Belfast Met's Community-based ESOL for Refugees and Migrants
The Belfast geographical area is where most of the refugees and asylum seekers as well as the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) Syrian families are currently placed - mainly in West, North and South Belfast.
The Belfast Metropolitan College (Belfast Met) offers a wide range of part-time English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) opportunities - from Pre-ESOL to Level 2 accredited courses delivered at the College’s campuses - and has proven significant capacity to cater for the needs of refugees and asylum seekers who are ready to face a more formal learning pace and environment.
However, due to the increasing number of resettled groups of refugees arriving in Belfast (specially via the Syrian VPR Scheme) and their complex needs, some refugees and other newcomers who require English classes are unable to access ESOL as the demand is much greater than the college can provide under current funding guidelines. This has created a level of frustration amongst this cohort who are keen to learn English to help their integration and ability to work here.
| ESOL is delivered through different courses covering Listening, Written and Oral communications. Most students are at different levels in each of those modules with oral skills often being more advanced than written skills. This can also be a barrier, particularly for those who are keen to work but who are not familiar with the alphabet and who lack confidence in a new country. Additionally, others expressed concern about not being able to attend ESOL classes due to childcare, learning and physical ability, distance of travel and the pace of delivery of FE campus based ESOL tuition. |
The idea of starting an informal mixed ability ESOL class within a community setting (North Belfast based) was identified as the ideal solution to tackle the issues identified. Mixed ability ESOL class is a term used to describe classes made up of students of different levels of proficiency in the English language. All classes are, to some degree, made up of learners who differ in many ways. They may have different strengths, weaknesses and approaches to learning; they may respond differently to various teaching methods and classroom situations.
Belfast Met developed a flexible teaching package with community volunteer assistance. As the course runs during school time, Belfast Met also sourced a local social enterprise to deliver childcare through a mobile crèche. The social enterprise can facilitate a crèche at various locations if certain conditions are met. A Belfast Met classroom in the Girdwood Community Hub was assessed as suitable and the social enterprise business was subsequently commissioned to deliver their services on-site during tuition times to cater for learners' childcare needs covering the pre-school children provision.
This is a free service to students. Transport assistance is also being provided to learners depending on their individual circumstances.
‘As a part-time lecturer at Belfast Met I was recently delighted to be given the opportunity to teach a small group of Syrian women. These women are under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. They are a mixed ability class of mainly stay at home mums who are keen to learn English. The Girdwood Community Hub facilitates these mums not only with English classes but also in providing child care.
Although the women are largely from Syria, there are also women from Iran and Sudan. The women learn English that is profitable for use outside of the classroom in everyday situations, such health, social networking, shopping, hobbies and leisure. This is a relaxed course, where the mums not only develop their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills but also enjoy time out together over a coffee during the break time. It’s also a time when they love to ‘show off’ their babies. It’s lovely that these women can do so in a safe and secure environment where learning English can be fun and in a place where they can build friendships and gain confidence in learning English as a second language.
The course runs for 9 weeks, on Wednesday and Friday mornings for 2.5 hours. It’s an excellent way of introducing women to the English language and encouraging them to further develop their English by registering for ESOL courses at Belfast Met, which may lead to future employment. Their journey begins but doesn’t end at Girdwood!’
– Pamela Todd, Belfast Met ESOL lead tutor for the Girdwood class
The class caters for 20 students, with the majority (14 students) of enrolled learners being VPRS resettled refugees from Syria presenting with clear childcare assistance needs. In order to maximise resources through a joined-up approach, it was agreed that it would be beneficial to include the additional 6 students from different backgrounds in order to promote integration and inclusion.
Belfast Met partnered with the experienced community based ESOL provider Belfast Unemployment Resource Centre (BURC), who contributed volunteer assistance to develop the following model:
Format of classes
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| Progress is monitored through regular informal assessments every 4 weeks and 80% attendance is required. |
Mrs Ligia Parizzi is the Regional ESOL Co-ordinator for the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme NI at Belfast Metropolitan College. She co-ordinates ESOL delivery between community based provision and college based provision, including progression from basic English classes to accredited provision at Entry Level and above. This includes facilitating planning provision so that the individual strengths of delivery partner organisations are harnessed to work with statutory providers to deliver provision to the required standards. She ensures the availability and accessibility of quality provision throughout NI. Enquiries about the program can be directed to her email at Lparizzi@belfastmet.ac.uk.
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Belfast Met provision