Tag Archives: young

East Lothian Works and SOSSTA’s Sea-Going Course

Today’s blog post will be focusing on the sea-going training course run by SOSSTA and East Lothian Works. This course covers four accredited SQA units at Level 2, and one voluntary unit. It gives young people the opportunity to introduce themselves to a range of careers within the seagoing industry, such as sea fishing, boat hospitality, engineering, and the Navy. The course itself covers:

  • Basic stability
  • Firefighting
  • Sea survival
  • First aid
  • Health and safety

Young people learning about the sea-going industry is really important in East Lothian, as being near the coast is such a huge part of the Local Authority’s tourism industry and economy.

We asked a student who had participated in the course what they thought:

What made you decide to take part in the Sea-Going course?
I thought it might be good for helping me with some of my jobs, and it would be quite good on my CV.

How did you find the experience?
I thought it was quite good to learn about the things that this course covers.

What was your favourite part about the course?
Probably learning about what you would have to do if you abandoned ship.

What are you doing now?
Going on tall ships, and doing surf lifesaving club.

Individuals wishing to take part in this course must be between the ages of 16 and 21, and cannot be in education, training, or employment. They must be a resident of East Lothian, have a genuine interest in the sea-going industry as a career, and must be committed to undertaking practical and classroom based learning.

If you would like to find out more, contact Connie McLaren – cmclaren1@eastlothian.gov.uk – or Kathleen Renton – krenton@eastlothian.gov.uk – or telephone 01620 827 262.

Keep up to date with East Lothian Works:
Twitter – twitter.com/EL_Works
Facebook – facebook.com/EastLothianWorks

An Interview with Rohan

I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to interview Rohan, an S3 student in East Lothian, who has taken part in East Lothian Works’ Pre-Voc Musical Theatre group. It was fantastic to gain an insight into what it is like to take part in one of these programmes, and to understand what students enjoy and find difficult about doing such activities. East Lothian Works’ Pre-Vocational courses offer students in secondary school the opportunity to learn and develop social and practical skills which help them gain employment, training, or a place at college or university. They give students the chance to learn new skills and build on talents that they already have.

I sat down with Rohan to ask her a couple of questions:

Continue reading An Interview with Rohan →

Media Education’s Scientific Technologies Video

East Lothian Works have partnered up with the organisation ‘Media Education’, who aid young people in creating media projects. Together with some incredibly talented young people, the team have put together a fantastic video providing an insight into the Scientific Technologies Foundation Apprenticeship.

Check it out below:

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Media Education and the entire team for putting this incredible video together. If you’d like to find out more about Foundation Apprenticeships, have a read of our blog post about them here.

Keep up to date with East Lothian Works:
Twitter – twitter.com/EL_Works
Facebook – facebook.com/EastLothianWorks

An Interview with Katie Higgins

Now that the campaign on Foundation Apprenticeships is winding down, now is a good time to chat to Katie Higgins, Co-ordinator for Developing the Young Workforce at East Lothian Works. She is responsible for the planning and logistics of Foundation Apprenticeships in East Lothian, and so Katie is one of the best people to speak to on the subject matter. She is fairly new to the role, having only started less than a year ago, and yet she’s gone full steam ahead, implementing three new Foundation Apprenticeship frameworks, and co-ordinating many different events and activities.

I sat down with Katie to ask her a couple of questions. Continue reading An Interview with Katie Higgins →

The Foundation Apprenticeship in Scientific Technologies

If you follow East Lothian Works on Twitter and Facebook (links at the bottom of this post), you may have seen that we are currently running a social media campaign that focuses on a different Foundation Apprenticeship each week. This week, we’re looking at the Scientific Technologies course. Have a read below to find out more about this framework. Continue reading The Foundation Apprenticeship in Scientific Technologies →

A Summery Summary

Love it or hate it, the summer is beginning to come to an end, and before you know it, school will be back in session, and some people will be going back to work. Therefore it seemed like a good time to look back and reflect on the summer that East Lothian Works has had – we certainly have been keeping busy!

