7. ACTIVITIES
Outcome
Prisoners take part in activities that educate, develop skills and personal qualities and prepare them for life outside prison.
7.1 Met. All prisoners have access to learning opportunities, including those on remand and those serving short-term sentences. Around one third of prisoners participate in LSE activities, and the majority of prisoners participate in work parties, although access is limited by timetable. Nevertheless, for many short-term prisoners, long periods of time are spent locked in cell.
Introduction and Context
7.2 An experienced full-time manager organises and manages activities within the Learning, Skills and Employability ( LSE) Centre in the prison. The contract for the provision of these services is held by Motherwell College. Prisoners are also able to access facilities within the Links Centre, which provide routes to informal learning, including links with Dumfries and Galloway Community Learning and Development ( CLD). The majority of prisoners participate in meaningful training and work in a limited range of workshop activities.
Staffing and Resources
7.3 The LSE Centre is adequately staffed with experienced and vocationally qualified teaching staff. Most teaching staff hold a teaching qualification. The learning centre manager liaises with Motherwell College which provides student enrolment, internal moderation and assessment administration for most programmes.
7.4 Accommodation is of a good standard, clean, well maintained and appropriately furnished. It comprises four classrooms, including a dedicated art room, two general classrooms and an ICT suite. Computers are adequate for the level of work on offer. However, ongoing difficulties with software to simulate on-line activity have prevented prisoners from completing the 'European Computer Driving Licence' ( ECDL) award.
7.5 Enthusiastic prison service staff manage the Links Centre well and use external local authority CLD tutors and other external agencies to good effect to provide additional learning support for prisoners. A small team of trained prisoner mentors is particularly effective in providing individual support to prisoners with literacy and numeracy needs.
7.6 Prison officers also manage a limited range of meaningful training and work party opportunities for around 40% of the total prison population. The regimes manager is proactive in identifying appropriate work for prisoners and staff encourage prisoners' active participation.
7.7 However, the poor layout of the production workshop prevents prisoners from interacting sufficiently with one another during work periods and does not simulate a realistic environment for purposeful employment.
Access to Learning, Skills and Employability
7.8 All prisoners have access to learning opportunities, including those on remand and those serving short-term sentences. Creative timetabling by the LSE manager ensures long-term prisoners remain segregated from short-term prisoners and those on remand. Across each week, around a third of the prisoner population attend the LSE Centre, with 15-18 prisoners routinely attending on each half-day learning session.
7.9 The Links Centre provides additional access to individual learning for a number of prisoners, including CLD-delivered first steps into computing programmes. These programmes complement the LSE provision and give prisoners wider choice. A suitable range of partner organisations, including CLD, Phoenix Futures and Citizens Advice work with prisoners and respond to prisoner issues as appropriate. Routinely, 10-15 prisoners use the Links centre on each half-day session.
7.10 The majority of long-term and short-term prisoners (56%) participate in work parties. Opportunities are available in the laundry, kitchen, garden, joinery workshop, general production workshop, and as cleaners and passmen. Routinely, 75-80 prisoners are involved in these activities daily.
7.11 Prisoners in 'E' Hall were preparing for release under a 'progressive regime' and as such were required to participate in both education and work party activities.
7.12 Prisoners are financially disadvantaged when attending education classes in preference to being on a work party. The prison's practice is to reduce prisoners' wages by 30% for each education session attended by prisoners in preference to work party activity. This differential acts as a disincentive to attend education classes for a number of prisoners who are fully dependent on their earned weekly wage to purchase personal goods and telephone cards. It is recommended that prisoners are not financially disadvantaged as a result of attending education.
Assessment of Need
7.13 Almost all new prisoners attend an induction programme on entry to the prison where learning and training opportunities are explained. An "alerting tool" is used to diagnose basic literacy and numeracy needs. All prisoners engaging in education programmes are further assessed using paper-based and online tools to establish levels of literacy and numeracy and this informs their programmes of study. LSE Centre staff produce suitable individual learning plans ( ILP) for all prisoners involved in learning and use these to monitor and record progress regularly.
7.14 Not all learning records for long-term prisoners are supplied to the LSE Centre and this results in delays in prisoners being placed on the correct level of programme.
Delivery of Learning
7.15 In the LSE Centre, prisoner learning is self-directed and supported by tutor assistance where required. Prisoners are engaged purposefully in developing the full range of core skills, particularly communication, numeracy and information technology. Staff work particularly effectively with prisoners and support them well.
