| July 2008 |
|
|
This is the LSC East Midlands Marcoms News, which aims to ensure that you have the all latest information on the LSC's programmes, projects and campaigns.
Skills CampaignSummer got under way last Monday when the LSC launched the 'Summer of Skills'. As part of the 'Our future. It's in our hands.' Skills Campaign, this new burst of marketing and PR is designed to encourage people who may be thinking about improving their skills to actually take the plunge and enrol on a course. The campaign will be looking at the three main 'barriers' that people say are holding them back from learning:
It will show how these can be overcome and encourage people to believe that nothing should stop them from improving their skills and getting on in life.
The Skills Campaign has been very successful since it was launched a year ago and it continues to feature the 'tulip', 'swan' and 'mountain' images and the 'Our future. It's in our hands.' strap-line throughout the 'Summer of Skills'. There will be a mix of advertising on television, radio , online and in the press supplemented by further bursts of our other campaigns for both individuals and employers throughout the 'Summer of Skills'.
Skills PledgeThe Skills Pledge celebrated its first anniversary at an event co-hosted by the DWP and DIUS on 12 June in London and showcased the Government's ambitions for its integrated employment and skills agenda; recognised employers who have taken action by fulfilling their Skills Pledge commitments; and delivered a call to action issued to others who haven't to encourage them to participate for the continued success of their business. The anniversary launched the new visual identity for the Skills Pledge. The identity has been developed alongside a business-to-business communications strategy that aims to highlight both the urgent need for businesses to train their workforces and the services, such as Train to Gain and Apprenticeships, which are available to help them.
At end of April, some 3,087 organisations have made the Skills Pledge representing 4,092,483 employees. Live regional performance can be downloaded via the Skills Pledge extranet at the following link: Click here for the Skills Pledge brand guidelines. The new site is now live, and can be located on the employer section of the Skills Campaign site: www.lsc.gov.uk/skillspledge. There is still a small amount of information about the Skills Pledge on the Train to Gain site, but a link has been added for visitors that wish to find out more about the Skills Pledge. Skills for Life
To tie in with the wedding season, the Skills for Life Get On campaign has some hot tips for managing your wedding budget - click on to www.direct.gov.uk/geton for information. At the end of July media activity will be ramped up to include cinema, bus and tram advertising. 'Beryl' will return to help deliver the important 'get maths confident' message by encouraging people to sign up for one of the free courses available to all adults who do not have a level 2 in maths (or English). Adult Learning Grant (ALG)
National Skills Academies
The prospectus for a fourth round of National Skills Academies (NSAs) was launched in June to encourage applications from all sectors. Click here for the press release.
Advertorial has been placed in publications covering those sectors, which don't yet have a NSA. Banners and buttons, which can be placed on various partner and stakeholder websites as a link to the NSA site - these can be accessed from the LSC's Campaign Resources Site - you are welcome to use these on your own websites. The LSC corporate and Train to Gain sites will carry them as well as DIUS and DCSF. Train to Gain
Marketing and communications strategy is being refreshed to support the expansion of Train to Gain; it will have three key elements:
More detail will follow in future editions of LSC East Midlands Marcoms News - so watch this space!
