February 2012 Management Team Report

Providing a report on the past month’s activities against the 8 key objectives of the organisation

The advancement of education and training:

1. Sue Manser, Planning and Development Champion, concluded the arrangements for Term 2 delivery resulting in 9 new courses beginning in January 2012 and 2 courses progressing from 2011:
   
   
   • Emergency First Aid including Children & Babies
   • English Literacy
   • Numeracy
   • 3 x accredited ESOL classes
   • Community ESOL (progression)
   • Who do you think you are? (Genealogy)
   • 2 x mixed IT classes
   • Sugar Craft (progression)
2. Anne Smith, Skills Support Officer, has been preparing tutor packs and contracts for the tutors delivering courses in the coming January term.
3. Jo Baines, Baines, Engagement Champion, visited the following groups in January: Valley Park Childminders meeting; Bankwood Play & Say; Count me in; Cozy Craft; Bankwood Baby Massage; PALS Play & Learn; Chairobics at Handbank, and distributed marketing and publicity to: Herdings maisonettes; Bankwood primary School; Newfield Green Clinic; Newfield Green Dentist. 
4. Maxine Groobey, VCL Projects Manager, has been working with local partners LBJ Forum to bring together service delivery in line with the new LLS direct delivery contracts.
5. Maxine and Steve Rundell, General Manager, also met with Councillor Cate McDonald, managers and staff from LLS on 27^th January to discuss costing issues with the current LLS direct delivery contracts.  No agreement was reached. Note, this means that the Forum will be subsidising the City council in the delivery of their courses.
6. The VCL Learning Champions Jo Baines and Sue Manser joined Maxine Groobey at the South Adult Learning Forum on January 24^th at Norton College.  The meeting discussed ways in which we could all work together to develop learning pathways for next year’s delivery.  A work group will be set up to develop the Job Skills pathway that will encompass: IT; basic skills and job specific courses, headed up by Maxine Groobey.  Steve Thomas from LLS agreed to develop the mapping information of where delivery is happening in the South Community Assembly area.
7. Anne Smith and Cheryl Alvey, Volunteer Digital Champion joined Maxine Groobey to attend the launch of Sheffield Community Network (SCN) on 31^st January.  SCN opens up potential funding opportunities around digital media and social enterprise.  Maxine and the team will be looking into this closely in the coming weeks to identify if there is an opportunity for us to move forward that will fit with our charitable and project aims.
8. The publicity has been designed and displayed for the ‘Online Shopping Spectacular’ campaign that VCL are running through February and March. This campaign offers an opportunity for local people to save money on their shopping.  New people registering on GoOn and successfully completing to the funders requirements will receive a £10 shopping voucher. Both new and existing clients can save even more money on their first online shop.
9. Linda Joynes has become our latest volunteer in VOC.  She will firstly complete her online training and then go on to help support our clients to have their first taste of the internet and more.