7.16 In the Links Centre, staff are approachable and respond flexibly to learner needs and interests. The CLD service provides an adult literacies teacher and supports individual and small group work.
7.17 Workshop training is vocationally based and incorporates SVQ units or awards from other awarding bodies, such as BICSVT cleaning, where appropriate. Motivated staff organise and deliver training effectively to prisoners. LSE staff work with workshop staff to provide contextualised numeracy support in the joinery and cleaning workshops and this benefits prisoners.
Prisoners' Learning Experiences
7.18 Most prisoners attending the LSE Centre value their learning and spoke positively about staff commitment. In particular, art classes are popular and provide opportunities for prisoners to develop new practical skills and a vehicle to further develop oral and written communication skills. Prisoners regularly submit high quality artwork to the national Koestler Awards competition and a few have enjoyed success as prizewinners. This has contributed to improved self-esteem.
7.19 Links Centre staff support prisoners to self-reflect on their experiences and develop increased confidence to represent themselves more effectively as part of their parole review.
7.20 'Toe-by-Toe' prisoner literacy mentors take responsibility for delivering literacy support to other prisoners. They regularly book accommodation, resources and access to the classroom as required. Mentors value the active support of Links Centre staff and the opportunity to take the responsibility for the delivery of learning. Prisoners found the mentor support particularly helpful.
Achievement
7.21 Most prisoners who complete programmes gain certification for their learning. Over the last year prisoners attending the LSE Centre had attained 114 SQA units, mainly in communication, numeracy and information technology. Over the same period, prisoners on vocational training programmes had attained 278 units, with 77% of these being gained in cleaning awards.
7.22 There are no formal arrangements for LSE or prison staff to celebrate the success of prisoners through local award ceremonies. This is a missed opportunity to recognise the attainment and wider achievement of prisoners.
Ethos and Values
7.23 Respectful and good relationships between prisoners and staff contribute to a positive and purposeful learning environment in all areas. Prisoners value the support and opportunities they receive through learning and training opportunities.
7.24 Strong partnership working between the Link Centre and various external agencies extends the range of support services that prisoners are able to access before and after release.
Quality Assurance
7.25 LSE Centre staff engage in an annual self-evaluation exercise that identifies strengths and weaknesses in the planning and delivery of programmes. However, targets for improvement are not sufficiently SMART or always linked to the weaknesses identified. This reduces the opportunity to bring about improvements to the learning experience of prisoners.
Conclusion
7.26 Prisoners enjoy and benefit from a range of purposeful activities in the LSE Centre, Links Centre and workshops. Work experience is good but limited in the range of activities on offer. Appropriately qualified and approachable staff support prisoners to make suitable progress in a range of core and vocational skills. 'Toe-by-Toe' prisoner mentors provide a valuable service to fellow prisoners by providing personal support in literacy and numeracy.
7.27 Prisoners are financially disadvantaged when attending education classes in preference to being on a work party. This differential acts as a disincentive to attend education classes for a number of prisoners.
Library
7.28 The library is located in a confined space in 'C' Hall. There is no natural light and the area is not conducive to learning. A part-time prisoner librarian and a prisoner volunteer manage the library stock effectively. There is a good stock of fiction books and DVDs, including a few DVDs in languages other than English. Arrangements for prisoners to order DVDs on a weekly basis are good and uptake of DVDs by prisoners is high. However, only a small number of prisoners access books.
7.29 There is a limited supply of reference books and prisoners do not have easy access to legal texts. The library is not well stocked with materials that take account of the cultural and religious background of the prisoner population. Books in languages other than English are stored in a closed cabinet with no signage.
7.30 Not all prisoners have access to the library facilities, with prisoners in 'A' and 'D' Halls unable to access the main library. The prison officer with responsibility for the library has not received any specific training in library management. There is no partnership link between the prison library and the local authority library service. It is not possible for prisoners to order books.
Other Out of Cell Activities
7.31 The Physical Education facility is small and the games hall is drab and in need of redecoration. Storage facilities are limited. There are only two PT instructors in post and the establishment does not make best use of their time, as they are required to take on an escort role with considerable time spent escorting prisoners to and from the PE session.
7.32 At the time of the inspection, prisoner access to PE had been reduced by 50% in some cases, due to insufficient planned absence cover. This had resulted in a major reduction in the PE programme and there had been no evening access for the previous four weeks.
7.33 Very few prisoners can access the well-maintained external sports field for PE activities since only low risk category prisoners are considered suitable.