Our team have been hard at work, planning courses and frameworks to be delivered to students all the way in 2020. It seems far away, but it’s important to be ready in plenty of time, as it will be Christmas before you know it! The team have been working on collaborating with Edinburgh College to ensure that secondary school students in East Lothian get the opportunity to take part in a wide range of courses as part of the School-College Partnership programme.

The Pre-Vocational team have been doing similar; working together to ensure a fantastic range of courses are available next year. East Lothian Works has also been working on Foundation Apprenticeships, working on our current offer and what we can do to always be improving. The team have also been focusing on our young people doing Activity Agreements, ensuring they are given the best opportunities we can provide.

Even at this early stage, we are already thinking about Jobs Kingdom Live 2020. It feels like the event only happened yesterday! We are incredibly excited to be working with our partners again to create another fantastic experience next year.

The ‘Services for Adults’ team have also been hard at work, focusing on assisting adults with their employability skills by providing bespoke guidance and training. They have been continuing to provide fantastic support for those who need it.

Overall, it has been a busy, and yet productive summer at East Lothian Works, and we are excited about implementing all our plans both in this academic year, and in 2020-2021.

Keep up to date with East Lothian Works:

Twitter – twitter.com/EL_Works
Facebook – facebook.com/EastLothianWorks

#NoWrongPath

Today, Tuesday the 6th of August, is not only Scottish exam results day, but it’s also #NoWrongPath day. This is a campaign led by Developing the Young Workforce in Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian, that aims to show young people that many individuals in interesting job roles in Scotland may not have taken a straight, obvious, or traditional path to get there.

The #NoWrongPath campaign celebrates the range and diversity of career paths that are followed after school in Scotland. While some people choose to go to college and/or university after secondary school, others may choose to go into training, an Apprenticeship, or straight into employment. All of the aforementioned pathways after school can lead to your dream job, as long as you apply hard work and determination.

Last year, #NoWrongPath was used almost 20,000 times on social media. Help us spread the word this year, by going on to East Lothian Works’ Twitter and Facebook page (links below) and sharing our #NoWrongPath posts. Or, you could get involved yourself! Head on to social media and share your own story to success; how did you get to where you are now?

I’d like to extend a massive good luck and congratulations to all the young people receiving their exam results today. Remember, exam results do not determine your future, so work hard and keep focused, and you’ll get to where you want to be.

Keep up to date with East Lothian Works:
Twitter – twitter.com/EL_Works
Facebook – facebook.com/EastLothianWorks

A Morning at Charles River Laboratories

I arrived at Charles River Laboratories bright and early on the morning of the 1st of May. Upon my arrival I was warmly welcomed in to the main reception building by Stephen Madden – the Head of Regulatory ADME and Discovery Sciences. My main goal was to learn a bit more about the world of lab-based science, in order to aid those undertaking, or considering undertaking, the Foundation Apprenticeship in Scientific Technologies. Continue reading A Morning at Charles River Laboratories →

The Foundation Apprenticeship in Financial Services

If you follow East Lothian Works on Twitter and Facebook (links at the bottom of this post), you may have seen that we are currently running a social media campaign that focuses on a different Foundation Apprenticeship each week. This week, we’re looking at the Financial Services course. Have a read below to find out more about this framework. Continue reading The Foundation Apprenticeship in Financial Services →

Staff Spotlight: An Interview with Gary Mitchell

In this week’s Staff Spotlight, we will be talking to Gary Mitchell, an Employment Adviser at East Lothian Works. Having worked in the field for ten years, Gary is a key figure when it comes to employment for young people in the Local Authority. Therefore he seemed to be the perfect person to speak to in order to learn more about his job role at East Lothian Works. Continue reading Staff Spotlight: An Interview with Gary Mitchell →