PA Bulletin 27th March

 

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. Developing Good Practice in Connexions
5. Adviser Discretion Fund – A Clarification by David Bateman
6. Teenage Pregnancy - Latest News
7. New Vacancy Search Online

  

 

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.

 

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

      

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

4. Developing Good Practice in Connexions: Techniques and Tools for working with young people

Good Practice Guide (PDF File)

This is a useful publication and gives a guide to developing good practice to help Personal advisers with their interventions with young people using the connexions framework for Assessment, Planning Implementation and Review (APIR). This is intended to assist Connexions Partnerships, Managers, and PA’s to develop good practice in working with young people and includes advice on deciding which techniques to introduce and the training necessary for PA’s.  

Topics covered for reading include:

 

• Basic Counselling techniques
• Helping PA’s to be more effective
• Techniques and tools.

 

5. Adviser Discretion Fund

 

“You may have seen the news report on the BBC website on 2 March regarding changes to the eligibility conditions of the Adviser Discretion Fund. Following a couple of enquiries we have received I want to clarify the position regarding the changes to these eligibility conditions.

 

Background to Adviser Discretion Fund (ADF)

The ADF is one of a number of incentives designed to help Jobcentre Plus customers make the transition from claiming benefits into employment. It is not an entitlement and no customer has a right to receive help through the ADF. The decision to make a payment sits solely with the customer’s Personal Adviser. Payments are made when an award will remove a small barrier that is preventing a customer from accepting a job offer or when it will support them with their job search. Awards that will make a significant difference, are normally limited to a maximum of £300 per customer in a twelve-month period in exceptional circumstances and with the authority of more Senior Officers, higher amounts can be made. Awards can be given to cover tools to start work, up-front childcare costs in the first two weeks of work for NDLP/NDP participants, or a suit to attend interviews. The ADF cannot be used for CRB checks.

 

Changes to Eligibility

Currently the possibility of an award from the ADF is only considered for JSA customers when they have been unemployed for 6 months or more. However, from 6th April 2009, every job seeker will be able to access new cash from the Advisers Discretion Fund if their Jobcentre Plus Personal Adviser thinks it will give them the extra help they need to find a new job.  Due to conditions imposed by HM Treasury, we are unable to publicise or market ADF because of the discretionary nature of the fund. Jobcentre Plus leaflets do not name the fund but include sections that advise the customer to ask their Personal Adviser if they need financial support to help them in to work. The news article on the BBC website appeared in the Scottish news section of the website, I wanted to confirm that this change to eligibility is national and will apply to England, Wales and Scotland. Please give me a call if I can provide you with any further information or if you have any questions.”

 

David Bateman  - National Stakeholder Manager

Jobcentre Plus - Customers and Stakeholders Division

Level 2 - Steel City House

West Street

Sheffield S1 2GQ

Tel:  0114 294 3530 (Ext 46530) / 07779 357355

Email david.bateman1@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

6. Teenage pregnancy - Latest news

On 26 February 2009, Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo and Young People's Minister Beverley Hughes announced an extra £20.5 million to help young people get better access to contraception and support for teenagers and raise the awareness of the risks of unprotected sex. For more information, read the full press notice and download the Under-18 Conception Statistics 1998-2007 which was also published on 26 February 2009.

On 23 October 2008, the DCSF published the report on the delivery of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools, and the Government response to the report. For more information, and to download the documents, go to the TeachnerNet website.

The Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy (TPIAG) published its 5th annual report on 16 July 2008. TPIAG makes recommendations to Government on implementing the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. The Government will publish a formal response to the report later this year.

7. New Vacancy Search Online

Visit our website at www.connexionssurrey.co.uk where you can try out our new searchable vacancy database, designed to help young people find details of the most suitable vacancies.

This new function uses regularly updated data from Adapt so every job vacancy known of by Connexions Surrey is easily accessible. There are just 3 questions - What sort of job? Where? What level? - which allow users to quickly refine their search. The question response boxes auto-complete with info held in the database to maximise positive responses, and leaving anything blank simply widens the search. There is also a 'browse all' function

The intention is to provide a service that is more user-friendly, interactive, and accurate that the static lists the website used to offer.

Please do give us feedback on what you think - and please do encourage your clients to use it!

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