The Portsmouth Foyer

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Learning & Development
Designed to supply learning in a relaxed and comfortable environment

Learndirect

The Portsmouth Foyer Learndirect Centre is a modern computer assisted learning facility for Foyer residents. Courses are available in computing, literacy and numeracy. The tutors, Tony Adams and Gary Clark, are always on hand to provide one-to-one assistance. We offer free, impartial advice and guidance on training opportunities at the centre and elsewhere. Computing courses for all skill levels from complete beginner to expert are available. Subjects include basic keyboard and mouse skills, word processing, spreadsheets, databases and using the internet. Advanced students can study for and attain the widely recognized ECDL qualification. We also offer literacy and numeracy programmes tailored to individual students. GCSE-equivalents in maths and English can be taken on completing a course of study. All literacy and numeracy courses, including examinations, are free of charge. Opening Times Study sessions can be arranged for any times within these hours Monday 10.00am – 6.00pm Tuesday 10.00am – 4.30pm Wednesday 10.00am – 4.30pm Thursday 10.00am – 6.00pm Friday 10.00am – 3.30pm Disabled Facilities The Centre has wheelchair access. Available facilities include: adjustable workstations, magnifying software, special access keyboards, trackball and large screen monitor. Contact Details Telephone 023 9278 4411 Fax 023 9236 0004 E-mail please use the form on the Contact page

Life Skills

In February 2004, with the support of the European Social Fund, the Portsmouth Foyer created the GET REAL project to help young people who are searching for employment, training or education. Activities include: • Budgeting (in partnership with Portsmouth College) • DIY • Health issues • Self awareness • Employability workshops • Cookery • Visits from the likes of John Bird, founder of the Big Issue, and Mark Watts MEP • Accredited courses in Custormer Service, Food Hygiene, and First Aid • Organised trips, including skiing, the London Challenge and visits across the UK
Health Development Dee Summerill has been our dedicated Health training officer since 2003, overachieving targets by more than 300% in her first year. She provides individual drop-in sessions, and training for residents and staff. Issues covered: • Dentistry • Pregnancy • Issuing condoms • GPs - including registration and immunisation • Relationships • Drugs - alchohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs • Mental health - including anxiety and depression • Diet • Exercise • Vision and hearing
Literacy & Numeracy

Literacy and numeracy training is an integral part of the learning experience at the Foyer. Following on from the success of the 2003 ESSU Achievement Award for Essential Skills provision, Samantha Neech, our Essential Skills Development Officer, provides essential skills training to both residents and staff, and ensures that provision meets governmental standards. She is also responsible for the Tackling Skills project – the UK’s first programme to use sport reporting for the delivery of literacy and communication skills to disadvantaged young people. Since its national launch last year, over twenty residents have completed the project, with two of them having just been assigned as BBC ‘graduate’ reporters, whose first task is to report on the 2005 Homeless World Cup in Edinburgh this year.

City & Guilds Profile of Achievement

This Certificate is a City and Guilds qualification and our point of contact is Bridgwater College. Steve Churcher and Joyce Schorah are the Training Co-ordinators for the Profile of Achievement at the Foyer. They introduce new residents to the course and tell them all about what it entails. You will be in good hands as they have made the Portsmouth Foyer the most successful in our region, pending numbers and numbers of achievers! It links in with what you are expected to do during your stay here at the Foyer and only takes 16 weeks to complete. This may sound like a long time but you won't even notice that you are doing it, which is the whole idea. The profile is created by deciding which skill areas you want to work on, collecting and recording evidence which shows what you have done. A final personal skills statement, written in your own words, describes how you have achieved or worked towards the skill areas you have chosen, and this completes your profile. It is your opportunity to prove to other people what you have gained during your time with us.