Courses, Documents & Links for Professionals in North Yorkshire

The dissemination of information to staff through the YSS is currently being reviewed. As part of this review the GCN weekly bulletin will discontinue but in the meantime staff can still access current information through the GCN website until the information strategy is developed.

NOTE: You will find information in the News section including What's new this week.

Children and Young People Now - As a Youth Support Service we have subscribed for a year to the online version of Children and Young People Now so YSS staff have access to the articles and free resources. The resources in particular are useful. Your managers have been sent the username and password.

Many of the leads in the weekly update came from the Regional Youth Work Unit - North East weekly bulletin.

Click on the section that you would like to see and you will be taken to that section:

1. The YSS Get Connected Now weekly update past editions
2. Posters and handouts
3. Statutory guidance on independent and impartial careers guidance for young people
4. Resources for schools/colleges
5. Resources from The National Career Guidance Show North 2012
6. National STEM Centre eNewsletter  
7. Post 16 Careers Work Current issues and best practice - 30 October 2010
8. Careers information to support professionals giving advice
9. Useful Documents and Links
10. General IAG
11. UCAS Progress and CAP
12. Qualifications including apprenticeships
13. Care to Learn
14. Finance information
15. Safeguarding 
16. Tier 3 referral services
17. Risky behaviour
18. Supporting young people who are NEET
19. Rapid assessment - YSS centres
20. Youth work
21. gimi events and information
22. Volunteering and citizenship and work experience
23. Labour Market Information
24. Employment and Skills e-bulletin
25. Working with parents
26. Private fostering
27. Destination data
28. National Apprenticeship Week 2013
29. Employer engagement and work experience
30. YSS courses North Yorkshire
31. Courses/events run by other organisations
32. Future developments for IAG
33. Get Connected Now familiarisation
34. Campaigns

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This weekly update tells you about additions to this website and articles and news of interest to all who work with young people:

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Here you will find posters and handouts which you may find useful including a Get Connected Now briefing paper:

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DfE – Statutory Guidance for Schools and Local Authorities on Careers Guidance and consultation on extending the age range - Briefing paper - Date 15 May 2012

Overview

The keys aspects of the guidance are:

• That from September 2012 schools will be under a duty to secure access to independent and impartial careers advice and guidance. Till then, local authorities will remain responsible for providing such services
• While schools have this new duty for their pupils, local authorities will maintain statutory responsibility for encouraging, enabling or assisting young people's participation in education and training
• But there will be no expectation that local authorities should provide universal careers services or continue Connexions in its present form once the duty on schools has been commenced
• While schools will be free to make arrangements that fulfil the needs of their pupils the duty requires that advice and guidance is provided by somebody who is not employed by the school to ensure that it’s independent and impartial
• Schools should secure face-to-face careers guidance where it is the most suitable support and particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who have special educational needs, learning difficulties or disabilities
• Schools should consider a range of wider careers activities such as engagement with local employers, work-based education and training providers and local colleges and universities
• Pupils should receive independent and impartial advice about all of the mainstream education, training and employment opportunities regardless of their individual circumstances.

Statutory guidance on independent and impartial careers guidance for young people You can view the guidance on the DfE website

Here is a  link to a pdf of the document.

Here is a digest of the guidance by Anthony Barnes, CareersEtc national manager, with suggested action points for schools.

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14 November 2012 - The essentials: guidance and advice for schools. A section on the Department for Education website which brings together all statutory guidance and key advice for schools.

22 October 2012 - Teaching about employability from Cegnet

Next month is WorldSkillsUK, 15-17 November, in Birmingham. This is an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of employability skills with your students.

Click here for links to a range of useful resources on employability.

If you have a favourite resource that is not on the list which you would like to share with others on the cegnet website or in the next newsletter, please get in touch (Karen.collins@babcockinternational.com).

30 July 2012 - update on Future First which aims to increase social mobility by building alumni communities around state schools to inspire and inform young people about their futures. To find out what they will do for schools visit their Schools page or look at this leaflet. Future First Networks is designed to help state schools build and manage an alumni community easily and inexpensively. A Future First Networks database allows you to track your alumni, send out regular updates by text or email and ask them to come back to the school to provide careers talks, mentor a current student, fundraise, act as a school governor or volunteer in other ways.

At the start of this year we were working with over 50 schools, but have finished it with more than 500 - over 15% of English state secondary schools. It's been an incredible period of growth, fuelled by a new database service that we launched to help schools build alumni networks from the ground up. This idea secured us Cabinet Office funding via The Social Investment Business and match funding from ZING and The Social Investment Consultancy, which has allowed us to scale quickly. We're incredibly grateful to all our supporters.

We can already see that the programme is resonating with young people; almost 25,000 have subscribed to alumni communities we've been building in their old schools in the past 3 months alone. Our events too have received consistently positive feedback from young people, with over 75% of those who attend telling us that our alumni careers events make them want to work harder in school.

We hope you will have time to log on to our service when it goes live to the public next month and see if you can find your old school amongst our network, join your alumni community and think about what you might be able to do for your old school as a volunteer, career role model, mentor or e-mentor, governor, work experience provider or fundraiser.

Our programmes are now beginning to get international attention too. We've been commissioned by an inspirational Kenyan businesswoman to pilot our work in 10 schools in Nairobi, launching this year.

23 July 2012 - Schools Membership ICG Schools Membership To support the delivery of careers education, information, advice and guidance, ICG offers a special Schools Membership package....

23 July - Securing Independent Careers Guidance - A Practical Guide for Schools. The guide offers practical information that schools may wish to draw on when interpreting their new duty. It should be read in conjunction with the statutory guidance published in March. Find out more CEGNET
Securing impartial careers guidance FAQs The ICG has addressed the issue of how schools in England should comply with the Education Act 2011 - most particularly the issue of securing impartial career guidance, through 11 Frequently Asked Questions. ICG

11 June - Putting Young People First -  The Association of School and College Leaders and the Association of Colleges have for the first time published joint protocols for schools and colleges for the provision of careers guidance, setting out best practice for helping young people get the most appropriate information and guidance

16 May 2012 - Sec Ed Guide to Careers Guidance

Sec Ed and the Association for School and College Leaders have put together this guide to careers guidance in schools. It covers:

• A summary of the new statutory requirements for delivering careers guidance for students in years 9 to 11
• Useful links and contacts
• Two case studies - one of a freelance careers adviser and another of a careers adviser who has been employed by a school for the last six years.

It includes a useful clarification of the DfE's expectations by a spokesperson from the Department. Download the guide here CEGNET

Added 28 February THE QUALITY IN CAREERS STANDARD is now live: 

1. The Press notice
2. The GUIDE to the Standard 3
3. The Self Assessment booklet

Added 13 February - Good practice resource – Employability and enterprise education 09 Feb 201.2 Students’ employability and enterprise skills are developed throughout the curriculum and through innovative projects developed with employers. Provider: Queens Park Community School
- Good practice resource – Work-related learning and enterprise education 09 Feb 2012 Ofsted Students at this 11-16 school develop exceptionally strong work-related and enterprise skills, together with very good personal financial awareness and basic economic and business understanding.

Added 30 November 2011 from Cegnet - The impact of KS4 vocational courses on disengaged young people's engagement with education 15-18 This research from the DfE found no evidence to suggest that taking vocational courses in Year 10 helps to re-engage young people who are already disengaged from education. Neither did it find any evidence to suggest studying vocational courses makes matters worse. The finding that young people who take at least one vocational course in Year 10 are more likely to achieve Key Stage 4 Level 1 remained, however there was no relationship between subject choice and Level 2 achievement, or young people's destinations at age 17 and 18. For more on this and other conclusions, read the report

Careers resources

Downloadable resources from Open Doors, the regional training prospectus - includes posters on a wide range of careers options.

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A toolkit from ACCA - all about accountancy - The ACCA Schools Resource Pack has been developed to assist you when explaining careers in accountancy to young people. Inside you will find fact sheets and case studies to help you discuss the different routes into the profession, so you can offer the most relevant advice.
Download the ACCA Schools Resource Pack (6MB)

'Big Handz Business Game'  - Also in the resource pack is ACCA's ‘Big Handz Business Game', an interactive business finance game, can be used to engage 16-18 year old students. This game has been designed to meet the needs of the KS3 programme of study for the PSHE curriculum and support your work related learning requirements.

From football clubs to high street banks, accountants work in a vast range of organisations, and in the resource pack you can see profiles of ACCA students and members to help inspire young people.

Introductory qualifications - ACCA‘s range of introductory qualifications, Foundations in Accountancy, is now available to anyone who is ready to start their career journey. Find out more at
www.accaglobal.com/FIA

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Teaching about Green Careers Read this Cegnet briefing for teaching ideas about helping students to explore and choose specific green careers. We also look at why students need to be aware of the greening of all careers and what it will mean for them.

PSHE

Exercises to Improve Self-knowledge and Self-esteem 1 from Chalkface Project - free samples available.  Develop your students' abilities to assess and consolidate ideas and opinions about themselves and the world in which they live.

Citizenship

Post-16 Citizenship Support Programme

For all those interested in post-16 citizenship education this site contains high quality resources, relevant news and information and details of support for post-16 citizenship (PDF document, 2Mb) available from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) Post-16 Citizenship Support Programme, managed by LSN.

ACT (Association for Citizen Teaching) has developed a series of six exciting new learning activities to help support careers learning through Citizenship.

The activities are fully supported by lesson plans, PowerPoints and web links and a full teachers’ introduction and LA advisers’ guide is included.

Citizenship e-news October 2011

Launching the new national network for post-16 citizenship education* Bernadette Joslin, Helen Wiles and Rob Pope are proud to announce the launch of Active Citizens FE, the new national network for everyone in the post-compulsory sector with interests in citizenship education, social action and learner voice. See our website  *for all the news about free membership, benefits and our plans for the new network,

Apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Service Resource Pack

This resource pack is for Teachers and Careers and IAG Providers. It has been developed to be used with a range of audiences. Material includes fact sheets, teacher resource sheets and activity sheets. These can be used as appropriate with each audience.

School Teachers

The Resource Pack will support the delivery of an IAG session to a group of learners or on a one to one basis. It will also support the development of knowledge around Apprenticeships and can be used individually or as part of an inset training day for staff.

• The Good Practice Guide to enterprise education
• A new group of films to help teachers give information, advice and guidance

STEM
- NFER report on STEM careers advice 'Patchy' schools' careers provision and a small careers workforce are hindering efforts to significantly raise pupil interest in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) (Oct 2011 cegnet)
- STEM careers module launched. The module has been designed to complement and extend the STEM Choices resource and link this creatively with learning from the existing LMI online learning module at the University of Warwick. (Oct 2011 cegnet).

STEMNET

STEMNET creates opportunities to inspire young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This enables young people to develop their creativity, problem-solving and employability skills, widens their choices and supports the UK’s future competitiveness. STEMNET helps encourage young people to be well informed about STEM, able to engage fully in debate, and make decisions about STEM related issues.

