EXAM RESULTS

Claire Young, from the Lib Dems has spoken of her response to what we are seeing as tearful young people and their parents locally are seeking help.

“It’s heart breaking to see young people not getting the results they deserve, through no fault of their own. Students need to be judged on their own record, not past results from their school. It cannot be fair that  those at state schools and further education colleges have been harder hit by the downgrading than those at independent schools.”

“At an anxious time disappointed students need urgent answers about what happens next. While I’m glad the Government has heeded our calls for appeals to be free, that alone is not enough. Ministers must make sure students can appeal directly and show evidence of what they can do, to give them the best chance of getting fair grades. They also need clear guidance on how re-sits will work.

“Given how badly Gavin Williamson has handled this process so far, it’s time for him to hand over to someone else to pick up the pieces.”

It is not enough to say appeals are free, or to say mocks can count, or to say appeals will be fast tracked, or resits will be possible sometime in the autumn. Young people will lose jobs and university places as a result. TIME matters.

OUR young people are being judged not by their ability, but by a computer algorithm which the government refuses to publish. So what assumptions have they built in? We know it was not applied to small classes (which tend to be in the independent schools, so they got the grades their teachers thought they deserved). This is not the normal moderation process, this is a secretive process removed from actual performance.

New skills?

To help people whose income or employment have been affected by the Coronavirus crisis, the eligibility criteria for Future Bright have been temporarily expanded.

Visit: http://www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk/future-bright/

Future Bright offers FREE career coaching, training and support to help you develop the skills and confidence you need to take your next step in your career.

When you join Future Bright, you’ll be matched with a dedicated career coach who will support you to create a personalised action plan. Your Future Bright journey is tailored to your individual needs and will fit around your existing commitments.

During the Coronavirus outbreak, our coaches continue to support residents by using telephone and online tools to stay in touch safely.

Our team of experienced career coaches can help you with:

• Advice and support: your dedicated coach will work with you to help you create an action plan showing where you want to be and how you can get there.
• Developing skills: we’ll help you identify and access support and training as well as looking at ways you can get more from your current experience.
• Personal budgets: we can help you pay for the training and equipment you need to reach your goals.

All conversations are confidential, and focus on what you want to achieve – your coach will help you take your next step. Participation is always free, and fits around your current commitments. To learn more, read our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

Who is it for?

To help people whose income or employment have been affected by the Coronavirus crisis, the eligibility criteria for Future Bright have been temporarily expanded.

The expanded Future Bright service can support people who are:

• Aged 19 and over
• Living in the West of England – that’s Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire
• In paid work and receiving benefits or tax credits – Universal Credit, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit, Job Seeker’s Allowance, Income Support, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, or Means-Tested Council tax Reduction
• People whose income or employment have been affected by the Coronavirus crisis, including:

• Those who have been made redundant, laid off or are at risk of redundancy, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic,
• Employees whose hours have been significantly reduced, and who therefore have a lower income (e.g. zero hours, cut from full to part time)
• Self-employed workers, where their ability to earn has been severely impacted due to the nature of their business
• Furloughed employees, if their reduced income means they are eligible for Universal Credit.

Take your next step today!

Complete the short referral form or request an initial, informal chat with the Future Bright team by email or phone.

Sign up here or contact your local team at:

• South Gloucestershire: Email future.bright@southglos.gov.uk or call 01454 866008
• Bristol: Email futurebright@bristol.gov.uk or call 0117 9222250
• Bath & North East Somerset: Email futurebright@bathnes.gov.uk  or call 01225 395555

Future Bright is managed by the West of England Combined Authority and delivered locally by Bath & North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire councils.

FREE courses are available

Still at home? Want to be better at numbers or computers? FREE courses are available

There are courses at all levels. The government is funding this, with courses picked carefully to suit YOUR needs.

https://theskillstoolkit.campaign.gov.uk/?utm_source=South%20Gloucestershire%20Council%20resident%20update&utm_campaign=cc4abc7eba-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_05_05_01_09&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb4bc0c59a-cc4abc7eba-406237961

Education Update COVID

Education update

• Schools – remain closed except for vulnerable children, children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) and children of key workers but to be used only as a last resort. For Easter term break we are pleased to say all schools will have provision for key workers, and some will be open on the Bank Holidays, please contact your local school to find out what is available. In addition, we will be providing places for the children of NHS staff on Saturday (11 April) and Easter Sunday (12 April), where South Gloucestershire schools will be contacting NHS workers to offer them a place.