The LSC has just published a third sector leaflet about how the sector can access Train to Gain for its paid and unpaid staff. The LSC website also provides more information about the Third Sector - click onto this link: www.lsc.gov.uk/Whatwedo/Employer/VCS.htm For more information about the Third Sector, please telephone Cheryl Turner at LSC national office on: 02476 82 3520. Pod castsA new pod cast is now available for your use. It features technology entrepreneur, Doug Richard giving his advice to young people seeking a career in the technology industry. It is available for you to use on your own website - click here to download the podcast. You can even have your organisation's logo attached to it. If you have any questions about the pod cast, please call Samantha on 07876 035084. Apprenticeships
The East Midlands Regional Apprenticeship Awards was held at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham on May 20th 2008. Press releases relating to the winners are now on the LSC East Midlands web site - click on this link to view them all. The finalists of the national Apprenticeship Awards will find out whether they have beaten off the competition to be named winners at the prestigious the awards ceremony on 10 July at the Royal Horticultural Hall in London. The LSC has produced an eight-minute DVD promoting Apprenticeships including interviews with several employers and apprentices that was originally shown at the summit event in Apprenticeships Week earlier this year. The DVD promotes the benefits to apprentices and gives the employers' perspective. To view a copy of the DVD, click on to: www.sheltonfleming.co.uk/apprenticeshipsummit2008/videos.html To order copies for your own use, please contact Granby on 01254 504685 or email lsc@granbymsl.co.uk. Education Maintenance Allowance
All of these materials are available to download from: http://ema.lsc.gov.uk/resources/support-materials/ New Childcare Scheme PilotsThe LSC has been working with DCSF to develop a new childcare scheme for adults. This follows the announcement in the 2007 budget to provide free childcare for 50,000 workless parents accessing training leading to work. The target group for this new scheme are families where one parent is in work, but on a low income, and the other parent is out of work but is looking to go into learning/training. The objective is to encourage the non-working parent into learning or training that will help lead them into sustainable employment and contributing to the targets to reduce child poverty. By reducing the number of people cycling between welfare and work, this will align with the wider Government strategy for Integrated Employment and Skills (IES). The new scheme will be trailed from January 2009. The trials will initially take place in 35 local authority areas and will then be extended to cover all local authority areas in England from September 2009. Other items of interestFunding to Support Teachers in Diploma Delivery. Schools Minister Jim Knight recently announced ?81 million of additional funding to prepare teachers to deliver the new Diploma. Click on this link for the press release. DIUS FE & Skills E-newsletter. Please click on the link below to view the newsletter and to find out how to subscribe for future editions: http://www.dius.gov.uk/mailshots/mailshot_170608.html The Careers Advice Service. The Careers Advice Service and the team supporting it, are expected to transfer from Ufi to the LSC in September 2008. The LSC will ensure that the skills and experience of Careers Advice colleagues are fully utilised in designing the new service, and integrating the Careers Advice Service into the new Adult Advancement and Careers Service. National Student Survey. The 2008 National Student Survey was carried out between January and April this year and for the first time, students studying in further education colleges (FECs) on higher education (HE) courses were included. The annual National Student Survey was commissioned by HEFCE and conducted by Ipsos MORI to gather feedback from students on their academic experiences. Overall a 56% response rate was achieved which meant around 12,000 directly funded HE and FE students in 121 FECs responded. The results of the National Student Survey will be published on the Unistats website (www.unistats.com) in late summer 2008. Press releasesNational and regional press releases issued to the media during June 2008: NATIONALAdult Learning Grant One Year OnDate published: 25/06/2008 As the Adult Learning Grant (ALG) today celebrates its one year anniversary since national roll-out in 2007, figures show that the scheme has soared to success over the past 12 months, providing financial support to a massive 43,000 adult learners in England since the scheme began1. Take-up in this first year of national roll-out has hugely exceeded expectations and has proved just how popular the scheme is. LSC announce College Finance Director of the Year Winner 2007/08Date published: 24/06/2008 The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has announced, Matthew Burgess, Vice Principal of Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology, as College Finance Director of the Year 2008. Record number of entries to Apprenticeship Awards as Government urges more individuals to undertake ApprenticeshipsDate published: 17/06/2008 Today the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) announces record entries to the fifth national Apprenticeship Awards as the Government urges employers to offer Apprenticeship places. This year saw a forty per cent increase, with 1,400 entries from just over 1,000 last year. Brides and grooms get the budgeting bluesDate published: 16/06/2008 Maths muddles are threatening to overshadow the happiest day of people's lives, according to latest figures released by the Get On campaign*. With around a quarter of a million people expected to tie the knot this year, a poll of over 4,000 adults reveals that nearly a quarter (22 percent) of brides and grooms admit to failing to make a budget at all for their big day, leading to