Go4SET - A new EDT initiative involving students, engineers and companies in exciting projects to stimulate the interest of young people in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Go4SET links teams of six Year 8/9(England) and S2 (Scotland) pupils with companies and universities to offer a 10 week science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experience.

Designing a generic career studies module. A practical example developed for the Centre for Career Management Skills by Phil McCash.

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These eNewsletters are posted towards the end of every month.

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Below is the Powerpoint presentation outlining the structure of the day and all the slides that were used to introduce each section.  Under that are all the course handouts:

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This is a new section with links to specific career information sites as well as general sites. More information can be found in the 'How can I find out about working in/with ......?' section on the careers page

Added 25 June - Now more than ever, students depend on having access to accurate information when they are making important decisions about their choice of career, course and university. BestCourse4me is an essential tool in that fact-finding process.

Visit the newly revamped Resources for Schools page, which has been especially designed to help Teachers and Career Advisors:

• You can download classroom resources, including lesson plans, quizzes and posters.
• Why not sign up for ‘Schools Talks', email updates and more? Plus the chance to win an iPad!

As careers advisors working with young people, we want to help you to have the best information at your fingertips in order to advise them of the options open to them and the employment routes to which these options lead. The bestCourse4me.com website is here to help you to raise their aspirations and broaden their horizons.

Added 13 June - Put yourself first - free iPhone/iPod touch app to explore work preferences

As a trailer for the launch of the 2012-13 editions of the Choices booklets, 'Which way now?' and 'It's your choice', Babcock Lifeskills has launched the Put yourself first free app. Based on one of the units in 'Which way now?', it asks the user to choose activities they like, then links them to the area of work they'd enjoy working in on the basis of their responses.

The app encourages users to explore how other Lifeskills products can help them to explore their career interests further. You can download the app from the Apple store.

The Choices booklets are available to order now for despatch in September 2012. Single copies of the booklets can be purchased at £1.75.

Added 11 June 2012 - Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers: A Strategy for Social Mobility Careers advice has a part to play in the Government's thinking about how to improve social mobility Cegnet
Fair Access to Professional Careers A progress report by the Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility and Child Poverty Cegnet

• The National Careers Service - 0800 100 900. This is the new all age career service; it replaces DirectGov for young people and Next Step. Here is a flyer promoting the NCS. It covers: 

  Career Tools - NOTE; the career tools can only be saved and printed if the YP has opened a Lifelong Learning account and they can only do this is they are over 18.  To access similar tools that they can use see the Making Preparations page

  • Action Plan Tool
  • Skills Health Check Tools
  • CV Builder
  • Learning Record
  • My Funding Information

  Careers advice

  • Plan your career
  • Get a job
  • Courses and learning
  • Course search
  • Job profiles

  About us

  • Contact us
  • Real life stories
  • News

• Lifelong Learning Account - Eligibility Age Change Information

  Following feedback from the sector, the lower age limit for Lifelong Learning Accounts has been reduced from 18 to those aged 16 and over.

  From the beginning of September 2012, individuals aged 16 and over, living in England can register for a Lifelong Learning Account through the National Careers Service website, which provides access to a range of information and tools, that can be saved in a secure, private and online space.

• National Careers Service: The Right Advice At The Right Time - briefing paper (Cegnet)
  The offer to young people and adults...............7
  The National Careers Service.........................8
  The role of schools, colleges and universities....10
  Support for those facing additional barriers......12
  A flourishing market in careers services...........14
  The importance of quality............................15
  What happens next?...................................17
• Growing Ambitions provides free information for teachers and careers professionals to help channel the aspirations of young people. The site already contains over 3500 resources from some 140 organisations which can be downloaded and used in lessons.  This includes The Talking Jobs Randomizer - New free careers app for schools  (Cegnet)
• The ACEG Framework (April 2012) is a non-statutory framework of learning outcomes for careers and work-related education from KS2 to post 16. It fills the gap left by the removal of statutory duties in both these areas and will help schools to plan coherent and effective programmes of careers and work-related education.
  Who the framework is for? - The framework has been produced to support schools, colleges and work-based learning providers in planning and reviewing their provision of careers and work-related education in 6 the curriculum. It has been written principally for careers and work-related education leaders and other curriculum leaders but it will also be helpful to careers advisers, education-business partners and providers of professional development.
  Useful definitions - What is careers and work-related education? The widely accepted definitions of career and work-related learning emphasise that:
  *Career learning helps young people develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they need to make successful choices and manage transitions in learning and work.
  *Work-related learning provides opportunities for young people to develop knowledge and understanding of work and enterprise, to develop skills for enterprise and employability and to learn through direct experiences of work and enterprise. (Cegnet)
• UCAS - Are you helping someone apply? Find all the information you need to help your students apply for higher education courses
• Cegnet is the website for professionals working in careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) and their supporters. There are pages of links/thumbnails to teaching and learning, careers IAG, leading and managing, professional development and projects and initiatives
  Smaart Advice - the National website and newspaper for careers professionals
• Links to all the Sector Skills Councils - some are better than others but all give some careers information
• icould is the place where young people can get ideas about where they could go, how they could get there, what they could do, why it would be worth it and who they could be - you can use this with them or let them use it to explore thier options. It includes the Buzz personality profile quiz, they'll discover more about what makes them tick and what they're naturally good at, all in just five minutes

• Careersbox - New Year, New Resources. Let your students experience the world of work with the Careersbox film library, endorsed by Career Mark

  Careersbox is a careers education resource like no other. Here's why: Click on the links below to view examples of our job profile films and our award winning collection of interview technique films.

  - Job Profile Films
  - Interview Technique Films

  Start exploring Careersbox today

  For information on how to use Careersbox, watch this.

  - our Careersbox resources are all FREE for everyone all year round
  - there are no job boards and no adverts, just top quality film resources
  - we have over 500 job profile films, from all industry sectors
  - our films showcase all the career destinations available to young people
  -every Careersbox film is informative, educational and most importantly, fun.

• Job Profiles in Focus with The Skills Explorer

  The Skills Explorer is another free online careers resource from Careersbox. Recommended for all young people in the EU by the European Media in Education awards, Skills Explorer encourages young people to connect with the world of work and discover potential career pathways in a new interactive way. Everyone who explores their skills with this free tool will receive their own personalised Skills Report for use in future career guidance sessions.

• Career Sector Leaflets - Open Doors Media, creators of the Regional Training Prospectus has a careers section where you get sector-specific careers leaflets. Each leaflet gives a short and snappy overview of the sector with information on career prospects, useful statistics and details of the qualifications
• Careers Work Innovation Where you can find leading-edge ideas for careers work - including information-advice-and-guidance (iag), careers education (ce), career counselling, mentoring, coaching, personal-and-social development, learning for well-being, for a changing world, portfolio development and individual action-planning
• Think Power - If you are at school or college, a teacher or a careers adviser, or if you are looking for an apprenticeship, Think Power is a new website full of practical information and learning advice.
  The power sector provides sustainable careers for people at many levels; with excellent career development, job security and excellent great team work. However, many people miss out on these career opportunities as they are either unaware of the power sector, and what it can offer to them, or they are unclear on the entry requirements. Think Power provides materials and resources developed especially for careers advisers including real life case studies and a Career Planning Tool
• JTL, the leading training provider to the building services engineering sectors, works with 3,500 business and supports 9,700 apprentices to deliver more Advanced Apprenticeships than anyone else in the sector
• Ways and Choices - The Ways & Choices suite of 20 careers lessons for Key Stages 3 and 4 and post 16 has been fully revised by Babcock Lifeskills (October 2011). The new CD-ROM takes into account all the changes to 14-19 education since last year. The original titles are still there but all the content has been updated
• Bill Law's career learning cafe  The August 2012 update n ew t ime s - n ew t h i n k i n g - n ew a c t i o n is now posted.

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ICT in CEIAG Conference - Report on the 4th held in York on 1-2 March 2012

ICT in CEIAG events aim to inspire and inform teachers and advisers about using ICT to lead and support the delivery of careers work in schools, colleges and work-based learning. This year's conference focused on preparing for the changes in education, careers guidance and the economy that look set to transform professional practice in the years ahead.

View the presentations made available by keynote speakers and workshop leaders at this year's event here.

Keynote addresses

• How can we secure quality in CEIAG in England? - Paul Chubb
• Careers Education and Guidance in Schools: changing policy and practice and the place of ICT - David Andrews

Workshop sessions

• Welcome to careers information and the internet, does it help or hinder? - Hilary Nickell
• Resource Companion - Alison Dixon & Maggie Dalton
• Facebook and Careers Work in Practice - Michael Larbalestier
• HECSU Career Planner - Jane Artess
• Using webinar technology - Lynda Lacey
• Lancashire Interactive Framework - Ian Phillips
• Careers information in a digital age - Paul Foreman
• Passportfolio - Lucy Peck
• eCLIPS - Rachel Walker
• Career learning for all - LSIS online learning course - Anthony Barnes
• Online careers hubs for careers teachers and advisers - Anthony Barnes

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Facing Up to the Future

The ICG believes passionately in securing an entitlement to high quality careers information, advice and guidance for all young people, including face-to-face services where appropriate. It quotes key research evidence to back up its conviction in Appendix (ii). In Part A (Introduction) of the briefing, ICG explains its concerns about current national policy, not least because it is seriously under-funded. ICG hopes that the statutory guidance will help schools make effective arrangements but knows from recent surveys that the results are likely to be patchy.

In Part B (Survey findings), ICG reports on its own survey of 238 schools at the end of last year which showed how under-prepared schools are to take on their new responsibilities. Appendix (i) also includes the results of a straw poll from the Westminster Briefings/cegnet conference in London in December which similarly shows an inadequate level of response to the challenges ahead.

In Section D, ICG addresses a number of recommendations to Government which it believes will help schools to deliver their new responsibilities for careers information, advice and guidance, including:

• Ensure delivery by qualified career guidance professionals
• Evolve the National Careers Service into a genuine all-age careers service.

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• The careers advice helpline for young people aged 20+ - Next Step - 0800 100 900

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• A guide to crowdfunding - Looking for new ways to fund your creative project? Chris Buckingham shares his 8-step guide to launching a successful fundraising campaign.

