Firstly a very warm welcome back after half term, I hope that you all enjoyed your week off. It has been very busy here at Medtia Square with Lumenus starting preparations for the Christmas showcase and our Pre-Interns and Future Finders students returning to work for their final few weeks in their current placements. The Digit4ll students spent a very productive morning at Alexandra Park – find out what they got up to here.

I would like to take this opportunity to say a big well done to those students who continued going to work over half term! They include Niamh at the nursery..

..Jack at The Atrium..

..and Keiffer at the RSPCA..

It is fantastic to see that the students are so committed to their jobs that they don’t want to take any time off! Because of his dedication and extremely positive work ethic, we have awarded this week’s Worker of the Week once again to Keiffer – the first student ever to gain the award twice! Keiffer is working at the RSPCA, did a full week independently last week with fantastic feedback from staff and has now signed up to work there every Saturday! Well done, Keiffer!

Before half term, you may remember that we had a professional photographer in to capture our students on placement. We now have the photos back and I am delighted to share them with you! I am sure you will agree that they are fantastic and certainly make all of the team here at Medtia very proud! At the Premier Inn we have Humayun..

..Liam..

..and Steven..

At Tesco we have David..

..while Abu is working hard at the Whitegate Inn..

..just like Cameron at the Atrium..

Over at the library are Sam..

..and Terry..

..and we think you might just be able to tell how much Luka is enjoying his placement at the RSPCA..

This week’s ‘A day in the life of…..’ follows Kayleigh who is on our Future Finders course and is currently working at The Cutting Room in Shaw – over to you, Kayleigh…

A day in the life of Kayleigh

Hair and Beauty Assistant at The Cutting Room, Shaw

I arrive at The Cutting Room after travelling independently and greet everyone with a ‘Good Morning’

I speak to the staff to find out what jobs I am to do that shift. I start off with sorting out the trolleys with all the products on that the hair stylists may need throughout the day. I then make sure the salon is kept clean and tidy, sweeping the floors..

..and filling the washing machine with laundry..

Once I have done the jobs and we are in the quieter periods, I am able to practice different hair styles on what we call ‘The Block’, it’s a little like a doll’s head..

Here are some of the styles I have been practising – an ‘up do’..

..a perm..

..and ‘tight curls’..

Well, it’s been a busy day here so far…….I’m off for my break where I will sit with Anne-Marie, my job coach, and the manager of The Cutting Room to go through my diary for the week and set my next weekly targets..

I am really enjoying my time here at the The Cutting Room as it is exactly what I want to do – see you all back at Medtia!!

I have spent most of my week away from Medtia as I have been at a conference down in a not so sunny and very cold Brighton! The conference was held by BASE, the British Association of Supported Internships. It was fantastic to share stories with other colleges from across the UK and to be inspired by the work of other organisations, as well as to inspire others with our own innovative work. The overwhelming message that came out of the conference is that things are getting better; employment opportunities for our young people are becoming more widely available and the new entry level apprenticeships will have a significant impact on our internship students. Before September, students who had not achieved a Level 1 Maths and English qualification could not access a paid apprenticeship. However, the government changed their guidelines and a new Entry Level 3 apprenticeship has been developed. Over the coming weeks, I will be exploring this further and will be looking to partner with local providers to see what this might mean for our young people on the Future Finders course who will be looking for work at the end of the academic year. Needless to say that it will surely improve our success rate of moving young people into the world of work.

We are looking forward to hosting our open evening at Medtia from 5pm to 6.30pm on Tuesday 14th November. This is for new students who may wish to join Future Finders or young people interested in New Bridge Horizons in September. Our parents’ evening for our pathways and pre-internship students will be on Wednesday 29th November.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Daniel
Director of Employment & Co Head of Site at Medtia Square

You can view our previous blog entries here

Click here for this week’s news from Graham