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Carly Noble EDS303Preparation for our Community Education Project

Part 1- A Community Profile

Community profiling is a “tool of community development” that can be used to

establish a range of information relevant to a particular area (Hawtin and Percy-

Smith, 2007, p.1). The active involvement of members from the community is

fundamental to a good community profile. The needs of the residents are clearly

outlined and the intention must be to address one of these needs in order to

improve the communities well- being (Hawtin and Percy- Smith, 2007).

Subsequent to conducting individual research upon our own local areas, the

decision was made that our community project would be implemented in HS’s

community. The reason for this was that both JE and I live in well-established

and thriving societies; however, HS lives in a deprived area and felt that her

community had the potential to benefit the most from this project.

A Health Profile conducted of the area in 2012 translates that the community we

are working with is located in one of the most deprived areas in England, with a

life expectancy rate of seven years below the national average (appendix 1 and

2). In addition to this, the area suffers with a number of significant health

problems which are also substantially worse that country’s national average,

these include:

Violent crime

Smoking in teenage pregnancy

Obese children and adults

Hospital stays for self-harm

People diagnosed with diabetes

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Low academic attainment at GCSE level

(appendix 3)

The Department of Health highlight the priorities of the area as being: smoking,

obesity, and diabetes (appendix 4).

The local primary school we are working with, as part of our community project,

was given “Notice to Improve” and considered to be “inadequate” in 2011. At

present the school “requires improvement” (appendix 5 and 6). The proportion

of pupils eligible for free school meals is twice the national average and the

amount of children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) or disabilities is also

very high (appendix 7).

On the 24th November our group attended a meeting with a councillor (MA) of

the local area (appendix 8 and 9). The purpose of the meeting was to establish

the needs of our focus community. MA used the findings of the Health Report in

order to give us general overview of the issues faced by residents. He

suggested various community projects we could become involved in; this

included the introduction of a skate park or football tournament to combat the

issue of obesity in the area. We proposed some new ideas based on the

information he had given and MA suggested we discuss these further with the

community worker (SR) during our meeting with her.

Our meeting with SR (appendix 8 and 9) was conducted whilst on a walk round

the local community. SR began by informing us of the areas recently allocated

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lottery fund, which they are at liberty to spend on what they feel would most

benefit the residents. We learned that the community could propose ways to

best utilise the fund, at the community meetings held throughout the year.

Moreover, SR told us that councillors were no longer able to attend these

meetings due to some of them trying to influence how money should be

disbursed.

It was evident in every part of the community that littering was a problem,

particularly in places that the local children favour as meeting points. SR said

that the amount of litter in the community reinforces her worry that the residents

take no pride in where they live and that this was a major concern. As a resident

of the community, SR knows that the poor state of the communal flower beds is

an issue which troubles a lot of community members, including herself.

Although the council is supposed to tend to them regularly, this does not

happen and as a result they are badly neglected and full of litter. Other issues

highlighted by SR included: the bad reputation of the local children from the

local primary school, the abandoned and closed community centre, drug

problems, violence and vandalism.

In an attempt to establish further opinion, we carried out door to door enquiries

and asked residents which aspects of the community they would like to see

improve. The outcome of these visits largely echoed SR’s opinion, that the

issue of litter and unkempt flower beds were the greatest frustration for the

community. A number of residents also noted the poor state of the bins in the

area, some of which had been dismantled completely. Seeing this as an

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opportunity to begin instigating change, we contacted Councillor MA requesting

the replacement and restoration of bins in the community. The councillor sent a

reply in the following weeks, informing us that this had been accomplished as a

result of our email (appendix 10).

Based on all of the information gathered on the community, we drew a

brainstorm of ideas surrounding the area and the school (appendix 11 and 12).

in co-operation with SR, we then decided that clearing up the litter and restoring

the flower bed central to the community would be most beneficial to the

residents. It is important to note that this issue is not highlighted as a priority

need on the Health Report, given to us by Councillor MA (appendix 4).

However, we determined that the residents are the people living the area and

so their needs must be paramount. Furthermore, involving the school children

may help towards improving their bad reputation within the community and

educate them regarding the importance of citizenship. Alongside being a

community worker, SR works as a teaching assistant at the local school and so

this provided us with a direct link. Working together with these two communities

may help to improve relationships within the community, as well as targeting

their main needs.