overspends which could cover the cost of a honeymoon. Lack of Skills holding us back at home and at work says LSC surveyDate published: 11/06/2008 New research released today reveals the barriers people feel stand in the way of them learning an additional skill. More than a third (39 percent) of adults blame a lack of time, while nearly a third (29 percent) of adults feel a lack of money is the main reason for them not learning a new skill. Sadly 13 percent of adults even said they felt they were too old to learn a new skill. Make your hobby your career, with a boost from EMADate published: 03/06/2008 If you're passionate about your Wii, live for nights-in with your Playstation and rush out to buy the newest games for your XBox, why not consider turning your passion into a career? There are thousands of opportunities in the computing and gaming industries, with only a course standing between you and your dream job. You could be putting your natural skills and interests to real work, and with the support of Education Maintenance Allowance you could get up to £30 per week to help with your studies. EAST MIDLANDSBadger sets out secrets of salesDate published: 27/06/2008 Press release about podcast Grant helping over 600 Leicestershire learnersDate published: 27/06/2008 Leicestershire press release about ALG first anniversary Grant helping 260 Lincolnshire and Rutland learnersDate published: 27/06/2008 Lincolnshire and Rutland press release about ALG first anniversary Grant helping 100 Northamptonshire learnersDate published: 27/06/2008 Northamptonshire press release about ALG first anniversary Grant helping over 200 Derbyshire learnersDate published: 27/06/2008 Derbyshire press release about the first anniversary of ALG Happy First Birthday ALGDate published: 27/06/2008 Nottinghamshire press release about first anniversary of ALG LSC donation helps Lincolnshire charity to STRUT its stuffDate published: 20/06/2008 Press release about fundraising by LSC East Midlands staff Leicestershire training firm profit from NVQ successDate published: 19/06/2008 Press release about Train to Gain provider's 200th learner Master chefs cook up a treat at Northampton CollegeDate published: 19/06/2008 press release about Master Class Lincolnshire Sports Partnership Train to GainDate published: 18/06/2008 Press release about how the organisation has benefited from the Train to Gain service East Midlands region achieves second highest number of finalists in 2008 Apprenticeship AwardsDate published: 18/06/2008 Press release about four East Midlands finalists in National Apprenticeship Awards Celebrity chef cooks up interest in learningDate published: 03/06/2008 press release about podcast by Anthony Worrall Thompson New Regional Chair for Learning and Skills CouncilDate published: 03/06/2008 Press release about New Regional Council Chairman Leicester Dyers Train to Gain productivityDate published: 03/06/2008 Press release about training at a Leicester based Dyeing company Learning leads to a better life for Tresham studentDate published: 03/06/2008 Press release about Northamptonshire Learning at Work award winner Hat trick for Derby College studentsDate published: 03/06/2008 Press release about three Derby learners who have won Learning at Wok awards Caleb heading in right direction for career successDate published: 03/06/2008 Nottinghamshire press release about ALG and Adult Learners' Week Adult Learning Grant helping Lisa nail her dream jobDate published: 03/06/2008 Northamptonshire press release about ALG and Adult Learners' Week Adrian grows green career with help from Adult Learning GrantDate published: 30/05/2008 Lincolnshire press release about Adult Learning Grant Adult Learning Grant helps Leicester mum design her career in fashionDate published: 30/05/2008 Leicestershire press release about Adult Learning Grant We are always very keen to hear from you - so if you have any case studies or a story to tell please call us on 07876 035084 email em.marcomms@lsc.gov.uk ! LSC Campaign updatesThe LSC East Midlands aims to provide its providers and partners with regular bulletins, similar in style to this one, to keep them up to date on marketing and communications activities in relation to the Skills Campaign and other campaigns. If you wish to unsubscribe to this service, {UNSUBSCRIBE "please click here to unsubscribe"}. If this update has been forwarded to you from a colleague and you would like to receive your own dedicated communication in future, please subscribe by clicking here. You can register to receive regular updates to news and other items by subscribing to the LSC East Midlands web alert service. Click on this link to register for this service: http://www.lsc.gov.uk/regions/EastMidlands/News/lscwebalerts/ |
All current Skills Campaign images are available on the LSC's dedicated 
Over 2.25 million people have gained crucial literacy and numeracy qualifications through the Government's Skills for Life strategy, hitting a key target three years early. Since the launch of the strategy in 2001, 5.7 million adults have improved their skills on 12 million courses with 2,276,000 learners achieving their first Skills for Life qualification in literacy, language or numeracy.
The national campaign for ALG was launched on 19 May, to tie in with Adult Learners' Week. Statistics were used to show a large number of adults want to learn but feel money is one of the main barriers holding them back. Radio ads encouraging people to find out more and apply for ALG will be running on local radio stations throughout the summer, along with regional newspaper ads and a radio promotion where local DJs will talk about ALG. 
The National Skills Academy network has recently celebrated the approval of three new National Skills Academies: Hospitality, Creative and Cultural, and Sport and Active Leisure.
A number of support materials are available to help those working with young people and their families with their application for Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). These materials have been updated for 2008/09 and include: