“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new”
Events this week:
October 13th- October 19th- Dyspraxia Awareness Week 2024
October 14th- October 20th – National Braille Week 2024
October 14th- October 20th – UK Malnutrition Week 2024
October 16th- World Food Day 2024
October 18th- World Values Day 2024
October 18th- Wear it Pink 2024
October 18th- Menopause Awareness Week 2024
Legislation/Regulation of the week
Children’s Wellbeing Bill
Last week’s King's Speech and the state opening of parliament marked a significant day for the nation as it outlined the new government’s legislative priorities for the year ahead -including the Children's Wellbeing Bill.
As the new government sits, NGA looks forward to working with them to improve the education sector and increase the support and visibility of the over 250,000 governance volunteers and professionals in England.
Given Labour’s large parliamentary majority, it is reasonable to expect that most of its proposals will become law. While some of the specifics may be amended as part of the legislative process, the Children’s Wellbeing Bill is likely to become the first significant piece of education law in England for ten years.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Please remember to review this in your policy/legislation review workbook)
Videos of the week
There She Goes: Series
A unique child, a loving family. David Tennant and Jessica Hynes in an honest, chaotic and joyous tale of a family and their learning disabled daughter.
Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 80 mins)
Event of the week/month
Dyspraxia Awareness Week 2024
Dyspraxia Awareness Week was created by The Dyspraxia Foundation to raise awareness about Dyspraxia and educate people on how to support dyspraxic people.
Dyspraxia is a learning difficulty that affects movement, co-ordination, and balance. This can affect daily tasks such as living skills, social skills, as well as time management, planning and personal organisation skills. This is why Dyspraxia falls under the umbrella of neurodivergence.
It is estimated that 5% of the population worldwide have dyspraxia and it is thought to affect up to 10% of the UK population.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
Evaluation of the government’s 2016 to 2019 anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying programme in schools
The Government Equalities Office, Equality Hub and Department for Education (DfE) have published research evaluating the government’s anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying programme which ran from 2016 to 2019 in schools in England. The three-year programme reached around 1,800 schools and aimed to help schools prevent bullying and to create inclusive environments. The evaluation included surveys and focus groups with staff and pupils. Findings show: the programme influenced changes to school policies and processes; more staff reported that their school actively tried to prevent HBT bullying; school-based LGBT groups were appreciated by pupils where they were available; and some pupils felt that not all staff challenged HBT bullying appropriately.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Disability, disparity and demand: an analysis of the numbers and experiences of children in care and care leavers with a disability or long-term health conditions
Coram Voice has published a paper looking at care experienced children with a disability or long-term health condition in England. The paper presents findings from a Freedom of Information request to local authorities and research with young people from the Bright Spots Programme. Findings highlight disparities in understanding, measuring and recognition of disability, as well as significant local variations. The paper concludes that the under-recording of disabilities risks the needs and experiences of disabled children in care and care leavers not being fully understood. It makes recommendations on data collection and for improvements in policy and practice.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 50 mins)
Underage girls being manipulated into sexual abuse online.
Frontline child sexual abuse charities warn that ‘abuse thrives in secrecy’ and call on Meta to outline how it will proactively detect and prevent child sexual abuse imagery in the future.
These organisations emphasise the urgent need for transparency and robust measures to protect vulnerable children online. They argue that without clear and effective strategies, social media platforms can become breeding grounds for exploitation.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is urged to implement advanced detection technologies and collaborate with law enforcement to swiftly address any instances of abuse.
The charities also stress the importance of educating users and providing resources for reporting suspicious activities. By taking these steps, Meta can play a crucial role in safeguarding children and creating a safer online environment.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 40 mins)
How to Protect Young People from Online Scams?
The internet is a valuable resource for young people. They can use it to learn, connect with friends and family, and explore their interests and passions. However, spending time online also comes with potential risks, such as online scams. These scams can target anyone, including young people, and they can be sophisticated and hard to detect.
Fraud is intentionally deceiving someone for an unfair advantage, often for money. It can take various forms, such as gaming scams, fake websites, and false advertisements that often target vulnerable groups like young people. Cybercrime is a type of fraud that occurs on the internet, like hacking, phishing, and denial-of-service attacks. It can cause huge financial losses, information loss, and data breaches.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Contextual Safeguarding - the next chapter
The term ‘contextual safeguarding’ has been around now for sometime but staff in the sector may still be confused around what it is, what it means and how awareness raising of these risks can help them detect possible signs of risk and harm for learners earlier.
Contextual Safeguarding is an approach with a view to explore, respond to and attempt to understand young people's experiences of significant harm outside of their family home.
It recognises that different relationships that young people may have with others in their communities, education provider and on online can sometimes feature violence and abuse.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Internet Matters: Digital Dilemmas report released.
Our research shows that while children experience many benefits from using technology, they also frequently come to harm.
With recent debates about the role of smartphones and social media in young people’s lives, this new research seeks to include parents’ views and voices in the conversation.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
Health & Safety
Mental health and work: is it affecting your career?
World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October. This year’s theme, set by the World Federation of Mental Health, is workplace mental health. This highlights the importance of addressing mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, for the benefit of people, organisations, and communities.
