The Sector Skills Council for the places where we live and work
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New Academy for Property Services is launched
Asset Skills is launching its new UK Academy for Property Services which aims to offer practical assistance to employers on training and skills issues.
It follows the success of the Virtual Academy for Business Services which has been promoting and registering candidates onto a range of programmes including the new apprenticeship in facilities management and has enabled businesses to come together to achieve economies of scale.
The new Academy for Property Services is being run in collaboration with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and seeks to improve the access to learning for employers across the property industry.
It will achieve this through collaboration on training and the setting up of a network of training providers dedicated to delivering high quality learning programmes to the industry.
Asset Skills is recruiting employers to become academy members. Asset Skills is recruiting employers to become academy members. To download a copy of the prospectus please click here or call 0844 822 2525 (local rate call). For more information on how the academy can benefit employers, visit www.assetskills.org/virtualacademy
Apprenticeship in Facilities Management - event in Cambridge
The roll out of the Facilities Management Apprenticeship across England is continuing with a February registration event organised for employers in the East of England.
The training has been promoted across England by the Asset Skills Virtual Academy for Business Services.
The next information event is on 23 February at the Cambridge Regional College from 4:30-6:00pm. It is free and gives attendees the chance to find out how to register learners, how the programme works and what benefits it brings to business.
To read what learners already on the programme say about it, visit the facilities management/case study section at www.assetskills.org.
The Level 3 Facilities Management Apprenticeship will enable existing FM practitioners of all ages to extend their skills and knowledge at a time when every employee's contribution is crucial to enabling organisations to do more with less.
To register for the event, visit http://fmapprenticeshipcambridge.eventbrite.com
For more information, contact Tom Orton, the Asset Skills Virtual Academy Coordinator, by email at virtualacademy@assetskills.org or phone 0844 822 2525.
Apprenticeship awards will honour top 100 employers
The National Apprenticeship Service, in partnership with City & Guilds, will be listing England's Top 100 Apprenticeship employers as part of this year's awards.
As well as four employer category winners, the 24 best other employers in each category will be honoured in the published Top 100 list.
Applications are now open and will close on 25 March 2011. Nomination categories are:
The awards, run by the National Apprenticeship Service, are open to all organisations that employ apprentices, and to apprentices themselves. The awards ceremony will be held in London on 29 June 2011.
Employers with apprentices in facilities management, housing, property and cleaning are being encouraged to get involved in the next Apprenticeship Week, from Monday 7 to Friday 11 February.
The event can only be successful with the involvement of apprentices, employers, providers and all those involved with the programme. To help businesses, staff and apprentices to plan activities to support the event four themes have been created. They are:
A Great Way to Start Your Career: This theme will focus on showing people that an apprenticeship is a fantastic way to start a successful career.
Moving on Up: This theme will focus on the progression routes available with an apprenticeship.
Good for Business: This theme will focus on explaining and promoting how apprenticeships are 'Good for Business' to employers
The Big Thank You: This theme is aimed at encouraging employers to recognise the impact their apprentices have had and the benefits they brought to their business. Find out more at www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
Functional Skills in apprenticeships
Functional Skills qualifications are due to replace Key Skills, as a mandatory component of all apprenticeship frameworks.
The minimum requirement for Functional Skills in apprenticeship frameworks is English and mathematics at Level 1 for Level 2 Apprenticeships and Level 2 for an Advanced (Level 3) Apprenticeship.
There is a choice of offering either Key Skills or Functional Skills within an apprenticeship and this choice was due to end on the 31st March 2011.
However, to support the move towards full implementation of Functional Skills, the temporary transition period has been extended. From April 2011 until the end of September 2012 there will be parallel running between Key Skills, Functional Skills and the new GCSEs (with increased functional content).
The exception to this rule is where a Sector Skills Council has, in consultation with employers and other partners, agreed that Functional Skills should be offered within a specific apprenticeship framework. The extension is subject to further work with partners, to develop a wider range of flexible assessment models to ensure that Functional Skills are intrinsic to apprenticeships and to facilitate full implementation by September 2012.
For further information please refer to the National Apprenticeship Service website.