• Free school meals - We are also working with schools to support those children who are entitled to a free school meal, ensuring each of them continues to receive the benefit despite many being at home during the current period.

• GCSE and A level exams – Following the initial government announcement that both GCSE and A level exams were to be cancelled for summer 2020, it has now been confirmed that students who were due to sit A level, AS level or GCSE exams this summer will now receive a calculated grade. The calculated grade process will take account of a range of evidence including other assessments and mock results, with the approach standardised between schools and colleges.

• Vocational qualifications - For those pupils undertaking technical or vocational qualifications, the priority is to ensure that student and adult learners can move on as planned to the next phase of their lives. The government is working with Ofqual and we expect an update shortly on this. If you have any specific enquiries, please contact your school or college.

• Support for children and young people - Visit our education and support for children and young people page. If you have a safeguarding concern call us on 01454 866000. More information about safeguarding is available on the South Gloucestershire Children Partnership website. Our teams will be busy and we will need to prioritise help to the most vulnerable during this period

• SEND –  a helpline (01454 865137) for anyone with queries and FAQs

URGENT - SEND (Special Education Needs Review) SURVEY & MEETING 10 Feb

If you have any experience of the way children with special needs are supported in schools here - or worry about funding please contribute your views. Claire Young and your Focus Team have  been  supporting parents arguing for better funding for schools and children with special needs.Now current and future children with special needs,  need your support, by feeding into the review. To find out more about groups working to get improvements to special needs support here look for 'SEND Emergency' on facebook 

The Ofsted re-visit will take place from Monday 10 to Wednesday 12 February 2020. The Ofsted/CQC team will be keen to speak to as many children and young people and their parents and carers as possible, specifically about the weaknesses identified in the written statement of action (WSOA) for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).You can complete an online survey ahead of the re-visit, from 12 noon on Monday 3 February to 12 noon on Friday 7 February. Parents and carers who would like to take part in this survey can follow this link: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SouthGloucestershireRe-Vis…/ .

There will be an open meeting of parents and carers and the Ofsted/CQC re-visit team. The meeting will take place on Monday 10 February at BAWA, 589 Southmead Road, Filton, BS34 7RF from 7pm until 8.30pm. Please register your interest in attending the open meeting through South Glos Parents & Carers (the local SEND Parent Carer Forum).https://www.sglospc.org.uk/shop/ofsted-cqc . - you can find more info about the meeting there. 

For full details of the re-visit and how you can contribute your views visit www.southglos.gov.uk/SENDrevisit

New Community Learning courses starting January

South Glos Council has announced these Community Learning courses in Yate:.

Please contact Peggy Ralph
Tel : 01454 864507  Mobile: 07860181351
Email : community.learning@southglos.gov.uk

Subject	Venue	Day	From	To	Time	Weeks
FS English	Armadillo Centre Yate	Wed	Jan 17th	June 27th	1- 3pm	20
FS English	Poole Court Yate	Wed	Jan 17th	June 27th	6.30-8.30 pm	20
FS Maths	Yate Library	Thu	Jan 18th	June 14th	10-12 noon	20
FS Maths	Yate Library	Tue	Jan 9th	June 19th	7-9 pm	20
Introduction to business skills	Yate Library	Tue	23rd Jan	17th April	10-12 noon	10
Level 1 Office administration	Yate Library	Thu	24th April	July 3rd	6-9pm	10
Sewing for the soul	Yate Library	Wed	Jan 10th	Feb 7th	9.30-11.30am	5
ESOL for Work	Costa Coffee shop Yate Shopping centre	Thu	Jan 25th	April 19th	7-9pm	10
IT for Work	Yate Library	Wednesday	Jan 17th	March 21st	12.30-2.30pm	10

New course brochure for Community Learning

To find out about *FREE South Glos Community Learning courses starting in September, come along to one of the  enrolment sessions at #SouthGlos libraries. Check out dates on their website and put them in your diary now!

*Terms and conditions apply for free enrolment

And some EXTRA courses that aren't in the brochure:

• Steps to Confidence -  Armadillo, Yate   10 am - 12 noon on Wednesdays
  Starting on 5th 0ctober until 16th November 16th (six weeks)
• Steps to Confidence –  Yate Library  9.30 - 11.30 am  on Wednesdays
  Starting 11th January until 15th February (6 weeks)

Primary school admission applications close next week

The closing date for submitting applications for infant and primary school admissions in South Glos is Friday 15 January 2016.

To find out more about primary, infant and junior school admissions visit the South Glos school admissions web page.

