Employability Pilot with the Wester Ross Hospitality Group - Celtic Fringe
During the running of a very successful course of the I-Wish hospitality programme with Springboard Highland in Gairloch, we were pleased to receive the support of Celtic fringe who provided local employer engagement and advice regarding work placement allocation.
Celtic Fringe is primarily the marketing arm of an active collective of hospitality businesses throughout the Wester Ross area of the North West Highlands.
We met subsequently to the I-Wish programme and a number of issues became apparent:-
One opinion shared by many of Celtic Fringe's members is that they wish to develop employment opportunities within the area in hospitality which are seen as an employment path of choice, rather than just because it is available employment.
The employers felt that enticing people willingly to work in their businesses and harnessing that enthusiasm would provide a better customer experience, and either lengthens the visitor stay or increases the frequency of visits.
That more could be done by employers within the local industry to inform and shape opinion of job seekers, to attract them to the industry.
To directly address the latter point, we helped convene a meeting on behalf of the Highland Council Education Department. The Coalition was aware that they had achieved a great deal of success with a project called Bridge to Employment with Johnson & Johnson Lifescan in Inverness. Bridge to Employment was aimed at making students from secondary schools within the Inverness area more aware of the wider applications of the science based subjects they were studying in practical applications within industry.
The positive outcome of the project is that we have drafted a 3 phase combined approach which truly lies well within the ethos of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Phase 1 represents the inclusion of key elements of Hospitality education being included into the school syllabus. Aimed at S 3 and S4 pupils, the course will use much of the SQA Hospitality Int. 1 collateral supported and shaped by local employers to reflect the local skills requirements.
An innovative addition to the scheme is based around the summer jobs that many of the students gain within hospitality. It has been agreed that, if a student is working for one of the participating employers, those employers will capture experiences of observed learning, which will be recognised as part of their school studies.
Phase 2 represents workshops supported by local hospitality employers aimed at S5 and S6 pupils, which will raise awareness of key elements of the industry. Indeed phase 2 is designed initially as an introductory awareness for all later pupils, but for those who have completed phase 1, it will follow the structure of SQA Hospitality Int. 2.
Phase 3 is aimed at those who have left school and not moved into a positive career outcome.
Within each of the phases the employers' input and support is vital, as is the joint working between the High School and the Further Education College with the lead moving from the school to the college through the phases.
The initial step of holding a pilot awareness event which would help shape the pupils' course choices was held in March 2011. The structure of this event was to allow the school and the college to demonstrate the planned education provision and was supported by 6 local employers describing their businesses, their skills requirements and the employment and commercial opportunities their businesses represented. Although held in the school as a timetabled event, a wider invitation was also extended to any interested parents, many of whom took the opportunity to attend.
Within the next few months, we anticipate seeing hospitality industry awareness added to the school timetable, with educational support provided from West Highland College, all supported through Celtic Fringe and their enthusiastic employers who wish to positively influence the quality and scope of recruitment into their industry.
Celtic Fringe is primarily the marketing arm of an active collective of hospitality businesses throughout the Wester Ross area of the North West Highlands.
We met subsequently to the I-Wish programme and a number of issues became apparent:-
One opinion shared by many of Celtic Fringe's members is that they wish to develop employment opportunities within the area in hospitality which are seen as an employment path of choice, rather than just because it is available employment.
The employers felt that enticing people willingly to work in their businesses and harnessing that enthusiasm would provide a better customer experience, and either lengthens the visitor stay or increases the frequency of visits.
That more could be done by employers within the local industry to inform and shape opinion of job seekers, to attract them to the industry.
To directly address the latter point, we helped convene a meeting on behalf of the Highland Council Education Department. The Coalition was aware that they had achieved a great deal of success with a project called Bridge to Employment with Johnson & Johnson Lifescan in Inverness. Bridge to Employment was aimed at making students from secondary schools within the Inverness area more aware of the wider applications of the science based subjects they were studying in practical applications within industry.
The positive outcome of the project is that we have drafted a 3 phase combined approach which truly lies well within the ethos of the Curriculum for Excellence.
Phase 1 represents the inclusion of key elements of Hospitality education being included into the school syllabus. Aimed at S 3 and S4 pupils, the course will use much of the SQA Hospitality Int. 1 collateral supported and shaped by local employers to reflect the local skills requirements.
An innovative addition to the scheme is based around the summer jobs that many of the students gain within hospitality. It has been agreed that, if a student is working for one of the participating employers, those employers will capture experiences of observed learning, which will be recognised as part of their school studies.
Phase 2 represents workshops supported by local hospitality employers aimed at S5 and S6 pupils, which will raise awareness of key elements of the industry. Indeed phase 2 is designed initially as an introductory awareness for all later pupils, but for those who have completed phase 1, it will follow the structure of SQA Hospitality Int. 2.
Phase 3 is aimed at those who have left school and not moved into a positive career outcome.
Within each of the phases the employers' input and support is vital, as is the joint working between the High School and the Further Education College with the lead moving from the school to the college through the phases.
The initial step of holding a pilot awareness event which would help shape the pupils' course choices was held in March 2011. The structure of this event was to allow the school and the college to demonstrate the planned education provision and was supported by 6 local employers describing their businesses, their skills requirements and the employment and commercial opportunities their businesses represented. Although held in the school as a timetabled event, a wider invitation was also extended to any interested parents, many of whom took the opportunity to attend.
Within the next few months, we anticipate seeing hospitality industry awareness added to the school timetable, with educational support provided from West Highland College, all supported through Celtic Fringe and their enthusiastic employers who wish to positively influence the quality and scope of recruitment into their industry.
