Welcome back to all our students this week, I trust that you all had a great half term break. We have had a fantastic week here at Medtia and we have lots to update you on.
On Wednesday I met with Councillor Sean Fielding, the leader of Oldham Council. Sean was visiting First Choice Homes to look at how they support local people into employment. This links in nicely to what we do here at Medtia and also with our fantastic work over at The Atrium Café. Councillor Fielding was really impressed by our students and by the opportunities that we offer. I’d like to say a special well done to Future Finders student Colette, who spoke eloquently and professionally about her experience of work placements at The Atrium..
Now for some updates from our staff and students, starting with our job coach, Colin..
It’s been a busy week back to Medtia for our students who have headed back to their placements after a week off! We are currently working alongside employers Tesco, Premier Inn, Age UK, Environmental Services, a local nursery and Bargains 4 Less.
Monday as always is our classroom day, working on our Functional Skills. We always start Mondays off with English and Maths – here is a quick summary of what we have been up to:
In Maths this week, we worked on multiplication, addition and subtraction while English has had us looking at using persuasive writing – I asked the students to persuade me to employ them for their dream job! Employability has seen us continuing to work on Health and Safety and we have been building our knowledge and understanding of keeping ourselves safe whilst at work. We looked at risks and hazards, completed a risk assessment and identified how we can reduce the risks that we are faced with.
All 3 students at the Premier Inn have had a good first week back and have all settled into their routines smoothly! Tara, Sufyaan and Brittany have all returned and perfected the ‘Gold Route’ which both Premier Inn Central and Broadway are really impressed about. This week we have had valuable feedback from both sites.
Lynsey at Premier Inn Central said how impressed she has been and that the work the students have been doing has helped out massively in the hotel this week. Tara has also been helping Lynsey with the room checks and making sure the rooms are ready for the new customers who are checking in.
Lisa at Premier Inn Broadway is really happy with how well Brittany has settled in, especially with it only being her third week working there as well. All 3 students have had a brilliant first week back and have worked really hard, we can’t wait to see what this term brings for them.
Colette has been working at a new placement provider, The Cheesy Grin Café in Royton. Now she is settled in, she is building sound working relationships with staff and regular customers. Colette has been cleaning front of house, wrapping cutlery, washing pots and supporting staff making sandwiches for customers.
Dan, the owner of The Cheesy Grin Café, said, ‘’Working with Future Finders and being able to offer students the opportunity to gain experience is fantastic. Colette is doing really well and is a huge help, her confidence is growing every day.’’
Helal continues to build on his experience at Bargains 4 Less, working closely with job coaches and staff. Helal is making positive progress with his communication skills, helping him to become more confident when completing work related tasks.
Gary has been working with the Environmental Services on Fitton Hill. Gary said, ‘It is really good and I enjoy working outside learning new skills and using different machinery.’
Kyra has been working independently at NSL this week and she is doing a fantastic job…but more on this next week!!
Seb continues to work at Age UK and has been given another day to work at their Uppermill shop – so that’s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday! Well done Seb!!!
You may remember before half term that we had been able to outsource some work from the Royal Oldham Hospital for Edward – this continues and you can find out more in this week’s ‘Day in the Life’ feature..
A day in the of Edward
Administration Assistant at Medtia SquareI arrive at Medtia nice and early to make sure that I am ready for the day ahead. I meet all my friends up on the top floor and we talk about what we have been up to and what we will be doing that day. We even watch Newsround and catch up on the events happening around the world.
It’s time for placement. Now I’m quite lucky that I get to stay at Medtia for my current placement so I don’t need to go out in the wind and the rain like the other students! As you may be aware, we run our Bridging the Gap project at the Royal Oldham Hospital and Future Finders have been working with them over the last few weeks to see what we can do to support them outside the hospital with work that can be carried out at Medtia.
Each week the hospital hands out over 100 patient packs to people who are due to have operations and preparing these packs is an essential part of the pre-op department. My job coach has worked with them so that this work can be carried out at Medtia….by me. So what’s involved? My job coach goes and picks up the leaflets from the hospital and because I have got so good at what I do, this now happens twice a week. I then set myself up, in the order that the hospital talked through with us, and I carefully put the packs together..
Sometime I even have a few helpers..
Once I have boxed the leaflets up, my job coach delivers them back to the hospital. As you can see, it’s been a busy week with over 150 packs put together..
I’m off for my drink and maybe a biscuit where I will sit with Anne-Marie, my job coach and go through my diary for the week and set my weekly targets.
See you all back at Medtia!
Maria has more details on one of the latest employers to start working with our students, Age UK..
Age UK provide many different services for older people including help and advice, home services and support with care and social activities. This year we have been lucky enough to work alongside them and they have been fantastic hosts to our young people, allowing them to gain work experience in retail.
At the moment we are accessing two Age UK charity shops, one in the Lees area of Oldham and one in Uppermill where our students have been able to learn first-hand the day to day running of a busy high street shop. We have learned how to deal with donations from the moment they arrive in the shop to the minute they are sold to the customer. We have unpacked and sorted donations, priced and tagged clothes, sorted and hung up clothes to go on to the shop floor, tidied rails and shelves and helped with displays and speaking to customers, answering queries and assisting other volunteers.
It is great to be working as part of a team and this has had a very positive impact on promoting our students’ independence, social and communication skills and understanding work ethic.
The feedback from Age UK Volunteer Co-ordinator Vanessa and the staff working in the shops has been fantastic. They say our young people are a pleasure to have around and help keep the team motivated with their happy personalities and positive outlook.
Thank you Age UK for this great opportunity!
Congratulations to Afsana who has been awarded this week’s ‘Worker of the Week’ for ‘Working in a professional manner when on placement and getting fantastic feedback from her employer.’ Well done Afsana!
Finally, we have sent home a letter regarding our brand new Employer Parent Network (click here to view it). We would like families to support us in finding work placements and employer encounter opportunities for our students. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Maria Statham, our work placement co-ordinator here at Future Finders.
There are some last minute tickets now available for our trip to the Opera House on 18th December to see Cinderella if you are quick! Our staff will be there to support our young people and you can find out more by calling Isabella on 0161 883 2401.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Daniel
Head of College
You can view our previous blog entries here
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