WHAT IS THE STUDY SUPPORT CENTRE?
Both are keen to pursue excellence in attitude and performance, utilising the best resorces at their disposal.
There is a sense of partnership here; both partners wishing to capitalise on finances available and striving to ensure that potential is realised.
Using older students from Barnsley College, the centre supports and encourages younger students to improve their levels of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills as well as their communication skills and personal self esteem.
Students from Barnsley College are seen as excellent learning role models, widening and lifting horizons for the younger students and encouraging them to develop and enhance their skills and self belief in their capabilities. The centre is shared with the club's Academy and players, who use it to research, complete academic assignments and collect their e-mail. Mentors are also offered the chance to use the centre as an alternative place for quiet study.
Our Study Support centre overlooks the pitch at Oakwell, having a fantastic panoramic view of the Stadium and its position acts as a catalyst for inspiration and motivation to take place in everyone using the centre; although the Stadium is mostly empty while the students are present, there is a constant feeling that something is about to happen and this rubs off on all our students, parents and mentors.
The level of personal support given by the Club Chairman and Team Manager to the Centre by welcoming the children to the centre and presenting them with certificates and prizes which mark their achievements, also has profound effects on attitudes and performance levels.
Comments on the Study Support Centre
"AN excellent idea for these children. It has raised their commitment to learning and their perceptions of its worth. They are developing exemplar status. In the case of one child it has given us a firm and meaningful foothold in his life and common ground with which we may be able to deal with his social needs."
"An extremely worthwhile experience for our students."
"I think that this scheme has been excellent. All our pupils have thoroughly enjoyed it and have all gained from the experience. It has had a profound effect on pupil motivation."
"I am pleased to say that I think the response from the children has been excellent. I had a niece who attended who really enjoyed it and benefited immensely when she did her SATS this year."
"We can now see that the results are very encouraging and we are fortunate to have a Centre Manager who carries the project through enthusiasm and hard work."
"All the benefits of the pre-planning for the Study Centre are now coming to the fore. The facilities are excellent; the Study Centre Manager has excellent relationships with the schools, LEA and Barnsley Football Club; and the project can only go from strength to strength."
"This is an exciting initiative which brings together local government and private enterprise in an imaginative way. Children attending the centre have been achieving excellent results in National Tests and Barnsley Council is delighted to be working in partnership with the Football Club in this way."
"It is helping Shaun to concentrate on his work and he has become more determined in his school work."
Pen Pics: Jean Wyatt, Study Support Centre Co-Ordinator.
When the doors to Barnsley's Study Support Centre opened in Spring 2000 little did anyone know how successful the education scheme would be.
Eighteen months later the centre has played host to representatives from the Government's Education department and also has the firm backing of everyone at the Club.
One of the key reasons to the success is centre manager Jean Wyatt.
Former deputy head Jean, who has over 20 years teaching experience in a variety of roles under her belt, has taken the initiative under her wing and is providing a valuable service to schools right across the Barnsley area.
The ethos of the centre is to bring in selected pupils, chosen by their headteachers because they need a little push when it comes to education, after school on a 10 week course and to build up their confidence and self esteem while teaching them extra skills in the core areas of literacy, numeracy and communications and Information Technology.
The backdrop of the Oakwell Stadium provides a unique and inspirational learning environment and the aim is that when the pupils leave the centre they are not only better, more confident people but also better and more dedicated students.
Jean explains: "We have actually been going for 18 months now, and I'm proud to say we've had more than 300 children come through the front door.
"We are trying to support schools in a different kind of way and to encourage children to enjoy learning, be better motivated and to feel they've got a lot out of the scheme in terms of self esteem, confidence and to go back into school and build on what they learn here.
"We have something like 95 primary schools and 14 secondary schools in the area and my brief is to approach all of those and give them all the opportunity to come here.
"I have almost got around all the secondary schools now, but as you can imagine it's taking a while longer to cover the primary schools.
"The children come in for two sessions a week over 10 weeks and the ethos is not school really, in many ways it's a lot more grown up.
"We expect the pupils to be more independent, to identify their weaknesses and we can develop a programme that suits more individual needs.
"There are only 12 children at a time in the centre so we can build up relationships very quickly with them and the trust that encourages them to do well.
"We can't wave a magic wand but we do believe we have the right formula to improve attitudes, confidence and the willingness to learn.
"These children are not special needs, although everyone has their own special needs, they are chosen by their school as the ones who would best benefit from coming here.
"What I like is the variety and excitement that is around the place.
"Even when the stadium is empty there is a wonderful air of anticipation.
"That rubs off on the children because they feel something good is going to happen."
But what skills does Jean need to carry out her role successfully?
She said: "There is a lot more flexibility here than there is with school because you aren't tied by the legal requirements of the National Curriculum.
"I do however have to take notice of the National Curriculum and know where children need to be and need to go on towards over a period of time.
"But because we are an after-school scheme we can be fairly flexible in the way we deliver those elements.
"The children are very excited to come here because a lot of the materials we use are based around a football theme.
"For example there is an awful lot of maths you can get out of the subject, because football is such a statistics based game now.
"But we have to recognise that not everybody likes football and we have a whole range of activities that are not football related.
"The skills that I think I need to have are that I have to have a lot of patience, good humour and a lot of motivational skills, because sometimes you are turning reluctant attitudes around.
"We try and do things in perhaps a different way than the children are used to, through good humour, cajoling and having a good time while learning."
Away from the Study Support Centre Jean, who has two grown up children who are both at University, enjoys going caravaning and going to the theatre or opera with her husband Chris, who works for Barnsley MBC.
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