Apprenticeships overview
Apprentices are employees who earn a wage and work alongside experienced staff in businesses to gain job-specific skills. Off the job, usually on a day-release basis, apprentices receive training to work towards nationally recognised qualifications.
Apprenticeships can take between one and four years to complete depending on the level of apprenticeship, the apprentices' ability and the industry sector.
Apprenticeships - the benefits
Asset Skills pilots training in energy advice
A new training programme in energy advice has been launched by Asset Skills in South West England.
The pilot scheme is being run in partnership with Somerset and Cornwall Colleges and was launched at the Genesis Centre in Somerset.
New skills, knowledge and understanding of green technologies and long term sustainability issues are increasingly in demand, especially since the launch of the coalition government's new Green Deal policy.
A total of 30 learners with energy assessment backgrounds have registered onto the six month course. It will offer a level 3 certificate in Energy Advice (Home) with a level 4 award in Renewable Technologies. It will provide many, but not all, of the skills requirements for energy advice under the Green Deal.
The project paves the way for similar schemes in Wales and Northern Ireland set to be launched through the Asset Skills Virtual Academy.
For more information contact Phil Stott at pstott@assetskills.org or call 0845 678 2 888 (local rate call).
The latest Asset Skills Barometer survey has been completed and reports relating to each of the Asset Skills industries and nations are available.
The Barometer reports provide a useful insight into the views of employers across the facilities management, housing, property and cleaning industries. Information relating to current opportunities and challenges, investment in staff skills and training, future changes, access to skills and knowledge as well as company performance are all examined.
We are always keen to hear from employers and if you are interested in taking part in the Barometer survey it can be accessed at the following link http://energyassessors.native-demo.com/Barometer4/barometerissue4.htm
To read the latest reports click here
Asset Skills joins forces to give careers training
Asset Skills has teamed up with other Sector Skills Councils covering the built environment industries to provide training courses for careers advisers around the country.
Two events are being held to provide information about careers in the built environment. The events - run in conjunction with Construction Skills, EU Skills and Summit Skills - are being held in Warrington on 1 February and Nottingham on 11 February. They are aimed at careers advisers who offer advice to young people or adults and they are free to attend.
The Warrington event is full but there are a few spaces available in Nottingham.
If you would like to attend please contact Cathy Lindsay-Carl at clindsay-carl@assetskills.org
Over the next few months we will be repeating the training in the North East, the East of England, the South East, the South West and London - details will follow in the newsletter but if you would like to register your interest for future events please contact Cathy Lindsay-Carl.
Employability skills - what employers want
The Employability Matrix, which Asset Skills first developed in 2008, defines employability as the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours required by people to seek, obtain and sustain employment at all levels in the labour market.
The matrix is now due for revision and there is now an opportunity to share your views on the skills you consider essential for employability and so shape the content of future employability qualifications.
The matrix is a recognised framework used by Asset Skills to approve all generic employability skills qualifications and is also used as a checklist by learning providers and others to identify existing skills and areas for development. It is widely accepted as the standard on which all employability learning and training should be based.
The Employability Matrix is divided into sub-sections covering:
We would like to hear from employers, awarding organisations, learning providers and other interested parties on what they think the revised Employability Matrix should include.
The survey will go live during the week beginning Monday 7 February 2011. If you would like to participate please contact either Lisa Hartnell at lhartnell@assetskills.org or Sharon Simpson at ssimpson@assetskills.org.
The survey will close on Monday 28 February 2011 and the feedback received will inform the content of the revised Employability Matrix, which is due to be published in July 2011.
We look forward to hearing your views.
Employability skills workshops for Scottish prisoners
A series of workshops to train prisoners in employability skills has been held by Asset Skills in Scotland.
Inmates from Addiewell Prison in West Lothian attended the sessions to hear more about the types of general workplace skills that enable someone to find a job in cleaning and keep that job.
The sessions came about after an invite to Asset Skills from David McClure of Sodexo Justice Services, formerly Kaylix who manages the prison on behalf of the Scottish Prison Service.
