Is banter bullying or a necessary part of the police officer toolkit?

When interviewed, three groups of police officers and staff reframed a complaint from a colleague about being the subject of jokes and tricks as banter. For them, banter was a signifier of in-group acceptance. However, a closer analysis suggests that far from being a benign form of camaraderie, banter is often used to create and maintain an exclusionary masculine culture which police officers and staff are reluctant to challenge. Drawing parallels with sexual harassment and racism, this paper concludes by suggesting that as part of a toxic culture, banter can represent a form of institutionalised bullying

The impact of extended services in Kent

In 2011 The Learning Plus team of Kent County Council, approached Canterbury Christ Church University and requested they undertake an evaluation of the impact of extended services. Learning Plus approached five providers of extended services who would be willing to provide data for this evaluation. These were selected under three criteria. They were geographically spread through the county and included different school types: special schools, primary and secondary and one was organised as a cluster. Data was collected in three forms. A desk based review was undertaken of previously published studies of the impact of extended services. This was combined with a review of the QES self-evaluation and evidence supplied by each of the participating providers for the achievement of this quality mark. From this, areas of focus for primary data collection were established. These areas were: Attainment and Attendance, Motivation and Self-esteem and Family and Community. To gather further information in relation to these themes, a series of semi-structured interviews were arranged with representatives of the schools. During these meetings the researchers also discussed and collected any examples of quantitative data that demonstrated the potential impact of extended services. In relation to attainment and attendance, Aylesham Primary School (part of the DES, Dover Extended Services consortium) provided evidence of greater improvement than would have been predicted without extended schools interventions. Christ Church CEP School provided evidence of greater gains than peers. Whilst a primary school in West Kent were able to demonstrate positive impact on the behaviour of a targeted group of siblings after an intervention. In relation to motivation and self-esteem, members of the DES cluster used the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) to show a change in a child’s self-rating before and after a transitions project. Maplesden Noakes School reported improvement in teacher’s assessment of various aspects of their children’s skills and attitudes, including attitude to learning. These quantitative measures were all supported by qualitative comments from staff. These indicated that in their view extended services, if not the actual factor, had certainly contributed a great deal to the positive impacts observed. Impacts on families and communities are, by their nature, harder to quantify, however senior leaders from Milestone School, Christ Church CEP School and Dover Grammar School (part of DES) for example, all felt involvement in extended services had helped improve their family and community relations and improved their image more widely. Indeed, this was typical across the schools within the sample. Many schools provided specific classes and support for parents, community groups and local businesses, thus having an additional social and economic impact. Furthermore, some schools reported additional benefits. For example, they obtained a return on investment through the use of their facilities

Synthesis and Exciton Dynamics of Triplet Sensitized Conjugated Polymers

We report the synthesis of a novel polythiophene-based host-guest copolymer incorporating a Pt-porphyrin complex (TTP-Pt) into the backbone for efficient singlet to triplet polymer exciton sensitization. We elucidated the exciton dynamics in thin films of the material by means of Transient Absorption Spectrosopcy (TAS) on multiple time scales and investigated the mechanism of triplet exciton formation. During sensitization, singlet exciton diffusion is followed by exciton transfer from the polymer backbone to the complex where it undergoes intersystem crossing to the triplet state of the complex. We directly monitored the triplet exciton back transfer from the Pt-porphyrin to the polymer and found that 60% of the complex triplet excitons were transferred with a time constant of 1087 ps. We propose an equilibrium between polymer and porphyrin triplet states as a result of the low triplet diffusion length in the polymer backbone and hence an increased local triplet population resulting in increased triplet-triplet annihilation. This novel system has significant implications for the design of novel materials for triplet sensitized solar cells and upconversion layers

Earning its keep: a social return of investment study of CCCU Arts & Culture at the Old Lookout Gallery, Broadstairs

In 2013 The Department of Media, Art & Design developed an inter-faculty research project with three aims focused upon evaluation, marketing and SROI: i. To evaluate the 2013 programme of events at The Old Lookout from the points of view of the artist(s) in residence; local businesses; gallery users (visitors) and non-users of the Gallery. ii. To gather marketing data in relation to the local communities knowledge of the Old Lookout Gallery and the programme of activities it offered and through this data improve subsequent advertising. iii. To pilot measures of Social Return on Investment (SROI) and if salient offer the tools for use across the University (and by partners) in order to provide a measure of SROI for other venues and activities. There are two types of Social Return on Investment (SROI): • Evaluative, which is conducted retrospectively and based on actual outcomes that have already taken place • Forecast, which predicts how much social value will be created if the activities meet their intended outcomes

Guides for measuring the impact of educational programmes

The series covers a number of aspects of good practice in relation to evaluating and measuring the impact of educational programmes. 1 - Getting started guide 2 - Data collection guide 3 - Drawing conclusions guide 4 - Sample size & control groups guide 5 - Statistics and presentation guide 6 - Qualitative data and surveys guide 7 - Strategy guid