Welcome to our April blog! We have so much happening in the Education & Training dept at SSG so here’s just a few highlights. Don’t forget to follow our social media for up to date information & announcements!
PRIDE!
June was rainbow-themed throughout the whole department, to celebrate Pride month. We had so much colourful fun! One of the key features was our ‘Together Vision’ noticeboard, which is usually updated regularly to reflect what that month’s focus is. We always promote inclusivity, wellbeing & acceptance & this prominent board usually features a variety of information, quotes & inspiring people or ideas. We were really moved when one student remarked upon seeing the Pride-themed board, “the centre feels so inclusive.”
We are definitely going to keep some features of the board permanent so everybody coming into the building can see what an inclusive place the SSG centre is to work & learn.
We held our biggest ever ‘SSG Bake Off’ with some amazing entries. The cakes looked incredible & tasted just as good.
The overall winner of the coveted apron was Julie & the Fun 4 All team from the Activities department!
We also ran an exciting competition to adapt the existing SSG logo into a rainbow-themed one. There were some lovely colourful, artistic entries but the overall winner (in a non-biased blind vote), who saw their design made into the official logo you see on this blog, was our very own Emma Graham!
Having Pride as our theme for the month gave us so many opportunities for conversations, social media posts, awareness workshops & allowed us to look at how our healthy living, exercise & employability learning can relate specifically to the LGBTQIA+ community. It will certainly have a lasting effect.
Business Partnerships
Our Business Partnership scheme is now live & has been launched on the website. See link here
This is what the team behind it had to say:
“Our partners are aligned, as they champion work-based education for sustainable employment growth. The SSG Business Partnership is a great way to connect with local businesses and people alike. The success of this partnership relies on active involvement from all members involved; our partners’ ethos, goals, desires and aspirations are what unites them within the SSG Business Partnership. These partner organisations will share a proactive attitude towards seeking new motivated staff from the local community and providing ongoing opportunities for their current workforce to upskill.
Join today! It will give your company the tools it needs to succeed. Get free access to all of our resources including grants, training programs and job postings so you can find the right people for your team at no cost!”
Reconnect programme
Specifically created for those looking to get back into employment after lockdown, the Reconnect programme looks to provide support & guidance for those who have been hit hard by the pandemic & are struggling with their next steps. We have been delighted to be able to offer face to face sessions in a covid safe environment to help people enhance their CV, receive support in finding employment & improve general wellbeing. We are looking forward to rolling out more courses over the coming weeks.
Safeguarding Training
Our team at SSG are always learning too. We pride ourselves on continually looking for ways to upskill, improve & stay up to date in ways that will enhance the job we do.
Our designated safeguarding lead, Danny Burke & safeguarding officers, Emma & Charlie took part in a virtual workshop run by Kirstie Thomson, Lead teacher at Middlesborough Education Centre & Area Safeguarding Officer. This was an incredible useful workshop, exploring national case studies, sharing ‘best practise’ examples & discussing updates in policies, processes & internal/external reporting.
Safeguarding is at the forefront of everything we do so it was fantastic for our management team to get the chance to enhance their own knowledge & skills in this way.
Face to Face at last!
We finally got back to face to face meetings with our colleagues at the job centres! We work so closely with these guys & have really missed seeing them in person over the past year or so. For some of the new work coaches, it is the first time we have actually met in real life! These hardworking teams are incredibly supportive of both us & the customers they are helping, referring people to our courses daily. We offer IAG (Information, Advice & Guidance) to support customers & coaches where needed. Although we have kept a strong working relationship virtually, it feels much more effective & efficient to be in the same room together. Normality is creeping back in.
MEET THE TEAM
Every month we introduce you to a member of our team. This month it’s Emma!
Emma Graham
Job Role:
Operations Manager Bedfordshire
How long at SSG:
(Nearly) 7 years
Favourite part about working for SSG?
My favourite part of the job is meeting so many new people every single day. It is rewarding to be able to help and support others as well learn from other people’s experiences which helps me in my role.
Looking Forward…
We have an exciting event featuring in next month’s blog to highlight some of the many Kickstart opportunities available through SSG & lots more information about what’s happening for our candidates.
We will also be looking at end of year achievements & progressions for our students, hopefully it’ll be an inspiring read!
