“Finding diamonds in the rough and helping them shine” - our response to David Cameron’s speech on prison reforms
10 February 2016
David Cameron recently announced plans to reform prisons at the Policy Exchange, including plans to give governors complete control over the way they run their prisons. The Prime Minister states that we must “offer chances to change” and “help those who’ve made mistakes find their way back onto the right path”.
Here at AIM Awards, we have a wealth of experience developing qualifications for offender learning and working with establishments in the offender learning estate. We believe that qualifications can perform a vital role in helping offenders develop the skills they need to turn their lives around.
“The average prisoner has 16 previous convictions”
We are confident that our Behaviour Change qualifications encourage learners to reflect on their past to try to understand and begin to change their behaviours. These popular qualifications are designed to be used with groups of learners who have displayed anti-social and/or criminal behaviour, allowing learners to review their own skills, relationships, and health and exercise routines to identify areas for improvement.
“47% almost half, have no qualifications whatsoever”
Our Skills for Employment and Further Learning (SEFL) qualifications have been designed to allow for personalised learning programmes, specific to individual learner needs. Learners can access our units on personal development, self-esteem and confidence building whilst also developing their skills in specific vocational areas. These qualifications also encourage empowerment – “turning remorse and regret into lives with new meaning”.
We are proud of our innovative partnership working with Capital e-Tutorials; we offer a full e-learning and e-assessment package designed to allow learners to independently complete units without the need for any tutor preparation, marking or internal verification. Units are available from a range of our qualifications and can be offered independently or combined to achieve a qualification.
You can find out more about how we work with and support prisons on our offender learning page.
If you would like to find out more about these projects, or our partnerships with prisons, then please contact our Business Development Manager, Carole Ponberth carole.ponberth@aimawards.org.uk.