Aim High - Midlothian

Aim HighLifelong Learning and Employability Midlothian Council Annual Report 2017/18

Lifelong Learning and Employability is part of the Education Service in Midlothian Council.

We support young people, adults and families to improve their life chances through the development of skills for learning, life and work.

We also work with partners to implement initiatives such as Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce, Positive Destinations and Employability.

Our offer

ACCESS TO LEARNING

The chance to get back into learning

ImpROvE quALIfICATIONS

The chance to improve your qualifications

HELp WITH pOSITIvE DESTINATIONS

Help towards a positive destination – getting a job, entering a training course, going to college, university or volunteering

LOTS Of DIffERENT OppORTuNITIES

Lots of different opportunities – youth work, adult learning, family learning, vocational training, employment support and work experience

Lifelong Learning and Employability Lifelong Learning and EmployabilityAnnual Report 2017/18 Annual Report 2017/182 3

3 in modern apprenticeships and 3 other.

• Over 80% of PAVE participants gained five or more qualifications and moved onto positive destinations: 32% to college, 42% to employment, 10% to vocational training and 16% to

Activity Agreements. During 2017 -2018, 30 young people have received a service from PAVE 2 98% were educated fully at PAVE 2, 2% at home. 87% of the young people have gained at least 5 qualifications at National 3, some have also gained National 4 English, Maths, Communications

Skills, Work Experience, Personal Development Award as well as SALTIRE/Volunteering Award. To date 68% have moved into positive destinations such as college, apprenticeships, employment or training, the others will hopefully progress in July 2018 as they are summer leavers.

positive destinations and employability

Young people

The headline aim of Developing the Young Workforce (2014) is to reduce youth unemployment by 40% by 2021. Therefore

every young person in Scotland is entitled to help towards learning, training, employment or volunteering (a positive destination).

• We assist young people towards employment or learning through Youth Activity Agreements

and one-to-one targeted programmes. 207 Youth Activity Agreement referrals led to 114 offers, of which 75 new agreements were taken up. 46 young people moved on to positive destinations: 18 in employment, 15 in employability training, 7 in further education,

Achievements – April 2017 to March 2018

4427 young people attended our

positive destinations projects,

including youth clubs (573 more

than last year, an increase of 15%).

1132 adults and families

attended our free

community projects

(8 less than last year,

a decrease of 0.7%).

363 adults and children attended LLE

Family Learning (48 less than last

year, a decrease of 11.7%).

595 LLE projects were

provided, based in

14 different towns

and villages across

Midlothian (274

more than last

year, an increase

of 85%).

421 people attended

ESOL, Literacy

or Numeracy

opportunities (3

less than last year, a

decrease of 0.7%).

1505 qualifications

achieved (580

more than last

year, an increase

of 62%).

425 local people

participated

in key equality

projects and

events. (new

measure).

£836,000 Lottery Early Action

Funding, secured

through partnership

working, based on

research on mental

health by Midlothian

Youth Platform.

939 young people took part in

School Work Experience

placements. (19 more than

last year, an increase of 2%).

130 young people attend

workshops weekly for

construction and cycle

maintenance (5 more

than last year, an

increase of 4%).

312 young people

started Duke

of Edinburgh

awards (70

more than

last year, an

increase of

29%). 156

awards were

gained (46 more

than last year,

an increase of

42%).

477 participants

from an ethnic

minority took

part in our

opportunities.

(169 more

than last year,

an increase of

55%.).

717 participants from areas of

deprivation participated

in our programmes. (234

more than last year, an

increase of 48%)

127 people with a disability/

barriers to work

received one-to-one

support from us. (55

more than last year, an

increase of 76%).

19 young people

participated in

our Programme

for Alternative

Vocational

Education (PAVE).

(2 less than last

year, a decrease

of 9.5%) and 30

Young People

in Pave 2. (2 less

than last year a

decrease of 6%)

66 people were

supported by LLE

with their Modern

Apprenticeship. (5

more than last year,

an increase of 8%).

1197 adults attended

our paid Adult

Learning courses

including

in Beeslack,

Lasswade and

Penicuik. (562

less than last

year recorded,

decrease of 31%).

