"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
Events this week:
April 1st- April 30th – Stress Awareness Month 2024
April 1st- April 30th – Parkinson’s Awareness Month 2024
April 1st- April 30th – Move More Month 2024
April 1st- April 30th – Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month 2024
April 17th- National Early Years Teacher Day 2024
Legislation/Regulation of the week
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Employees must be informed of protective measures and the employer must appoint one or more Health and Safety competent persons. Duties for employers under this health and safety legislation include conducting risk assessments, providing staff with health and safety training, along with implementing an effective health and safety policy.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Please remember to review this in your policy/legislation review workbook)
Videos of the week
A change of sex
Groundbreaking BBC series that follows Julia Grant’s life as a transgender person, from her first year living as a woman to her gender reassignment surgery and beyond.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Event of the week/month
Stress Awareness Month 2024
The theme #LittleByLittle highlights the transformative impact of consistent, small positive actions on over-all wellbeing. For Stress Awareness Month 2024 we, at The Stress Management Society, want to emphasise how even the smallest steps taken each day towards self-care and stress reduction can yield significant improvements in mental health over time. We encourage you to focus on making manageable adjustments to your daily routine. While the impact of small actions on their own may seem little, the cumulative effects of these habits can end up being profound!
(This can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
How to spot social anxiety
Social anxiety usually starts in your teenage years but can be triggered at any stage of life. It's a serious condition that can affect all aspects of your life, but there are self-care tips and professional therapies that can help and even cure social anxiety. Speaking to a loved one, a support group, or a mental health professional is also important.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
The Victoria Climbié Inquiry chair reflects on social work, 21 years on
More than 20 years after delivering his report into the death of Victoria Climbié, there is still a quiet sadness about Herbert Laming at the mention of her name. In 2001, the government tasked the former chief inspector of social services with chairing a statutory inquiry into the murder of the eight-year-old Ivorian girl by her great aunt, Marie-Therese Kouao, and Kouao’s boyfriend, Carl Manning the previous year. The extent of the abuse Victoria had suffered shocked the country. Lord Laming’s report, published in 2003, called her a “victim of almost unimaginable cruelty”, with the post-mortem examination revealing 128 separate injuries to her body. “It is the worst case of child abuse and neglect that I have ever seen,” said a hospital consultant who treated Victoria in her final days. Yet almost as disconcerting were the several opportunities missed to save Victoria by the numerous services she had been in contact with prior to her death, including social services, hospitals and the police.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Working together to safeguard children – Webinar
A FREE opportunity to explore the new ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance. Access our free 20 minute webinar, an opportunity to develop your CPD, reflect on the key messages within the guidance, and top tips to meeting the statutory requirements. We will navigate focuses on strengthening multi-agency working across the whole system of help, support and protection for children and their families, keeping a child centred approach whilst bringing a whole family focus and embedding strong effective and consistent multi-agency child protection practice.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Story time: Diversifying resources for children
Reading is an essential focus area for Early Years and Education staff to support literacy skills of children, but does your settings story books reflect the demographic needs of your children and families? and explore complex issues such as family dynamics, parental separation, divorce or bereavement? Some great examples of child friendly books are;
The invisible String - exploring loss and bereavement, Patrice Karst
Living with mum and Living with dad - Family dynamics, Melanie Walsh
More people to love me- exploring blended families and wider carers, Mo O’hara
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Working in partnership with parents and carers - some key strategies to help with this!
Discover the significance of collaborating with parents and learn effective strategies for doing so. Studies indicate that engaging parents and caregivers in their children’s education is the primary factor in facilitating success, irrespective of background. Establishing a partnership with parents and caregivers is pivotal in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) and Schools. The collaboration often commences with their visit to your establishment, aiding in understanding how to effectively settle the child.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
How can we support children with additional needs and disabilities?
NSPCC Learning has released a new webpage compiling resources and guidance for professionals working with children and young individuals with additional needs and disabilities. It covers safeguarding for deaf and disabled children, as well as support for young people with learning disabilities. The resources, information, and guidance are designed to aid in safeguarding children and young individuals with additional needs and disabilities, contributing to the prevention of abuse and neglect.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Health & Safety
Why we need to normalise self-care for men
Men account for three-quarters of all suicides, yet they are less likely to access therapies to support their mental wellbeing. This is why self-care for men has never been so important - and shouldn't be treated as an afterthought or occasional treat. We explore why the pressure from society on many men to 'stay strong' - and on many of us to prioritise work over our health and wellbeing - can be dangerous and harmful.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Avoiding remote burnout and online fatigue
With an ever growing digital presence in both their educational and social worlds, lots of practitioners in the sector are seeing learners with symptoms of burn out and online / remote learning fatigue such as disengagement or poor attendance on remote sessions. Often turning to online FE forums for answers to the question of;
What are some of the strategies to prevent and address online learner burnout and fatigue?
Help out learners to set realistic goals on what they can achieve through the use of devices and technology. Tech can provide information but the engagement with the learning may need to be balanced with offline experiences.
Considerations towards how they managing their online usage / time - exploring digital detox or setting digital boundaries to step away from screens and regain balance in their online / offline worlds.
Helping them to explore other ways to stay social and connecting with real people. Socialising online or remotely can lead to feelings of isolating and lonliness- is there space to offer discussion forums or peer support groups offline as well as online?
Encourage them to consider varying their activities / have time away from your screen / connect their learning to real world scenarios and examples
Encourage praise and recognition, rewarding themselves and celebrating their successes and milestones
Help to combat the ‘harmful information disguised as support’ and signpost to verified safe safe sources of information for them to engage with if they wish.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Breaking the negative spiral - Debt and mental ill health
Struggling with debt can take a massive toll on a person’s mental health. According to the Money and Mental health Policy Institute, those that struggle with debt are three times more likely to contemplate suicide. The charity is one of many working hard to break the link between mental health problems and financial difficulty. With the UK economy still impacted by global economics, and the cost of living crisis still impacting many, its important we provide safe sources of information for our learners to seek guidance if this is something impacting them and their well-being.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Protect your workers from violence and aggression
Violence and aggression at work can have a serious impact on your workers physical and mental health. HSE's guidance on violence at work will help you protect your workers.
The guidance will help you:
assess the risks
put the right controls in place to protect workers
report and learn from incidents
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Wider Curriculum
Spotlight on the role of the virtual school and the virtual school head: What do you need to know?
This article is aimed at learners, tutors and assessors in relation to NCFE CACHE Supporting Teaching and Learning qualifications. It will raise awareness of the role and responsibilities of virtual schools and virtual school heads (VSHs), and may be particularly useful when exploring knowledge around school structures, staff roles and supporting children and young people in education.
https://www.ncfe.org.uk/sector-specialisms/early-years-and-childcare/education-childcare-career-toolkit/contemporary-issues-debates/virtual-school-head/
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
The business of skills- Podcast
In this episode, we’re speaking to Jane Gratton who leads on employment and skills for the UK’s Accredited Chambers of Commerce and the 50,000 plus businesses they represent. We’re also joined by Nicola Drury, Head of Skills and Apprenticeships at Amazon, recognised as the top employer in the UK for 2024.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 50 mins)
Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 open for entries
The Social Worker of the Year Awards 2024 have opened for entries. Eighteen categories are up for grabs this year in the England-based scheme, alongside the overall social worker of the year prize. Enter using the link below.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
New Apprenticeship Levy to be introduced in April 2024!
New plans introduced in the Spring budget to extend the apprenticeship opportunities for young people are welcomed by many in the FE sector. With plans of extending the current Department for Educations budget for apprenticeships to “over £2.7 billion” from 2025. Within the new plans, large employers who pay the apprenticeship levy will be able to transfer up to 50% of their funds to support other businesses to enable 20,000 more apprenticeships for young people. The Government will fully fund apprenticeships in small businesses from 1st April by paying the full cost of training for anyone up to the age of 21 supporting small businesses to be able to provide more apprenticeship options and kick starting the careers of many young people across the UK.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Sustainability
Three ways you can be an ocean warrior
Did you know that every single person on this planet depends on the ocean to survive? It provides us with oxygen, food, livelihoods, and is our best ally to address the climate crisis. A healthy ocean means a healthy planet – and healthy humans! But right now, the ocean is in crisis, its health is at a tipping point and we must all strive to protect and restore it – on World Oceans Day and every other day as well! It is estimated that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste are currently in the ocean – that’s the equivalent of 1345 blue whales, the largest mammal on Earth!
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 90 mins)
How you can reduce your carbon footprint
Reduce your carbon footprint through switching to clean energy sources, changing the way you travel, and reducing your consumption by recycling and reusing everything!
5 changes you can make:
Reduce your energy use and switch to renewable energy
Change the way you travel
Change what you eat
Change how much you buy and who you buy from
Campaign and vote
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
The eco-innovator weaving natural waste into fabric in India: Video
Meet the eco-fashionista from India who is transforming lotus stems into sustainable garments. In India's northeastern state of Manipur, thirty-year-old Bijiyashanti Tongbram transforms lotus flower stems into beautiful fabrics through her creative business, Sanajing Sanathambal Ltd.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 min)
An Idiot’s guide to change the world- Can these technologies save the day? : Podcast (Episode 3)
Burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and heat is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, making a fast transition to clean energy crucial to the solution. Fortunately, the technologies for a sustainable energy system already exist. Wind, solar and batteries all offer a promising pathway to a healthy and liveable planet, but what are some of the other, lesser-known technologies that could help save the day?
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 min)
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