Well, we are officially at the end of the half term and half of our college year has gone! I will hand you over to our job coach, Anne Marie, for an update on what we’ve done and what we’ll be getting up to next term..

Well, what an amazing half term we’ve had here at Future Finders! We have been busier than ever with plenty of new opportunities for our young people.

Monday as always is our classroom day, working on our Functional Skills Maths and English. We always start the day off with English and Maths as Miss Hartley explains:

We have been continuing to prepare for our Speaking and Listening exam in English. We were filmed as part of the evidence for this to show how well we all did in our group discussions.

In Maths we have been working on multiplication and division and the all important skill of how to check our answers!! I think the following sentence “Remember to read the question, show your working out and check you calculations!” sums up what we kept having to repeat in our work – I’m sure the students will be muttering it in their sleep!

Employability this week has been focusing on finances, linking to our pay. We have been looking at why we get paid, what we would use our money for, how and what we may save up for and what the benefits are of saving up!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday continue to be our placement days and our students have certainly been very busy..

• Sebastian has left Age UK (Uppermill) this week as he has been offered an extra day at one of his other placements, Stoneswood Retirement Village in Delph. I called into Age UK on Tuesday and caught up with the manager who said, “It’s such a shame he is leaving. He is a lovely young man and I hope it all works out for him.” They even gave him a little leaving party – Coffee and Café and presented him with a card and some chocolates!! I hope you shared them out Sebastian! Sebastian said, “I’ll miss working here but don’t worry, I’ll still call in and see you all on a Tuesday so you can’t get rid of me that easily.” 

• Carol (Manager) at The Childcare Village is very happy with how Afsana’s placement is going – “Afsana is doing great! She gets on well with the staff and the children. She is always on time and gets on well with the tasks she has been given.”
• Helal is working at David Lloyd where he is doing a great job. Helal has now expressed an interest in working in a library – we’ll keep you posted on this!
• Chloe has completed her 2nd full week at the Reclamation Room café in Uppermill. I called in yesterday and she was really busy and her hands were aching from peeling all those sweet potatoes. Chloe thinks the best part of the job though is making smoothies! Well done Chloe, some great work from you! Keep it going! 
• Kyra continues to impress at NSL. Feedback from her line manager: “She is doing a great job! We have her working on different aspects of the job now and she has more tasks to complete, especially around admin and helping the teams that she is working with.” Well done Kyra! Keep up the good work! 
• This term we teamed up with The Clean Plate Kitchen Oldham and they have 2 of our young people on placement there across the week. Jason is one (who you will have read all about in the Key Stage 5 Pathways blog) and the other is our very own Tara who has settled in really well – “She’s doing a great job!!” Tara says, “It’s just always busy and the staff are lovely to work with!”
• Brittany has been at the RSCPA this term and she is loving it! “I love the cats. If I could take them home, I would.”
• Edward is really enjoying his work at The Atrium – “It’s great over here! I have met loads of different people and I do loads of different jobs.”
• Colette is also very happy in her placement at First Choice Homes – “I love it at FCHO. I meet lots of people and I have been doing the training as well.” Well done Colette, more great work!

So that’s this half term done, time certainly flies when you are having fun! We never sit still for long though and we are already busy planning what we will be doing after the break. Here are just a few tasters:

• Parent Reviews – We met with all our parents/carers last term to keep you updated on your young person’s progress and we will be doing the same next term. I will be in touch to arrange dates with you all so we can discuss future prospects.
• Parent Employer Network – If you haven’t already, then get your name down for this! Our first meeting is on Thursday 28th February starting at 3pm at Medtia. If you are interested in joining us, please contact Maria Statham via email to mstatham@newbridgegroup.org or on telephone number 0161 883 2403 (ext. 3002) or mobile 07392 091961. Remember, if you have any family or friends who would be interested in supporting our young people, please feel free to pass these details on to them; they would be very welcome to attend the meeting too.
• 1st March – Future Finders Assessment for potential Future Finders looking to start a new course in September 2019.
• Changing Horizons – This will be a day of interactive encounters with employers from in and around Oldham.
• An employer who we have worked with in the past has been in touch to pick things back up again – we will keep you posted!
• A new employer that we have connected with is really keen to begin working with us and offering our young people placements – but we have to keep some of the suspense going, so we’ll tell you more about this next term!

So that’s it from me for this term. Have wonderful break and we will see you back on Tuesday 26th February at 9am.

So all in all, a brilliant week and a fantastic end to our half term. Just to remind you that on Monday 25th, we are closed for a staff training day. Students are back in on Tuesday 26th. I will see you all then!

Have a fantastic half term. I shall be spending it in Thailand- here’s hoping for better weather than Oldham!

Daniel
Head of College

You can view our previous blog entries here

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