The workshops were well attended by prisoners from the jail's cleaning teams. Most of the delegates wanted information on the skills they would need to succeed in a cleaning career after release.
Ms Audrey Park, Prison Director said,
"We work closely with the Scottish Prison Service to deliver a full range of services which address offending behaviour. Our innovative solutions including new prisoner programmes and other forward-looking approaches towards prisoner management contribute to the reduction of reoffending."
The workshop comprises question and answer sessions which serve to challenge preconceptions about what makes a person employable and role playing exercises designed to highlight how effective communication, good customer service, team working and initiative can be developed and assist in making a good impression on potential employers.
For more details contact Tim Pogson, Head of Asset Skills Scotland at tpogson@assetskills.org or phone 07554 452 287.
Literacy and numeracy training for Welsh housing associations
Housing associations in Wales are being offered the chance to get involved in a project to help improve essential skills in the workplace.
Connecting Learners (in the Third Sector in South Wales) is a partnership project between Unison, Community Lives Consortium and more than 4000 community-voluntary organisations across Wales.
It is funded by the Wales Union Learning Fund with the aim of supporting work-based learning opportunities with a particular focus on literacy and numeracy.
A selection of courses and workshops are available and as part of the work with community voluntary organisations, housing associations of all sizes are being invited to take part.
For more information contact Karen Fisher at Karen.fisher@communitylives.co.uk or call 01792 646 640.
Hyfforddiant llythrennedd a rhifedd i gymdeithasau tai yng Nghymru
Mae cyfle i gymdeithasau tai yng Nghymru gymryd rhan mewn prosiect i helpu i wella sgiliau hanfodol yn y gweithle.
Mae Cysylltu Dysgwyr (yn y Trydydd Sector yn Ne Cymru) yn brosiect partneriaeth rhwng Unsain, Consortiwm Bywydau Cymunedol a mwy na 4,000 o gyrff cymunedol-gwirfoddol ledled Cymru.
Mae wedi'i ariannu gan Gronfa Ddysgu Undebau Cymru er mwyn cefnogi cyfleoedd dysgu yn y gweithlu gyda ffocws arbennig ar lythrennedd a rhifedd.
Mae detholiad o gyrsiau a gweithdai ar gael ac, yn rhan o'r gwaith gyda chyrff gwirfoddol cymunedol, mae gwahoddiad i gymdeithasau tai o bob maint gymryd rhan.
I gael rhagor o wybodaeth cysylltwch รข Karen Fisher ar Karen.fisher@communitylives.co.uk neu ffoniwch 01792 646 640.
New housing training programme in Northern Ireland
A Northern Ireland housing association has launched a bespoke training programme for its staff that is going to be made available to the province's 32 other housing organisations.
Belfast-based Ark Housing has launched the training to help raise the number of employees on professional development programmes. Some of the participants have workplace experience but no formal qualifications.
Prisons prepare for 2011 Team Clean Challenge
A record number of prisons have entered the 2011 Team Clean Challenge prisons strand with many first-time entrants.
The Team Clean Challenge is a competition that aims to show that cleaning is an important profession which requires skilled staff. The contest is run by Asset Skills in an 'open' strand for employers across the cleaning industry, and in a separate 'prisons' strand for offenders.
The 2011 competition is supported by the Scottish Government, UK Skills, the Department for Work and Pensions, the Ministry of Justice, professional bodies, further education colleges and employers.
The competition series kicks off in February 2011 involving separate heats at 32 prisons around the UK with more than 100 competitors.
No other prison competition has the scope or impact of the Team Clean Challenge and for many prisons it is a high spot in the year, with preparations beginning months in advance.
Inmates are keen to hone their skills to the highest level with one prison revealing that their game plan for success in the 2011 competition is well underway and expressing interest in how preparations are going in other prisons. Some teams prepare videos, portfolios and displays to support their entry and all take the competition seriously and are keen for success.
The competition has provided an important platform to showcase cleaning and teamwork skills, leading to the employment of more than 50 ex-offenders since the competition started, many of whom are still in employment and some have already achieved promotions.
We look forward to the continued support of the employers both in terms of attending the heats and subsequently in offering employment to ex-offenders.
