Details of courses available until the end of December 2011

Emergency First Aid at Work (1 day course)

Cost: £60 per person

Dates: 12 December 2011.

Paediatric First Aid (2 day course – meets OFSTED requirements)

Cost: £90 per person  

Dates: 

Food Safety Level 2 (1 day course)

Cost: £60 per person

Dates: 9 December 2011.

Health & Safety in the Workplace Level 2 (1 day course)

Cost:  £60 per person 

Dates:  5 December 2011.

Costs include course materials, certification, light lunch/refreshments 

Discounts are available for group bookings. 

For more details contact 01325 375900 or info@twpa.org.uk

 In an ideal place to meet whether it is work or pleasure, The Street Café is opening at The Work Place, Newton Aycliffe and will serve daily from 10am until 3pm.  It will be run by CCS Catering from Barnard Castle who also run Café Nest in Barnard Castle and offer corporate and event catering and are now looking into expanding the business in the Newton Aycliffe area.  For more details about CCS Catering contact Clare Dixon on 07970802207 or 01325 375917. 

 The menu includes paninis, wraps and meal deals as well as homemade cakes for morning or afternoon tea.

 The Street Café will also have exhibition space available in the near future for local art/craft entrepreneurs to display their work – anyone interested should contact The Work Place.

 This coincides with a brand new course range:

•  Emergency First Aid at Work (1 day course), £60 per person, running on 19 September, 17 October, 14 November and 12 December 2011.
•  Paediatric First Aid (2 day course – meets OFSTED requirements), £90 per person  - 1 & 2 November 2011
•  Food Safety Level 2 (1 day course), £60 per person - 19 October, 17 November and 9 December 2011.
•  Health & Safety in the Workplace Level 2 (1 day course), £60 per person - 31 October and 5 December 2011.
•  IOSH Managing Safely (4 day course), £350 per person -24,25,26 & 27 October 2011.

Costs include all course materials, certification, light lunch/refreshments -  discounts are available for group bookings.  The courses are already proving popular and are set to be a great competitor in the training market.

Angela Wilkinson, Business Manager at The Work Place said ‘I am delighted with the developments we are seeing here at The Work Place, it’s good to see people just calling in for a cuppa or coming in more formally to attend a course.  The buzz of the place is a great sign for the future’.

The Work Place, a meetings, conferences, training/corporate events facility is a not-for-profit organisation.  For more details contact 01325 375900 or info@twpa.org.uk

Football Development Officer Mr Brooksbank at the college is delighted with James Johnson’s enthusiasm, work ethic and commitment to the programme.  James has worked alongside Mr Brooksbank during visits to the likes of Darlington Football Club, County Durham Football Association, County Durham Sport and Ferryhill Sports Development Team, during which he interviews coaches to find out more about how they work, always keeping a diary of responses for future reference. 

James Johnson, 15, from Trimdon, is interested in working within sport as a future career, chose to study sport to gain knowledge and experience about the industry before taking his options further.  He has certainly done that. 

Through his work experience, organised by Durham Education Business Partnership, James has also volunteered to join a project with Trimdon Junior School.  He coaches up to 30 girls who are forming a new team. They will be joining Trimdon Utd FC and he will be staying with them and working as a volunteer coach. This has led to him joining the Football Association young volunteers programme where he is rewarded for his volunteer hours.

 Mr Brooksbank commented ‘In such a short time James has already been an excellent ambassador for the college.  James has been a huge success in his placement and I’d have no hesitation in writing a reference for him as his time keeping, appearance and work ethic is superb’.

 James, from Trimdon is now on work experience with The Gym in Fishburn gaining more experience and putting his newly acquired skills into practise.

Photo:  James Johnson outside his school, Sedgefield Community College

Bank volunteers Clare Connolly (left) and Sandra Shelley (right) work with students from Belmont Junior School.

Barclays Bank volunteers have been putting primary school students to the test to raise their financial awareness and capabilities. 

The ‘Money Skills’ programme, organised by Durham Education Business Partnership and supported by the bank’s volunteers, involved 60 students from Belmont Junior School trying to improve their money skills via a range of activities throughout the session. 

The programme aims to help participants gain skills, knowledge and confidence about money, whether it is sticking to a budget, or longer-term challenges like understanding the financial implications of life choices you make about education, training or work. 

Barclays Money Skills is their long-term commitment to increasing the financial capability of young people and is delivered in partnership with a range of organisations across the UK. 

The sessions have been held in primary and secondary schools across County Durham including Wolsingham School and Community College, Durham Gilesgate Sports College & Sixth Form Centre and St Mary Magdelen RC VA Primary School, Seaham.  Business and Learning Co-ordinator Sandra Stephenson from Durham EBP confirmed the success of the programme having received very positive feedback from both schools staff and students.

(front, from left to right) – Durham County Council staff Nikki Locke, Arts Officer from Learning & Culture, Lawrence Pearson, Principal Marketing Officer from Adults, Wellbeing and Health and Emma Hamlett, DLI Museum Manager with the year 11 Creative and Media students.

Seventeen year 11 students from Greenfield Community Arts College have had the opportunity to carry out an innovative way of doing their work experience through the new vocational Diploma in Creative and Media studies, working alongside a variety of professionals from the Industry. 

Nikki Locke, Arts Officer from Learning & Culture at Durham County Council designed the project in partnership with Durham Education Business Partnership with the aim to promote the DLI Museum and Art Gallery in Durham City as an attraction for 13-19 year olds living in the region. 

Students researched other similar attractions in the North East and were offered first hand advice and tips from the front runners in the art gallery and museum industry, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead and the Discovery Museum in Newcastle. 

Some impressive ideas were suggested by the group which were then presented to a panel of Durham County Council staff.  It is hoped that they will take some of the information forward when looking to promote the DLI in the future. 