• 6 August 2012 Disability Toolkit - This toolkit was created by The Children's Society so that you can share your experiences of working with young people and your knowledge of resources with others working in the same field. Also the Disability Advocacy Project brings you a practical, professional guide to participation

• 30 July 2012 - Tackling Youth Unemployment, Supporting Business and Developing Careers (May 2012). A report by the UKCES (UK Commission for Employment and Skills) explores the relationship between employers, career guidance professionals, and job seekers, and identifies the ways in which all parties can work more collaboratively to tackle youth unemployment. The report draws upon a case study of 76 employers, a literature review and a call for evidence from employers. It finds that the creation of ‘action spaces' may contribute to broader policy agendas on re-engaging young people in the labour market and on supporting economic growth and productivity through maximising the potential of this workforce. Click here to view this report

• 18 July 2012 - A framework of outcomes for young people. While many youth services providers have powerful examples of lives transformed, they have struggled to provide quantitative evidence of the difference that their services make for young people and for society more broadly. This report sets out a matrix of available tools along with a step-by-step approach to measuring these capabilities in practice. Read the report »

• 11 July 2012 - The Youth Employment Challenge - This report is a follow up to last year’s Youth Inquiry. It uses the latest evidence from the UK Commission’s comprehensive survey of employers to highlight how the labour market and recruitment practices have changed over the last decade. We have looked at these changes focussing on the effects they have had on youth employment; including putting young people in a Catch-22 situation and making it harder for them to transition from education into work

• 6 June 2012 - Ben's compendium of websites - thanks to Ben Whitworth who has updated this document.  Nearly all the links can be found on GCN but this brings them all together

• 16 May 2012 - Youth Transitions, the Labour Market and Entry into Employment: Some Reflections and Questions SKOPE Research Paper No. 108 May 2012. For a resume from CEGNET

• 17 April 2012 - A Practical Guide to Commissioning Services for Young People Part 10: Involving Young People in Commissioning 

• 12 March - My Life - Brighter Futures for LLDD
  There are well over a million people in the UK with a learning disability of which 500,000 are children and young people. These individuals are often thought of as being excluded from various aspects of society such as training and employment due to the needs they have and so specific information about the options available to them is limited.
  ZootAlore! Community Foundation CIC have been researching the problem of easily accessible information about future options for Learners with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (LLDD) and have developed a new and exciting approach which they believe will allow for greater opportunities to be available and accessible.
  MyLife is a new web based platform which is designed to specifically support the wide range of needs experienced by LLDD and give easy access to specific Careers IAG, potential training placements and Independent living information.
  For more information visit www.mylifeuk.org and download the My Life flyer

• 16 January 2102 - the Foundation Years website – an indispensible site to support you as a professional working with children and families in the foundation years. It is a one stop shop for resources, information and the latest news on the foundation years. Developed collaboratively by you, the sector - for the sector. It brings together information from many sources that will help you to support children to develop and flourish
• 9 January 2012 - Positive for Youth: A new approach to cross-government policy for young people aged 13 to 19 was published on 19 December 2011. The statement brings together for the first time all of the Government’s policies for young people aged 13 to 19. It therefore covers a wide range of issues – from education and youth services, to health, crime, housing and more. Nine government departments have been involved in developing it – including the Department for Education, the Department of Health, the Home Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government
• Department of Education

• Building Engagement, Building Futures January 2012

  The Government's five strategic priorities are:
  • Priority 1: Raising educational attainment in school and beyond to ensure that young people have the skills they need to compete in a global economy;
  
  
  • Priority 2: Helping local partners to provide effective and coordinated services that support all young people, including the most vulnerable, putting us on track to achieve full participation for 16-17 year olds by 2015;
  
  
  • Priority 3: Encouraging and incentivising employers to inspire and recruit young people by offering more high quality Apprenticeships and work experience places;
  
  
  • Priority 4: Ensuring that work pays and giving young people the personalised support they need to find it, through Universal Credit, the Work Programme and our Get Britain Working measures; and
  
  
  • Priority 5: Putting in place a new Youth Contract worth almost £1 billion over the next three years to help get young people learning or earning before long term damage is done. The package includes:
    
    
    • subsidised six-month work placements for 18-24 year olds, to encourage employers to take on unemployed young people;
    • additional careers advice through JobCentre Plus, and an improved careers information portal from April 2012;
    • incentive payments for small firms to take on young apprentices;
    • support to help young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) return to education or training.

  For more information about the strategy, click here to visit the DfE website.

• Ofsted - new look website
• Education Bill 2010-11
• Report to the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister from the Advocate for Access to Education ‘The Hughes Report’ July 2011 
• Careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) in schools in England - May 2011
• Informing choice in post-16 education and learning 4 Nov 2011 BIS research paper no. 49. Report of a study commissioned by BIS to determine the type of information that would most effectively support learners, employers and advice and guidance intermediaries in making choices about post-16 provision. This included all government funded post-16 education and training, but not higher education provision. In the executive summary points 39-42 relate to how YPs access information
• Progression post-16 for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities 23 Aug 2011 Ofsted Ref: 100232 This survey evaluates the arrangements for transition from school and the provision in post-16 settings for learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities up to the age of 25. Through visits to 32 providers and the completion of 111 detailed case studies, inspectors assessed the effectiveness of provision in enabling learners to develop greater independence, and progress to further learning or open or supported employment
• Choosing to volunteer -  05 Dec 2011 Ofsted Ref: 110119 This survey evaluates volunteering programmes located within a sample of schools, colleges, and youth and community settings. It reports on the experiences of the young people, particularly the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, who participate in volunteering programmes. Inspectors collected evidence through visits to six secondary schools, seven colleges and six youth and community organisations. The survey was supported by evidence from online panels of 328 young people
• The influence of parents, places and poverty on educational attitudes and aspirations This report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation aims to better understand the relationship between young people's aspirations and how they are formed. 30 November 2011
• 14-19 Reform - Next Steps
• DCFS 14-19 Reform Fuelling Potential A blueprint for skills accounts and the adult advancement and careers service
• The Children, Schools and Families Bill
• The vulnerability of babies - an article
• Poorer children’s educational attainment: how important are attitudes and behaviour?
• The Independent Domestic Abuse Service (IDAS) will be operating a new helpline from the 2 May 2012. This will be available free of charge and is open from Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm. Eventually, it will be extending this to Saturday opening times. The line will cover all the areas in which they work and further publicity will follow over the next few weeks.
  Our existing office numbers will still be in operation for general enquiries and so on but please use the helpline for referrals and urgent matters as answering this will be given priority. The number is 03000 110 110. If you encounter any problems using this number please let me know. Please also note that the number may be traceable on some phone bills.
• The Young People's Learning Agency
• The Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)
• The Children's Legal Centre providing IA and representation for children and YPs
• The National Youth Homelessness organisation
• Action for jobs: How to get the UK working - CBI seeks to boost youth employment November 2011
• Retail Work Critical Perspectives on Work and Employment. Edited by Irena Grugulis and ÖdÜl Bozkurt (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 - £29.00)). A new work edited by Professor Irena Grugulis (Durham University) and Dr. ÖdÜl Bozkurt (Lancaster University) includes a series of essays from researchers including Professor Prue Huddleston (University of Warwick) which examine the role of retail work in modern industrial economies. Grugulis and Bozkurt's introductory chapter highlights the lack of academic research on retail work and sets out a series of arguments as to why this labour sector warrants an in depth examination. The chapters within this work are arranged thematically and address issues such as - the nature of retail work and the shop floor; labour practices across the supply chain and the larger productive system; key skills used in retailing; and workers as a collective cohort
• Welcome to Share Street. If you work with children or young people and their families, Share Street is for you. It’s a community for sharing resources and discussing best practice in the workplace, for building networks and communicating with colleagues
• The Young Foundation brings together insights, innovation and entrepreneurship to meet social needs. We have a track record of over 50 years' success with ventures such as the Open University, Which?, the School for Social Entrepreneurs and Healthline (the precursor of NHS Direct)
• Prospects Education Resources for all those institutions involved in the delivery of IAG PSHE education including special needs resources
• The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has set up a section of their website called - The Big Society - the evidence base.  This includes a link to the cabinet office document Building the Big Society
• The National Youth Agency was asked to find out what young people think about the information, advice and guidance (IAG) they receive on careers, educational choices and other life issues To find out, they held a series of focus groups with 79 young people between the ages of 13 and 21 in London and the South West of England; in schools, alternative education settings and youth groups.Face-to-face What young people think about information, advice and guidance
• Rural Advocate report 2010.  Commission for Rural Communities - tackling rural disadvantage  - 6 pages of basic information about the issues facing rural communities and includes highlighting Thirsk Clock
• Rural Services Network and SPARSE Rural organisation has recently re-launched its RSN Online website. In its new form it contains a wealth of additional valuable information
• Young people's aspirations in rural areas  Research report, August 2011 Youth unemployment is a serious issue. The recent economic downturn and subsequent substantial reduction in public spending has had a negative impact on young people in the labour market. In rural areas, young people face distinct issues that can have a negative impact on their employment. Youth unemployment in rural areas is often believed to be caused by the low aspirations of young people themselves, their families and local communities. These are also linked to low educational achievements and post-16 participation rates in education. Low aspirations among young people and the wider community may be one of the key factors underlying this higher than average proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). The LG Group commissioned NFER to research young people’s aspirations in three rural local authorities (LAs): Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Cumbria. The aim was to explore the influence and impact of low aspirations. This report presents the findings from this research, which comprised a rapid review of literature and case-study visits to the three areas. Only a minority of the young people studied appeared to have aspirations lower than expected given their predicted attainment at GCSE. This includes some pupils who have decided not to move away and wanted to pursue careers in their local, rural economy. Significant influences on young people’s aspirations include: the cost and availability of transport to access post-16 education, training and employment; parents, positive role models, availability of employment opportunities and school-business links, and the pupils’ own attitudes towards risk. There were more similarities than differences between the three areas studied. However differences within the areas affecting employment opportunities were also said to affect aspiration. These include proximity to frequent public transport, coastal areas, tourist centres, and large employers.
• Participation Works has published Children and Young People's Involvement in Formal Meetings: A practical guide, which explores ways in which children and young people can make a real and lasting contribution to a wide range of formal decision-making meetings
• Michael Gove's letter to schools and LAs to outline the outcomes of the comprehensive spending review.
• The write stuff - NYCC's  basic guide to writing plain English
• Readability Document; How to produce clear written materials fora range of readers
• Getting more from Google - a presentation given at the national Career Guidance North Show  - useful tips for making more effective use of Google
• New advice from NAHT on the use and abuse of social networking sites

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• 4 April 2012 - Innovation in theory and practice

  This issue was inspired by Audrey Collin's NICEC Seminar of 24th November, 2011. As is discussed in her article, the seminar provided the opportunity to outline the assumptions made by systems theory and consider the benefits for practice and how it might be applied. For this issue, additional papers were invited on the broad theme of innovation in theory and practice in career education and counselling. Contributions have been received from a range of experienced and newer writers on a number of important topics. Editor: Phil McCash
  
  ARTICLES

  • The systems approach to career - Audrey Collin
  • The Chaos Theory of Careers in career education - Jim E.H. Bright, Robert G.L. Pryor
  • Narrative techniques in reflective practice - David A. Winter
  • Three-scene storyboarding: how narrative enlarges careers-work - Bill Law
  • Guidance in communities - a way forward? - Rie Thomsen
  • Community Asset-Based Career Guidance: using evaluation to assist the development of emerging practices - Paul Davies, Mason Minnitt and Caroline Vernon
  • Asperger's/Autistic Spectrum Disorder project: transition from higher education to the workplace - Dawn-Marie Walker
  Click here to order a copy. (Cegnet)
• 23 January 2012 - ICG Schools Survey

  This year schools in England will take on new responsibilities for career guidance. The Education Act which comes into force in September 2012 confers a duty on schools to secure access to career guidance, which must be independent and impartial. The overall approach is to free up schools to provide whatever career guidance they feel is in pupils' best interests. But all this has to be met out of existing budgets as no additional funding will be made available to schools.