Free learning opportunities for people over 50

Are you over 50, and interested in getting back into learning, and maybe progressing on to further study? This innovative taster programme run by South Gloucestershire and Stroud College may be for you.

There are two courses: Monday 13th July – Wednesday 15th July and Wednesday 15th July  - Friday 17th July. Each day will start at 9.30 and finish no later than 4pm.

Both sessions will take place at SGS's state of the art WISE campus, New Road, Stoke Gifford. Bristol, BS34 8LP (plenty of free parking available)

Click here for details of the programmes

•     Free Lunch each day
•     Free tea/coffee with biscuits/cakes
•     Free Maths qualification

•     Option of choosing 3 fun and interactive sessions
•     Sessions include
•             2 Art options – Painting/Photography
•             Sport options – Gentle gym (strength and conditioning) or bowls/Table tennis/Golf
•             First Aid at home
•             Technology – Tablets, Skype, Emails/Using the Internet to save time & money – Ebay, Uswitch, Online shopping, On line banking, Booking trips

•     A chance to have an amazing 3 days, meet likeminded people and just have fun!

Community Learning open day at Yate Library Tue 16 June

10.00-12.00 IT drop-in

Take better picture on your smartphone or tablet and learn how to edit them
No need to book

10.00-12.30 Job Skills drop-in
Advice on CVs, applications and interviews
No need to book

12.45-1.45 Games and puzzles
Fun maths
Phone to book a place, or take your chance on the day

1.45-2.45 Creative Writing
Put your imagination to work on stories and poems
Phone to book a place, or take your chance on the day

Contact details for booking and to find out more:

• Telephone 01454 864613
• Email community.learning@southglos.gov.uk

Plus Info Stand all day:

• Information about free courses in Maths, English, IT. ESOL, Health and Wellbeing, Work-related Skills, Family Learning and more
• Course brochure
• Goodie bags and freebies

The local dimension - A stronger local economy that will benefit everyone

South Gloucestershire is the economic powerhouse of the West of England and this has helped to keep unemployment well below the national average. But more needs to be done to ensure that our local economy benefits everyone.

We will:

1. Expand and promote apprenticeship schemes that provide real experience and prospects for our young people.
2. Work with businesses, schools and colleges to make sure people have the skills they need to help our local economy to thrive and create jobs.
3. Continue to improve broadband connectivity throughout rural and urban areas and to give residents more choice over their broadband provider.
4. Ensure even better support for new and existing businesses.
5. Keep local high streets the centres of our communities.

 Our record of action...

By working constructively with central government and the Local Economic Partnership we’ve helped to foster strong employment growth across South Gloucestershire.

This is an extract from the Liberal Democrat Vision for South Gloucestershire, our manifesto for the 2015 Local Elections.

Celebrate National Libraries Day on Saturday

Our local libraries have a range of fun activities planned to mark National Libraries Day on Saturday 7 February.

As well as events and activities all library members who visit their local library on the day can:

• reserve up to two items from the LibrariesWest catalogue free of charge
• hire a DVD for half price
• enter a free prize draw with the chance to win a tablet computer, a £25 voucher for a well-known online retailer and a range of bestselling books if they borrow at least three physical items

If you're not a member yet, why not join?

The council is also launching a Facebook eAudio reading group for people who find it difficult to attend a reading group but would still like to read the same book as others and share their thoughts afterwards. All the titles being discussed are available to download for free at www.librarieswest.org.uk/eaudio Visit the LibrariesWest Facebook page to find out how to get involved www.facebook.com/librarieswest

Activities taking place on National Libraries Day (Saturday 7 February) include:

Storytime fun with Elmer
Chipping Sodbury Library, 10am
Yate Library, 11.30am
Storytime session for young children with Elmer the Patchwork Elephant. (Also at Yate Library on Sunday 8 February, 11.30am)

Get singing Thornbury
Thornbury Library, 10am to 11.30am
Hear the community choir performing outside Thornbury Library.

Many libraries will also be running a treasure hunt for children and a fun literary quiz for adults - pick up free treasure maps and quiz sheets from your library on the day.

Visit www.librarieswest.org.uk/nld15 for more details on what’s happening at your library on Saturday 7 February. You can also get in touch on the day via Twitter (@LibrariesWest with the hashtag #NLD15) and ‘like’ them on Facebook to share what you love most about your library www.facebook.com/librarieswest

New courses from Community Learning

Community learning works with adults aged 19 and over who have few formal qualifications to engage local residents back into learning with the specific aim of improving their skills for personal development, to find and succeed in work and to participate in family and community life.

