Well, this week started with our first ever Medtia Council with representatives from each of our pathways and from our Future Finders Employability College. It was absolutely fantastic to hear some of the feedback and ideas that our students came up with. Some of the issues they raised were:

• Digit4ll would like lockers
• Lumenus would like a Medtia hamster!
• Students would like coat hangers in classrooms
• Students would like to set up a rota for the pool table at lunch times
• Students would like paper towels in all bathrooms

There is certainly lots for me to think about there. I look forward to responding to the group in next half term’s meeting!

This week we have an update on the half term so far from Anne-Marie, our Senior Job Coach for Future Finders..

It is has been one busy half term and one of the key words has been NEW!! NEW floor, NEW classroom, NEW young people, NEW parents, NEW staff, NEW technology, NEW routine, NEW placements, NEW employers and NEW opportunities!!!

It has been a fast paced term with things changing quickly to meet the needs of the young people and their families, ensuring they get the very best from Future Finders…..starting with the NEW classroom. Over the Summer, Future Finders moved up to the top floor of Medtia Square where we have our NEW Employability Hub enabling our young people to access employment opportunities, using the support from our Job Coaches to help them to be prepared for the world of work. We have spent this term settling in, putting up our information displays – that are almost complete – and generally making sure the space works for us. We have also been lucky enough to have a NEW interactive screen put in to the classroom, which gives the young people access to their work more easily and effectively.

Over the last month we have had 2 NEW members of staff join our team of Job Coaches – Bethany and Hayley! Welcome to you both! The last week has seen the Job Coaches meeting with most of the NEW parents of the young people who access Future Finders – it was lovely to meet you all and discuss the aspirations of your children.

We have been very lucky over the last few years to build up positive working relationships with employers across Oldham and surrounding areas and it has been great to see NEW employers getting involved in providing more and more opportunities for our young people. We have begun working with Age UK, NSL, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice Charity Shop, The Cheesy Grin Café and Environmental Services (Fitton Hill)  – welcome on board, it is great to be working with them!!

We have rounded off our half term with 2 of our young people starting NEW placements..

• Colette has begun working at The Cheesy Grin Café. She has settled in well and is already showing off the skills that she had gained from her previous placement at The Atrium Café.
• Kyra is now working for NSL in an office based role, dealing with customers’ queries, completing work on the computer, inputting information and ensuring the details are correct.

Well done to both of you!! Well are very proud of how hard all our current Future Finders are working and we are looking forward to what the next half term will bring. Remember we are back on the 5th November at 9am – rest up and see you soon!

Now for some information on another of our fantastic employers, The Premier Inn. We really value the employers who work with our young people, providing not only placements but also making each student feel a real member of their team and offering them invaluable support and encouragement. Over to Bethany for more details..

Premier Inn is the largest hotel chain in the UK with over 30,000 employees based across their 780 hotels. It is also part of the Whitbread Company which has other companies such as the Beefeater chain and Costa Coffee. We are lucky enough to have placement opportunities with two Premier Inn branches, Oldham Central and Broadway.

We are now in the third year of our partnership with Premier Inn. Currently we have two students placed at Oldham Central and one on placement at Broadway. The students mainly work with the housekeeping teams, learning all the different jobs on how to turn over a room ready for new customers as well as in the laundry room, sorting the laundry that has come in and making sure that stock levels in the laundry rooms don’t go low.

Premier Inn support many good causes, one at the moment being Great Ormond Street Hospital (G.O.S.H) and our students are proudly wearing the Premier Inn uniform that supports G.O.S.H.

We are continually building on our relationships with the staff at Premier Inn. Speaking to Lyndsey, the head housekeeper at Oldham Central, we hear how she is really impressed with how well the students have settled in to their jobs and how their work ethic and their desire to complete the jobs to a high standard is also really good as well.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with Premier Inn in the future as they have been an invaluable workplace provider.

Over the past week or so, we have been meeting with parents and carers of all of our Future Finders students. It has been lovely to hear that our students are progressing at home as much as they are here with us at Future Finders and we look forward to working collaboratively with parents and carers over the next two and half terms to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students.

Have a fantastic week off! I look forward to seeing you all back a week on Monday when the countdown to Christmas begins!!!

Daniel
Director of Employment & Co Head of Site at Medtia Square

You can view our previous blog entries here

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