Through this applied learning work experience and supported by Cheryl Stirk from Durham Education Business Partnership, the students have been able to complete the ‘Create a Campaign’ unit of their qualification.

Photo: Andy Bruce, District Fire Station Manager (left), presents winning team Barron Land UK Developments with their awards - Hannah Barron, Tom Aldred and Andrew Wilson.

A team of students from Staindrop Business and Enterprise College cleverly designed their way to victory in a challenge to create a new design concept for the new Fire Station in Bishop Auckland.  

Budding design enthusiasts from the school had the opportunity to work with Durham County Council’s Planning Services and Bishop Auckland Community Fire Station to develop their own designs for the fire station as part of the ‘Planning in the Community Challenge’ organised by Durham Education Business Partnership. 

From the four teams involved, Barron Land UK Developments were chosen as the winning team, with members Hannah Barron, Tom Aldred and Andrew Wilson all being awarded with a certificate and trophy. 

Other awards went to Adele Willis for Best Design Concept, Jack Welsh for Best Research and James Ebdon for Excellent Leadership. 

Andy Bruce, District Fire Station Manager supported the project along with Fire Station staff.  The project enabled students to work in partnership with Durham County Council and their local community, really bringing their learning into the workplace. The project briefs and resource materials were provided by Planning Services at Durham County Council. Andy and his Colleague Dominic Brown, Assistant Fire Station District Manager were included on the judging panel along with Durham County Council and Chris Padgett from Christopher Padgett Architects, who also contributed to the project. 

The challenge formed part of the Learning the Business programme, organised by Durham EBP to enable young people to apply their classroom learning into the workplace.  It is envisaged that this project will run next academic year. 

For more information about Learning the Business contact Cheryl Stirk at Durham EBP on 01325 375973.

: Samantha (centre) receives her certificate and prize from Jane Ritchie (right) supported by her teacher Caroline Larsen from The Education Village.

The Work Place, a purpose work related learning centre has celebrated the visit of its 4000^th student! 

Year 10 student Samantha Laing from The Education Village, Darlington was at The Work Place to take part in an Incident Day which deals with the issues around a road traffic accident, when she discovered she was actually the 4000^th student to visit the centre.  To celebrate Samantha was awarded with an appropriate gift of 4000 pennies (£40), by Jane Ritchie, MBE, creator of The Work Place.  Samantha was surprised but delighted to be the recipient. 

Since opening in September 2008, students have flocked into the centre to experience a range of interactive learning opportunities, a facility unique in the North East.  Schools spread from North Yorkshire to Northumberland have so far visited the centre since it opened and with bookings coming in thick and fast, the future looks very bright.  

The Incident Day was also a great success.  120 regional students from Bedale High School, North Yorkshire, Gillbrook Technology College, Middlesbrough, St Hild’s Secondary School, Hartlepool, The Education Village, Darlington and The English Martyrs School, Hartlepool attended the day which focused on a road traffic accident, the result of teenage drink driving.  It proved to be a thought provoking day, conveying a clear safety message to young people.  Supported by Durham & Darlington Fire and Rescue, Durham Constabulary, Durham County Council and Medical Services North East, the students were able to be part of interactive workshops throughout the day.

 DEBP Newsletter 2010

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Photo: (from left to right): Penny Hudson, Sandra Brennen and Jessica Gibson just after completing their challenge.

Three Durham Education Business Partnership staff have just returned from China after completing the 10^th women only challenge for the charity Women for Women. 

Sandra Brennen, Jessica Gibson and Penny Hudson joined Professor Robert Winston for the challenge to fund groundbreaking medical research work at the Wolfston and Weston Research Centre for Family Health in London.  They signed up for the challenge last year and after months of fundraising activities they managed to raise the £10,000 to take part. 

They were among a group of 71 women who cycled for five days covering 404kms which involved cycling through growing local towns in developing areas of China, tackling hilly terrain and cycling alongside The Great Wall with spectacular views. 

Jess said “This was an adventure of a lifetime; we had a truly amazing experience and met some wonderful women.  We were lucky enough to experience Chinese culture through talking to the local people and visiting some of China’s wonders including The Great Wall and Forbidden City”. 

Their thanks go out to all family, friends and work colleagues for supporting them with their fundraising and training as without the support of the people around them they would never have had the opportunity to take part in such an incredible challenge.

‘The Apprentice’ proved to be a great recruitment tool. Original intentions were to offer one student the opportunity to join the ThyssenKrupp Tallent team however they were so impressed by the quality of the students involved that 4 students secured contracts. 

The students took up their new posts in September and have recently completed an outward bound team building course with ThysennKrupp Tallent staff. David Pearson from the HR Dept said “ThysssenKrupp Tallent believe that Apprentices form the lifeblood of the organisation and this model has given us an alternative approach to recruiting young people, allowing us to get a much greater understanding of the individuals over a longer period of time. In addition to this the young people who took part also gain an appreciation of the skills required to be successful in the world of work. I have no doubts that these young people will prove to be an asset to the Company which was reinforced during the recent team building programme.”

Bradley Saunders, one of the students involved commented: “Earning this contract has given me a fantastic opportunity in life to be successful in the Engineering industry. It is something that I could only have dreamed of before.”

Bradley and the other successful students, Bradley Harrison. Lee Wright and Jack Charlton are certainly looking forward to a bright future with the company.

The project was so successful that ThyssenKrupp Tallent aim to repeat the process again this year in the hope of providing more opportunities young people.

‘The Apprentice’ was part of the Learning The Business Programme, coordinated by Durham Education Business Partnership. Anyone wishing to find out more information about the programme should contact Cheryl Stirk at cheryl.stirk@durham.gov.uk.