  The ICG wanted to find out how schools were planning to respond to these changes so we conducted a survey in the autumn of 2011. A full overview of the survey will shortly be available on the ICG website. In the meantime the major findings are outlined here. Thesurvey is based on responses from 222 schools representing a balanced sample of maintained schools, academies, special schools and independent schools. An overwhelming number of schools said that career guidance was vital with a resounding endorsement for face-to-face guidance.

• 30 November STEM Careers Seminar 28 September 2011, National STEM Centre, University of York -This seminar took place following the STEM Careers Review, published in November 2010.1 The seminar aimed to produce a series of recommendations, targeted at agencies responsible for taking forward and implementing the Government?s emergent careers education strategy. Some 27 expert participants were invited to consider specific questions around the following themes: 1. Better use of labour market information (LMI) by young people to make informed career choices 2. How changes in Government policy will affect careers education, information, advice and guidance in schools 3. The implications of Government policy on the professional expectations and training needs for careers professionals and secondary teachers 4. How can employers support quality improvement in the careers profession? The seminar
• The World is Changing video
• The UK Commission for Employment and Skills
• Careers Information from NCVYS - working and volunteering with young people this page includes How to find a volunteer placement working with young people, Careers Guide (Second edition, March 2010): An introduction to working and volunteering in the voluntary and community youth sector, Career Information Sheets - seven occupations covered including a youth worker, Careers Advice Service - for careers advice and training course information, more information about working in the voluntary and charity sector - NCVO, working for a Charity Looking for an apprenticeship? Search and apply for vacancies at the National Apprenticeship Service
• Princes Trust - Need help in Yorkshire and Humberside? They run programmes to help young people who are working less than 16 hours a week, and who want to get their lives working.
• Social mobility of young people and adults in England: The contents of the paper build upon an earlier analysis of social mobility policy1 and upon key themes emerging from recent interviews with six leading figures from within industry and education. Also, a review of research literature on the impact of careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) provides a strong evidence-base to help influence and inform the design and implementation of a progressive strategy for a new all-age careers service framework in England. From a combination of these sources, a compelling argument is made for timely, relevant and cost effective public, private and voluntary/community careers service delivery arrangements throughout England
• Free Downloads from Developing the IAG Workforce All the documents are in word format unless otherwise stated. 14-19 Diplomas - Diploma Quizzes - Progression Maps - Progression Maps- Sources of Information Sheets - LMI Summaries- Audits, Checklists and Templates- Development Tools - Lesson Plans and Support Materials - Training Materials
• The National Guidance Research Forum - Purpose:To bring together research and practice in guidance to increase effectiveness. Objectives:To create and support an on-line community of interest for guidance; To bring practice, research and policy closer together; To focus on the core problems of guidance practice. You can register free and there are resources on Making guidance More effective and LMI including the LMI learning modules
• 2011 edition of What Do Graduates Do? (WDGD)  

  Graduate unemployment drops for first time since the start of the recession. For most UK graduates employment is steadily increasing, unemployment is slowly decreasing and those in graduate level jobs has reached a record high, according to research published this week by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU).

  HECSU's annual, What Do Graduates Do? reports the destinations of full and part-time first degree graduates, six months after leaving university in 2010:284,160 students graduated in 2010 with a first degree - a 3.6% increase on last year 69.7% (163,090 graduates) were in employment - a 7.9% increase on 2009 graduates Unemployment has gone down from 8.9% to 8.5% (19,785 graduates) Record number (100,265 or 63.4%) secured graduate level jobs - a 9.2% increase
  
  The figures show recovery in business and financial services with 7.5% of graduates working in these occupations, the same as that recorded in 2008. Marketing, sales and advertising was the occupational group that saw the largest percentage jump in graduates in 2010. 31% more graduates entered these roles in 2010 compared to the previous year, fuelled by an upturn in graduate recruitment in advertising and digital media.
  
  After reporting poor employment prospects for architecture and building management graduates in the 2009 and 2010 editions of What Do Graduates Do?, the 2011 edition reports an improvement with 73.2% in employment and a decrease in unemployment - from 10.9% in 2010 to 9.5%. (More architecture and building management graduates found work this year as quantity surveyors, building surveyors, architectural technicians and assistants and town planners - a good reason to attend the Insight into Built Environment conference.)  There is also a table which was published in May 2010 called What do graduates do? 2011
• Employers' perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates (2011). A new report by Kevin Lowden, Stuart Hall, Dr Dely Elliot and Jon Lewin commissioned by the Edge Foundation explores the perceptions of employers' and higher education institution (HEI) staff, within the context of the skills and knowledge which facilitate the employability of undergraduates and new graduates. The report draws upon information from literature reviews, interviews with employers and HEI representatives, and nine qualitative employer case studies. Findings from the study indicate that employers, students, graduates and HEI representatives value work-based learning (such as placements and internships) as particularly effective approaches to promote the employability of graduates.
• Enhancing choice? The role of technology in the career support market. A report prepared for the UK Commission for Employment and Skills December 2010
• Avoiding a lost generation - Preparing young people for work now and in the future Recommendations of the REC UK Youth Employment Taskforce

• Girls' career aspirations - Date: 12 Apr 2011 HMI: 090239 Publisher: Ofsted Summary - This report evaluates the extent to which careers education, guidance and other provision raise aspirations and inform the choices of courses and careers by girls and young women to support their long-term achievement. It identifies weaknesses and examples of good practice in these areas.

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CAP is not operating in North Yorkshire (Ryedale have an arrangement with York),  young people will have to access the provider site and apply individually to each provider.

Access to the UCAS Progress website will cease from 1 August 2012. The decision not to continue with UCAS Progress has been taken based on low usage of the site. The information held on UCAS Progress is available through other routes, for example the National Careers Website, the National Apprenticeship Service, which you will find on the Local Courses Available page and in the Your Local Area section.  Both sections have the same information.

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Changes to qualifications

Study Programmes for 16- to 19-year-olds: Government response to consultation and plans for implementation
From September 2013 - the aim of Study Programmes is to maximise the potential of young people to progress onto higher education and/or skilled employment by ensuring that vocational routes to higher education and employment are seen as high quality and a genuine alternative to academic routes. This will be achieved through the following three objectives:

• Improving the value of post-16 qualifications so that higher numbers of students achieve high-quality and valuable vocational qualifications which enable progression to higher levels of study and skilled employment
• Raising standards in post-16 English and mathematics so that higher numbers of students study English and mathematics (level 2) and work towards achieving GCSE A*-C in these subjects
• Improving young people’s employability skills by increasing the number of students who experience the workplace and participate in other activity of value which does not necessarily lead to qualifications but enables progression into employment.

Apprenticeships/Vocational qualifications

• ‘Choose Apprenticeships’ Exam Results Campaign - The toolkit contains information on key messages, quotes to use in PR activity, ideas about how to get involved in the promotion of Apprenticeships in social media, some new ICM data for use in media relations activity

• Information, Advice and Guidance (added 24 July 2012)

  Providing Careers Advice on Apprenticeships

  These resources have been designed for teachers, career advisers and anyone offering information, advice and guidance to young people on skills, training, employment and career prospects. These resources include everything you need to know about Apprenticeships; the opportunities, the benefits, and how an individual can search and apply for Apprenticeships vacancies online.

  Adviser Guide and Checklist
  This Guide and Checklist is for anyone needing to provide information, advice or guidance (IAG) to those who want to know more about or apply for an Apprenticeship. It directs you to information and online resources that will help you advise and guide your student or client around Apprenticeships.
  View the Adviser Guide and Checklist

  Apprenticeship Key facts
  View theApprenticeshipKey facts

  Types of Apprenticeships
  Apprenticeships are available in a wide range of industry sectors, there are more than 250 types of Apprenticeship listed
  on the factsheet below that are suitable for over 1,200 different job roles.
  View the 'Types of Apprenticeships' factsheet

  For more information regarding 'Types of Apprenticeships' please visit the following section of our website.

  Power Point Presentations
  1 - Apprenticeships; a comprehensive guide
  This presentation is intended to provide knowledge and information on Apprenticeships to those who are responsible for delivering Information Advice and Guidance to young people.
  View the Apprenticeships; a comprehensive guide presentation(without notes)
  View the Supporting note for 'Apprenticeships; a comprehensive guide'

  2 - A guide to applying for an Apprenticeship
  This presentation should be used to deliver a session to young people on ‘how to apply for an Apprenticeship using Apprenticeship vacancies'.
  View the How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies presentation (without notes)
  View the Supporting notes for 'How to apply for Apprenticeship vacancies' presentation

  There are also a number of Film Case Studies on the Website. These are on the Partners tabs under Information, Advice and Guidance - www.apprenticeships.org.uk

• The National Apprenticeship Service have recently refreshed the policy pages on www.apprenticeships.gov.uk to include more information on apprentices who find themselves in redundancy situations and on the Apprenticeship Agreement that must exist between an apprentices and their employer.
  - Apprenticeship Agreement - Apprenticeships
  - Redundancy - Apprenticeships

• Nordic Pioneer outlining the work that they do in collaborating with local councils and authorities to deliver their apprenticeship scheme to young people across the UK. There is a section on the successful apprenticeship scheme in Hambleton and Richmondshire
• 11 April 2012 - Ofsted - Apprentices more likely to succeed if they have completed meaningful work experience. Apprenticeships for young people A best practice report on apprenticeships for young people launched by Ofsted today has found that those who had completed work experience, course tasters or vocational study were more likely to make good progress in their apprenticeship than those starting straight from school without it. The best practice report also found that good relationships between employers and trainers were crucially important in capturing evidence of apprentices’ skills. Also Apprenticeships for young people Ofsted Ref: 110177 This report presents some of the common factors that have led to high performance in the work of 15 providers who are extensively involved in delivering apprenticeships to young people. It explains how the providers have successfully recruited young people as apprentices: introducing them to the world of work; supporting them in developing vocational skills and completing their apprenticeship frameworks; and supporting their progression into employment and further study

• 26 March 2012 - Links to NAS website for Partners - To help promote Apprenticeships and/or WorldSkills UK to any learners and employers that you work with through your websites please consider asking your website manager to perform the following steps in their useful links? If not, please urge them to ask their website manager to perform the following simple steps:
  - Download the Apprenticeships logo and/or WorldSkills UK logo
  - Add the logo(s) to your website
  - Link to the Apprenticeships and/or WorldSkills UK websites from the logos

