Could you be a winner for your work in supporting our young workforce in 2018?
Less than two weeks to go to get your application in for this year’s Business Excellence Awards. Supporting Young Workforce Award: Sponsored by Developing the Young Workforce Borders Criteria: Open to all businesses in the Scottish Borders irrespective of size or sector, this award will be presented to the business which, in the view of the judging panel, can best demonstrate it delivers on the likes of the following: diversity in age profile of workforce, equality for workforce, comprehensive learning and development programme (including a modern apprentice programme) and a mentoring programme, career development planning and succession planning. Judging Panel: Wednesday 12 September pm Log on to www.borderschamber.com for full details and to submit your entry. DYW Borders have launched a social media campaign that aims to encourage local businesses to invest in the work force of the future, using the hashtag #InvestInUs The campaign, which will run throughout the month of July, encourages businesses to offer employability sessions, work placements, apprenticeships, or the opportunity for young people to work on live business projects. DYW Borders hope the campaign will highlight the benefits to businesses of investing in the next generation work force by raising awareness of job opportunities within their sectors and alternative career paths. National and local organisations who have already signed up include NHS Borders, the RSPB, CITB, Oregon and SBHA. Through the opportunities offered, young people will gain invaluable experience, development of essential skills, and an introduction to the world of work. Businesses can access online resources to help promote the benefits of the campaign on their own social media, including an #InvestInUs printable sign and further information on the campaign by clicking below. Media Release: McGowan Marketing
Pupils from both Earlston and Hawick High School recently took part in the RAF’s Operation X programme, undertaking a humanitarian mission on the island of Martillo.
Unfortunately for the pupils, they did not travel to the remote island in the Southern Hemisphere but undertook the mission via an interactive multi-media portal. The scenario faced by the pupils was that the country had been severely damaged by storms and the forecast indicated that more extreme weather systems were on the way. Martillo’s emergency services were struggling under the pressure, much of the infrastructure had been destroyed, the hospital were unable to deal with the volume of casualties and many of the towns were without power, pupils were faced with a variety of challenges and Earlston pupil, Daisy Chalmers, S3, said: “It was great fun but also highlighted the need to work as a team, make decisions and raised awareness of all the different skills needed to make things happen.” Designed in line with the Curriculum for Excellence, Operation X engages pupils in a variety of problem-solving tasks, developing skills that will be required in the world of work, including, literacy, working with others, communication and health and well-being. The programme is also informative and stimulates discussion around career opportunities. Sara Ward, DYW Borders Programme Manager said: “We were thrilled to work with the RAF to deliver Operation X to pupils at both Earlston and Hawick High School. The aim of our programme is to prepare our young people for the world of work and Operation X is an innovative and stimulating way to develop essential life-skills such as the ability to adapt, the importance of communication, interpersonal skills, using your own initiative and working under pressure.” Over 300 S2 pupils from across the Scottish Borders recently attended The Big Bang Event at Borders College which took place over 2 days, participating in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) activities and finding out about related career opportunities. One of a number of Big Bang events put on across Scotland in June for secondary pupils, the two days offered ‘marketplace’ sessions covering a wide range of STEM sectors, including construction and engineering, health care, food and drink technology, digital, science and maths. Popular interactive activities were Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality, drones, and programmable ‘Dash’ robots. One pupil said the VR headsets were his favourite activity, enthusing about his ‘score of the day’ on the virtual welder. Among the inspiring and engaging 90 minute workshops on offer were Bloodhound rocket car racing, programmable Lego Mindstorm robots, RAF Operation X, Microsoft Ltd, and MTa STEM kits. Wendy Findlay of Energy Skills Partnership (ESP), took the groups through the MTa STEM kit, which was recently trialled by Borders STEM teachers at the College’s Construction Hub in Tweedbank. The inaugural event was organised by Borders College in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Borders and ESP, all of whom were delighted by the uptake. The College’s Engineering department also offered a fun pit-stop challenge using the Greenpower electric race car (styled like the bat mobile!) allowing pupils to try their hand at a timed wheel change, a challenge they also took to the Big Bang Scotland event in Perth earlier in the month. One pupil was delighted to be the fastest to complete the wheel change in her group. Other exhibitors hosting activities and demonstrations included the University of Strathclyde, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Skills Development Scotland, and Scottish Borders Youth Voice, who were raising awareness of the Year of Young People. Local employer Farne Salmon showcased activities including engineering problem solving and a crossbow shooting challenge, as well as giving pupils an insight to the potential employment opportunities available to them in the future. Pupils could even be seen walking around with dry peas in their shoes as part of the healthcare session, designed to demonstrate what it would feel like to live with arthritis. Article from Borders College.
