Opps Training has been privileged in being able to support St Mungo’s (http://www.mungosbroadway.org.uk/) over the years by training their annual intake of apprentices. This year St Mungo’s and its partnership with Opps Training has resulted in a nomination for an award through the Training Journal https://www.trainingjournal.com/awards. Watch this space!
TRAINING
Student loans for learners 24 years and over
Monday, July 15th, 2013Opps Training is informing learners and employers on the student loans that are available for people who are aged 24 and over to fund Diplomas or Certificates of Level 3, 4 and 5.
Student loans for learners 24 years and over gives students a great opportunity to progress onward to higher level qualifications.
Learners can apply for funding now to begin their studies in August. Employers may wish to discuss this opportunity with employees.
Should anyone wish to receive further information, they can call Barbara Seymour, at Opps on 01480 415930.
Employability and Customer Service with Opps Training
Wednesday, May 1st, 2013Opps is working with a group of real stars during this current week.
Having spent time looking at the skills employers are looking for, our Employability Award learners wrote, directed and appeared in three short videos demonstrating a variety of approaches to interviewing and being interviewed. The video shown below is their take on ‘a perfect interview’.
The groups will now be undertaking an intensive course in Customer Service. Successful participants will achieve a level 2 Certificate in Customer Service. The Opps team has been wowed by the skills and experience this young group is demonstrating. Their level of support for one another and their willingness to learn has bowled us over!
Director’s Note on Government Funding Opportunities
Thursday, August 30th, 2012September is one of the most innovative months of the year for Opps and its clients. The new government funding regimes are now available and wise employers look to Opps for information on how they can work together on maximising the resource to support their employees.
For employers, having information on available funding is vital, however, I would suggest that having a clear, targeted training and development plan is of equal importance. When an employer plans training around funding, they limit their organisation’s potential for growth and miss the opportunity to establish a first class service.
Opps is always available to support an organisation in analysing training needs, planning how to maximise funding opportunities, building on in-house potential for training and identifying key performance indicators. Good planning always reaps benefits!
If you would like to speak to myself regarding these opportunities, call our switchboard on 01480 415930 and ask for Barbara or alternatively, email contact@oppsdevelopments.com.
Barbara Seymour, Director
IMPORTANT NEWS: Funding changes at the end of July 2012 for staff aged 25 and above
Friday, July 20th, 2012Funding Changes at the end of July 2012 for staff aged 25 and above
The academic year ends at the end of July and is traditionally the time when changes in the funding of vocational qualifications takes place.
In the present climate it is not surprising that this year’s changes mean that the funding available is being reduced from the start of August.
The funding for apprenticeships is basically unchanged; it is the funding for the standalone QCF diplomas and certificates for those who are aged 25 and over that is changing.
Because of these changes it may be of benefit to have some of your staff, if they meet eligibility requirements, to be enrolled before the end of July.
The changes are as follows:
|
Up to July 31st 2012 |
From August 1st 2012 |
|
| Level 2 Qualifications | ||
| For employees aged 25+ (24+ from August 2012) | ||
| For organisations with under 250 employees and the candidate does not have a first level 2 |
Fully funded |
Co-funded |
| For organisations with over 250 employees and the candidate does not have a first level 2 |
Fully funded |
Not funded |
| Level 3 Qualifications | ||
| For candidates aged 25+ without a first level 2 |
Fully funded |
Not funded |
The changes mean that:
If you want an employee to undertake a level 2 Diploma (and they do not have a level 2 qualification already) it is fully funded before the end of July but there will be only part funding or no funding available, depending on the size of your organisation, from the start of August.
If you want an employee to do a level 3 diploma (and they do not have a level 2 qualification already) it is fully funded before the end of July but there will be no funding, whatever the size of your organisation, from the start of August.
So if you have staff without level 2 qualifications and you want them to do a diploma we suggest you arrange to have them enrolled now!