• 22 February 2012 - Introduction of the 12 month minimum duration for Apprenticeships
  Following the announcement by John Hayes Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning on 19 December 2011, the minimum duration of 12 months for Apprenticeships for those aged 16-18 will start in August 2012. This will be a requirement in the 2012/13 Funding Rules, expected to be published by the Agency by the end of March 2012, and will apply to all new starts from 1 August 2012 onwards. Website.
• 22 February 2012 - New Apprenticeship marketing material is now available. There is a range of posters, leaflets and brochures with both a learner and employer focus. Marketing and Collateral - Apprenticeships
• 30 November - Returns to intermediate and low level vocational qualifications This report assesses the impact of vocational qualifications on earnings and the probability of being employed. It concludes that there are positive employment and earnings returns from the vast majority of vocational qualifications gained in adulthood
• 16 November - Government announcement with measures designed to increase the number of apprenticeships:
  Business Secretary Vince Cable has announced new measures to ensure more young people benefit from an Apprenticeship, and to help employers gain the skilled workers they need to grow. The following measures to further strengthen the UK’s world class Apprenticeships programme were announced today:
   - To encourage thousands of small firms that don’t currently hire apprentices to take on a young apprentice aged 16 to 24, the Government will offer employers with up to 50 employees an incentive payment of up to £1,500. This will support up to 20,000 new Apprenticeships in 2012/13. An initial payment will be made two months after the individual has started their Apprenticeship; the balance will be paid after the Apprenticeship has been completed and the trainee has progressed into sustainable employment
  - Processes will be simplified to make it quicker and easier for employers to take on an apprentice. The National Apprenticeships Service and training providers will be required to ensure that every employer is in a position to advertise a vacancy within one month of deciding to take on an apprentice. Health and safety requirements will be streamlined so that there are no additional demands on employers that already meet national standards
  - There will be a renewed focus on targeting the programme where Apprenticeships deliver greatest value - including on younger adults, new employees, higher level qualifications and particular sectors where they can make the greatest impact
  - Apprenticeship providers will be required to offer training in English and Maths up to the standard of a good GCSE (level 2) for all Apprenticeships.
• 10 Oct 2011 Options study for the long-term evaluation of apprenticeships  BIS research paper no. 56. Report of a study assessing how to track young people and adults into apprenticeships, through training and into employment, to gauge the extent that their future earnings and employment status were influenced by completing an apprenticeship. Also covered other outcomes including progression to further learning, job satisfaction, acquisition of skills and mobility between jobs. It aimed to produce robust quantified estimates of the outcomes of Apprenticeships for successful trainees, and establish under what conditions Apprenticeships produce the best results
• 4 October 2011 - details of a new training provider, GTEC Training,  based in Hawes.  Framework - Electrotechnical - plan to deliver 24 apprenticeships within 40 mile radius
• 3 October 2011 - Intermediate and Low Level Vocational Qualifications - adding to the existing evidence base Summary
  This study was commissioned in 2010 to update our previous estimates of the returns to education and training, and to provide a baseline for the ongoing consistent analysis of the returns to vocational qualifications. It adds to the weight of evidence showing positive employment and earnings returns for the vast majority of qualifications gained in adulthood, and contains some interesting findings around the circumstances in which more positive returns may occur. Important findings include:
  - Vocational qualifications - impact on earnings and employment ? In line with previous studies there continues to be large and significant wage gain for most vocational qualifications
  - There is an average 20% wage gain from possessing a BTEC level 3, 16% for RSA level 3, and 10% for NVQ level 3, compared to similar individuals qualified to level 2
  - The wage gain is lower for Level 2, 12% for BTEC, 16% for RSA, and 1% for NVQ Level 2, compared to similar individuals with qualifications below level 2
  - In line with previous research, there are strong positive returns to apprenticeships, 22% for a Level 3 apprenticeship and 12% for an apprenticeship at Level 2
  - All vocational qualifications are associated with increased likelihood of being in employment. Those with an NVQ at Level 3 are 15 percentage points more likely to be in employment and for Level 2 the figure is 13 percentage points, compared to those with lower qualification levels
  - The lifetime benefits associated with the acquisition of Apprenticeships at Level 2 and 3 are very significant, standing at between £48,000 and £74,000 for Level 2 and between £77,000 and £117,000 for Level 3 Apprenticeships.
• The National Apprenticeship Service- Apprenticeship Teaching Resources Pack
• Open Doors - your Regional Training Prospectus. This is specially for Yorkshire and Humber and there is a link to the magazine
• Consortium for Learning Apprenticeship handbook - 2011 2012.  This now includes information about apprenticeships in North Yorkshire.  This document gives the rationale (added 23 November 2011)
• FAQ - ConstructionSkills' Construction Apprenticeships plus the Cross-Industry Construction Apprenticeship Task Force (CCATF) e-newsletter October 2011
• LLUK have just released the Career Development National Occupational Standards (March 2011)
• Career Development National Occupational Standards Introduction
• Career Development National Occupational Standards Full suite

General

• Building Engagement, Building Futures. Increasing the participation of 16-24 year olds in learning and employment not only makes a lasting difference to their individual lives, but is central to our ambitions to improve social mobility and stimulate economic growth. In Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers, we committed to publish a new cross-government strategy to maximise the participation of 16-24 year olds in education, training and work. Building Engagement, Building Futures sets out how our radical reforms to schools, vocational education, skills and welfare provision will all make a significant difference to young people’s opportunities and support. The Government recognises that in some areas we need to go further, in particular to help the most vulnerable young people at risk of long-term disengagement. The strategy sets out our new commitments to additional support through more Apprenticeships for young people and through our new Youth Contract. Our existing reforms and this additional support will help to ensure that all young people can develop the skills, qualifications and experience they need – to succeed in their careers and make a positive contribution to our society and economy.
• New challenges, new chances. Further education and skills system reform plan: building a world class skills system URN: 11/1380 Publication date: 1 Dec 2011 Government response to consultation 'New challenges, new chances' (URN 11/1213). Sets out what the Government will financially support and the programme of work required to take forward the reform of FE and skills system for adults aged 19 and over in England. Aims to promote high-quality teaching and learning across the adult education system, to free colleges and other skills providers to allow them to respond more effectively to the needs of their communities, and to secure a fairer balance of investment. See also the skills investment statement (11/1374) and the summary of responses to the consultation (11/1384)
• Qualifications can cross boundaries QAA have revised and updated their leaflet: Qualifications can cross boundaries. This guidance is designed to help compare education frameworks across the four countries of the UK, plus Ireland. As well as updates to the individual frameworks, the guidance now includes information on how UK qualifications frameworks relate to the European Frameworks - 20 September 2011. In line with this table the information sheet - Busting the myths about higher education has been revised - this is on the  'Information and Advice on the Qualifications and Pathways' page in the introduction - it is designed for young people to use
• A simplified diagram of progression routes from the National Apprenticeship Service website
• Against the odds Re-engaging young people in education, employment or training - statistics, analysis, recommendations
• Vocational qualifications on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)are new, work-related qualifications. They are designed to allowpeople to learn in a way that suitsthem and give them the skills that employers are looking for. There are already over 5,000 of these new vocational qualifications on the QCF, available in a wide range of subjects. More are being added all the time
• The Qualifications and Credit Framework: an introduction for information, advice and guidance practitioners. This leaflet tells you all about the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and gives you the information you need to advise people on how the new system works and how it can benefit them. Note that the QCF is part of the National Qualifications Framework as is the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications; here you will seea table to show this
• The Government's strategy for skills and reform of the further education and skills system - The strategy sets out the Government's vision for reform of the further education and skills system in order to improve the skills of the workforce, the performance of the economy and engagement in learning
• Investing in Skills for Sustainable Growth. This document sets out the Government's investment strategy for further education and skills from 2011-12. Explains how funding will be prioritised for young people and those with low skills. Also initiates further consultation on Government backed fee loans and further arrangements for student/learner support. Responses due by 31 March 2011
• Skills for sustainable growth: summary of responses to a consultation on the future direction of skills strategy - A simplified further education and skills funding system and methodology: summary of responses to the consultation on how the further education and skills system can be made simpler and more effective . Also provides the Government's responses to the issues raised
• The September Guarantee - up-to-date information and links from DfE (Nov 2010)
• Employer perspectives on part-time students in UK higher education. This BIS research paper no. 27 draws on recent surveys of part-time students and their employers in the UK in order to investigate the extent and nature of employer support for part-time higher education study. It looks at the perceived advantages and disadvantages of this kind of study for the organisation concerned
• Post-16 subject guidance for aspiring university students published by Russell Group, with ICG input.  The Russell Group of 20 leading UK universities has published its first ever guide to post-16 subject choices. Informed Choices, produced in collaboration with the Institute of Career Guidance, is aimed at all students considering A-level and equivalent options. It includes advice on the best subject combinations for a wide range of university courses as well as advice on the best choices if you don't know what you want to study after school and need to keep your options open
• The UK’s green & renewable industries prospects for sustained growth were boosted today (7 February) as Skills Minister John Hayes announced a new National Skills Academy (NSA) for Environmental Technologies. The Skills Academy will receive up to £2.5m of funding over three years, matched by employers. It will work with industry and training providers to ensure that employers in new areas of business such as the installation, maintenance and repair of photovoltaic panels, ground source heat pumps and biomass products have a highly skilled workforce to help them grow, and to support the Government’s ambitions for renewable energy and low carbon growth. In its first 5 years, the National Skills Academy aims to deliver around 2000 publicly-funded and over 200,000 privately funded training courses. It will develop a network of 14 specialist training provider ‘hubs’, based in Further Education Colleges, with over 80 accredited training providers throughout England
• National Learner Satisfaction Survey (NLSS) This report presents the key findings for the NLSS 2009, which was conducted by Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute. The project was commissioned by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which has now been superseded by the Skills Funding Agency and the Young People’s Learning Agency YPLA). The research function of the LSC has transferred to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The NLSS is a large tracking survey of then LSC-funded learners aged 16 and over. The NLSS provides a wealth of data on learners’ satisfaction with their learning experience over time, including detailed information on three key aspects of the learner journey: initial choice and information; support during learning; and benefits of participation. There have been six national surveys since 2001 (annually between 2001 and 2004, 2007 and 2009). The 2009 survey comprises telephone interviews with around 25,000 learners
• Review of Vocational Education - The Wolf Report - In England, today, around two and a half million young people are aged 14 to 19. The vast majority are engaged full or part time in education, and they are growing up in a world where long periods of study and formal credentials are the norm. Vocational education is an important part of that world. Most English young people now take some vocational courses before they are 16; and post-16 the majority follow courses which are largely or entirely vocational
•  National minimum wage: Government evidence to the Low Pay Commission 2011 - 15 Sep 2011. This document sets out the Government's economic and non-economic evidence on national minimum wage policy issues. It covers the rates (from 1 October 2011 the NMW is £3.68 - 16 and 17 year olds, £4.98 - 18 to 20 year olds and £6.08 for those over 21), the youth labour market - Pages 41 - 60 including raising the participation age (p53) , useful statistics, definitions and trends, compliance, enforcement and awareness.    The document  Supporting Youth Employment lays out the £60m commitment to get more vulnerable young people into work, a boost to Apprenticeships and radical reforms to transform vocational education are part of a series of measures outlined by the Government to prioritise youth employment, and tackle some of the long term structural barriers that stop some young people from getting a job and starting their career
• BIS RESEARCH PAPER NUMBER 42. Access to Work-Related Training JUNE 2011 - this includes a very useful glossary of terms
• The vision for Further Education - 15 June 2011
• Widening participation in higher education: analysis of progression rates for young people in England by free school meal receipt and school type  -  10 Aug 2011 Provides information on the estimated number of 15 year olds in receipt of free school meals (FSM) who progress to higher education (HE) by age 19 by 2008/09. It is presented at national and local authority level. Also provides data on the number of young people taking A levels or equivalent qualifications who progress to the most selective institutions by school type. These measures aim to contribute to the understanding of widening participation and social mobility issues. Replaces 'Full-time young participation by socio-economic class: 2010 update'
• Rescue Pack for Level 3 students and their supporters
  This Rescue Pack is for careers advisers, parents and students receiving their A-Level and other Level 3 results this Summer. Inside you'll find details of the options available after results day, employability skills and help and advice to find a job. From the Institute of Business and Management.

