Concrew Training

The Erasmus+ programme aims to boost skills and employability, as well as modernising Education, Training, and Youth work. The seven year programme will have a budget of €14.7 billion; a 40% increase compared to current spending levels, reflecting the EU's commitment to investing in these areas. Erasmus+ brings together seven existing EU programmes in the fields of Education, Training, and Youth; it will for the first time provide support for Sport. As an integrated programme, Erasmus+ offers more opportunities for cooperation across the Education, Training, Youth, and Sport sectors and is easier to access than its predecessors, with simplified funding rules. http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/index_en.htm

Teachers and special educational needs (SEN) support staff will from today be able to apply for funds from the National Scholarship Fund worth up to £1 million to develop their specialist knowledge and skills. For the fourth year running, teachers can bid for up to £3,500 while SEN support staff can bid for up to £2,000 to fund training which will improve the support available to children and young people with special educational needs. The application window for the fourth round will open for 4 weeks from 30 April. To date £7 million has been made available through the fund, benefiting almost 2,000 teachers and support staff in schools across the country. More at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-scholarships-for-teachers-and-sen-support-staff

Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock today (30 April 2014) unveiled £25 million of additional support for businesses to take the lead in improving training for new and current employees. Speaking at a UK Commission for Employment and Skills Investment Showcase, the Minister pledged to support businesses in the automotive sector supply chain with £20 million to fund training. This marks the next development in support of employer ownership, making sure skills support meets the needs of business. He also announced the successful bidders in the next phase of Employer Ownership Pilot (EOP) funding as well as unveiling what previous winners have chosen to invest their funding on. More at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-supports-firms-with-25-million-to-fund-training

49% young people report that their time at school was affected by discrimination or fear of discrimination. The project builds on action the government has already taken to tackle bullying in schools including publishing updated advice and guidance for schools and governing bodies; and giving schools greater legal powers to tackle bad behaviour and cyber-bullying. More at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/homophobic-bullying-in-schools-project-gets-underway ************************************************** Concrew Training Offer Advice and Guidance on understanding and addressing Bullying and Harassment http://concrew-training.co.uk/?page_id=475

Financial planning and control including profit, loss and especially cash flow are critical to business success. Whilst the financial departments in larger business take responsibility for the day to day accounting and reporting functions staff and managers at all levels and in all departments come into contact with financial data in some form or another. At its simplest level involvement may be limited to looking at the companies share price or departmental sales but for many staff and managers they come into regular contact for financial data and performance figures. The more senior the role the more they are expected to be able understand, interpret and act on financial data in a robust and reliable way. Concrew Training’s workshops on finance and accountancy are designed for non financial managers who need to understand and act on the data they come into contact with, in a more robust and effective manner. More at: http://concrew-training.co.uk/?page_id=447

Dedicated safeguarding nurses investigated safeguarding alerts or issues and supported care homes with education and guidance to improve care standards and reduce the risk of alerts in the future. http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/clinical-zones/district-and-community-nursing/success-for-new-devon-safeguarding-nurse-service/5070377.article

Reports in the Guardian newspaper suggest that the failure rate of new free schools in Ofsted inspections is running at three times the national average for state-funded schools Four free schools have been rated "inadequate" by the inspectorate, of the 41 that have had judgments published as of the end of last week. This is 9.7%. By contrast, the latest Ofsted data on all state schools shows only 3% are categorised as inadequate. Not a huge sample group, but these are not figures the government is going to be rushing out in any press release. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/29/free-schools-ofsted-failure-rate-higher-state