Part 2- Plan for Project

School involvement

Participating in the community project is optional, so it is vital that the children

from the local primary school feel inspired to become involved. In a meeting

with the community worker, she informed us that the children from the area are

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very proud of one of the local parks. The reason for this is because they were

involved in design stages and their ideas were carried out. Based on this

information, it is a priority that the children feel a sense of ownership towards

the community project. We intend to achieve this by visiting the school before

the project is implemented and educating the pupils on the importance of taking

pride in your community. The sessions with the pupils will be presented in the

form of either an assembly, or power- point activities in classrooms. The focus

will be on the effects of littering and how to promote good citizenship, followed

by the promotion of the ‘spring clean mission’. It is essential that the sessions

are fun and engaging for the children, as this will have a huge impact upon

whether they are inclined to participate in the community project.

Subsequent to these sessions, we will ask all of the children to design posters.

It will be emphasised that every poster will be displayed around the local

community, advertising the ‘spring clean mission’ to local residents. This may

help the children to feel that their involvement is valued and contribute to the

previously mentioned aspect of ownership towards the project. A copy of each

pupil’s poster will be sent home, with a letter explaining the project and inviting

parents to take part with their child.

Furthermore, the children will be informed that if they devote an adequate

amount of time to the project they will receive a free pair of wellington boots.

This incentive will be funded by money from the areas allocated lottery fund.

Community involvement

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In order to raise awareness of our ‘spring clean mission’, we intend to invite the

local press to speak with us before and during/ after the project. Additionally, we

will advertise the project in the local councillor newsletter. It is our hope that this

will urge more people to get involved.

The ‘spring clean mission’ community project will take place over two

consecutive Saturdays. We will aim to spend five hours, each Saturday, picking

up litter around the community and tidying up the main flower bed in the area. If

volunteers are still motivated and showing willing after five hours, all members

of our group have the flexibility to stay and help for as long as is required.

Depending on how many volunteers attend at the beginning of the day, door to

door visits will be carried out to encourage locals to contribute some of their

time to the project. There is no limit as to how much time volunteers must

donate to the cause and people are welcome to join in at any time throughout

the day.

The litter pick will begin in the most neglected areas of the community, identified

by the community worker as requiring the greatest improvement. Although there

are many unkempt flower beds in the area, our focus will be on restoring the

largest one, central to the community. We plan to remove the litter, weeds and

dead foliage and replace them with new flowers and shrubs.

Rationale

Our rationale, as a group, for carrying out this project is based purely on the

main needs of the community. After visiting the area and discussing these

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needs with a local community worker, she highlighted the issue of litter and the

community’s general appearance as being a main concern. This problem was

reinforced through conversations with local residents and our own experience of

the area during our visit (appendix 13). Furthermore, this project allows

residents to witness an immediate impact upon the appearance of their

community. It is hoped that this will instil a sense of pride in the local people and

encourage them to continue maintaining their community following our

departure.

The children from the local school have a bad reputation amongst members of

the local community, as they blame the children for the vast amount of litter

around the area. As our assignment focuses on bringing these two communities

together, we felt that a project which may help change preconceived ideas was

necessary. Moreover, through incorporating the local press into the ‘spring

clean mission’ the children’s’ positive contribution to the area will be

acknowledged by even more members of the community.

Part 3- An explanation of process

In order to ensure we remained organised as a group, together we constructed

a timetable of meetings (appendix 14). Being conscientious in pre- arranging

these meetings, allowed us to manage our time more effectively in terms of

knowing what we needed to achieve before our next meeting. As the community

project is an on- going assignment, as a group we were all very conscious that

we did not want to fail to keep up with the requirements of the project. Booking

this time so far in advance, avoided the potential issue of people being unable

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to attend meetings due to them making other arrangements. Following the

commitment to a number of meeting dates, a generic template for the recording

of agendas and minutes was designed and agreed upon by all group members.

The methods of communication our group agreed to use throughout the

duration of the community project are: conversations via the telephone, email,

arranged meetings and three- way Skype phone calls when meetings were not

possible. Communityplanning.net (2009) state that “information provision is a

vital element of all participatory activities.” As a group we kept in regular

contact, so that everyone was well informed about any progress made or issues

that arose. Similar processes were used when contacting the professionals

involved with the community project. As meetings were unable to be held

regularly due to travel distance and the professionals’ other commitments, the

use of email allowed contact to be immediate and frequent. Furthermore,

maintaining contact with the relevant individuals, allowed us to convey our

professionalism throughout the planning stages of our assignment. It was

imperative that our commitment to the project and engagement in the process

was communicated.

Our group had a shared understanding of the meeting protocol. This included

the procedure of preparing an agenda prior to the meeting and the recording of

minutes during. It was agreed that every member of the group would take it in

turns to share the responsibility of both recording the minutes as the meeting

took place and typing them up afterwards. Establishing practices such as this

was necessary as it enabled the work load of the project to be distributed fairly.

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Carless and De Paola (2000, cited in Franz, 2012, p.181) found that successful

“workload sharing” contributes hugely to task organisation and social group

cohesion.

A further protocol decided upon, was the agreement that group members would

notify one another if they were unable to attend a meeting. The ideal means of

communication for doing this was by way of telephone and preferably well in

advance. Etiquette such as this demonstrates respect towards other group

members and enables time to re- arrange meetings. Parker (2009) states that

good ideas often emerge from informal, group meetings. Taking this concept

into consideration, we held a number of discussions during our university lunch

hour every Friday. This allowed time for us to communicate in a relaxed

environment about any business surrounding the community project.

When given the choice, the type of people I like to work with on any project are

people I trust and who are committed. In this instance I had the opportunity to

work with two people with whom I am good friends and meet these criteria. We

discussed the implications of working in a friendship group and decided that the

positive aspects far outweighed the negative. Frey et al. (2009) suggest that

working in friendship groups can be productive, so long as each member can

contribute a variety of skills and expertise. These criteria were definitely

applicable to our group and this has been evident throughout the planning of the

project.

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Various aspects of the community project meant that group dynamics altered

significantly. Using Benne and Sheats’ (1948, cited in Franz, 2012, p.60)

description of group roles, I have ascertained each member’s usual and current

position within the group. HS is usually a “follower,” but has now adopted the

“information giver” role due to her familiarity with the community. JE is usually

the “initiator/ contributor” but has had to step back and become an “elaborator.”

I have maintained my role as an “elaborator” but have also taken on the role of

“orienter” to ensure we are staying on task at all times.

The issues we have encountered so far in the planning of this project are largely

based around time management. JE and I work in full time employment

alongside studying for our degree, this has impacted upon how often and when

we can travel to our focus community as it takes an hour to commute there.

Furthermore, we are each committed to other extra- curricular activities

throughout the week.

Throughout the planning stages of the community project, as a group we have

engaged in the process of both “non- formal” and “informal” learning (Rogers,

2005, p.260). We have sought to discover information about our chosen

community and have obtained this data both accidently and intentionally from

various sources. Our enjoyment in this project has heighted our learning

processes and we look forward to transferring this knowledge and enthusiasm

to the communities we work with.

Word Count: 2574

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Appendix

Appendix 1- Health Report (deprivation- a national view)

Appendix 2- Health Report (health inequalities, a local view)

Appendix 3- Health Report (health summary for area)

Appendix 4- Health Report (area at a glance)

Appendix 5- Ofsted Report (information about the school)

Appendix 6- Ofsted Report (overall effectiveness of the school)

Appendix 7- Ofsted Report (information about the school)

Appendix 8- Agenda 24th November 2012

Appendix 9- Minutes 24th November 2012

Appendix 10- Email to Councillor MA and his reply

Appendix 11- Community brainstorm

Appendix 12- School brainstorm

Appendix 13- Photographs of litter in target community

Appendix 14- Planned meeting schedule

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Bibliography

Communityplanning.net (2009) Principles A- Z. Available at:

http://www.communityplanning.net/principles/principles.php (Accessed: 3

January 2013).

Franz, T. (2012) Group Dynamics and Team Interventions: Understanding and

Improving Team Performance. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing.

Frey, N., Fisher, D. and Everlove, S. (2009) Productive Group Work. USA:

ASCD.

Hawtin, M. and Percy- Smith, J. (2007) Community Profiling: A Practical Guide.

Berkshire: Open University Press. 2nd edn.

Parker, G. (2009) Effective Meetings. Amherst: HRD Press Inc.