Higher education

• Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
• Patterns of higher education institutions in the UK: 10th report
• UCAS information for staff who are supporting young people to apply to university
• Widening participation in higher education: August 2012
  Provides information on the estimated number of 15 year olds in receipt of free school meals who progress to higher education (HE) by age 19 by 2008/09. Gives data on the number of young people taking A levels or equivalent qualifications who progress to the most selective institutions by school type. Also estimates proportions of young 2010/11 graduates in different occupation classifications by social background on entry to HE. These measures aim to contribute to the understanding of widening participation and social mobility issues.
• These hand-outs may be helpful when offering information, advice and guidance to anyone considering Higher Education from Higher York
• High Level Skills in Yorkshire and Humber: Understanding the Drivers of Change - Yorkshire Futures e-insight September 2010 - the link take you to the e-insight page, scroll down to the September issue
• UCAS - Final end of year statistics for 2010
• The UCAS application statisticsat 21 February 2011 released June 2011
• The Participation Rates in Higher Education statistics

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Care to Learn childcare support helps meet the cost of childcare for young parents who remain in education or training. The scheme is open to all parents in England who are under 20 in the academic year they start a course. These young parents will continue to be supported until they complete that course, providing consistency in funding and childcare arrangements.

Information about Care to Learn can be found on DirectGov:

• Is Care to Learn for you?
• Care to Learn: are you eligible?
• How to apply for Care to Learn

18 July 2012 - The Department for Education has decided there will be no change to the Care to Learn scheme.

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 October 2012 - the latest Stakeholder bulletin which gives you an update on:

• Gov.uk
• SFE Communications Toolkit for AY 2013/14
• Full-Time and Part-Time Student Finance England, Wales and Northern Ireland services for academic year 2012/13
• Stakeholder working groups.

Local Events

Whether you were able to attend the Regional events or not, I (ian_sinkinson@slc.co.uk ) would be delighted to provide a wider group of teachers, tutors, careers advisers and other staff who support prospective higher education students with a free local briefing. As mentioned at the Regional seminars, it is not feasible for me to support student and parent facing events in schools and colleges. There are so many in the 270 schools and colleges in the Region that it would be impossible for me to satisfy the demand. School Liaison Teams at your local University can help with these, as can the "Student Finance Tour" funded by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

In the last year, events have seemed to work best when they are built into the staff development programme, where staff may be given time away from their normal duties to attend. If you have any pre-arranged staff development opportunities and would like to build in a student finance update please let me know. If you would be willing to host a briefing session or workshop and open the session to staff from neighbouring institutions that would be even better. Equally, if there are any network meetings that take place at key times in the year, where those attending might benefit from updated information on student finance, please let me know and I shall try to help.

IAG Resources to help Teachers and Advisers for 2013/14

How and when to apply 2013/14

This quick guide gives those thinking about full-time study an indication of what they need to do to apply for student finance, and by when.

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Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs) 2013/14 key steps

This quick guide takes you through the key steps involved in applying for Disabled Students' Allowances.

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Student Finance explained for parents of students 2013/14

This quick guide gives parents a indication of how their son or daughter should apply for student finance and what they can expect to eventually repay.

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What, how and when to repay 2013/14

This quick guide takes students through the repayment journey, to give an indication of what they can expect to happen when they leave university or college

For more information go to - Financial help, benefits, student loans and sponsorship

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Part-Time applications .

New Students

Pre-order application packs from 16 July 2012.
We are pleased to inform you that part-time forms and information packs can be pre-ordered from 16 July 2012, ahead of our previously published schedule.
Application packs will consist of the part-time Tuition Fee Loan application form (for new students starting their course on or after 1 September 2012), along with notes and guidance to help students with their application. HEIs can pre-order application packs online at www.practitioners.slc.co.uk. Information can also be found at www.direct.gov.uk/studentfinance.
Applications open for new students on 30 July 2012 however they will be able to download an application form from www.slc.co.uk/england from 23 July, or request an application pack from their university or college.

Continuing Students

We will contact students who applied for part-time funding (Fee Grant and/or Course Grant) last year. They will receive an email from us mid-August with a short application form (PTGC) to complete. This must be signed by the student, stamped by their university or college and returned to us. Alternatively, the form can be downloaded from www.slc.co.uk/england.
Continuing students who are applying for a Fee Grant or a Course Grant for the first time will need to complete a full application form (PTGN), which they must also sign and have stamped by their university or college. This form will be available at www.slc.co.uk/england from 3 September 2012. These forms are only available to download.

Please encourage existing and prospective part-time students to visit www.slc.co.uk/england for further information and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for further updates.

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(Added 12 December) New practitioner website - Our brand new practitioner website was launched at the start of December, which can now be found within the "Stakeholders and Partners" section of the revamped suite of web pages or via the direct link. The new practitioner website is designed to be easier to use, and offer clearer information with a more contemporary feel. It also includes some recent additions to our range of 2012/13 resources: four new fact sheets covering Initial Teacher Training, Funding for Study Abroad, Independent Student Status and Care Leavers, as well as the updated IAG Quality Standards lesson plan and presentations. Please visit the resources section to access these. 

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Student Finance England Surgeries  - We are running Student Finance England ‘surgeries' on our social media channels Facebook and Twitter, where we answer queries from prospective and current students and their parents. Post your questions and comments on their Facebook thread or tweet them your questions at @SF_England.

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Parent and student talks - If you are planning to arrange a session on student finance for prospective students and/or their parents and would like some support, please contact me (ian_sinkinson@slc.co.uk). I can advise you on the wide range of resources we have available, put you in contact with speakers from other organisations, or if the event is sufficiently large, attend in person - there is no charge for this.

Student Finance England, Stakeholder and Partnership Bulletin August 2102

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Regional Seminars

The two regional seminars for Yorkshire and the Humber took place on Wednesday 19th September at the Met Hotel in Leeds. Thank you to those who were able to attend for your active participation in the table exercises. The events have brought good feedback and those who attended seemed to find the event really useful. I know the timing was not right for everyone and, as always, the Regional events are only the start of my support for colleagues during the coming year.

Local Events

Whether you were able to attend the Regional events or not, I would be delighted to provide a wider group of teachers, tutors, careers advisers and other staff who support prospective higher education students with a free local briefing. As mentioned at the Regional seminars, it is not feasible for me to support student and parent facing events in schools and colleges. There are so many in the 270 schools and colleges in the Region that it would be impossible for me to satisfy the demand. School Liaison Teams at your local University can help with these, as can the "Student Finance Tour" funded by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

In the last year, events have seemed to work best when they are built into the staff development programme, where staff may be given time away from their normal duties to attend. If you have any pre-arranged staff development opportunities and would like to build in a student finance update please let me know. If you would be willing to host a briefing session or workshop and open the session to staff from neighbouring institutions that would be even better. Equally, if there are any network meetings that take place at key times in the year, where those attending might benefit from updated information on student finance, please let me know and I shall try to help.

IAG Resources to help Teachers and Advisers for 2013/14

Our first resources aimed at explaining student finance to those thinking about going to university or college in 2013/14 were launched to coincide with the regional seminar. Our new quick guides cover: how and when to apply; the key steps involved in applying for Disabled Students' Allowances; and what to expect when you leave university or college and enter repayment. There's also a guide for parents that gives an indication of how their son or daughter should apply for student finance and what they can expect to eventually repay.

These are available as pdf files to download from here: -

 

They are also available for practitioners to order as "hard copy" fold-out guides. The form to pre-order supplies, for delivery in early October, is available here. 



These resources will be added to as part of an updated Practitioners' web site due to be launched next month.

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• 25 June 2012 - Child protection legislation in the UK, NSPCC factsheet
  A brief summary of the key legislation that protects children and young people in the UK. An introduction to child protection legislation in the UK is a chronological look at the Acts, Orders, Measures and statutory guidance that set the legal foundations of child protection and safeguarding in the United Kingdom.
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
• NYCC Assessment and safeguarding services
• CEOP's Thinkuknow (TUK) Teachers and Trainers area. Here you’ll find CEOP's Thinkuknow resources for teachers and all other professionals working with young people. There are films, presentations, games, lesson plans and posters covering a range of issues from grooming by child sex offenders to cyberbullying. All of these resources encourage young people to have fun with new technology, whilst staying in control of the risks. Importantly, they also teach young people where to go if they have any concerns. CEOP has launched a new resource; ‘Exposed’, is a 10 minute drama designed to tackle the issue of young people taking indecent images which are then circulated to a wider audience, most commonly known as ‘Sexting’. Click here to find out more about this area and to access the film
• North Yorkshire Safeguarding Children's Board
• LSCB Standards and Criteria - November 2011 Based on the North Yorkshire LSCB Child Protection Procedures, these multi-agency standards and criteria are relevant to all involved in quality assurance. It is hoped that they are also of use to practitioners in supporting practice. Please note that these standards and criteria will be renewed later in 2012 with the implementation of the Munro recommendations - specifically the publication of the revised Working Together and Assessment Framework.

