Where have the weeks gone? I cannot believe we are now at half term! We have had sports leaders making great progress, pre interns getting themselves weekend jobs, Lumenus students making fantastic connections with the Royal Exchange and working with actors, not to mention getting the show rehearsed ready to ‘Rock You’ all!

We are going to end the half term with information on how well our pre internship students are getting on, a look at our Bridging the Gap students and an update on our work experience placements. Let’s start with Bridging the Gap and our job coach Genna down at MMU..

Look who’s back, back again……it’s Josh and the army of ants!! Josh is very happy to be back with Darren in the facilities team and is completing more and more jobs independently! Darren has been off and although I’m certain that Josh loved being in class with me, he was very happy to get back to work. (I don’t know why? Written work seemed fun to me!) Josh is working across all five floors which he enjoys due to the glass lift which he can see all over Manchester from. Josh is also moving onto Barista training! Pedro has been showing Josh how to use the machine correctly and Josh loves it. (I haven’t sampled a Josh coffee yet, but I’m hoping that one day he will bring me one!) So from Josh and I and MMU, we hope everyone has a lovely half term and we will update on our university progress in the new term!

Now our job coach Hayley has news of one of our Bridging the Gap students at The Royal Oldham..

A day in the life of Cherrie
Royal Oldham Hospital Pharmacy Porters

In the morning I arrive in the education centre for 8.30am and get ready to start my work placement at 9:15am. I go and meet John at the chapel. We go and collect the pharmacy bags from different wards and departments and then take the pharmacy bags back to the pharmacy.

At half past ten I deliver the pharmacy bags with medication in, making sure they are locked before I take them to different wards and departments. I ask one of the nurse in the wards to sign the sheet on my clipboard so that the pharmacy staff know the nurses have received the bag.

I go back to pharmacy and get the trolly to collect the black and green boxes off all the wards. I take them back to pharmacy to drop them off. I then deliver the other boxes that have medication in to all the wards and different departments.

At 11am I go to the basement with John to load the truck up to start to deliver the IVs. We then deliver them to different wards and departments which need them. I come back at 11:30am to do a class session or finish off some qualification work. I go on my lunch from 12pm then once back from lunch time I get ready for my afternoon placement.

I also work in the post room on placement, I work a full day on Tuesday and half a day on Friday doing just the morning and I start work at 9.15am.

I put the post into the right pigeon holes and then I go on post rounds to different departments and clinics to pick up the letters before I go back to the post room to sort them out.

I finish my placement at 2.30pm then go back to class to write my diary or finish off work before I go home.

Our pathway students also complete work experience placements. Peter from Digit4ll has been working hard at the Atrium cafe, as our job coch Nicola explains..

Peter has had an amazing half term in the Atrium and has completed lots of different jobs for his work experience. He is always enthusiastic to get stuck in and have a go and has made a real effort to improve his money skills. Peter can replenish the tea, coffee and sugar without support and is confident working in the kitchens when the office staff are making a drink..

Pete can set up the trolley with the various stock and has learnt to load the trolley so it looks neat and professional but what is really impressive is how Pete speaks to the customers. He is so polite and calm asking the staff if they would they like any refreshments (excellent customer service skills Pete!)

Over the past few months Pete has become more confident in using the iPad to input customers orders, take payments and give change. At first Pete was quite anxious about this job but he is making great progress counting out the change with confidence (Well done Pete!)

Another job that needed to be done was doing a stock count and Pete helped to count and calculate all the the chocolate bars that were out on the front and in the storeroom. (Who said Maths isn’t fun? How many Freddos Pete? 95 in total!)

Then there are the messy jobs that need to done, flattening the cardboard, cleaning the tables, scraping the plates and removing the waste and Pete has done them all. He has done well to remember the processes and routines for the different tasks but when I asked Pete “what do you think you have done well” He said “I enjoy the jobs but I like how I am talking to the staff more without being spoken to first.”

Well done and thank you Pete for all your hard work in the Atrium this half term.

Our pre interns have also been working hard, as our job coach Tisha tells us..

Sarah is doing so well on placement and she has become an essential part of the David Lloyd team at Manchester North. Sarah continues to work well with the staff team, she uses her initiative and has become a fast worker.

Georgina, F&B manager, has said Sarah has become very employable which is very positive feedback and has given Sarah so much confidence. Watch this space…! Julie also had a few lovely words to say to Sarah, please take a moment to watch the video..

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Josie is continuing paid work at the club and she will be working extra hours over the holidays.

Over at The Atrium, Nathan is enjoying learning how to bake, here he is making the lovely puddings our students enjoy at Medtia and preparing yummy flapjacks!

Jade is also enjoying baking with Sharon our new head chef.

Ethan will be continuing his Personal Training journey working on improving his confidence and customer service.

Over at the Guinness Partnership…

Sarah has been working on her Maths/Money skills. Below is what she had to say about her first morning at Guinness completing the trolley run…

‘ I have been working with Umar and it has been a pleasure working with him at Guinness and we have been working on the trolley run and the Maths and working out how much We made on the trolley run.’

The pre interns in Colin’s group have also been really busy..

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Congratulations to Dylan who has been awarded ‘Worker of the Week’ in recognition of his hard work at The Royal Oldham Hospital – well done, Dylan!

I hope you have a lovely rested break. Please remember that Monday 24th February is a staff training day and college is closed to students. I look forward to welcoming everyone back on Tuesday 25th February.

Jaina
Head of Key Stage 5 Pathways

Click here for this week’s news from Graham

You can view our previous blog entries here

News from the Learning Centre and New Bridge School can be found here