Scotland's Biggest Parent's Event is back for another year!

This year Scotland’s Biggest Parents’ Events (SBPE) will take place over the week of 15–19 November 2021 which coincides with a new national week ‘Scottish Careers Week’ developed by Skills Development Scotland.

SBPE's National Launch Event, will take place on Monday 15th November at 7pm, along with a series of more local events and activities across the rest of the week and social media activity.

The aim is to deliver some key messages about jobs and skills of the future and how employers and wider partners are involved in guaranteeing our young people in Scotland a positive step after school. We will feature information on the Scottish Careers Service with our partners Skills Development Scotland and you will hear about how Developing the Young Workforce is bringing the curriculum to life through employer experiences in schools. All of this in a jam packed 30 minute video!
 

Click to view Launch Video

International Chefs day is celebrated every year to honour the profession and educate people about the sector. We partnered up to host an event with West College Scotland and the Scottish Chefs Federation.

The event was held over two days where 28 schools attended West College Scotland's Paisley, Clydebank and Clydebank campuses. Pupils took part in multiple activities with guest chefs and mocktail mixologists to help inspire them to think about a career in the Hospitality sector and promote heathy eating.

The events at each campus were very successful and everyone seemed to have a great day overall!

Here's to next year!

CCG have partnered with OLSP to create a 4 week construction programme that kicked off on the 21^st October. The programme will cover a variety of topics such as career talks about the site based apprenticeships and office based roles, along with work readiness and employer expectations from their HR department. Pupils will also be able to build on their employability skills by completing CV/ Cover letters and interview techniques with CCG.

Pupils have the opportunity for site visit, at a local site, to hear from the Site Manager and to meet the apprentices on site. At the end of the programme, Pupils interested in work experience on site, have the chance to apply for a 2 week work experience onsite working with plumbing, joinery and electrical trades on site.

 We had 18 pupils take part in the first 2 webinars. Pupils have really enjoyed the sessions and are looking forward to the next steps.

You may have heard of the Young Person’s Guarantee which aims to ensure that within two years every 16-24 year old in Scotland has access to a job or learning opportunity.

The impact of the pandemic on employers and young people alongside a challenging labour market means that there’s never been a more important time to consider young talent within the workforce.

Employers from all industries and of all sizes are already coming forward to support the Guarantee, however we need more.

This webinar will help employers in Tourism and Hospitality find out why it makes it easier for young people and employers to connect, and how to get involved.

Hosted by The Torridon and delivered by the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland the webinar includes:

• an overview of the Young Person’s Guarantee, the 5 asks of employers and how to sign up
• examples from employers on how they’ve got involved
• sectoral information from SDS including apprenticeships and business support

The event will be hosted and introduced by Rohaise Rose-Bristow, People Director at The Torridon. We will  be joined by Springboard who support unemployed people to improve their job prospects – futureproofing the hospitality and tourism talent pipeline. Finally we will hear from Julie Mackenzie, Organisational Development Partner at Gleneagles who will discuss the work they do to bring young people into the sector.

The webinar takes place Friday 22 October, 10-11am.

More details and sign up

Nominations for the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards are now open!

The pandemic has changed every aspect of people’s lives and apprenticeships are playing a key part in Scotland’s economic transformation.

It’s never been more important to recognise the success of dedicated apprentices, the commitment of their employers and innovation shown by learning providers.

This year, the awards will also showcase apprentices and employers working hard to support Scotland’s climate change ambitions and target of net zero emissions by 2045 with the introduction of two new categories: 

• Supporting Net Zero Apprentice Employer of the Year  
• Support Net Zero Apprentice of the Year 

Please consider putting forward individuals and organisations who you believe demonstrate excellence in the delivery of apprenticeships, whether they are an apprentice, employer, ambassador, instructor, or training provider.  

Award nominations close at noon on Wednesday 27 October 2021 winners will be revealed during Scottish Apprenticeship Week in March 2022.  

Visit apprenticeships.scot/awards to find out more about the new categories, use the new nominations platform and to submit nominations.  

If you have any questions, please contact Emma.Milroy@sds.co.uk 

Tuesday 10^th August 21 marked exam results day in Scotland, DYW West supported the #NoWrongPath campaign.

#NoWrongPath is a social media movement which provides inspiration and reassurance to young people receiving their exam results.

We recognise that some young people may feel disheartened by their exam results this year, particularly in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption to both education and the job market.

#NoWrongPath helps to demonstrate that many people in interesting job roles across Scotland may not have taken a straight, obvious or traditional path to get there. It shows young people that there is #NoWrongPath to get to where you want to be.

The campaign shows young people the options that are available to them and that exam results are not necessarily the key to unlocking future success.

The DYW network are delighted to be welcoming the new year with our new Virtual Careers campaign 'New Year First Career'!

About

We had initially planned to launch virtual careers events on the week beginning 25th January. However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we have decided to delay the launch of these until pupils are back in school and can receive the full benefits of the events. With that in mind, we're making the accompanying resources available for educators on Monday, 25th January to support them during the lockdown period. These resources are focused around 'Tasty Careers', 'Healthy Careers' and 'Energising Careers'.

Once the resource packs are made available on the 25th, recipients will be able to access a series of career inspiration films which will be hosted on the DYW Scot website. These films will be complementary to the resources and toolkits and would serve as the basis of school activity, with local content such as class projects and live Q&A sessions being added in, for example.

What are the aims for the New Year First Career campaign?

• To raise awareness of the diversity of careers in the food & drink, healthcare and energy sectors as well as how to access them
• To enable young people to think about their subject choices in relation to pathways and make informed decisions
• To support educators and parents to understand how to support their young people on their journeys

Get Involved

Schools who wish to deliver the resources during w/c 25th January are encouraged to post content on social media using the hashtag #DYWVirtual and tagging their local regional group (@DYWWEST) and DYW Scot (@DYWScot).

For more information, don't hesitate to get in touch with us! You can contact our Digital Marketing & Events Executive, Fraser, at fraser.woods@dywwest.co.uk.

Over the course of this week, keep an eye on our socials as we've got some excellent content in store for #STEMWest2020 from the West Region's most amazing employers!

Here's who you can expect to hear from:

• Advanced Forming Research Centre
• Babcock
• Diodes
• Institute of Civil Engineers
• Doosan
• Kier Group
• Lantra
• National Manufacturing Institute Scotland
• Scottish Leather Group
• Thermo Fisher Scientific
• Aggreko
• Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park
• J.P. Morgan
• Royal Bank of Scotland

Tune in Monday-Thursday this week to hear more about apprenticeships, careers, routes into employment, skills, qualities & qualifications as well as some hands-on activities and experiments and much more!

If you want to get involved on social media, just use the hashtag #STEMWest2020 and tag us!

DYW West Socials

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DYWWestRegion/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dyw_west/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DYWWEST

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dywwest

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI49Ixlg_V63JDp9nRD8-Mg

DYW West Newsletter