Today is Child Exploitation Awareness Day.

Here are some of the signs to look out for if you think a child is a victim of exploitation:

• Going missing from home or care regularly or for long periods of time
• Travelling for unexplained reasons
• Regularly missing school or not taking part in education
• Suffering unexplained injuries
• Hanging around with older people, other vulnerable people or in antisocial groups
• Involved in criminal activities like selling drugs or shoplifting
• Having older boyfriends or girlfriend
• Suffering from sexually transmitted infections
• Mood swings or changes in emotional behaviour, becoming withdrawn or isolated

If you would like to find out more, please read this leaflet for info:

MSET Leaflet

Following the government announcement on the road map out of lockdown, Employment and Skills have produced some information on how we hope to be welcoming our learners back in the following weeks and months. Click the link below to read our update letter.

Covid Update Letter

This year, we had to take our National Apprenticeship Week events online. But that didn’t stop us having a successful week.

Get Up and Go 2021 Stats:

• 1155 viewers on the day of the broadcast.
• 879 On Demand views of the videos to date.
• 16 schools/ colleges registered for the event.

If you would like to have a look at the event, this is still available until the end of March here!

Or if you would like to visit our National Apprenticeship Week page, this is available here!

Employment and Skills are delighted to announce a new Sector Based Work Academy (SWAP) in the Health and Social Care industry!

The Social Care Academy is a programme for adults aged 18+ who are eligible to take part in employment programmes, or those undergoing a career change and who want to learn more about working in health and social care. It will introduce the participants to some basic concepts of caring and help them to prepare for employment in the social care sector.

This is a 4-week programme which includes NCFE CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Preparing to Work in Adult Social Care qualification: Level 2 Food Safety and Local Authority Safeguarding training.

It is an ideal taster for learners who may be new to the sector with topics included: –

• Role of the Social Care Worker
• Personal Development
• Person Centred Approaches
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
• Communication
• Safeguarding & Protection
• Duty of Care
• Handling Information & Confidentiality
• Health & Safety including Manual Handling; Risk assessment; Fire Safety; COSHH)

Benefits to learners

• Individualised tutorial and one-to-one sessions with tutor to support.
• L2 qualification giving you some knowledge of working in social care sector.
• Links to local employers in the sector and opportunity for virtual tour / meeting.
• Support with CV and application writing.
• Practice Interview techniques
• Guaranteed interview with a local employer.
• Additional training to give you employment edge.
• Access to dedicated tutor with experience of working in the sector.
• Real working scenarios and case studies giving you a sense of the roles in social care sector.
• Access to video / training materials and online training sessions with tutor.

Benefits to employers

• Candidates will have L2 NCFE / CACHE recognised qualification which links to elements of the Care Certificate.
• Qualification can be recognised as pre-apprenticeship training for the L2 Adult Social Care Worker. (knowledge elements).
• Candidates will have DBS checks done with North Tyneside Council.
• Candidates will complete North Tyneside Council approved Safeguarding training.
• L2 Food Safety Certificate funded by NT council.
• Candidate will have completed infection control training and donning and doffing PPE procedures.
• References

For further information contact:

Jude Conlon – Course Tutor  jude.conlon@northtyneside.gov.uk

Gemma Williams – Programme Manager gemma.williams@northtyneside.gov.uk

Barbara Vickers, an IT tutor in the Employment and Skills service, wanted to help out with the pandemic and put her time to good use!
So, she decided to sign up to help with the vaccination effort in North Tyneside as a volunteer, greeting and assisting residents who arrive at the centre to get sorted and ready for their vaccine, ensuring that they are kept safe throughout!

Whilst volunteering, Barbara was interviewed by VODA about why she decided to become a volunteer at the vaccination centres. She said she was really excited to be a part of history and she loved seeing how happy and excited everyone was to get their vaccines done. She was particularly excited for the future, where her new baby granddaughter could say that her Grandma had done her bit to stop the pandemic.

Employment and Skills would like to say thank you to Barbara, and all the other volunteers for all their help making history and for their help getting North Tyneside’s residents protected against COVID-19 and one step closer to normality!

You can watch the full interview here to find out what Barbara has to say about volunteering here.

If you need more information on vaccination, of COVID-19, please visit here.

This year, we’ve had to do Get Up and Go a little bit differently. So we decided to take it online, so you can attend the event safely from the comfort of your own home! We have a huge range of local employers available to chat to you about what they can offer you if you choose to become and apprentice, and our friendly Connexions advisors will be on hand throughout the day to provide you with any general guidance you might need when considering if an apprenticeship is right for you.