Author: Albert

Second week at Rathbone

Today marks the end of my second week at Rathbone, and the halfway point of my placement.

Most of my work this week has focussed on a new fundraising project, a quality assurance scheme for youth clubs which provides them with funding and a badge of excellence that they can show to local authorities, funders and young people to showcase their impact in the wider community.

It consists of three levels, from Bronze to Gold, the first of which the charity already achieved last year. It is now aiming to achieve the remaining two before the end of the year. To this end they will submit proof that they fulfil every one of the requirements, of which there are more than 80 and encompass diversity and equality, monitoring and evaluation, health and safety, and more. I helped identify and collate all relevant evidence and then match it to each requirement, from policy reviews to press releases and accessibility audits.

Halfway through the week, I took a short break from office work and went on a kite flying outing with the youth group in neighbouring Norwood Park. Besides honing my kite flying skills – which, after not practising since I was a child, were a bit rough around the edges – I enjoyed some fantastic views of the City from the top of the hill.

Views of the City of London from Norwood Park.
Views of the City of London from Norwood Park.

This week also saw the final preparations for the first session of my programming workshop. As part of the planning, I had a go at completing all of the exercises myself with Scratch; it was surprisingly fun! After a few hours of playing around with coloured blocks and using no syntax at all, I’d unwittingly been introduced to statements, boolean expressions, conditions, loops, variables and more.

The thought crossed my mind that university-level programming courses should start with tools of this sort, to ease the transition for complete beginners, and then apply the concepts in an actual high-level language. It was a surprise, then, to learn that Scratch is used during the first 2 weeks of the Introduction to Computer Science course at no less than Harvard University!

Scratch
The interface of visual programming tool Scratch.

First week at Rathbone

As my first week working with Rathbone comes to a close, I’ve found a few minutes to blog about some of the things I’ve done and would like to share with you.

My first day at Rathbone was spent getting acquainted with staff, facilities and the projects I’ll be completing over the course of my placement. I soon felt at ease and part of the team: the charity has only four full-time staff working at the Old Library site, who were all extremely welcoming and helpful, taking time to explain what their roles in the organisation entail and the many services offered by Rathbone.

My fundraising work this week started with completing an application for the Achievement Awards grant by the Jack Petchey Foundation. If successful, the foundation will provide Rathbone with regular £200 awards to be given to a young person, as nominated by their peers, who is a good role model, has overcome personal challenges or has helped others over and above expectations. The money will be reinvested in the form of equipment, trips or anything the young person feels would benefit the organisation. This has given me a unique insight into the inner workings of the charity, particularly into management structure and finances, as in the process of gathering the required information I analysed a number of financial reports and statements from the Board of Trustees.

Preparations for the programming workshop are already under way; I’ve set a start date and designed a poster to be hung on the main noticeboard close to the entrance – I’m quite happy with the result! I will be getting in touch with young people and signing them up over the upcoming week.

poster_workshop

Along with the personal satisfaction that comes with learning a new skill, I wanted this workshop to give young people the chance to gain formal recognition for their achievements; to this end I’ve found a suitable proposition: the AQA Unit Award scheme. Originally devised as a way of accrediting the achievement of students who were disengaged from education yet who still could achieve short units of work, it is now used in a wide variety of organisations and in a diverse range of subjects, from budgeting and debt management to employability skills. I came across a group of 8 units aptly named “Programming with Scratch”, with a structure ideal for teaching over the course of three weeks, starting with basic if-then constructs and gradually leading to the creation of a fully-fledged game.

I look forward to starting the final preparations next week, and hope young people will be as enthusiastic about it as I am!

An Introduction to Lambeth Elfrida Rathbone Society

With less than a day left to start my placement with Lambeth Elfrida Rathbone Society, I thought it would be a good time for me to introduce the charity, the work they do and outline the projects I’ll be involved with.

The organisation, based in West Norwood and locally known as just “Rathbone”, provides social, educational, and welfare services for young people with a learning disability and/or from disadvantaged backgrounds in and around the borough of Lambeth. Whilst the bulk of their activity encompasses outreach services – the provision of residential care and supported living – I will be working with their Youth branch, which coordinates group activities for young people aged 11-19 at the Old Library site, pictured below, as well as residential trips off-site.

rathbone-west-norwood
The charity is based in the former West Norwood library building, which retains the “Free Public Library” sign.

The main project I will be involved with concerns the planning and delivery of various activities within their Summer Programme, which lasts until September, with a focus on learning new skills and informal tutoring. In particular, I’m excited to organise a programming workshop which will revolve around the creation of simple games through visual languages such as Scratch and Alice. A similar workshop I took part in several years ago originally sparked my interest for computing, and I’d be very pleased if this helps a young person catch the coding bug! (Pun intended).

In addition I’ll be working with Rathbone’s project fundraiser to approach organisations and donors who could potentially fund the costs of running the programme. With the borough having the 15th highest number of children in poverty in the UK, the goal is to provide most activities free of cost, so young people can all take part in the wealth of activities and trips this programme offers regardless of their background.

I’m very lucky to have the opportunity to work with an organisation doing invaluable work for disadvantaged youth and having such a positive impact on the local community, and I aim to make the most of it. Roll on, next week!