New courses for January 2015:

Functional Skills - Maths and English. Start date to be confirmed - Yate Library 20 weeks.

IT for Work (TBC) Tuesday and Thursday 7-9pm. Start date to be confirmed - Yate Library 10 weeks

Introduction to Office Skills, started Thursday 8th January, Thurs 7-9pm - Yate Library 10 weeks

Please contact Community Learning for further information:
Tel. 01454 864613 or email community.learning@southglos.gov.uk

Free part time courses: South Glos Community Learning prospectus now available

The latest Community Learning prospectus for September 2014-July 2015 is now available offering a range of FREE part-time courses in our local area. These courses courses can help you gain a qualification, improve job skills, help your children's learning, and become more involved in your local community

Courses include Maths, English, computer and IT skills, job seeking and interview skills, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), confidence building, wellbeing and more.

How about "Getting the most from your tablet or iPad", for example? That's a 6 week course running at Yate Library.

Click here to view the prospectus with full details.

Volunteer for the Summer Reading Challenge

Are you, or do you know, a young person who would like to help children to enjoy reading?

Every summer, South Glos libraries run a Summer Reading Challenge to encourage children to keep reading during the holidays. Over 7000 took part last year. South Glos is currently looking for volunteers to get involved in a variety of activities from talking to children about the books they are reading and helping them to choose what to read next, to helping with the summer activities and creating displays in the library. The closing date for applications is Monday 16 June. Volunteers must be aged 14 or over.

As well as being a great way to help others, being a Summer Reading Challenge volunteer is also an opportunity for young people to get new skills and experience for their CVs. This year’s Summer Reading Challenge runs from 12 July to 13 September, and the theme is Mythical Maze. Once again children are challenged to read six books to collect their very own medal and certificate.

For more information on how to get involved ask a member of staff at any South Gloucestershire library, phone 01454 868451 or email emma.fisher@southglos.gov.uk

Last chance to apply for 2014 primary school places 15 January

Is your child due to start primary school this year? The deadline to apply for South Gloucestershire primary school places is 15 January. Applications can be submitted online or by post - for further information and an application form, visit www.southglos.gov.uk/primaryadmissions

Free courses for adult learners in South Glos

Would you like to

• gain a qualification?
• improve your job skills?
• help your children's learning?

South Gloucestershire Community Learning are offering courses in English and Maths to Level 1 and 2 (Level 2 is equivalent to GCSE at A-C grade)

If English is not your first language, there are also short ESOL courses for people who need to improve their language skills for life in the community or for job seeking and work.

There are also IT courses that concentrate on building people's skills for the workplace and help them to search and apply for jobs online.

Other courses cover CV writing and interview skills, and Family Learning courses to help you help your child's learning.

There are enrolment sessions at Yate Library as follows:

• Thursday 5 Sept 5 pm to 7 pm
• Thursday 12 September 10 am to 12 noon

There are also enrolment sessions at other libraries on different days.

For more information you can ring 01454 864813, email community.learning@southglos.gov.uk, or check out the Community Learning website at www.southglos.gov.uk/learningandskills.

FREE courses for adults whose first language is not English

2 Free ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses starting in May:

English and Life in the Community – for those who have limited English language skills
and need to improve their speaking and listening skills
The Armadillo, 10am-12noon, 10 sessions, 8th May-17th July 2013

English for Work – for those who are more confident with English but need to improve
their skills for job seeking and the workplace
The Armadillo, 1pm-3pm, 10 sessions, 8th May-17th July 2013

There will be an assessment and enrolment session at Yate Library
on Tuesday 30th April from 2-4pm.  Please come along - pre-enrolment is essential
Please attend if you want to enrol on either course. 

For more information please call Maggie on 01454 864613

Need some careers advice or help choosing a university course?

Need advice? Visit Ambitions 2012 at UWE and talk to an expert.

The event takes place over two days on 23 and 24 October at the University of the West of England Exhibition and Conference Centre. Featuring more than 100 local and regional organisations, including employers, universities, colleges, training providers and volunteering organisations, this is a great opportunity for all 13 to 19 year-olds to kick-start their future career.

More details available here

Free part-time courses

South Gloucestershire Community Learning Service is offering a range of FREE part-time courses in community venues to help you gain a qualification, improve your job skills, help your children's learning or get more involved in the local community. The courses are aimed at people aged 19 years and over. You can find out more in the online prospectus.