STAR STUDENT POLICE INSPECTOR SHORTLISTED FOR NATIONAL AWARD

Image caption: An image of Paul Barnsley at an event

A police inspector with over 25 years’ experience at Warwickshire Police has been shortlisted for a national award as part of the Learning and Work Institute’s national Festival of Learning. Inspector Paul Barnsley completed eight distance learning qualifications with North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College after online mental health training set him on the right track following a period of absence from work.

Paul was so impressed with what he learnt that he has encouraged more than 30 of his colleagues to sign up for the training. He went on to study challenging behaviour, children and young people’s mental health, learning disabilities, and understanding autism, and has brought what he learnt back to the workplace.

As a result of his studies, Paul was selected to be part of a pilot scheme led by Warwickshire Police to diagnose dyslexia amongst colleagues. He became accredited by the British Dyslexia Association as a dyslexia assessor and screens new recruits to the force, helping to signpost those that need support. The success of the pilot has seen Paul assisting Hampshire Police and working with other police forces in Bedfordshire to help them roll out a similar scheme.

Paul has also been instrumental in setting up a Disability Network for Warwickshire Police which enables colleagues to share information, knowledge and best practice amongst colleagues. The staff portal is available to all colleagues and helps to encourage them discuss issues and share possible solutions.

As a result of Paul’s work, Warwickshire Police has introduced a Personal Supportive Passport initiative which will enable colleagues to flag support needs as they move around the organisation supporting its goals to become a ‘Disability Confident’ organisation.

Paul has helped Warwickshire Police to promote diversity and gain acceptance for learning difficulties and disabilities. As part of a joint agency project with the NHS, Paul worked with mental health nurse Alex Cotton MBE (founder of the “It Takes Balls to Talk” initiative aimed at increasing awareness of men’s mental health) who has been an influential driver in major initiatives within mental health services.

As a result of this partnership, Warwickshire Police now operates a mental health triage car which takes a police officer and a psychiatric nurse to incidents involving mental health crisis. This person-centred approach enables people to be treated on an individual basis sometimes in a home setting rather than at a police station. After a successful three-month pilot between September and December 2019, funding for this valuable support vehicle has been approved for funding for further 12 months.

Paul had been researching mental health online to help him better understand his own experience and signed up for a college qualification in mental health awareness. As he worked through the course and made progress with his own recovery, Paul realised that what he had learnt was going to be highly useful in the workplace.

Paul is one of the students on the distance learning programme, delivered online by North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, to have completed the highest number of courses. He found his studies so useful that he has been promoting the courses, which are free to students and easy to access online, across his contacts including to neighbouring Leicestershire Police and within the NHS.

Paul continued, “The college courses opened my eyes and, now that I am back at work, I am finding what I have learnt highly beneficial in helping the way I interact with police service users. I believe that it is always important to take a person-centred approach to policing. Once you know what to look out for, and understand something about different communication styles, it is possible to adapt your behaviour to improve interactions and put yourself in a better position to help. I am really grateful to the college for the role these courses have played in helping my recovery.”

Marion Plant, OBE FGCI, Principal and Chief Executive of North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College said, “I am delighted to hear that Paul has been shortlisted for this prestigious award. It is always fantastic to hear that our courses have made an impact on our students and the organisations in which they work. I am really pleased that Paul has derived personal benefit from our distance learning courses and it is very encouraging that he has generated so much interest in distance learning because the courses are so easily accessible and there is no fee for students that complete their course.”

Stephen Evans, chief executive at the Learning and Work Institute said: “Lifelong learning has huge benefits for individuals; from helping you to progress in work, to improving health and wellbeing and self-confidence. It also has real benefits for communities and for the wider economy too. The stories of our Festival of Learning award winners highlight the transformative impact of lifelong learning, and the breadth of opportunities available. We hope that they help encourage and inspire many more adults to take part in learning.”

NWSLC distance learning courses are free to adults (with some restrictions) and can be accessed flexibly online without having to come in to college. They are short courses (12 weeks or less) that lead to Level 2 qualifications and can be completed offline on paper if preferred. Organisations that are interested in offering the programme to their teams should get in touch by emailing distance.learning@nwslc.ac.uk or calling 0330 058 3000.

The Festival of Learning external selection panel is made up of representatives from City Lit, the Education and Training Foundation, Greater London Authority, NOCN, HOLEX, the WEA, Skills and Education Group, CBI, the Local Government Association and the Department for Education.

Click here to discover more about online and distance learning courses.