News@the-centre

Dirty Harry-style teachers no punks 11/3/10

Hard men of the movie world are being used to highlight methods of effective teaching.

Dirty Harry's silent, "intimidatory" approach is one good way of gaining pupils' respect, according to teacher trainer for the University of Southampton, Jim Wood.

Mr Wood claims this is more effective than Arnold Schwarzenegger's "shouty" approach, which he claims children just find entertaining and fails to control them.

The trainer, who is also a deputy head at Bay House School in Gosport, Hampshire, presented his ideas to a seminar of teachers held at the Kip McGrath education centre in Portsmouth.

He told the Portsmouth News: "The Arnold Schwarzenegger style of teaching is to be strong and shouty.

"But most pupils say they love that. They find it entertaining because the teachers have lost control and they can see them going red in the face and their temples throbbing.

"The most effective, though, is the Clint Eastwood style of teaching.

"In films, the really tough men are not ones with big machine guns. They're the ones who stare and quietly say 'I don't think you want to do that'."

Sainsbury's to open bakery college 10/3/10

A supermarket and a flour supplier are teaming up to launch the UK's first bakery college which will offer NVQ training.

Sainsbury's will open the college in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, in conjunction with Whitworth.

The college will speed up the qualification process for bakers by condensing the NVQ training from 12 to six months.

College training will also be accessible to all bakery workers, not just the apprentices.

At a conference announcing the plans Mr King will highlight the "lack of recognition" the grocery industry receives as a source of economic growth and a provider of skills and employment.

He will say: "The college will get more qualified bakers into our stores more quickly, which will improve the quality of our offer at the same time as providing our colleagues with the skills they need to carve out a long and rewarding career in retail.

"This is just one of many initiatives through which we provide our colleagues with skills and training."  

Computer problems 'threaten care' 9/3/10

Weaknesses in NHS computer systems are threatening the delivery of treatment, MSPs claim.

The roll-out of "telehealth" schemes, and subsequent difficulties medical staff may have in using technology, must be closely monitored by the Scottish Government, according to a report by Holyrood's Health Committee.

It criticises the provision of clinical portals and telehealth over the last decade, saying it is slow and inconsistent.

Better safeguards are urged to ensure patient privacy if Scotland is to become the world leader in electronic health.

The clinical portals software allows clinicians and GPs to access medical data on a patient anywhere in Scotland.

Committee convener Christine Grahame said: "We hope the Government will act on our recommendations regarding patient rights, professional standards, funding and staff training by 2014 at the latest."

Telehealth software can remove the need for patients to travel for treatment. Instead, broadband or mobile services such as video conferencing can be used.

Patients, midwives, nurses and other health representatives must be on the Clinical Portal Programme Board, which is designed to oversee clinical portal projects in Scotland.

The committee also calls for an "eHealth" professional standards group including clinicians, medical bodies, teaching and trainers to be established.  

Call to boost female boss numbers 8/3/10

Ensuring women are more fairly represented in boardrooms will require companies and politicians to work together, according to the Prime Minister.

Female executives are meeting Gordon Brown over breakfast at Downing Street to mark International Women's Day.

Mr Brown told them: "I want to congratulate you on the way you have changed the professions you are in."

But more work is required, he said.

"You are making a huge contribution to the changes that are happening in our country. I want to talk about how we can move things even further forward."

At the current rate of promotion, women will take 60 years to be represented as equally as men at the top of the biggest 100 firms, the Government Equalities Office has said.

Businesses might soon be forced to provide official updates on how many senior management jobs they are giving to women. The Financial Reporting Council has been asked by the Government to insert in its code of conduct a rule to make firms publicise what they were doing to increase the number of senior female managers. 

*Hint* The Centre's course Women in management can help you if you are a female boss!

Remote patients need better access 5/3/10

An industry body is to call for moves giving rural patients better access to healthcare, it has been announced.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland will say that health boards must ensure that people can see a healthcare professional whenever they need to.

It believes better access could be provided for people living in remote parts of Scotland by bringing in new technologies. The move would see healthcare focus on patients' needs.

In advance of a meeting at Lib Dem conference in Perth, Eileen Frame, Chair of RCN Scotland, said: "New technology must be invested in so that people living in remote and rural areas can be treated at home or in their local community rather than having to travel huge distances to be in hospital."

Norma Laurenson, a nurse who works in the Gilbert Bain Hospital on Shetland, said: "Technology allowing links between remote hospitals and larger urban hospitals is vital in allowing patients to access healthcare close to home."  

Most workers 'wary' of managers 4/3/10

Despite workplace efforts to make senior managers more approachable, most workers would rather turn to junior colleagues than ask their boss for help with a problem, research has found.

A poll of 2,000 adults carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), a professional body established to promote high standards in management and leadership, discovered that a fear of appearing incompetent or unfit for their position was the primary reason for such reluctance. Around a quarter also said they did not trust the judgement of senior colleagues.

"Any workplace culture where people are scared to speak up for fear of appearing foolish is not going to be conducive to getting great results or nurturing a talented and productive workforce," CMI chief executive Ruth Spellman said.

