"In partnership with E.S.F. the college has produced the following projects: "

ESF - Needs of Business

Undertaken through a partnership with the Lancashire Colleges Consortium, this project was designed to build upon the last three years of very successful business engagement activity undertaken by the college. The aim of this project was to offer a BNA (Business Needs Analysis) to SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) across Lancashire.

• The specific needs of the employer as a whole
• What the business is about?
• What are the business objectives?
• Where does it want to be in five years?

From this a TNA (Training Needs Analysis) and a Training Plan were produced, offering dedication and experience to understand how skills could help the employer in achieving their objectives. This was a process of examining each aspect of the business to help identify the employee’s for which a TNA would be of assistance to the employer. The plan produced from the TNA allowed Train to Gain to offer solutions for the employer. This was done in ICT, Leadership and Management, Skills needs at Levels 2 and 3, as well as Basic Skills Needs relevant to company needs.

This project started in July 2006 and ended in December 2007. Throughout the project lifespan Blackpool and the Fylde College carried out BNA’s and TNA’s for seventeen employers. The industries the employers were based in varied from transport to finance to retail to name just a few. Further to the employer being provided with Training Plans a number of their employees commenced NVQ’s at Level 2 with us under the Filling a Gapproject.

ESF Filling a Gap

Undertaken through a partnership with the Lancashire Colleges Consortium, this very successful project will target those employees who hold qualifications that a) are no longer current or b) not relevant to the sector they are presently employed in.Through the project they will be trained in a relevant level 2 qualification for their current industry.

The focus, in the main, will be on the Construction, Care and IT industries and will work through the Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE’s) and through the relevant Sector Skills Councils for those industries. Project Activities will include :

• Using business facing staff in colleges to engage with local employers
• Engaging with CoVE’s, SSC’s, union groups, brokerage services and existing employers to raise awareness of project and to support employer engagement

ESF Skilling Up

Undertaken through a partnership with the Lancashire Colleges Consortium, this very successful project was designed to support SME companies and their employees by working with them to establish their training requirements and explain to them the concept of Train to Gain and the Skills Brokerage function.

A TNA (Training Needs Analysis) was carried out with each company and a report provided. The report covered the findings from the TNA and provided appropriate recommendations.

The project was aimed at improving the skill levels of those employees with poor basic skills, through the achievement of a level 2 Skills for Life qualification in order to enable them to undertake a level 2 vocational qualification via Train to Gain.

Delivery was via on-site training, at a time that took into account shift patterns thus minimising time away from production activities. The training provided for the workforce was aimed at a level appropriate to their previous achievement.

This project started in July 2006 and ended December 2007. During the project lifespan Blackpool and the Fylde College provided TNA reports to twenty-one SME’s and enrolled forty-two beneficiaries to either a Literacy or Numeracy course. Beneficiaries spent 3 hours a week over a period of 10 weeks in order to complete their course.

Training took place either in the workplace or at Seasiders Learning Centre which is based at Blackpool Football Ground. Beneficiaries that learnt at Seasiders had the use of facilities such as computers and internet access.

Feedback was provided by beneficiaries to say that their confidence increased especially in writing care plans and reports. The beneficiaries were provided with advice and guidance throughout their course and appropriate progression routes were discussed with them. Some beneficiaries that completed the programme progressed to further study such as an NVQ L2.

Project activities included:-

• Marketing and publicity mechanisms agreed via intermediary agencies i.e. Union Learning Reps
• Specialist staff in place to link with SME’s and undertake Business Needs Analysis ( BNA’s)
• Skills for Life/ESOL intervention work undertaken with those employees who required it
• A flexible programme designed to respond to the individuals work patterns