College News: Bedford College Offer Unique Training for Care Home Management

Foundation Degree helps training need in care industry - Bedford College is offering a unique 3 for 1 deal to those in care home management.

This fast growing industry is struggling to keep up with the changing training demands made upon aspiring and existing managers – now there is a solution which provides the relevant professional training in care and management as well as the very latest degree level learning.

The package covers NVQ Level 4 in Care, the Registered Manager’s Award and the Foundation Degree in Care Management which separately would cost over £4,000 but is offered over two years at £1,225 per annum.

It is a fast and furious course because that is the way customers want it. They attend college one afternoon a week and the rest is home or work-based evidenced study. It takes two years to complete all three qualifications.

None of the quality is lost because much of the learning overlaps – and students have the benefit of sharing experiences at their weekly college sessions – from which they gain a great deal.

“It’s a tough job being a care home manager and we want to provide all the help we can,” explained Assistant Director of Care at Bedford College, Margaret Bond.

The benefit of the courses, in particular the Foundation Degree, run in conjunction with the University of Bedfordshire, is that it empowers managers to deal more effectively with professional challenges such as inspections by the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate (CSCI) which monitors care homes against the Care Standards 2000 legislation.

One graduate of all three courses is Remi Wamala who is Manager of the Crescent Nursing Home in Bedford. This home for clients with mental health needs is part of the Apex Care Home Group, a family owned business, which has three homes in total in the county.

Said Remi: “Completing these courses meant we at the Crescent Nursing Home could provide improved care plans, improved supervision and improvements to our services in general.

It enabled me to get better CSCI reports because I was able to provide inspectors with the information in the right way to demonstrate the professionalism of care which is actually provided here.

Now two fellow staff members are taking the course as we can see the practical benefits. It has really helped to motivate people.”

Apex Care Homes General Manager Andrea Thasan said: “It is very helpful to have access locally via Bedford College to professional training for our staff. This is an ever-changing industry where we have to balance our time between providing the best possible care for our clients whilst having to evidence we are doing just and complying with all the current legislation. Apex Care Homes prides itself on its record of providing a caring and supportive environment from well trained staff for all our 100+ residents in our homes in Bedford and Luton.”

Bedford College provides all levels of NVQ training relevant to the care industry from Level 2 and 3 and including Level 4. In some cases funding can be found to help cover the costs. >From September 2007 the College will be mapping the Foundation Degree in Child & Adolescent Studies to two NVQs to provide the same value for time and money!

Photo shows Remi at the Crescent Care Home with Bedford College’s Margaret Bond and Karen Snowdon, left

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Hand in glove success for Bedford College

Students from Bedford College have been awarded first prize and runner-up prizes in a British Glove national competition - looking at safety gloves.

Przemyslaw Pencak on the National Diploma Graphics Course was first and Claire Deacon, on the same course, was runner-up. Przemyslaw will receive £300 and Claire £100 at a luncheon to be hosted at the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London at Plaisterers' Hall, One London Wall, London on 4 July.

The competition, which is open to all UK graphic design students, is

a key component of the British Glove Association's on-going campaign in support of safety of hands and fingers in the work place.

Entrants were required to design a poster campaign for a beer and

spirits company which is attention grabbing, impactful and hard

hitting. The campaign is required to make employees aware of the

serious hand injuries that can result if they do not wear gloves and

to raise the profile of health and safety at work and how wearing

gloves is an essential part of this. It should highlight the risk of

injuries from lacerations from broken glass, heat burns and chemical

burns.

According to the Health & Safety Executive, over one milion people

suffer an injury at work each year and many of these are hand injuries.

The winning posters will also be printed and, with the help of BGA

members, will be distributed to workplaces throughout the country.

The work of Bedford College students will on display in an end of term exhibition in June