(Examples of level 2 qualifications are: 5 GCSEs at grades A-C, Intermediate GNVQ, NVQ level 2, BTEC First Certificate, one AS/A’level. If staff have qualifications lower than these, for example 4 not 5 GCSEs at A-C they are eligible for full funding at the moment)
If you would like to discuss these changes to the funding rules further or if you have staff you would like to enrol before the end of July please ring Vince Davies on 01480 415930 or use the contacts page.
Alternatively, download Vince’s vCard by scanning the QR code below.
Are you 16 – 18 and looking for a career in Health and Social Care?
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012OPPS is offering a fantastic opportunity for young people in Cambridgeshire to take their first steps towards a career in Health and Social Care. Over the next few months OPPS will be training 78 young people from the local community. The 4 week long course will award technical certificates in Health and Social Care and give those completing the course a stepping stone into the industry. The course comprises of 4 weeks classroom based training, one week work placement and is completely free! The first course will take place in Huntingdon and begin on the 20th February.
Want to find out more or enrol on the course?
You can contact OPPS via our website, email or telephone:
info@oppsdevelopments.com
01480 415930
Course details:
Certificate in Preparing to work in Adult Social Care
Modules included in the course:
- Principle of communication in adult social care settings
- Principles of diverstity, equality and inclusion in adult social care settings
- Understand the role of the social care worker
- Understand the person centered approaches in adult social care settings
- Understand health and safety in social care settings
- Understand how to handle information in social care settings
- Principle of safeguarding and protection in health and social care
- introduction to duty of care, social care or children’s and young peoples settings
The Matrix Review
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011Opps undertook the inspection for the Matrix Accreditation in April and are pleased to announce that we passed with flying colours so are now Matrix Accredited. The feedback we received in relation to our services and delivery was excellent, with comments such as:
“The energy and enthusiasm shown by the staff demonstrates commitment to the ethos of customer care and flexibility in service provision. It was a consistent theme highlighted by many of the learners and employers involved in the Review. The service provides a friendly, helpful and supportive customer centred approach which is responsive to the needs of learners and employers at all times.”
“There is a strong culture emanating from the positive attitudes of staff to put the client first and ensuring that they remain central to the objectives of Opps.”
The Matrix Standard is the government quality Standard for any organisation that supports individuals by enabling them to make informed choices about their future. The assessment process is outcome based and rather than focusing on paper based evidence, the Matrix Standard uses a number of evidence sources such as interviews with clients, observation and review of policies, amongst other things.
Opps remains focused on sustaining its high standards of delivery and on continuing to improve our services for the future.
Equivalent Levels of the Main UK Qualifications
Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010Qualifications in the UK are divided in to ‘levels’ with higher levels requiring a greater depth of understanding of the subject and typically taking longer to complete.
As a training provider we are often asked which qualifications are at which level, particularly as obtaining government funding for a course is often dependant on the learner’s previous level of qualification. The table below summarises the levels of the most commonly available qualifications.
Click for large
Delivering in-house Training
Tuesday, September 28th, 2010There is no longer any dispute that good training improves the individual’s performance and the organisational performance. Organisations frequently overlook the training they deliver in-house either formally or through mentoring and supervision. They also frequently fail to consider developing in-house training as an alternative to recruiting a specialist training provider.
Here are the fundamentals when developing your own in-house training:
- Be clear on what you want to achieve through training
- Set objectives and key performance indicators in order to measure the success of your efforts
- Plan every minute of the training thoroughly
- Provide yourselves with a clear profile of the participant’s present skills and knowledge base
- Have participants take ownership of the training by consulting with them at the planning stages
- Ensure the trainer/trainers have good presentation skills and understand the range of techniques used to engage the diverse learning styles of the participants
- Provide ongoing continuing professional development to your trainers on both their subject matter and their training skills
- Provide a range of good training materials
- Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate…in this way you will continue to improve the quality of the training
- Seek accreditation for your training if you have established organisational ‘gold standards’ – in this way your organisation will become its own academy!
Remember, a good training provider can support the development of your training and guide you through the accreditation process. Our free Learning Champions short course also coaches employees in many of the skills needed to develop and manage training in-house.
