News

End of year review meetings June/July 2010

added on 09/09/2010

Collated feedback from end of year review meetings June/July 2010

Agored Cymru end of year review meetings were held in the following venues: 

• GlyndwrUniversity28^th June
• ESIS Centre, Nantgarw 29^th June
• Welsh Botanic Gardens 1^st July
• Parc Menai, Bangor 2^nd July 

In total 90 people attended the events.  The general feedback has been collated under the three headings; requests, questions and statements/comments. Specific queries relating to individual centres have not been included in the feedback, these will be dealt with directly with the centre.

End of year review meetings June/July 2010

added on 09/09/2010

Collated feedback from end of year review meetings June/July 2010

Agored Cymru end of year review meetings were held in the following venues: 

• GlyndwrUniversity28^th June
• ESIS Centre, Nantgarw 29^th June
• Welsh Botanic Gardens 1^st July
• Parc Menai, Bangor 2^nd July 

In total 90 people attended the events.  The general feedback has been collated under the three headings; requests, questions and statements/comments. Specific queries relating to individual centres have not been included in the feedback, these will be dealt with directly with the centre.

Situations vacant

added on 07/09/2010

Creating qualifications and rewarding achievement for Wales.

Agored Cymru the awarding organisation offering a bespoke accreditation service to education, training providers and companies in Wales has the following vacancy.

Professional Development Manager
SalaryRange:  £32,196 - £35,677
(Based at either Bangor or Cardiff Office)                                                                              

For further information go here

Recognising Welsh Language in the Workplace is of Paramount Importance

added on 01/09/2010

Launching a new set of Welsh language qualifications at this year’s Eisteddfod at Ebbw Vale, Llew Moules Jones of Agored Cymru pointed out that “There is a vital need to recognise the use of the Welsh language in business use across Wales and that the new qualifications would be a first in doing this”. 

Like all approved qualifications they appear on the government’s National database of Accredited Qualifications andhave been created to develop and improve Welsh language skills in organisations.They were developed through support from WAG and are endorsed by the six national Welsh for Adults Centres.

 Geraint Wilson-Price of Gwent Welsh for Adults Centre and lead Centre for workplace provision told the audience that “They will give staff confidence in using work place related Welsh vocabulary, thus supporting businesses and the public sector in Wales and responding to policies and strategies. It will enable workplaces to train staff to be able to fully offer a Welsh language service for its customers. It is vital that workplaces take advantage of the growing needs for Welsh language services as Welsh becomes more identified as a essential skill which employees need. The Welsh for Adults Centres are pleased to be part of these developments and look forward to working further with Agored Cymru to develop workplace qualifications.

The qualifications are unique in that they are based on real life scenarios and will be supported by workbooks and materials, initially focussing on the Health Service and later Public Service followed by Leisure and Tourism.

Subjects covered include: reception and telephone skills, using money, writing and reading common signs and notices, health and safety etc.  The content can be varied to include specific vocabulary for your sector. 

Iwan Trefor Jones on the Wales Skills and Employment Board supported the launch of these new qualifications as it is vital that the Welsh work force is highly trained and able to offer a first class and adaptable service in Welsh as well as English.

The qualifications will be offered through the six Welsh for AdultsCentres across Wales.

Agored Cymru –supporting major careers and skills event in Cardiff

added on 31/08/2010

Agored Cymru will be hosting a stand in the Advice, Education and Training section of skillscymru’s event in the Millennium Stadium Cardiff, 16 to 18 September 2010. This will be the biggest careers and skills event to take place in Wales; supported by over 100 organisations.

Try your hand at woodworking the traditional way, or tiling, or DIY at our interactive stand, we would love to see you.  For more information on skillscymru visit www.skillscymru.co.uk

The skillscymru event is free and will run from 9.30am to 3.00pm on Thursday, 16^th and Friday, 17^th September, and 10.00am to 4.00pm on Saturday, 18^th September 2010.  All are welcome!

As he crosses the finish line in 1684th position - 9th in class……

added on 19/08/2010

Steve Smith ponders the possibility of submitting a new Agored Cymru unit -‘Improve your time in Ironman events’.

Thanks Steve for suggesting the headline above and congratulations from all of us on your recent achievement.

 The enormity of Steve’s achievement is outlined in the table below (don’t tell anyone but he was in the 60-64 year old category).

Well done Steve – will there be an Agored Cymru team in next year’s event?

Agored Cymru Celebrates New Package of Units

added on 15/07/2010

On May 19^th representatives from WAG, schools, further education institutions, the voluntary sector and Agored Cymru gathered to celebrate the launch of Agored Cymru’s Young People’s Participation (YPP) pack.

