revisiting of new ideas. The opportunity to discuss ideas openly in a mixed environment was helpful. It provided a good space for learning and relating topics to the workplace with concrete examples.

New to the experience of learning as an adult – tutors aimed to create a good rapport and warm atmosphere to encourage openness. Students were encouraged to reflect on what they had learnt and think about how to progress by for example, through learning logs.

NUSRAT was very unsure of herself when she joined the group. She has never worked. She has five children, grandchild and heavy domestic duties.

Tutors built on her experience of volunteering with parents of children with autism to draw out her many skills of helping, diagnosing need, listening, asking appropriate questions and offering practical advice. They encouraged her to recognise also her valuable inter-faith activities in a hospital chaplaincy, which had brought her into contact with a wide range of men and women of different backgrounds and faiths.

Nusrat developed in terms of confidence and started to contribute in a very positive way once she realised that students and tutors valued what she had to say. She felt involved and was learning interesting things and meeting interesting people. She said “this course has changed my life” and she started to encourage the parents at her son’s school to undertake a similar NOCN programme