Adapt Projects

 

 

 

Aiming Higher

Aim

This project will support programmes, which open up opportunities for women to train and gain qualifications for progression to higher level and non-traditional occupations. The LCC will work with Burnley College to develop good practice and resource for this work. The project will also allow new local delivery of programmes by Burnley College

We will support women currently economically inactive, including returners and will also support women in employment when these jobs offer little prospect of career advancement. Flexibility, support arrangements and other measures, plus active promotion of opportunities will ensure involvement from lone parents, women from ethnic minorities and with disabilities.

 

Objectives

This project will provide new opportunities for 38 women enabling them to progress to higher level and non traditional occupations through a programme which includes guidance, vocational and key skills training leading to accredited awards, work experience and aftercare.

 

We will achieve this aim through action

- To agree with local college led partnerships in North and West Lancashire plus, East Lancashire priorities for local action around delivery of pilots, and local contributions to developing shared materials.

- We will have these local plans in place. In many cases they will be informed by ESF work in 2001'2.

- To organise tasters/recruitment activities with community groups unions and employers in colleges/local centres.

- To support flexible learning programmes. These will be run on a 'rolling' basis, thus ensuring as short a gap as is possible between interest being identified and start. We will support programmes (taking care that action plans developed allow completion within the period of funding)

- To capture and share good practice with the Project Steering Group. Meetings will be held and a final report will be produced.

 

Activities

The project will provide vocational training for women to enter non-traditional occupations. The occupational areas on which we will focus will be:

a) Management posts across all sectors

b) Technician posts in manufacturing/engineering/construction

All of which are areas in which women are under represented.

 

Improving the relevance of skills training to local employment needs and opportunities: The project supports the need, evidenced in the Co-Financing Plan to increase skill levels in response to growth in demand in higher level occupations.

 

Tackling barriers, such as childcare and other caring responsibilities, raising awareness and promoting family friendly policies. We will provide childcare, and in work with employers raise awareness of the value of family friendly policies in increasing the contribution women can make in the workplace.

 

Improving the quality and flexibility of local training including participation in lifelong learning partnerships: We will further build skills/capacity to use ICT to enhance the flexibility of provision.

 

The learning programmes will be structured around the following elements:

•  'Pre-entry' guidance and labour market awareness. This will include outreach sessions, tasters (training and in some cases job tasters/visits), the opportunity to meet mentors/role models, followed by guidance/planning (including using profiling tools) of individualised programmes. At this stage any need for accelerated training, bringing women up to speed (especially in key skills) to allow success in the main project will be identified and delivered in collaboration with LD.

•  Continuing guidance throughout the project. This is critical to our target group, recognising that needs/time commitments (and career ambitions) can change over the period of the programme for a variety of reasons. This can in turn require changes to support packages, how and when they access learning, etc. Guidance staff/mentors will also arrange appropriate elements from a personal and social development programme, individually negotiated with trainees, which will address a number of factors identified as 'barriers to success'. These include assertiveness training, financial planning, health and welfare issues, time and stress management.

•  Training leading to Level II/III qualifications or credits towards these, combining theoretical and practical skills development with the development of high-level generic skills.

•  Specific support in moving into work. Links with employers are built up by trainees throughout the programme via project work and work experience. All trainees receive support in curriculum vitae preparation, developing interview skills and in job search.

•  Aftercare provision. This again recognises the special pressure women can be under in non-traditional employment, and also the importance (in the occupational areas targeted) of lifelong learning/CPD. In employment trainees will have the opportunity to continue to build and have accredited their skills, and to network with each other/colleges via ICT.

 

The project also includes complementarity'/supporting actions. These include:

•  Further developing good practice through the pilot work

•  Building a network to support cross-sector collaboration to embed this good practice in future, mainstream provision

•  Further development of flexible learning materials and systems

•  Trainer training, both in equal opportunities policies and practice and (of equal importance) in using the new learning technologies to address equality and access issues

•  Work with employers both in providing advisory services or family-friendly working practices, in mentoring and in supporting workplace learning when trainees move on into jobs

 

Target

This project will support 38 women gain skills/qualifications that will enable them to progress into/in under represented occupations. Within this target group will be lone parents, returners, plus women from ethnic heritage groups and women with disabilities.

 

This project will contribute to targets under objective 4; through this project 38 people will be working towards/achieve Level 2 and 67 Level 3.