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Guidance for practitioners on referrals to Tier 3 Drug and Alcohol substance misuse services:

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Here you will some useful support documents:

• Guidance for practitioners on referrals to Tier 3 Drug and Alcohol substance misuse services
• Drug/Alcohol screening tool for use with young people

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• Youth unemployment: Government package not enough on its own, say MPs 19 September 2012
  In a report published today, the Work and Pensions Committee concludes that the Government's Youth Contract is a good start in attempting to tackle youth unemployment but that, on its own, it will be insufficient, given the scale of the current problem

• Raising aspirations and smoothing transitions - The role of Careers Education and Careers Guidance in tackling youth unemployment Brhmie Balaram and Lizzie Crowley, 05 September 2012
  School-to-work transitions are increasingly challenging for young people. Together Careers Education and Careers Guidance can improve transitions and minimise the risk of young people becoming NEET (not in education, employment or training). This report examines changes to services coming into effect as part of the Education Act, and concludes that they are are likely to severely compromise the quality, and availability, of provision. Drawing on an evaluation of the previous Connexions service, it sets out a plan for ensuring young people receive the careers support they need

• 12 July 2012 - Youth Unemployment: A Million Reasons to Act? (November 2011). A report by Paul Bivand, Laura Gardiner, Danielle Whitehurst and Tony Wilson (Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion) investigates the group of young people who are most at risk of being shut out of the labour market and increasingly disconnected from work and learning. It draws upon data from the UK's quarterly Labour Force Survey between 2008 and 2011. It recommends that a targeted subsidy of £150 million be put in place to facilitate the creation of 75,000 new jobs for long-term unemployed young people; the government accept the CBI's proposals to encourage schools and employers to work more closely together; and that transparency should be increased by exploring the feasibility of publishing destinations data for schools and colleges showing the proportion of learners in work at the age of 24. Please click here to view this report

• House of Commons, Work and Pensions Committee, Youth unemployment and the Government's Youth Contract - 27 June 2012. Also this is the UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT OF ORAL EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE the Work and Pensions Committee Youth Unemployment Wednesday 27 June 2012 Peter Mucklow, National Director for Young People, Education Funding Agency, Councillor Shona Johnstone, ViceChair, Economy and Transport Programme Board, Local Government Association, Michele Roberts, Head of Apprenticeships (16-24 year olds), National Apprenticeship Service, and Judi Baxter, Director of Provider Performance, Skills Funding Agency, gave evidence.  This gives a very interesting insight into the dialogue that is taking place to try to get 'joined up services' to get more YPs in work - includes the role of the LAs.
  Work and Pensions Committee Youth employment and the youth contract Wednesday 4 July 2012 - Witnesses: Kevin Green, Chief Executive Officer, The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, Kirsty McHugh, Chief Executive, Employment Related Services Association (ERSA), David MacDougall, Head of Research and Development Manager, Avanta Enterprise Ltd, and Maeve McGoldrick, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Community Links, gave evidence. Discussion about careers advice and guidance, work experience, preparation for work, wage incentives ..........

• 26 June 2012 - Short-term crisis - long-term problem? Addressing the youth employment challenge This report from The Work Foundation makes six recommendations for tackling youth unemployment: improving national coordination; better local coordination; guaranteeing part-time jobs; bringing more young people into the employment support system; addressing transport barriers; focusing on growth RYWU 

• 28 May 2012 - Lost in transition? The changing labour market and young people not in employment, education or training. The Work Foundation and Private Equity Foundation have reported that nearly half of young people who are NEET have no experience of sustained paid employment beyond casual and holiday work. Many do have the skills which prepare them for work.  This report examines the issues.
• 23 April - centrepoint - Over 80,000 young people will experience homelessness in the UK this year. This is a worryingly high figure, which doesn't include many of the 'hidden homeless'. We believe that we should live in a society where all young people are able to realise their potential. Since 1969, we have helped over 75,000 homeless young people to do just that.
• 21 March - Youth Contract - Department for Work and Pensions site with FAQ's and information. Added 10 April - Youth Contract wage incentives Q&A.
• 23 January 2012 - Under 18 benefits and referral procedures revised Jan 2012
• 7 December - 25 November 2011 – £1billion package to tackle youth unemployment. Almost £1billion will be spent over the next three years to provide unemployed young people with extra help as part of a new "Youth Contract"
• Supporting Youth Employment - an overview of the coalition government's strategy
• Reducing the numbers of young people not in education, employment or training: what works and why
• Breaking the Cycle of Worklessness - an information document from the Prince's Trust.
• Changing the NEET Mindset
  Contents Foreword
  Executive summary
  1 Section one NEETs: the crisis we face 3 1.1 The crisis we face: 900,000 and counting  page 3
  1.2 Raising the participation age and compulsion – pushing problems  downstream? - 6
  1.3 Labour market links and the transition to work - 8
  1.4 Structural problems in the labour market - 10
  1.5 Wider socio-cultural factors that affect NEETs and preparing for RPA - 11
  1.6 Identifying gaps in the current offer – what else can be improved? - 12
  Section two Why do young people become disengaged? - 13
  2.1 What is at the heart of the problem? - 13
  2.2 Transition from Key Stage 3 to 4 - 14
  2.3 Transition and progression: why do we lose young people at different stages? - 17
  2.4 Redefining the key term(s) - 19
  2.5 Choice in the curriculum  -19
  2.6 Problems in the system and limitations to current solutions - 20
  2.7 Other problems in the system - 22
  2.8 Vocational learning and the 'disengaged' - 24
  2.9 In conclusion – changing the terms of reference - 25
  Section three International comparisons - 27
  3.1 What works? International examples of transitions - 27
  3.2 Earlier careers advice and specialisation in school - 28
  3.3 Transition from work to school - 29
  Section four Ways to improve our system: bringing down the number of NEETs - 33
  4.1 Identifying gaps in the current offer - what else can be improved? - 33
  4.2 Taking a year out at 14 - 34
  4.3 Increased work experience, placements and integrated course materials: - 37 bringing work to life
  4.4 Improved IAG and CEG - 42
  4.5 Transition support specific to each stage - 47
  4.6 Alternative systems: age not stage - 52
  4.7 Learning accounts - 53
  4.8 Apprenticeship training - 56
  4.9 Licence to practise - 57
  Section five Recommendations - 59
• Improving Young People’s Lives The role of the environment in building resilience, responsibility and employment chances - Sustainable Development Commission
• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published an updated Work Programme prospectus setting out details of the government's flagship welfare to work scheme

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This is the adviser copy of the Job Seekers pack with the links, all of which can be found on Get Connected Now:

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You may find the following links useful:

• The Youth Work Unit - (YWU) is the strategic youth work development agency for the Yorkshire and Humber region
• Regional Youth Work Unit-North East (RYWU-NE) works across the North East of England including Teesside to promote and support the development of youth work
• Revolving Doors - Revolving Doors is a charity working across England to change systems and improve services for people with multiple problems, including poor mental health, who are in repeat contact with the criminal justice system. Service Map available
• Added 28 February - Buttle UK makes a real difference to the lives of children and young people in need. Each year they help thousands of children, young people and families across the UK with their financial support programmes which include small grants to support young people into learning and work
• UK Youth is a leading national youth development charity supporting over three quarters of a million young people. We do this by developing, promoting and delivering a range of innovative education programmes in partnership with a national network of member organisations. Our aim is to enable young people all over the UK to raise their aspirations, realise their potential and have their achievements recognised. Downloads  - Our resource bank of downloadable materials includes ‘tried and tested' programme ideas for your youth group and training ideas for staff development & team meetings.

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On three Saturdays in January there were  workshops in three parts of the County, open to all young people in North Yorkshire. The workshops  looked at promoting the Gimi website, activities and information for young people through social media, and they involved producing films and music that will not only feature on the website but will also be spread across the internet.

You can read an article about the Gimi workshop that was held at Carlton Lodge on Saturday 8 January 2011.  This workshop was used to promote Gimi through social networking, so please do check out the links in the article which show through video, photos and audio, what our young people got up to on the day.

Please check out what we got up to at our Gimi stop motion animation workshop at Bilton Youth Centre on Saturday 15 January:  The young people involved produced some great animations, so please take a look, and also check out the photos an interviews done on the day. Please pass on this link to any young people you work with or any professionals you think might be interested. In particular we want it to be passed around Facebook and other social networking sites, and we want as many people as possible to 'Like' our Facebook page:  Or follow us on Twitter.

Please check out what we got up to at our Gimi music workshop at Woodend Creative Space, Scarborough on Saturday 22 January:  The young people involved produced an awesome music track, so please take time to listen. Please pass on this link to any young people you work with or any professionals you think might be interested. In particular we want it to be passed around facebook and other social networking sites, and we want as many people as possible to 'Like' our Facebook page:  Or follow us on Twitter.

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The government has launched an international volunteering scheme to encourage young people from the UK to take part in projects in developing countries. The International Citizen Service is being co-ordinated by VSO UK on behalf of the government and is aimed at 18- to 22-year-olds. Projects will run for between 10 and 12 weeks and include work in South America and Africa with people living with HIV/Aids.

Work experience

16 May 2012 - Work experience: Impact and delivery - Insights from the evidence

The publication of this report is timely. Just as schools begin to re-consider the position of work experience in the curriculum, along comes a report that says if you look at the evidence about what work experience can do for young people, if you get it right, you can really make a difference to your pupils' lives.

The report has strong backing from Chris Grayling, the Employment minister. "I strongly support the concept of work experience because of the significant impact it can have on job prospects for young people through giving them an insight into the world of work, together with practical skills and knowledge based in a real world environment."

What does the report say? Key insights include:

• Work experience is under-utilised as a means of extending the career horizons of young people
• Work experience helps young people to test their career ideas, end confusion and develop realistic aspirations before it is too late
• Work experience often plays an important role in university admissions in ways that are not always well-understood by those involved; but young people in fee-paying schools routinely have access to high quality work experience which is more relevant to university admissions than young people in maintained schools
• 68% of teachers felt pupils returned from work experience more motivated to try harder at school
• Two thirds of pupils said their placement helped them decide how to go about achieving their career goals
• Many believe that work experience helps borderline pupils to achieve academic targets such as five GCSEs
• Timing work experience to take place towards the end of Year 10 is unlikely to optimise the attainment benefits of placements
• Young people strongly believe that the work experience helps to develop their employability skills

Download the report and a presentation by the report's author from the Education and Employers Taskforce website here

 Read a commentary by Anthony Mann and Carol Glover for SecEd here. From CEGNET

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North Yorkshire County Council offer a variety of work placements through the Real Start Work Experience Programme. Each year placements are set up with Managers across the authority to allow individuals to gain an insight into local government and all that comes with it. Placements are offered throughout the five directorates across the whole of North Yorkshire. 

