PA Bulletin 9th April 2009

 

The Connexions Surrey bulletin is produced every two weeks and we aim to keep you up to date with current issues and aware of news that is relevant to your day to day jobs. The bulletin sits alongside the PA Resource section of the website.

 

1. NEET: Update, Job Opportunities, Activities
2. Connexions Training Programmes
3. Surrey County Council Training Programmes
4. Engagement Invitation 14th May (evening) and 30th April (afternoon)
5. Y2Y Trek – Fundraising
6. Surrey Opportunities Fair – Early Results
7. Economic Downturn - What it Means for Young People in the South East
8. Information sharing – what you need to know.

 

 1: NEET

 

UPDATE– How well are we doing in 2009?
Click here for the latest graphs on NEET, Unknowns and NEET by Borough Breakdown.

Job Opportunities for Young People
Did you know that there are a wide range of job vacancies, vacant college places and training courses all over the county waiting to be filled? As the majority don’t have particularly demanding entry requirements, they are an ideal choice for many NEET youngsters.

Our Centres produce regular listings of local opportunities. Vacancy Bulletins are now listed on the Connexions website Job search page and you can also pick up copies from your local Centre to share with the young people you are currently working with.

 

NEET Activities Flyer  - 2009  

The aim of this section is to provide a summary of the types of activities, events or programmes that are currently available or upcoming, which may interest and be of benefit to NEET young people.

We hope that you can pass on the information and encourage NEET young people with a view to potentially getting them signed up for an activity that may be starting soon.

 

Flyer   New

 

Alternatively if you are involved in, or know of any NEET (16-18 year old) activities that are taking place this year, please provide the following details and we will include it in the flyer:

 

• Course/Event title
• Brief description, to include, number of weeks, core content, referral process etc
• Agency/Provider
• Dates
• Time
• Costs (if any incurred by young person)
• Contact name
• Contact details i.e. telephone number and email address

(Suggestions should be directed ASAP to the following)

 

Jemma Campbell – Connexions Surrey

mailto:jemma.campbell@surreycc.gov.uk 

Tel: 01483 519350

 

 

2.Connexions Training Programmes

 

To register for any of the following courses:  Please complete the attached application form and email it to Corinne Ford at corinne.ford@surreycc.gov.uk and cc your line manager. 

      

Bereavement

 

A morning workshop run by Jigsaw4u trainer Anne Davies, which covers working with grief, loss and trauma and providing strategies for dealing with loss and trauma. The half-day workshop includes discussion of:

 

• The impact of bereavement – losses and statistics, teenage grief: exploring the specific impact of death of grandparent or parent after a long illness, sudden death, witnessing traumatic death as a result of a road accident, suicide or murder.
• Practical tools and coping strategies including making a memory jar – would everyone please bring a jar with a lid and a pack of salt.

Dates	Times	Venue
30-Apr-09	09:00-12:00	Guildford YMCA

 

 

Benefits for Young People

 

This is the ‘Cinderella’ service of the department for Work and Pensions. The rules governing benefit entitlement are complex and often misunderstood and misinterpreted not only by those who work with young people but also by Jobcentre staff. This one-day course (with lunch included) aims to de-mystify the benefits system for young people and give young people’s advisers/workers the confidence to negotiate the ‘benefits maze’ on their behalf. A detailed course programme will be provided nearer the day to include:

 

• Benefits for 16 & 17 year olds
• The impact of care and/or educational status
• Young people with disabilities and/or incapable of work
• Housing benefit
• Community Care Grants form the Social Fund
• Severe hardship payments
• Negotiating with the benefits system

Dates	Times	Venue
14-Apr-09	09:30-16:30	Quadrant Court - Woking
24-Apr-09	09:30-16:30	Quadrant Court - Woking

 

 

Introduction to the new IAG (Information, Advice and Guidance) standards 

 

The new IAG standards underpin all work undertaken by the Learning Networks and the introduction of the new diplomas. They also highlight how training providers and Connexions should be working. This Essential half-day training for all Personal Advisers will therefore take place as follows:

 

Dates	Times	Venue
29-Apr-09	9.30-12.30 or 1.30- 4.30	Redhill Methodist Church
14-May-09	9.30-12.30 or 1.30- 4.30	Guildford YMCA (Guildford)
19-May-09	10.00-1.00 or 1.30- 4.30	History Centre, Woking

  

• A further date in June is to be advised

  

3. Surrey County Council Courses - The Following courses are also available but provided by Surrey County Council for SCC employees

 

To apply for these courses: Please complete the attached SCC training application form and email to Corinne Ford at corinne.ford@surreycc.gov.uk and cc your line manager.

 

Managing Challenging Interactions

 

Aim: To provide staff with the skills and self-awareness to handle challenging interaction effectively to result in positive outcomes. By the end of the training participants should be able to:

• Increase their awareness of themselves and others, in order to understand what is needed to enhance the effectiveness of interactions with others,
• Understand the interactions they have with service users, to identify the most effective ways of handling these, given the circumstances in which they find themselves,
• Understand the their impact on the situations they face and how this impacts on the effectiveness of their interactions,
• Explore techniques to manage their own mood to ensure that they are in the best possible state to handle situations effectively,
• Identify individual actions that they want to take to put their learning into practice and to continue to develop themselves in this area.

