A Visitor to our Friday Class!

We had a visitor to our Friday Basic Skills Class, this was an interesting time and we asked them to write about what they thought of the class. Chris talked to the members who were taking part and this is what she wrote. SAP runs a basic skills class and has done so for the last 3 years This class is very different from all the other groups that SAP runs where people can come and go as they wish. This is a structured class that meets weekly with each person setting their own learning goals and outcomes. This activity is very intensive and consequently is only open to a limited number of participants who commit themselves to attending regularly – the participants have set these rules. All the people coming to the class have been through the education system including spending many years attending local colleges and other institutions. However they all feel that they have failed, that the system has failed them or both. For some, they could not read or they could not write. Some had a little reading and writing ability but had severely reduced vocabulary. Most felt that they could not use their skills however wide or limited to make sense of the world around them. The little skill that some people had was seen as something separate and not as a practical skill but something ‘special’. All were very frustrated, disenfranchised, lacking in self confidence and generally very sad. In 2007 we got a small grant from Norfolk Community Foundation to pay for meeting space, equipment and tutor fees. This enabled us to buy text books, reading books and writing aids such as an illuminated magnifier, shaped writing implements, personal record books and rough work books. Participants confidence is gradually increasing to the extent that at the end of 2007 nine members took part in the exam set by the Open College Network Level One Developing Personal Development Skills – all nine people passed and have also each gained 3 credits. Some members have identified very specific goals and outcomes for themselves. These range from knowing the alphabet and the different names and sounds that each letter makes, to being able to control the hand enough to make clear letters, to being able to read after the devastating effects of a stroke. This last person came to SAP wanting to re-learn reading and she made good progress. Earlier this year she was persuaded by her health professional that she should really be going to a specialist stroke support group. After an absence of two months she has returned saying that SAP treats her as a whole person not an illness and she has resumed her steady progress in reading. Two members had identified that they wanted to try to take ‘a real exam’. They have been studying hard for the last two years and at the beginning of October took their mock exam in Key Skills level 1 and 2 English and passed. The pass mark is 28 out of 40 and they passed with scores of 32 and 35 so will be entered shortly for their examinations.

Compass Group Report September 2008

September is one of the best times of year for going out and for cooking foraged food. The summer is over and it is easy to get depressed with the dark coming early and the cold winds start to blow but if we make the effort to go out there is a lot of fun to be had and some very nice food to be found. Everyone had enjoyed the summer and had been going out a lot. We had got better at walking and were fitter and happier than we had been for a long time. Some people were worried that over the winter things would go back to the way they were and next spring it would be hard work all over again. Everyone met up and talked about what to do. The cooking group wanted blackberries, apples, chestnuts and anything else that could be found in West Norfolk. The two groups decided to work together. We became Hunter Gatherers! The nearest woods with a bus stop is Sandringham, we all knew there are lots of trees. People remembered going there when they were children to get conkers. Shane told the group that we need to be careful because there may be poisonous things in the woods. Paul and Lily said that if we have an expert and a book we will be fine and a date was set. Chris wrote a workbook for everyone to use, this told them how to identify different trees and had exercises so people could work out the rough age of trees. We looked at different trees and identified the differences between conifers and broad leaves, we talked about deciduous and evergreen and we looked at the different ways trees set seeds. Lily wanted Sweet Chestnuts and she was on a mission! So, what is the differences between a Sweet Chestnut (eating) and a Horse Chestnut (conker)? We agreed that we would only ever pick up chestnuts if they were still in the seed case, the spiky green coating, this way we can be sure that we are getting the right ones. It was still too early in the year to collect any so we made notes of which trees we would come back to. A Horse Chestnut has a case with a few spikes on, most people know what a conker looks like and these must not be eaten. A Sweet Chestnut has a case of the same sort of colour but is covered in hundreds of spikes. The leaves of the the trees are different as well and here is Lily looking and feeling a Sweet Chestnut, she said the leaves feel shiny. Now we knew where to go in October we will collect some up later. A few of the members said that they liked mushrooms and had seen on TV people going out to pick them. David said that we would not be touching any mushrooms or fungi as unless you know exactly what you are doing things can go very badly and some people have died. Everyone agreed that if the Cooking Group wanted mushrooms they can get them from the shop. We did find some interesting fungi though so we took pictures of them and will look them up in books. By this time of year we are getting to the end of the blackberries, these are the last for this season so we left them for the birds. It is important to only take some berries, not all, from any one place. We are here to share with the birds and other animals. We spent time looking at lots of trees and worked out what they were and what they could be used for, we also found some interesting things. Here is one tree with a different tree growing out of it. And here is an Oak tree with its acorns. The woods can be strange sometimes, we saw a few people but not that many. We had been looking at some fir trees and we thought we were completely alone, when we turned around there was a fresh dog track.

No one had noticed or heard a thing and there was no dog in sight.