Every job has pressure and stress, but what if it’s more than that? Managing your mental health and work is vital, so you need to be able to recognise any signs of issues.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
How to boost your vitamin D levels this winter
With less sunlight during the winter months, your body's ability to produce vitamin D diminishes. This can have a negative on your health. But what happens to our vitamin D levels during winter, and how can we support our health by boosting them until the sunshine returns?
It's that time of year where we once again swap our sunny summer activities for crisp autumnal walks and dark, cosy evenings in. While there may be many aspects of autumn we enjoy, one thing we do not get to do is enjoy much sunshine. So what happens to our levels of vitamin D - the so-called 'sunshine vitamin' - over autumn and winter?
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
Head injuries in Adults
All head injuries are potentially serious because they may damage the brain. A head injury may cause damage to the brain tissue, a skull fracture or an injury to the spine or neck. Learn what to do.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
Managing risks and risk assessment at work
An employer, is required by law to protect their employees, and others, from harm.
Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the minimum they must do is:
· identify what could cause injury or illness in your business (hazards)
· decide how likely it is that someone could be harmed and how seriously (the risk)
· take action to eliminate the hazard, or if this isn't possible, control the risk
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 40 mins)
Wider Curriculum
Declining standards in young offender institutions
Young offender institutions house children and young people who have committed a criminal offence. They play a vital role in helping to turn around the lives of these children and young people. They are meant to offer at least 15 hours of education a week.
A joint review by Ofsted and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), published today, shows that educational opportunities for children in YOIs have been steadily declining for the last decade.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
British Values in the Workplace
As a country known for its rich history and strong sense of identity, education about British values is an integral part of our society. In recent years, these values have been further highlighted and promoted, especially in the workplace. In this article, we will delve into the fundamental British values and how you can incorporate them into your daily work life. From respecting diversity to promoting democracy, join us as we explore the essence of British values in the workplace.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
Top Tips on having difficult conversations
Having difficult conversation is an inevitable part of transparent multi agency practice. Whether it be with a parent carer or other professional consider these top tips to help you in practice.
· Plan for the conversation, know your objective and be clear about your concerns.
· Be patient, consistent and actively listen to what’s being shared with you in return.
· Be comfortable with silence, consider the other persons pace may vary from your own.
· Be respectful and professionally curious
· Clearly state next steps to help manage expectations
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 30 mins)
What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?
Continuing Professional Development is a commitment to ongoing lifelong learning. CPD encourages looking forward and identifying opportunities to learn something new, refresh existing knowledge, improve skills, or simply keep up-to-date with the latest developments within a particular profession or industry.
In practice, CPD can mean everything from taking a training course or attending an educational event, to studying for new qualifications or learning new aspects of a job.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
Sustainability
Refill shops: Everything you need to know
Are you among the two thirds of the UK population who have a concern about plastic waste? Research from WRAP, the climate action NGO that brings you Recycle Now, shows that two in three of us feel that plastic waste is an important issue to us personally – but we all know how challenging it can be to act on that concern when shopping! As a nation, we’re getting good at trying out new kinds of shopping that cut down on unnecessary packaging, and refill shops are one answer. If you’re not yet familiar with the concept, it’s only a matter of time before you’re a convert! Here’s everything you need to know.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
The First 100 Days: Labour’s Track Record on the Climate and Environment
“Keir Starmer’s government has got off to a strong start despite some missteps along the way. Within days it put wind in the sails of onshore windfarms, boosted budgets for renewables and stepped back from the last government’s attempts to ‘max out’ the North Sea and open a new coal mine. The Chancellor’s Budget will be a key test of whether it can unlock the investment needed to transform the UK into a clean energy superpower, make buses and trains affordable and provide training for the jobs of tomorrow. “The UK has sought to reclaim some of its leadership on climate and nature on the world stage, but several key tests wait just around the corner. Key appointments and promising words from the Foreign Secretary will need to be transformed into action – not least by coming up with a real plan for protecting Britain’s wild places and ratifying the Global Ocean Treaty.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 20 mins)
9 Useful Sustainability Videos to Share with Your Team
Quite a few of the businesses that I work with run into a challenge when they’re getting started with their sustainability programs:
How do they educate employees around sustainability?
Some are just starting to form a green team, while others are organizing “lunch and learns” for employees. Regardless of where they are in their sustainability journey, though, they find that they need to provide sustainability training for employees.
The sustainability videos below can be used to spur discussions about sustainability inside your organization.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 50 mins)
An Idiot’s guide to change the world- We need to talk about money
The fight to eradicate extreme poverty has been fought for years. But despite this, over 700 million people still survive on less than $2.15 a day. So is it time we talk about cash? In this episode Gail and Loyiso dive deep into the Global Goal to end poverty (Goal 1). They are joined by two of the most exciting speakers in this field. Rory Stewart is the President of GiveDirectly, a fast growing nonprofit that is revolutionising the aid sector by allowing donors to send money directly to those in need, with no strings attached. Rutger Bregman is a historian and bestselling author and has been at the forefront of an equally simple, evidence-based solution: Universal Basic Income.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning if it links to the knowledge, skills, and behaviours in your apprenticeship standard – Approx. 60 mins)
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