Dates	Times	Venue
12-May-09	09:30-16:30	Absolute Building

 

Safeguarding refresher

Staff in all agencies have a responsibility to ensure that they attend safeguarding refresher training every two years. Learning outcomes: To enable participants to update their knowledge, skills and practice with regard to safeguarding children and young people.  At the end of this training participants should be able to:

• Understand how safeguarding fits in to the Every Child Matters agenda
• Increase their awareness of the current national guidance and framework for safeguarding children and promoting their welfare
• Identify how these impact on participants own work roles
• Develop an action plan for themselves in order to take issues forward.

Pre event requisites: Staff must have attended ‘What to do if you’re worried a child is being abused’ and the ‘Multi Agency Safeguarding Foundation Training.’ Modules 1 and 2.

 

Dates	Times	Venue
28-Apr-09	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
28-May-09	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
23-Jun-09	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
08-Jul-09	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
22-Oct-09	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
26-Jan-10	9.30am - 1.30pm	Runnymede Centre, Addlestone
24-Feb-10	9.30am - 1.30pm	Quadrant Court, Woking
04-Mar-10	9.30am - 1.30pm	Quadrant Court, Woking

 

 

4. Engagement Invitation 14th May (evening) and 30th April (afternoon)

At these events, Young People, Parents and Teachers will discuss Teenage Pregnancy alongside staff from Health and Social Care, and contribute to an action plan for Teenage Pregnancy in Surrey.

 

We are particularly keen to capture the views of young people, and parents. The evening session of 14th May has been arranged to increase the opportunity for these groups to attend. There remain some places for staff, especially on 14th May.

 

Two information sheets are attached, one for staff and one for public display. We would like you to encourage representatives to attend from your staff, parents and young people aged between 13 and 19. A gift voucher for £20 will be offered to young people, to encompass travel costs, although assistance with group travel may be possible. Adults are asked to attend voluntarily.

 

Places are limited on 30th April; please would you make your bookings and enquiries with prudence.south@surreycc.gov.uk.

 

• Public Advertisement
• Internal Advertisement

 

5. Y2Y Trek – Fundraising

 

The Exciting FUN annual Y2Y trek from Woking YMCA to Guildford YMCA to Redhill YMCA. The North Downs trek was a multi-terrain event for walkers and runners doing either the full marathon or the half marathon of 13 miles.
This exhilarating trek was a great way to get fit, meet new people and raise funds for the local community. All sponsorship money raised went directly to the YMCA to support the ever-expanding work they do with and for young people and some of the most vulnerable and isolated members of society, offering them help and support, particularly in times of need.

To view progress and make a donation click here.

 

6. Surrey Opportunities Fair – Early Results

 

"Dear Colleague

It's now been a month since the first Surrey Opportunities Fair at the Guildford Spectrum, and in the interim I have been gathering feedback and suggestions from a range of participants including exhibitors, Personal Advisers and young people. Overall response has been very positive - a real sense that we achieved as well as we possibly could have against the background of the economic downturn and offered an impressive number of young people some real opportunities. Of course, there were lessons to learn and we have taken them on board as we plan future high profile events of this nature.

I've compiled all of the feedback I have gathered into the enclosed report.

Please do give me further input if necessary to produce a definitive document. Thank you so much for all of your support and efforts in making the day the great success it was; we couldn't have done it without you!

I hope to see you at the next Opportunities Fair!

Kind regards

Chris Bussicott - Involving Young People Manager 01483 519333”

7. Economic Downturn - What it Means for Young People in the South East

Please see attached report on the effect of the economic downturn on the South East. Surrey has seen the 3rd highest increase in adult’s claming Job seekers allowance, a dramatic increase from 5000 in Feb 2008 to over 12000 in Feb 2009. Although we still have the lowest NEET, across the South East young people are becoming unemployed at a faster rate than adults.

 

8. Information sharing – what you need to know.

 

As professionals we all have a legal duty to obtain the permission of young people we work with to share their information with other agencies. Anyone who fails to do this can be personally liable (not their employer) for a fine of up to £5,000!

 

We have standardised Connexions data sharing process with that of SCC who lead on this for organisations in Surrey, and we are about to produce a new data sharing agreement leaflet that includes a small form for young people to complete to confirm their agreement. This leaflet will be distributed to you as soon as possible – please use it with every young person you are working with, and record that you have done so in the ‘Information Sharing’ screen of the Adapt record. All completed hard copies of the form also need to be kept and stored securely.

 

Surrey County Council have developed a very useful e-training programme on information sharing that can be accessed by all PAs at http://www.kwango.com/login/index.php

 

If you are an SCC employee please log on with your email address and Lotus Notes user name as this will record that you have undertaken the training (this will become compulsory for SCC employees in due course).

 

For all other PAs please use user name ‘connexions’ and password ‘connexions’.

 

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