"If the UK's businesses are to rise up out of the recession and flourish, we need to get these things right by vastly improving the quality of our managers and leaders."  

Call to protect public sector work 3/3/10

Cuts in spending could vastly increase the workload of key public sector workers, leading to high-profile mistakes, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has warned.

The claim comes after the Local Government Association (LGA) said around 6,000 social workers would have to be recruited to have any hope of complying with child protection measures put in place in the wake of the Baby P scandal.

The LGA said the new guidelines could see the average workload of already-pressed social workers increase fourfold, with many local authorities simply not having enough money to recruit additional members of staff.

Commenting on the research, Tom Hadley, the REC's director of external relations, said: "The research underlines the broader point that in many areas recruitment activity will need to be maintained and even increased. Achieving the necessary efficiencies in the public sector will require more than short-term cuts through the supply chain.

"One of the core messages of the REC's Public Sector Resourcing campaign is that deep-rooted reform will be necessary. As part of this, flexible staffing arrangements must be seen as part of the solution when it comes into the effective delivery of front line services."  

GMC plans doctor appraisal changes 2/3/10

Doctors in the UK will need to undergo annual appraisals and performance tests in order to carry on practising, according to new plans announced by the General Medical Council.

Under the proposals, the estimated 218,000 doctors working in the UK would be issued with a licence to practice every five years based on the annual appraisal system.

The plans, which are out to consultation by those in the medical profession and patients across the country, would see one of the most radical changes in medical regulation in the UK.

The GMC said the scheme would be introduced over a five-year period starting in 2011.

Niall Dickson, GMC chief executive, said: "This represents the biggest change in medical regulations for 150 years.

"What we are attempting to do is to move away from a register which is based on a history of qualifications towards a contemporary record, or a near contemporary record of performance.

"This is ambitious in the sense that there is not another nation in the world which has attempted to do this, so we are going to be trail blazers."

The scheme has been drawn up after a series of medical scandals, including the Harold Shipman affair.

Voluntary sector role rethink urged 1/3/10

A more powerful role for Scotland's voluntary sector would improve public services by giving people greater control over the services they received, a think tank has said.

Reform Scotland has encouraged debate over the expansion of the voluntary sector's role in areas such as health and education, which they say would fuel greater choice for individuals and force public service providers to improve their standards.

Scotland's voluntary sector, which currently employs 5% of the country's workforce across more than 45,000 organisations, should be given a much stronger role in how services are provided in local communities, the think tank said.

Research director Alison Payne said the expansion of Scotland's voluntary sector would "create a level playing field", which would provide greater choice for taxpayers.

"In areas such as health and education, giving people much greater control over the services they receive and choice from a wider range of providers is the key to higher standards," she said.

"By ending public sector monopolies in the provision of such services and creating a level playing field, third sector organisations would have a much greater opportunity to deliver services."

Reform Scotland has launched a consultation paper calling for a wide-ranging debate on how best to extend the sector. 

We’ll help you make time for training 18/2/10

A survey of 500 businesses has shown that 88% employers and 82% of workers believe that training is important to their organisations and careers. However, cost and time issues have often led to people not going through with training.

Training can be a vital way of refreshing and updating skills and good quality training will leave employees feeling newly motivated as they return to their desks.

At the Centre we are as flexible as possible in adapting to your training needs. We run a wide range of courses here at our fully equipped training centre but we can also come to you for bespoke in-house training courses too. These can be organised at your pace and discretion allowing you to direct when and where they take place to best benefit your organisation.

Running for the International Glaucoma Association 11/2/10

The Centre is delighted to be supporting Andrew Coleman, a young man born with Congenital Glaucoma in both eyes, who will be running the London Marathon in support of the IGA.

Andrew is a talented and active musician and first class honours graduate of the Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts and he plays football for the Liverpool FC pan-disability team. This is the second time he will be running the marathon, and even though Andrew is partially sighted he will be running on his own and trying to beat his previous time of four hours and forty two minutes. 

We would like to take this opportunity to wish Andrew and everyone running the marathon to raise money for good causes the very best of luck! To support Andrew please click here.

It’s not too late to improve your literacy skills 8/2/10

Literacy skills are essential in the workplace. But it’s sometimes very difficult to get clear training aimed at adults and tailored to your level of need. All too often the focus is either on under 16s or on those with a very low ability to read and write.

Many of us occupy a middle ground.  We can read and write fine, but don’t understand the rules of grammar or the structure of a “good” sentence and we often miss the nuances of spelling in everyday writing.

Feeling that you are missing these basic skills can be very demoralising, but with training budgets tightening, it can be hard to justify a full day out of the office to brush up on these basic skills. That’s where the Centre is here to help.

For the first time ever, we will be running an evening surgery for delegates who want to learn these skills in a comfortable and welcoming environment outside of core work hours.

Our trainers are experts in writing skills, but are also approachable and open to any questions. We know that what concerns each delegate will be different, and this two hour session will help to boost your skills and your confidence.  

