What is Rangers Charity Foundation’s Ibrox Community Hub?
The Ibrox Community Hub (then known as Rangers Study Support Centre) was the first facility of its kind in Scotland and is operated as a partnership between Glasgow City Council Education Services, Rangers Football Club and the Rangers Charity Foundation.
Initially launched in the Govan Stand at Ibrox Stadium in November 2001 by then Education Minister Jack McConnell, a brand new £250,000 facility was re-opened in December 2006 in the Broomloan Stand by Mr McConnell in his role as First Minister.
The high-tech multi-media centre is equipped with the latest computers and modern teaching aids, as well as a reading zone, computer games zone and celebrity interview area. The Centre’s experienced teaching staff devise programmes to suit the needs of individual groups.
The £250,000 centre aims to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills, as well as developing health and wellbeing, confidence, self-esteem and motivation in young people throughout Glasgow.
After visiting the Hub, the first Minister Nicola Sturgeon commented: “I have been very impressed by the scale and impact of Rangers Football Club’s community investment programme. The Club has succeeded in positively influencing issues such as health, crime, education and employability, which are key priorities in continuing to regenerate our country and create stronger, safer communities. The Club could be used as a model of best practice both for other football clubs and other community organisations dedicated to making a difference to people’s lives.”
The Hub’s programmes have proved inspirational to thousands of children, with its success becoming a model for similar initiatives around the country.
Staff
Staffed by a qualified teacher, the Hub has developed a curriculum designed to enhance and complement the work of the school whilst also presenting students with new and exciting ways of learning.
Debating sessions, interviews with players and tutorials in football business and marketing encourage students to think for themselves and enjoy an exciting, proactive learning experience outside the usual classroom environment.
Aims
Football is a very powerful medium and is the perfect vehicle for stimulating and motivating young people. It can also open routes to other skills, knowledge and understanding.
Taking pupils out of the classroom and into the heart of things lets them experience new possibilities by letting them enjoy experiences that aren’t possible within school. This invaluable resource is aimed at upper primary and secondary pupils, as well as the wider Glasgow community. The centre seeks to capitalise on the curricular and motivational contexts that football can easily provide.
Courses
The Hub provides a variety of Educational programmes:
- Read2Learn Programme (Literacy and Numeracy)
- Web design
- Computer gaming
- Jump Into Journalism
- Ready2Succeed (Employability course)
- Health and Nutrition Course
- Equality Workshops
Ready2Learn
Ready2Learn is a programme of curricular activities designed to enhance and complement the work of the school by providing a range of stimulus materials within a football or sports context. It has been designed to support the Curriculum of Excellence across the four capacities namely encouraging young people to be successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors
The 6 week programme aims to:
– Develop teamwork
– Raise levels of attainment in Literacy, Numeracy and ICT skills
– Increase motivation, confidence and self-esteem
– Promote self-directed learning
– Provide a positive educational experience
Ready2Succeed
The Ready2Succeed programme is an employability programme aimed at getting young adults from various schools around Glasgow ready for work and providing them with a positive destination.
Young people attend the Hub for a half day a week during the school term. This programme is run in partnership with Skills Development Scotland, Glasgow Clyde College, Action for Children and Rangers Charity Foundation and has been hugely successful.
Computer Gaming and Web Design
The Hub offers SQA accredited computer courses run in partnership with Glasgow Clyde College. Young people attend the centre for one afternoon per week throughout the school term with the aim of progressing to Glasgow Clyde College to study computing on completion of the course.
Equality Workshops
Anti-bigotry and equality workshops are another facet of the Hub’s provision and are delivered weekly through the academic year in partnership with Exchange Scotland and NG2.
The workshops examine topics such as sectarianism, immigration, racism, equality issues and tolerance awareness. The issues being explored are highly sensitive and pupils need varying degrees of support as attitudes and beliefs unfold.
In order to achieve the maximum from each session, the sessions take place in an unbiased climate of trust where the pupils feel safe and confident enough to voice their own thoughts and opinions.
The workshops allow exploration of equality and discrimination, consider the development of appropriate strategies and create opportunities for pupils to examine beliefs, attitudes and the consequences of action. The primary workshops are over 3 half days aimed at upper primary school pupils.