 Dafydd Baker, our 14 – 19 specialist explained “Agored Cymru has been working with the Welsh Assembly Government to respond to the accreditation needs of young people around participation, as well as to recommendations from the ESTYN report, “Having Your Say”.

 WAG’s Jane Harries (from their Pupil Participation Project) worked with Dafydd and partners to pilot the pack. Jane added “the Young People’s Participation Accreditation Project formed part of the Credit and Qualification Framework for Wales Recognising Wider Learning 14-19 project.  For young people to be able to participate well, they must be supported and have access to training.  The aim of the project was to accredit this naturally occurring training.”

 Units and exemplar assessment materials were developed from Entry 3 level to Level 3, providing flexible opportunities for learners to have their participation work accredited.  The units have been mapped to the Children and Young People’s Participation Standards for Wales. 

 This means that young people gaining recognition will be speaking the same “participation language” allowing more effective and faster ways of working across sectors for the benefit of the young people they represent.

 This accreditation also supports national qualifications and agendas including the community participation element of the Welsh Baccalaureate, the statutory requirements for school councils, the national Youth Work curriculum statement for Wales, to name but a few.

 Dafydd added “this work has been part of our commitment and drive to meet the demands of the young people’s participation agenda and young people have been involved in piloting the accreditation and also in providing valuable feedback to improve the units and assessment materials and to make sure that they meet their needs.

 It was as a result of WAG wishing to address issues around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which is an international human rights treaty that grants all children and young people a comprehensive set of rights. It came into force in the UK on the 15 January 1992 and Article 12 of the convention states that children and young people need to be at the heart of decision making where it affects them and this is where participation fits.”

Ring Fenced Funds for Upskilling Adults

added on 18/05/2010

Colleges have recently received the guidance from WAG regarding ‘ring fenced funds for up-skilling adults.

The guidance states:

"To ensure that training and skills delivered are relevant to employers and the workplace, institutions are advised that the ring fenced funds for adult skills may only be deployed for the delivery of work-related qualifications at level 2 or above in the National Qualifications Framework.  General education qualifications, such as GCSE or A level qualifications, or Access to HE qualifications may not be delivered via this funding component.  Furthermore, any qualifications delivered must be listed on the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) or National Qualifications Framework (NQF). This means that generic qualifications are also excluded as they do not appear on the QCF or NQF databases."

A number of centres a have expressed concern that  they are finding it difficult to answer learner’s needs without accessing Agored Cymru’s local units.  There are a number of QCF qualifications/units available that respond to the adult skills agenda within the NOCN portfolio.  These unitscan be accessed here(http://www.nocn.org.uk/qualifications/qcf-qualifications)and are available to you via Agored Cymru.  If you would like further guidance about the qualifications/units please contact a member of the Business Development team.

What you can do - not what you can’t do.

added on 17/05/2010

“Education should be about what you can do and not what you can’t do” says Maxine Pittaway, winner of the 2009 Department for Children, Schools and Families Award for Enterprise in the prestigious UK Teaching Awards.

 Maxine, head at St Christopher’s School in Wrexham for the last sixteen years bubbles with enthusiasm and new ideas. 

The School (the largest special school in Wales) uses a wide range of accreditation, particularly Agored Cymru units to support and encourage learners. Maxine said “it all started from that seed – the belief that education should be about what you can do and not what you can’t”.

The school introduced an entrepreneurship and business policy to offer pupils opportunities for work experience. This approach was borne out of Maxine’s frustration that the pupils would be condemned in the workplace for floor sweeping and tea making duties because they had attended a special school. The Stockwell Grove school has it’s own Charity Shop, Hair and Beauty Salon, Café, Fairtrade Shop, Garden Furniture and Car Valeting businesses, which are all open to the public and run by the pupils.

This has been achieved by investing in staff training. A member of staff having been trained in hair and beauty, as an assessor and then as a teacher – the pay off – former pupils returning to the school to work in the hairdressing salon and the café.

Pupils are encouraged to achieve and learn purposefully. The curriculum is constructed to include a range of learning to give the students confidence to address personal needs and acquire the essential skills to understand the world of work whilst also giving them access to vocational skills accreditation.

Opportunities to gain qualifications and units are woven into the academic year to ensure that all learners’ achievements are recognised, whether they are following a full qualification or being recognised for additional units.

The school team are constantly striving to improve opportunities for their pupils and argue that there should be qualifications available at levels E1, 2 and 3 to recognise the achievement of ALL learners. The team at the school are embarking on their latest venture which will be to introduce the NOCN “Step Up Award” into the curriculum.