On 30th May 2018, DYW Borders in partnership with Scottish Borders Council and Borders College hosted an event at Springwood Park, Kelso to celebrate the activity and impact in developing the young workforce over the last eighteen months. Over 200 people from education and industry came together to enjoy a morning of celebration through presentations, an interactive marketplace and a Q&A session. David Ferguson (MC) started the morning off well by getting the audience to participate in a fun stand up/ sit down quiz. Four great perspectives were given from Donna Manson (SBC Service Director Children and Young People), Rob Woodward (Chair of National DYW Group), Justin Sinclair (Headteacher at Earlston High School) and Peter Murphy (Vice Chair of DYW Borders and Managing Director at Turnbull & Scott). As well as four insightful presentations, Hawick High News filmed a news report showing all the exciting things which have happened over the last 18 months. The interactive marketplace seen education, college and industry showcase the work they have been doing to develop the young workforce. To finish off what had been a brilliant morning, attendees had the chance to participate in a Q&A session with Angela Cox (Principal and CEO Borders College), Ant Barlow (Chair of DYW Borders and Managing Director of Inforgen) and Donna Manson (Service Director Children and Young People - SBC). With the audience really enjoying the interactive way of being able to submit their questions via their mobile devices on sli.do. Developing the Young Workforce Borders (DYW) in partnership with Hawick Men’s Shed would like to inspire young people in the Scottish Borders to consider working in textiles as a possible future career option.
And today marks the day that every school in the Scottish Borders will receive an exciting bag of materials kindly organised by Hawick Men's Shed. Supplied by House of Cheviot, Schofield Dyers, Johnstons of Elgin, Lovat Mill, Lochcarron of Scotland, Anthony Haines, and many more. We want to help inspire and allow pupils to show their creative flair over the 2018-2019 academic year. We hope for 2019-2020 with more materials kindly donated, that pupils will be creative and create something to represent their local town or village. With the finished product coming together from every school to be displayed locally or in the new Tapestry building being built in Galashiels. Along with the materials we included a 5-minute textile DVD made by DYW Borders and Ronald Yule Media to showcase careers within textiles. We would like to encourage community engagement in the creations made by pupils and DYW Borders and Hawick Men’s Shed can put you in contact with local embroidery, sewing and knitting groups who could bring their expert skills and knowledge into the classroom. Please contact us on 01750505058 or dyw@dywborders.co.uk if you would like to find out more. Businesses from across the Borders and beyond hosted 50 secondary school teachers recently as part of the DYW Borders innovative Teacher Industry Insight Programme.