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Documents and links:

• Published December 2011 Young people's education and labour market choices aged 16/17 to 18/19 In the context of a difficult 2011 labour market, this report examines the early educational and labour market transitions made by young people, age 16/17 through to age 18/19. The overarching objective of the research is to obtain empirical evidence on the transitions made by young people which can then inform policies to improve transitions into the labour market for young people
• Investing in UK health and life sciences URN: 11/1428 Publication date: 5 Dec 2011
• Strength and opportunity 2011: the landscape of the medical technology, medical biotechnology, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors in the UK URN: 11/P90 Publication date: 5 Dec 2011
• 14 July 2010, Office for National Statistics, Labour Market Statistics
• Labour Market Information on this website
• LMI from Next Step
• The National Guidance Research Forum - Purpose: To bring together research and practice in guidance to increase effectiveness. You can register free and there are resources on LMI including the LMI learning modules
• 28 October - BIS economics paper no.7. Analytical paper to support the sub-national growth.  A white paper produced by the Treasury. Understanding Local Growth  is an important document for advisers, teachers and others. This analytical paper examines the evidence on differences in economic performance across England and discusses the key lessons from economic theory which underpins these policy changes. The scope of this paper is to set out broad analysis on economic drivers and disparities between places. It is envisaged that future analysis will build on this to explore further how the Government’s reforms will shape local economic growth
• 1 November - Backing Small Business - what the government intends to do to support small businesses.
• For information about the Harrogate area, Harrogate Borough Council's Local economic statistics 'page is useful.
• Identikit' high streets and urban sprawl are out and sustainability in 10th Dec 2010 A new framework is unveiled for creating a sustainable urban business environment. British workers and businesses want the cities of tomorrow to be more local, individual and sustainable according to a major new report unveiled this week. Future generations will shun generic high streets, long commutes and demand 'walkable' city centres, the research warns, prompting the rise of more localised, digitally connected and energy efficient business environments
• The Use of LMI in Online Career Direction and Learning UK Commission for Employment and Skills December 2010
• 5 lesson plans that can be used with students of all ages from LMI YNY  lesson plans Lesson Plan 1 - Investigating Employment in my Local Area Lesson Plan 2 - Exploring Potential Employment Trends Lesson Plan 3 - Finding out about Local Companies Lesson Plan 4 - Travelling to Work Lesson Plan 5 - Skills for Employment
• Next Gen. This landmark report sets out how the UK can be transformed into the world’s leading talent hub for video games and visual effects. At over £2 billion in global sales, the UK’s video games sector is bigger than either its film or music industries, and visual effects, the fastest growing component of the UK’s film industry, grew at an explosive 16.8 per cent between 2006 and 2008. High-tech, knowledge-intensive sectors and, in the case of video games, major generators of intellectual property, these industries have all the attributes the UK needs to succeed in the 21st century. Yet, the sad truth is that we are already starting to lose our cutting edge: in just two years, it seems the UK’s video games industry has dipped from third to sixth place in the global development rankings. Meanwhile, the visual effects industry, though still enjoying very rapid growth, is having to source talent from overseas because of skills shortages at home. That is mainly a failing of our education system – from schools to universities – and it needs to be tackled urgently if we are to remain globally competitive
• Local links where you can find potentially useful information:
  Harrogate Business Development Unit
  Richmondshire District Council
  Hambleton District Council

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This is the new last issue but a new way to disseminate the infomation is being worked on.

The April issue includes:

Content this month includes...

Learning and skills

• Value for money of adult apprenticeships
• Consultation on implementing Raising the Participation Age
• Assessing adult skills in the OECD
• Universities should collaborate with local businesses for economic growth
• Review is published into collaboration between universities and business
• Areas for action on youth unemployment
• Economic benefit of employer engagement with colleges
• New statistics on participation in learning, and achievement and success rates for post-16 education

Labour Market

• Employment services and the involvement of the third sector
• Value for money and targets of the Work Programme questioned
• The role of colleges in helping people into sustainable employment
• What works in welfare-to-self-employment programmes

The Economy

• Budget 2012
• Skills implications of globalisation
• Economic performance across UK cities

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You could find the following documents helpful:

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The national private fostering site.

Private fostering is where a child or young person under the age of 16 (or 18 in the case of a disabled young person) lives with somebody who is not their parent or close relative (defined as grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt, or step-parent if married to the parent) for 28 days or more. A private foster carer is often somebody known to the child’s family, perhaps the parent of a friend, but it may be somebody who was previously unknown but is willing to privately foster a child. It is a legal requirement that Social Care is told about these arrangements so that a social worker can check that the arrangements are suitable and safe for the child.

Throughout the year North Yorkshire County Council works to raise awareness about private fostering with articles, briefings, leaflets and posters. This year the emphasis in the national campaign run by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering is to change the behaviour of professionals by encouraging them always to notify Social Care when they learn about a private fostering arrangement. It is only by doing this that the numbers of un-notified arrangements of children who are privately fostered will be reduced.

If Social Care doesn’t know about private fostering arrangements, action can’t be taken to make sure that children are safe. If you work with children and young people in this area and you come across a private fostering arrangement, tell Children’s Social Care and help reduce the number of children living in un-notified arrangements.

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This document shows you the destinations of the 2010 Year 11 cohort in North Yorkshire as recorded on 1 Novemer 2010.

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Information will be posted when it becomes available

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NYBEP - NYBEP is an accredited provider of education business services. Their mission is to develop the future workforce by delivering work-related learning and engaging employers in education.

The Education and Employment Taskforce vision: "To ensure that every school and college has an effective partnership with employers to provide its young people with the inspiration, motivation, knowledge, skills and opportunities they need to help them achieve their potential and so to secure our future national prosperity."  The Teachers' Guide helps all members of school and college staff to learn about working with employers and understand the benefits of doing so. The Teachers' Guide provides:

• A one-stop shop for help with working with employers
• Advice on how to contact employers and establish partnerships
• Guidance that is suitable for all educational establishments
• Comprehensive information on all the methods of working with employers: work experience, mentoring, school sponsorship and more. Already work with employersLearn more about the Taskforce.

This is an email of the Education and Employers Taskforce research mailgroup issued in September 2012.

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OECD Reviews of Vocational Education and Training - Learning for Jobs  - For OECD member countries, high-level workplace skills are considered a key means of supporting economic growth. Systems of vocational education and training (VET) are now under intensive scrutiny to determine if they can deliver the skills required. Learning for Jobs is an OECD study of vocational education and training designed to help countries make their VET systems more responsive to labour market needs. It expands the evidence base, identifies a set of policy options and develops tools to appraise VET policy initiatives.

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These are courses/events run by partners and organisations other than NYCC:

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Practical approaches to careers education

A regional one-day conference and resources fair organised by Prospects and David Andrews

10th October - York  Find out more

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Calendar of ICG training events and conferences

New ICG events brochure: please print off and email to colleagues. It's easy to book; click on the title of your chosen event for more information.

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- NYY Training - Bite Sized Accredited Youth Work Training

We are proud to be offering a series of Youth Work units from the Level 2 Youth Work qualification. NYY have recognised centre status with OCN and are able to offer high quality learning opportunities which are flexible and learner friendly. 

• Poster publicising the units available
• Bite sized Youth Work info sheet
• Youth Work bite sized booking form

If you require further information please do not hesitate in contacting us. Booking forms should be returned to gillian@nyy.org.uk  We are able to run a wide variety of training for young people and adults, in the community or at our outdoor activity centre, Carlton Lodge. Please contact us if you would like to discuss any requirements you may have.

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- Higher York is once again running a range of free sessions relating to Progression to Higher Education.

For further information.  Please note that the UCAS Apply session has only a small number of places due to the interactive nature of the training and therefore places will be limited to one per organisation.

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Careers Education & Guidance: Delivering Results in Schools

These events, being held in partnership with the sponsors of Cegnet; ACEG, ICG & Babcock, will give delegates a clear understanding of the Education Act and the new role schools will be expected to play in the delivery of careers education and guidance.

Date & Venue: 8 May in London or 24 May in Leeds
Time: 11.00am - 3.30pm
Cost: £225 for one place or £175 for two or more

***Special Rate for ICG or ACEG Members and Recipients of this email - see below for details***

For more details please visit our website 8th May, London or  24th May, Leeds.

Programme outline

The Context &Issues:
Engaging with the panel, key issues to be addressed at this Policy and Practice Briefing will include:

• Clarifying the statutory requirements for schools - timetable, delivery & responsibilities
• Resourcing and funding the provision of careers education and guidance
• Working in partnership with national and local partners to meet the needs of young people
• Managing careers work in schools: curriculum content and quality assurance
• Quality assuring careers delivery and deliverers
• Engaging local employers in careers education
• Securing the contribution of careers guidance to improve progression & participation
• Careers advice as a means to support social mobility & raise aspiration
• Local authorities' role in supporting careers guidance & strategies for vulnerable groups
• Understanding how the guidance will affect you and your setting: an action plan for delivery

The Context &Issues:
The morning ‘Current and Future Policy' session will provide delegates with a clear understanding of the new duties on schools set out in the Education Act. The afternoon ‘Policy into Practice' session will allow participants to examine case studies of how to organise and deliver high quality education and guidance. For further information please view the agenda.

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 Teesside University Open Day

'We would like to take this opportunity to inform you about our forthcoming Open Day taking place on Wednesday 20 June 2012. We would be delighted if your students could attend.

Contributions towards travel costs may be available. However, these will be offered on a first come, first served basis and conditions do apply. Please contact us for further information.

The Open Days are an ideal opportunity for students in Year 12, who will be working on their UCAS applications over the summer, to come and find out about the variety of courses available and to speak to admissions tutors about personal statements. Please see the attached ‘Top 10 reasons why to bring your students to Open Days at Teesside University'.

We are also able to visit you prior to the event to help your students plan their day.

If you are a tutor and wish to bring a group of students onto the Open Day please check with your careers advisors before booking coaches as other groups from your college may also be attending.

If you have any further queries regarding the Open Day, or wish to make a booking, please contact Kate Nelson on 01642 738180 or e-mail k.nelson@tees.ac.uk.'

Step on the Farm - A Professional Development Event for Teachers & Careers Advisers

Wednesday 18th July 2012, 1:30pm - 4pm
Westfield Farm, Askham Bryan College, York, YO23 1FR

Join us for an afternoon discovering science, land based and environment related careers. Take a tour around the Farm and learn more about careers in the following sectors:

• Agriculture and Land Management
• Animal Management & Veterinary
• Engineering including motorsport and plant & highway
• Equine
• Horticulture
• Arboriculture
• Floristry

The afternoon will also provide an opportunity to find out more about Askham Bryan College and the opportunities available for young people.

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• Fuelling Potential A blueprint for skills accounts and the adult advancement and careers service
• A presentation called Implementing the Vision: Information, Advice and Guidance for Young People
• Towards a strong careers profession An independent report to the Department for Education by the Careers Profession Task Force. This report looks at all aspects of the delivery of CEIAG to young people
• National Careers Service for England - 13 April 2011. The Government's expectations on local authorities and schools in respect of careers guidance, and the positioning of the all-age careers service in this context have been placed on the Departments' websites today. This includes the roles of schools and colleges.

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Here you will find a document which gives you a guided tour of the website.  This will enable you to see how you could use the site to support your work. 

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The documents that here are needed to link to text in other areas.

Here are the documents that you could find useful:

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Please see the full timetable below with the video footage and presentations where available.

1 - Creative Media Industries. The soft subject myth.
Gavin Attard, SAE Institute (Video)

2 - Let's Revisit Career Guidance, its Theories and Models!
Dr Adrian Hancock, Coventry University
This seminar was not recorded - however the presentation will be available to download using the link above soon.

3 - Making the Most of the Green Collar Revolution (New Employment Opportunities)
Michael Spayne, Focus LMI
This seminar was not recorded - however the presentation will be available to download using the link above soon.

4 - STEM subjects and careers
Dr Taj Bhutta, STEM organisations and societies (pdf plus video)

5 - Careers in the NHS - Latest Workforce Developments
Alan Simmons, NHS Careers (pdf plus video)

6 - Graduate v Non Graduate: Navigating a Career in Finance, Accountancy and Financial Services
Paul McCraith, Financial Skills Partnership (pdf only)

7 - Career Progression opportunities into Apprenticeships and Apprenticeship vacancies
Carolyn Savage, National Apprenticeship Service (pdf plus video)

Here is a list of all the organisations that attended the event with links to their websites. Several have been already added to GCN in the appropriate places with links.

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