Apply for a Community Voice Grant now! 3/2/10 

Friends of the Centre the Media Trust have opened applications for their Community Voice grants for 2010. 26 Organisations will be offering grants of between £1, 500 and £14,000 to 26 community projects to help make a difference through digital media to their communities.

Past winners have included projects as diverse as Arwen Productions who have made a series of short films using media for social change in rural isolated communities across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and SIFA Fireside who ran an art project called ‘My Birmingham' for the homeless community in the city.

The Centre would like to take this opportunity to wish all applicants for the grant scheme the best of luck!  

Job satisfaction plummets among the young - with training opportunities cited as a key factor 28/1/10

Shocking figures from a recent CIPD Report show that 90% of young employees are considerably unhappier at work than they were in summer 2009. CIPD lead adviser, Claire McCartney, said "Job satisfaction among young people has been decimated by this recession... the lack of opportunities to learn new skills or make their first steps up the career ladder is likely to be grinding them down".

The danger, is that those employees with the worst record on training and development may lose staff and experience high levels of churn as the UK comes out of recession.

The Centre have a wide range of high value training courses which will help to develop staff skills in the workplace and we can work with your organisation to find the best value way of keeping your staff happy and motivated. Our training is developed for all levels of staff, from those in administration to those at all levels of management. So talk to us about how we can help you to be a top 10% employer.   

The personal approach to becoming an excellent manager 21/1/10

A recent study by the Work Foundation has found that the difference between a good leader and a great leader is a people centred approach.

We at the Centre couldn't agree more, which is why we have been training people centred management techniques for years. Our Management Ladder courses are graded to suit all levels of management - from those just starting out in their first management role to those looking to become leaders in their field.

We know that people are the most important asset any organisation can have, and so we help managers to get the absolute best from their staff.

And for those who want to take their study of best management practices even further, we have the Certificate in Leadership and Management, an academic qualification developed with Royal Holloway College, University of London, this certificate course will over a period of one to two years give you all the skills needed to be an outstanding leader.  

Never mind Blue Monday - improve your confidence with the Centre 18/1/10

Today's the day that some have designated Blue Monday. The lowest day of the year as we settle back into work, contemplating a few more months of miserable weather, spent out from Christmas and already feeling guilty about our neglected resolutions.

So do something nice for yourself and your staff today, and book some training to improve confidence and personal effectiveness. 

Whatever you feel you need, be it better time management, being more confident and assertive at work or improving your understanding of finance - the Centre has a course for you.

So put a smile on your face and those of your colleagues and staff as you contemplate our fun, effective and expert training.

Training benefits children's rights campaigners: ECPAT UK is the Centre for Strategy and Communication's 2010 Charity of the Year 15/1/10

Third sector training specialists, the Centre for Strategy and Communication, have chosen leading children’s rights organisation ECPAT UK to be its Charity of the Year in 2010.

The organisation, which campaigns to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation and recently launched a campaign with Body Shop to end the trafficking of children, was chosen by the Centre’s staff to benefit from £3,000 worth of management, communications and personal development staff training throughout 2010.

Commenting on the appointment of ECPAT UK as its Charity of the year, the Centre Director Jan Burnell said “We were looking for a charity which embodied our organisations values (diversity, ethics, relationships and openness) and for which professional training and education was key. ECPAT UK not only shares many of our values but runs a national training programme in child trafficking for public sector health and social workers, housing officers and the police.

“We are delighted to be working with ECPAT UK and look forward to supporting its staff team as it works to campaign to end child prostitution and the trafficking of children for sexual purposes”.

Improve your attitude and your employability! 11/1/10

In these tough economic times, we're all worried about both our employability and how we improve our attitude to the jobs we have. A recent survey by Keep Britain Working found that 96% of employers find that the right attitude to work is more important than the right skills when they are recruiting and this is bound to spill over into their approach towards their employees.  

Here at the Centre, we believe both are vital. So luckily, we offer excellent training in skills for managers and administrators, but also offer personal effectiveness training in areas like Time management and Assertiveness to help you develop the best possible outlook and attitude towards your work.

To help you further, the Centre are offering a 10% discount on the following courses running in February: Assertiveness Skills, Be More Confident at Work and Time Management for Managers. Just quote the promotional code "February" when booking.

So demonstrate you are on the path to the right attitude, and book with the Centre today!  

Beat the January blues with the Centre 8/1/10

Freezing temperatures and transport chaos have brought a miserable return to work for most of us and we're all feeling a bit down in the post-festive season. The excitement of the sales is wearing thin and to top it all, VAT has gone back up, so even shopping doesn't feel as good as it once did.

At the Centre, we believe everyone is entitled to excellent quality training, and our New Year's resolution is to help ensure that is available. So we are delighted to announce that we are keeping the overall price of our Bursaries to just £99 per day including VAT. So if you are a registered charity with a turnover of less than £250,000 you are eligible for this discount, and we will not pass on the increase in the VAT rate to these customers.

So whatever your New Year's training resolution - be it better time management, being more confident and assertive at work or improving your understanding of finance - the Centre has a course for you. And at a rate everyone can afford.