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I thought I would use my first blog for the college to actually introduce myself. Some of you may have met me but for many of you I will be a new face. I started my journey in special education in April 2015 when I was appointed the Key Stage 2 lead for Hollinwood Academy – which was still being built. That term before we opened I spent most of it visiting our new pupils and families, planning and creating a new curriculum and also teaching classes at New Bridge School. I mentioned to Ms Dunne that I enjoyed teaching Science and I spent most of the teaching time, teaching Science to New Bridge Year 7, 8, 9 pupils. This was my first insight into teaching in special education and I haven’t looked back. Hollinwood Academy opened in September 2015 and I spent the first year supporting pupils across Key Stage 2 but also teaching classes from reception all the way to Key Stage 3 pupils. I then took over the post as the Head of Site in September 2016 and saw the school increase in school capacity to now over 215 pupils, an extension and more staff. The desire to grow myself and learn something new never goes away, so when the opportunity to work as Head of College came about – I had to apply. This week has been fantastic! I have been out and about meeting the students and staff on site and I am so happy that I applied and got the position. I know that I am going to enjoy working with everyone here at Medtia.

Now for an update on what our students have been doing this week, starting with a closer look at Liam..

A day in the life of Liam
Oldham Library

I arrive at The Oldham Library at 10am ready to start my work placement. At the reception area, we need to collect our badges and equipment..

We make our way to the staff room and I check my rota and get ready to start my day. In the mornings I have to check the books and make repairs. This involves checking the date in the front cover and preparing a new sheet stamp and placing it correctly in the book. I really enjoy this! I then have to return the books to the correct places.

Chris who works at the library asked us to fill in some forms regarding the fire safety procedures and making us aware of the importance of knowing how to get out of the building..

Every hour we change duties and all the staff rotate and work in a different area. Another job in the library is to make sure the tourist information leaflets are all stocked up and neat and tidy

I am now starting to work independently and I have progressed to returning books to shelves in the numbers section. This is more difficult than it looks!

This is Fahad, we sometimes work together and he also helps me to return the books.

These are some of my friends from Medtia, they are also on placement here at the library. We have to make sure all the books are returned in the correct order, this is called shelving and equalising..

Another role that I have started, which I am really pleased with is the customer support desk. This job involves making sure customers are given extra time and I have to input their details into the computer. This is the first time I have done this role and I really enjoy working with the staff and members of the public.

Finally, I am back on the ground floor with Mrs Needham, Fahad and Joshua where we are looking at the different ways to write a CV.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Now our job coach Maria has an update for us..

This week Future Finders have had another busy week as we hurtle towards Christmas. Liam, Fahad and Josh have been beavering away in the library helping out staff and customers alike. Fahad is particularly good at problem solving with customer queries around printing and computer problems. Josh has been on the help desk upstairs organising computer time and logging in and out for customers and you have just seen how busy Liam has been!

Lewis continues to be invaluable in supporting the ICT classes at New Bridge School on his Teaching Assistant placement. This week he has been working with Year 7 pupils, looking at and helping them understand the meaning of copyright. Reece is broadening his knowledge at dsgnuk and Jason is still thoroughly enjoying his placement at The Guinness Partnership with our new job coach, Julie. They are working hard to serve in the busy pop up café and to keep all shelves and vending machines fully stocked for the customers.

We have also taken the opportunity this week to spend time together as a group. We have been reflecting on what the last term has looked like and how busy we have all been. We talked about how, between working and college, we sometimes we don’t have enough time together as a group, just to be friends, which then got us thinking about our mental health. We discussed how looking after ourselves and having time together is just as important as getting a job and doing our Employability, Maths and English qualifications. So, with this in mind we decided to get a bit festive – we went for a walk to the local shops, did a bit of Christmas shopping, getting those lists ready for Santa to visit and had a look at the Christmas displays. It was really nice to get together and just spend some time together!