The ground-breaking project, which was launched in 2017, was developed in recognition that educators are one of the most important influences on a young person’s career choice but there are challenges bringing the world of work into the classroom. Now in its second year, DYW Borders secured placements for teachers at national organisations such as BAE, the Scottish Prison Service and Edinburgh Airport as well as a varied mix of Borders-based SMEs including The Borders Distillery, Eildon Housing and the Buccleuch Estate. Sourcing placements relevant to an individual teachers subject and achieving a diverse mix of placements in terms of sector, location and size, is key to the success of the project. Programme Manager, Andrea Hall, said: "The DYW Borders programme is all about bringing together industry and education. We recognise the important role teachers play in supporting young people make career choices; the better informed they are about industry, the better they can support their students”. 80% of teachers go from school to university and then straight into teaching, so they don’t have direct insight into working in industry. The placements provide real world context that exposes teachers to the most up to date industry trends, practices and techniques which can then be brought into lesson planning. Feedback from teachers to the programme has been unanimously positive. Anne McLeod, Principal Teacher of Sciences at Galashiels Academy, whose placement was with Scotmas (Kelso), said: “Fantastic experience, I learnt a huge amount about the business and routes available to employees. I will be recommending an insight placement to my colleagues.” Bruce Aitchison, Deputy Head Teacher at Hawick High School, whose placement was at Turnbull & Scott (Hawick), said: “It was a very worthwhile CPD opportunity. It has fuelled me with enthusiasm for making learning more industry specific and also to forge links that will benefit students, teachers and hopefully the business and community in the future”. It is not only those in education who benefit from the programme; organisations who sign up have an opportunity to increase understanding of their business and showcase career opportunities that are available for the next generation of young professionals. Turnbull & Scott’s managing director and DYW Borders board member, Peter Murphy, said: “It’s about getting teaches to prepare pupils for the future by exposure and experience. The teacher got the feel for the kind of work young people would be doing and the employability skills required.” DYW Borders worked in partnership with Prosperity Financial Advisors & Stockbrokers to develop and deliver a pioneering programme to teach financial literacy to secondary school pupils across the Borders. The ground-breaking programme was the brainchild of the Borders’ youngest Independent Financial Advisor, Mary Hemingway, who left school at the age of 16 with what she calls average GCSEs and initially trained as a plumber. It wasn’t until she moved to the Borders and found work in a local bank that she began to learn about the world of finance. However, Mary is the first to admit she learned about personal finance by accident and it wasn’t until she noticed a post on Facebook which mocked the lack of financial education in schools that she realised the basic budgeting skills being taught may not be enough. Mary knew that through her experience she could do something about it. She said: “I was an exception, normally children with poor financial literacy grow into adults with poor financial literacy which leads to less understanding of financial products, poor money management and potential for financial difficulty". Working with the DYW Borders team, the programme covers Income Tax, National Insurance, Pensions, General Living Expenses and Borrowing. To date, it has been delivered to pupils at Jedburgh Grammar School, Peebles High School, Eyemouth High School and Selkirk High School. Many continued: “So far the feedback from staff and pupils has been great. I have especially enjoyed seeing enthusiasm for pension saving at an early age. The majority of my job is pension planning, most of my clients wish they had started earlier and had some form of guidance from a young age!". Selkirk High School’s S6 pupils could see the benefit of the programme. Roslin Scott said: “The lesson was very informative and eye opening about my future”. While there was surprise from Tom Scott who said: “It was a bit scary how much you have to pay out from what you earn!” Watch Mary talk through future financial commitments with two Selkirk High School pupils. As a result of a survey sent by the Developing the Young Workforce team to all Primary Headteachers in the Borders, Edenside Primary School in Kelso responded by asking for support to deliver a careers fair to all 322 pupils in May.
Laura Swanson, Teacher from Edenside, responded to the survey and made an appeal to the programme team to assist with helping apply the Career Educations Standards (3-18) in school. The Career Education Standard (3-18), set by the Scottish Government, recognises the journeys that children and young people make as they progress from age 3-18, learning about the world of work. It also acknowledges the potential and role of key influencers in these journeys, for example parents and employers. Throughout the day on the 15th May workshops and presentations were delivered by parents, friends and local businesses who were sourced by the Developing the Young Workforce team. Primary 1 to 3 pupils kicked things off with a morning of presentations from a variety of professionals who came to the school to talk about a typical day in their respective jobs. The ‘A Day in the Life of…’ session saw an electrician, a doctor, a manufacturer and a podiatrist talk to the eager to learn youngsters. Next up were the Primary 4 and 5 pupils who were involved in a Question and Answer session with professionals from the fields of social work, agricultural engineering, pharmaceuticals, health care and hospitality. The pupils showed a real interest in finding out more, asking about what their job involves, the hours they work and how much they get paid. And lastly, the Primary 6 and 7 pupils took part in a market stall session where they had 5 minutes to visit each presenter and discuss what their job involved and ask their own personal questions about studying options and career choices. When asked about the benefit of the younger pupils’ involvement in the fair, DYW Borders Programme Manager, Andrea Hall, said: “A lot of our focus is, rightly so, on older age school children, especially those in secondary school, but we believe no child is too young to start learning about the world of work.” Events like this are an essential aspect of the DYW Borders programme, allowing children and young people to develop interests, strengths, skills and aspirations through experiences as part of the curriculum and improving their ability to make informed decisions about future pathways. |
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