(change in recording

method, numbers

will be monitored

over 18/19).

113 day and evening courses were

provided, including 18 accredited

courses. (4 less than last year, a

decrease of 18%).

32 learners have

accessed new

Individual

Training

Accounts

funding

worth £6,384

enabling them

to undertake

accredited

training provided

by LLE. (new

measure).


• We have supported 156 young people to secure a positive destination by means of our pathways in: Animal Care, Child Care, Retail, College, Youth Work, Employability, Army, Sport and Wellbeing, Music, Independent Tenancy, Young Mums, PX2 and the Green Pathways.

Adults with Disabilities

• 127 people with a disability or barrier to work received one-to-one support in our FOCUS projects. 10 people moved into supported employment, 19 into further education and 6 into volunteering.

Equalities WorkThrough our Equalities

Engagement Officer and

partnership with Midlothian

People’s Equality Group, we have

organised 12 projects with 425

people participating. These have

included the Midlothian MELA,

Human Library events,

Unconscious Bias Training and

awareness-raising projects.

Modern Apprenticeships87% completed successfully (above

the national average).

LLE Income generationLLE has attracted over £240,000

through winning contracts and

charging for services.

How well are we doing?Satisfaction

94% of participants completing

our survey said they were highly

satisfied with the LLE programme

they had attended.

Key Skills Improvements

72% of participants completing

our survey reported an

improvement in at least one of

their “key skills” as a result of

taking part in our programmes.

Partnership Working

Learning and Employability

Conference 26th October 2017, the

successful ELM Conference attracted

over 120 delegates from business,

job seekers, adult learners, colleges,

third and public sectors. The

conference has created drive and

direction for further improving adult

learning and employability across

the partnership, building on skills for

learning, life and work.

Developing Midlothian’s Young Workforce (DYW)

Our regional and local DYW

Partnerships bring public, third and

private sectors together to support

young people. They help young

people to be more informed, inspired

and hired through improving

connections between education

and industry. Over 1500 pupils

and teachers have accessed new

programmes of activity, workshops,

industry visits and events. The

Guarantee offers a free recruitment

service to our local businesses.

An additional 200 young people

have signed up to receive job alerts

through the Guarantee and the Jobs

Roadshow Midlothian. The Job

Roadshow connected 27 recruiting

employers who had over 400 live

vacancies with 300 plus young

people from local high schools.

European Structural Fund Employability Support – LLE and

partners, including Lothians Veterans

Centre, Access to Industry, Into Work

and RUTS, have supported local

people to achieve 44 vocational

qualifications, supported 33 to

access Further Education and 19 into

employment.

Veteran’s Placement Internship Programme Midlothian Council

Sean Clancy has become the first

person to complete a veteran’s

placement internship with

Midlothian Council.

Having left the army after 33 years

of service, Sean joined the army

reserves two years ago. Sean

has been working in the Lifelong

Learning and Employability team

as a Youth Support Worker since

December last year.

Speaking about his experience of the

placement, Sean said:

“ Midlothian Council have been really good with me since day one, offering support and encouraging me. It was great to know that I could transfer into something like youth work as I was a bit worried my skill set from the army wouldn’t be compatible with much. This programme is funded by the Armed Forces Covenant and organised by LLE and Bright Green Business Partnership”.

LLE Accreditation – Improvements Over Time


young women from the youth club

took part in two trips in February

2018 and completed a 16k cycle

ride. Specialist staff praised their

attitude and ‘can do’ spirit.

Supporting Adults, families and Young people through Employability, Lifelong and vocational Learning, Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL. (ALN) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Hani is a refugee from Syria where

his university studies in electrical

engineering were disrupted.

He started learning English

with LLE tutors and completed

SQA National 3 ESOL. He now

attends Edinburgh College at

National 4 level and hopes to

progress to National 5 level. He

is in the process of completing

his CSCS certificate for building

construction. He says, “I want to

be an electrical engineer and study

this in Scotland”.

