10 Oct What can happen with a Reading Writing Hotline referral
Image: Numeracy student, Jacinta at Yarraville Community Centre
Linno Rhodes, ACFE Coordinator (pre-accredited) from Yarraville Community Centre explains what can happen with a Reading Writing Hotline referral, a great teacher and a committed student.
Linno says “in 2021 I tried to start up a face to face literacy and numeracy class but was thwarted by the story we are all familiar with – unrelenting COVID related lock-downs and class cancellations. I actually found a numeracy teacher, so I was really disappointed to have to tell her – sorry it’s not going ahead.
Then a call came through this year from the Reading Writing Hotline, asking if we could work with a young woman, Jacinta, who has some numeracy challenges she’d like to work on. I said YES before I knew whether we could or not, but I was determined we would meet her needs.
Fortunately, the numeracy teacher, Bridget was still available. The three of us met. Jacinta talked about the struggles she has with numeracy – shopping, banking, measuring, and catching public transport. She told us about her strategies – how she ’rounds up’ all the time estimating how much money she might need for certain activities – to avoid a situation where she may not have enough money. And finally, she talked about how she wanted to succeed in her chosen career in Aged Care. She was anxious to acquire the skills she would need to continue working in the industry.
Bridget was brimming with enthusiasm and came with a basket full of tangible, hands-on activities, and resources. Every week I see them meeting, dynamic, lively and up-beat. There are many a-ha moments. They are perfectly matched – each bringing their enthusiastic and authentic selves to the meeting – to learn from each other – what works, what doesn’t – asking how can we do this differently? Jacinta feels so much more confident and that she has surpassed what she thought she might be able to achieve.
The one-to-one model can serve the learning needs of many adults. Learners who may be embarrassed, find it less confronting to be in a one to one learning situation. It could then lead to a class of adult literacy and numeracy learners, where we can serve the needs of more people.”