Wednesday, 2 March 2011: Edition 36
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In this issue: |
Skills Minister calls for a million learning opportunities across Britain |
Skills Minister John Hayes gave his backing to a campaign launched to create one million opportunities for people across the UK to learn new skills in 2011. WorldSkills London 2011 is encouraging schools, colleges and businesses to organise Have a Go events that demonstrate the range of skills training opportunities that are on offer to local people. As part of the official countdown to the WorldSkills London 2011 Competition, Have a Go is an unprecedented initiative that aims to introduce a new generation of young adults to the possibilities of a skills-based career, strengthening the future prospects of the nation’s industries and driving sustainable growth. John Hayes said, “Practical skills are as important as academic qualifications. Have a Go is an excellent opportunity for people from all walks of life to be inspired by the possibilities of vocational education.” For more information, please see the WorldSkills website |
Apprenticeships Week 2011 |
A big thank you to everyone who took part in Apprenticeship Week 2011 earlier in February. The week proved to be a huge success and kicked off with BIS Secretary of State Vince Cable doing national media interviews and Skills Minister John Hayes visiting Apprentices at British Telecom. Hundreds of events took place across the country to celebrate the success of apprentices and to highlight the real business benefits apprentices bring to organisations. Hundreds of employers got in touch to find out more about offering Apprenticeships and thousands of learners registered on the Apprenticeships website. As well as announcing 1,500 new Apprenticeship places at Jaguar Landrover, John Hayes also announced that the names of the levels of Apprenticeships were changing, with immediate effect:
For more information please see www.apprenticeships.gov.uk |
Institute for Learning Membership Fees |
Following the Government’s announcement in late 2010, the Institute for Learning will become a self-financed professional body. The Institute for Learning offers benefits for members which support continuing professional development, excellent teaching and training and a licence to practise for teachers and trainers across Further Education and skills. Standard membership will be £68 per year and members will be able to renew online now. Toni Fazaeli, Chief Executive of the Institute of Learning, has written a letter to individual members and employer members of the institute to explain further detail on membership fees from April 2011. The letters, a Question and Answer document and further information are available on the IfL website here: http://www.ifl.ac.uk/membership/changes-to-membership |
National skills academy will help build a greener future |
The UK’s green & renewable industries prospects for sustained growth were boosted on 4 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 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 five years, the National Skills Academy aims to deliver around 2,000 publicly-funded and over 200,000 privately funded training courses. It will develop an initial network of 14 specialist training provider ‘hubs’, based in Further Education Colleges, with over 80 accredited training providers throughout England. Please read the press notice: National skills academy will help build a greener future for further information |
Improving the use of technology across further education and skills |
2 February 2011 saw the transfer of technology support for FE from Becta (which closes formally on 31 March 2011) to LSIS – the Learning and Skills Improvement Service. This transfer of functions ensures the continuation of expertise to support learning and skills professionals to improve learner outcomes and organisational effectiveness in relation to ICT and learning technologies. LSIS will be working with JISC Advance to ensure this coherent support to the FE sector maximizes the benefits of technology. Further information can be found at www.lsis.org.uk |
Forthcoming Events |
Partners across the country are working together to organise national events to promote further education and skills. To get involved please see the links below for further information. Learning at Work Day 19 May 2011: www.learningatworkday.com |
Connect with BIS |
Stay up to date with what is happening at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills BIS Departmental Newsletter: BIS FE & Skills Newsletter: http://www.bis.gov.uk/site/connect/newsletters/fe-skills BIS Vocational Qualifications Newsletter: |
Skills are the antidote to unemployment trap
Skills Minister John Hayes and Employment Minister Chris Grayling visited Brighton on 25 January to see the help unemployed people are getting to return to work by increasing their skills. They met staff from Brighton Jobcentre Plus and staff and learners from City College Brighton and Hove, as they demonstrated their joint commitment to a new approach to training for the unemployed.
John Hayes said: “With the right training and support we believe the unemployed can get the skills they need to get jobs and employers will benefit too. We will ensure that colleges and training providers have the freedom they need to meet the demands of local businesses, and in turn we expect them to meet the needs of their communities, including people who are unemployed.”
Please see national and local press notices for more information.
WorldSkills London 2011: Be part of it!
WorldSkills is the world’s largest, international skills competition where young people from across the globe compete to become the best of the best in their chosen skill. WorldSkills London 2011 will take place at ExCeL London from 5-8 October 2011. The event – and the run up to it – is an excellent opportunity for colleges and learning providers to showcase their offer and encourage people to sign up for courses.
For education resources and to register for updates
Apply to become a Showcase organisation
The deadline for all applications is 17 March.