Rogers, A. (2005) Non- Formal Education: Flexible Schooling or Participatory

Education? USA: Springer Science and Business Media Inc.

Schuman, S. (2010) The Handbook of Working with Difficult Groups. San

Francisco: Jossey- Bass.

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Meeting Agenda

Meeting Subject:

Education & Community (EDS 303)

Date of Meeting:

24th November 2012

Attendees: CN, HS & JE

Agenda Items

9:00- Meeting with councilor. 10:00- Meet local community worker. 10:30- Walk around community. 12:00- Group debrief. AOB

Appendix 8

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Meeting Minutes

Education & Community Group (24 th November 2012)

Present: CN, HS & JE Apologies: N/A

Minutes of last meeting:

The Minutes of the Meeting held on (insert date) were agreed.

Meeting with councillor

Councillor discussed main needs of local area. These included: obesity, recreational areas (skate ramp) and maintenance of flower beds.

Councillor gave an overview of the local Health Profile, which identified the community’s needs. He then emailed this to all of us.

Councillor informed us of the community worker’s role and her connection with a local school where she works as a Teaching Assistant (TA).

Action- To discuss these issues further with the community worker. All to read Health Profile in our own time.

Meeting with community worker

Community worker informed us of the lottery fund budget they have been allocated. She gave us an overview of how they plan to spend it.

She discussed recent community meetings. Highlighting that all councillors have now been banned from attending, due to many of them trying to dictate how money should be spent. Community now has full control of funds.

Community worker informed us that the next community meeting will be held on January 8th and we were all welcome to attend.

Action- Email community worker to confirm that we will attend the meeting in January.

Walk around community

The main issues which were evident and highlighted by the community worker were: unsightly communal areas, closed community centre, vandalised and missing litter bins, damaged roads and pavements, drug use issues.

Community worker voiced her main concern to be the lack of pride people had in their community which was echoed by the huge

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amount of litter. She suggested that if the issue of litter could be resolved and the community could see quick results, a change in people’s attitude may be achieved.

We knocked on local residents doors to hear their opinions- They reinforced the community worker’s thoughts about the amount of litter and general appearance of the local communal areas (majority mentioned the neglect of the flower beds).

After meeting several local children whilst walking around the area, the community worker informed us that the children have a very bad reputation. This is also true of the children who attend the local school where the community worker works at as a TA.

Action: Discuss all of these ideas further as a group in order to decide what our project should focus on.

Group debrief

After considering all of the ideas highlighted on the walk around the community. It was agreed that the community’s main concern was the litter and general appearance of communal areas.

Due to the amount of time allocated, it was unanimous that the litter issue would be the most achievable in terms of making a good impact upon the community. More importantly, it seemed to be a priority for the local residents.

We discussed writing a letter to the relevant councillor regarding the poor state of the communal bins in the area.

We brainstormed ideas about how to involve children from the local school.

Action: HS to find out who the relevant councillor is to write letter to re. bins. Write letter to relevant councillor. Email community worker to inform her of the area we would like to focus our project on- confirm this is ok with her. Contact the head teacher of local school to arrange a meeting.

AOB There were no matters arising from the previous meeting.

Appendix 9

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From: Appendix 10Sent: 04 December 2012 15:04To: Essex, Jennifer [mailto:[email protected]]Subject: Lack of Waste services inImportance: High

Dear

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the communal bins in the area. Following your requests I can confirm that all of the bins that were considered unusable have been substituted for brand new ones.

With regards to your request for additional bins the council have assembled three more around the community.

I am delighted to hear that you are going to be working within the community and are already instigating positive changes on behalf of its members.

Yours Sincerely

From: Essex, Jennifer [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: 24 November 2012 17:24To:Subject: Lack of Waste services inImportance: High

Dear

Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today and for the information you shared with us.

Our meeting with was extremely positive and we had the opportunity to meet some of the local residents. We wanted to bring to your attention that the local residents are unhappy about the lack of bins within the area and also the poor state of the two bins that are currently in use.

They mentioned that this issue was previously reported to the council but it has yet to be resolved. We would like to request on behalf of the community that the two bins are replaced and to enquire about the possibility of supplying the community with additional bins.

Thanking you in anticipation

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Appendix 11

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Appendix 12

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Appendix 13

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Appendix 14

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