Mia

Originally from Bulgaria, Mia

joined a small friendly ESOL group

at upper intermediate level. She

was soon able to complete some

National 5 ESOL units and knew

she would like to train as a nurse.

She was referred to Progress

through Learning Midlothian

(PTLM), who supported her onto

a nursing degree course at Napier

Youth Clubs……Not a Thing of the past

A strong partnership with Dalkeith

High School, St David’s High School,

Woodburn Primary School and the

Bill Russell Youth Project enable

LLE to deliver three youth work

activities (free swimming project,

and two new youth clubs). These

attract around 65 young people

per week, with 30% of participants

residing in SIMD 1.

Youth provision for Primary 6 and 7

is delivered at Dalkeith High School

Campus (with 25 – 30 participants

per week). This provides transition

support and healthy activities

such as football, games, crafts

and smoothie making, leading

to a Dynamic Youth Award.

Another new youth club has been

established in the MARC Building

in Woodburn, funded by Cashback

for Communities. Feedback from

young people indicates it is a safe,

fun place to meet friends, with

supportive staff and opportunities

to try new things. For example, five

Jamie attended the PAVE 2, Prince’s

Trust group and worked through

units of the Achieve Programme.

Part of that programme was to

attend a three day residential,

where we witnessed Jamie’s real

potential. He really excelled over

all three days, showing a level

of maturity we had not seen

before and demonstrating an

ability to make positive choices.

Jamie started a work experience

placement in in the early part of

2017 and completed a six month

extended placement before being

offered a full-time job, in which he

currently excels.

Youth Activity Agreements

Paul’s school attendance began

to dip and his teacher referred

him to be part of LLE’s Youth

Activity Agreement programme.

Currently he is working towards

Communication level 4 through

the LLE Sports pathway, and has

achieved his Saltire Volunteering

Award as well as a Health and

Safety qualification. Paul feels

he has made real progress and

is better at working with others

and communication – “I’m

moving onto job preparation and

interviewing skills next”.

Engineers. He also attends two LLE

Pathways (Sports and Rural Skills),

and is working towards a Youth

Achievement Award. His confidence

has gradually increased and his

positive engagement on many

levels has a led to a referral to the

Army Pathway. This is delivered in

partnership with Edinburgh College

Army Preparation Course, and leads

to a career in the Forces.

PAVE 2 young people have

designed and built a permanent

sculpture for the community garden.

A ‘Tree of Life’ sculpture was created

to share stories of their relationships,

their struggles and their hopes and

dreams. They even left a space on

the tree for visitors to the garden to

share their stories...and two minutes

after it was erected, two guests

wrote their hopes and dreams on

the branches!

Supporting Young people back into learning and work

Hannah initially found it difficult

to engage, but her PAVE 2 and

LLE key workers persevered and

she passed National 3 Maths and

English. She is now working keenly

towards five further National 3/4s.

She also attended an LLE course,

Crèche Worker Training. She really

enjoyed the course and exploring

the avenues of possible work in

her chosen career path. Hannah

commented: “These classes have

given me confidence, not only to

get back into education. I would

recommend this course to anyone

wanting to change their life”.

Allister has a long term history of

non-attendance at school, but with

one-to-one LLE guidance he is now

taking his National 3 and 4 in English

and Maths. He wants to join the

Army to do vehicle mechanics in

the Royal Electrical and Mechanical

The people behind our statistics – LLE changing Lives

(Names have been changed where requested).

University. She is very happy with

the course, has passed all her

assignments so far and is doing

well on her practical placements.

PEEP is a programme that

supports parents and children

to learn together through play.

It uses song and rhyme, books,

stories and creative play activities.

The PEEP Progression Pathway

allows parents and carers to

gain nationally recognised SQA

units at different levels, covering

communication, language, health

and physical development, and

child development stages. One

participant commented: “This was

a lovely environment to learn new

ways to help my baby develop. It

has helped me realise how simple it

can be to introduce things into daily

life to help her learn in a fun way”.


Brian participated in various LLE

projects such as ALN groups, the

FOCUS team, Ready for Retail at

IKEA and ECDL with LLE. Brian

successfully gained SQA and

Borders College Certificates, then

did a year’s work experience with

the NHS at the Western General on

the Project Search training course.

