It was a very busy week on the Isle of Sheppey prisons in Adult Learners week 19-23rd May, when alongside Test the Prison being carried out, consecutive events  to promote Adult Learning were held in the three prisons.

The first was held at Swaleside , the teams of Test the Prison staff which were made up of local ULRs, staff from Newbold and Niace and POA Learning went around the prison with the test papers to staff all around the prison. The staff were tested and feedback was given, with advice to follow up with further learning or referrals made to the new POA Learning centre being set up on the site at Standford Hill.

Then at lunchtime in the gym an Adult Learners event was held , with the theme of Healthy Living/Green Issues. There was a representative from Swale Council with a stall on recycling, various local colleges, Open University and MOT health testing for staff. There was also Karate skills demonstrated and lunch provided. Ninety seven staff attended, with 49 of those having a full body MOT.

The next day Test the Prison took place at Standford Hill, which was a bit more challenging due to the vast area to cover on a sprawling open prison. A total of 116 staff were tested.
The event held in the gym at lunchtime was very successful with special interest shown in the Yoga classes and auricular acupuncture, and enthusiasm  being shown in local college courses and those offered by the Open University. Twenty five of the sixty two staff who attended had full body MOTs.

At Elmley on the 3rd day, Test the Prison was started early with three teams going out to various wings and departments, but unfortunately they were hindered by an incorrect roll for most of the morning. Despite this by the end of the day a total of 126 staff were tested.
The lunchtime event was extremely well supported with 116 staff attending, of those 78 had a full body MOT. There was lots of interest in the students from Mid Kent College who were giving manicures and from one of our staff who gave aromatherapy massages.

The test the Prison papers were met with a mixed reaction from a few staff, but by the time the paper was completed and feedback given, most staff were very positive about the experience. All staff who took part in Test the prison were entered in to a prize draw and three winners were pulled out at the end of each day.

We also used the opportunity to gather information for the new Learning Centre by collecting 180 Learning Needs Analysis forms which will give us a view of what sort of courses staff would like to do when the Learning Centre is opened in the next few weeks.

It was a very successful three days, with a lot of staff taking part in test the prison and the Learners events in the gyms, with a lot of positive feedback from staff, with them asking when the next event for staff is going to be held.

I would like to say a special thank you, for all their hard work to Karen Still, Julian Clifford, Amanda Sydell, Dave Brookes-Usher, Mandy Huggins, Gary Lyttle, to the NEC who attended and POA Learning and to all the staff who contributed to the events.

Clare Hatfull
Union Learning Rep
Branch Secretary
HMP Elmley