Brian said:

“Before getting support from LLE

I was just applying for jobs and

courses, and getting nowhere.

The FOCUS team helped me take

baby steps and work on the things

I needed to change and improve.

LLE has made such a difference

to me in terms of confidence and

learning new skills. This really

helps my current role with Project

Search”

Craig was on our Stage 3

programme in the Construction

Workshops and prior to completion

we helped him apply for several

jobs. He successfully secured a

panel-beating apprenticeship.

Craig has now completed his

apprenticeship and said:

“Without the initial support and

ongoing in-work support provided

by the LLE service I would not have

completed my apprenticeship”

Eileen started on the European

Computer Driving Licence

(ECDL) course in January 2017,

which suited her childcare

commitments. She completed it

in May 2017, growing substantially

in confidence. She was offered

an unconditional place on their

HND Administration and IT

course. Eileen says that, without

the ECDL qualification, she would

not have had the necessary entry

requirements for the HND course.

Part of the course involves a work

experience placement and Eileen is

working with the LLE team one day

per week.

David had a weekend job in

retail, but was interested in social

care. David joined the LLE teams

Employability Fund Stage 4 Care

Course to undertake specific training

and gain practical work experience.

“I didn’t expect to get so much

out of the course. The hands-on

work experience was excellent”.

Within four weeks of completing his

training, David had secured a full-

time post with a local nursing home.

“I love the job and my supervisor

has talked me through the

progression routes available. I

know I can develop my career into

nursing or other health-related

professions if I choose”.

Julie attended a Relaxation course

at our Croft Street venue and says:

“I was looking to learn new skills

and join a group of like-minded

people. The tutor showed us how

to use breathing techniques for

calmness and introduced the

group to the health and wellbeing

benefits of mindfulness and

meditation. Over the ten weeks I

learned many new things, whether

it was from watching a TED talk,

carrying out a mindfulness exercise

or doing a group meditation. There

were varied levels of knowledge

within the group members and it

was good to share our experiences.

The course gave me the incentive

to start practicing yoga and

meditation at home. I feel that it

gave me a much-needed boost

to my physical and emotional

wellbeing.”

LLE are expanding the range of qualifications to help local people improve their skills, for learning, life and work.

National 5 Early Education and Childcare

Following a successful approval visit

by SQA, LLE offered the National 5

Early Education and Childcare course

to run over a year from January

2018 in Penicuik; 17 people are now

registered on the course. With the

growth in the childcare sector, in

particular the increase in hours being

offered through nursery provision,

the course is a stepping stone into

working with children. It covers child

development, health, working in the

sector and play. The course has also

benefited from the new Individual

Training Accounts, available through

Skills Development Scotland – My

World of Work. Participants attending

the course have been able to use

the Individual Training Accounts to

support their study. The next course

will run from September 2018.

Progress through Learning Midlothian – from Community Based Learning to University.

https://stv.tv/news/features/1412253-meet-the-family-with-three-generations-in-university-at-same-time/

LLE Equalities Work – reaching out, influencing views and including others.

Secondary School Teacher-

“The Human Library event on Purple

Friday at Lasswade High School was

a huge success. It was great to have

such a diversity of people from so

many walks of life coming into the

school to share their stories with our

young people. It was one of the most

meaningful workshops I had ever

seen in education”.

Roslin Primary pupils said:

“I learned that it’s okay to be

different”.

“I really liked the human library.

I learned a lot of things, like how

differences are good because if we

were all the same it would be boring”.

“I learned that it doesn’t matter who

you are or what you look like, you

should just be you”.

Quote from Human Books:

“ The huge joy of human library is seeing the lightbulb moment in the readers when they place themselves in your shoes and see your reality; including both our personal obstacles and positive experiences. I would highly recommend it for anyone with a story to tell.”


Contact us to find out more and see what’s on offer for 18/19.

Lifelong Learning and EmployabilityCentral SupportTel: 0131 271 3713Email: [email protected]/llewww.facebook.com/llemidlothiantwitter.com/LLEadult_family

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