Our ACL – March dates in the diary
We have sent out email invites for the next Our ACL, scheduled for Friday, 5th March 3-4pm and Tuesday, 9th March 4-5pm. The invites will be updated with more information and the agenda over the coming days. As with previous sessions, you will only need to attend one of these Teams live events and the recording will be uploaded to the website.
Surge Testing in Brentwood
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ACL is currently supporting the Surge Testing for a postcode area in Brentwood. Brentwood ACL is supporting the Public Health effort (Operation Eagle) with the Grand Hall being used as a collection point and the car park being used as a venue for a Mobile Testing Unit.
This would not have been possible without the hard work of Paul Hanlon and Chris Roe who have helped make sure the site is ready and safe for residents to come and collect and drop off home testing kits. This has involved receiving and setting up 10,000 kits, PPE, printed letters, pedestrian barriers and traffic cones. They have also ensured the site has been kept clean, the army of volunteers kept happy and, at the same time, preparing the site for exams being held.
Thanks to Paul, Chris, Karin Lehmann and members of ELT who have offered to come and support and ensure that the operation is running smoothly for the rest of this week and the weekend. Feedback from Public Health and the Department of Health and Social Care has been positive with many impressed with our lovely building and staff.
National Apprenticeship Week roundup
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Well done to everyone who was involved in NAW. Throughout the week, case studies and success stories were published from both employers and apprentices, common apprenticeship myths were debunked as well as sharing information videos to help employers understand more about how ACL apprenticeships can support their businesses. You can see some of the content here.
Our Business Development team also hosted information sessions throughout the week for both ECC and external, which saw over 1000 people click through and over 83 sign ups for the external events.
Live information sessions have now been organised on a monthly basis going forward. It’s clear the pandemic has hit our younger residents particularly hard and they’re experiencing higher rates of unemployment, so well done to the teams for going the extra mile and running these beneficial sessions.
Final week to complete surveys
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A big thank you to those that have completed the digital skills survey and workforce survey, however there are still a large number of staff who have not completed one, or both of these.
Could we please ask these are completed by the end of this week. This provides information that we can be called upon to share in the event of an Ofsted inspection as well as informing our future staff development offer, in particular developing a digital skills programme for all staff.
The link for the digital survey (TNA) is here form
The link for the workforce survey is here Annual ACL Workforce Survey 20-21
ECC IT Super Users!
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Do you know where to find a Super User if you need help with an ECC system?
ACL have the following Super Users:
- Adenike Johnson – Teams
- David Harvey – TCS
- Jeanella Potter – TCS Buying and DataForge
- Jaimie Huckfield – TCS Buying, TCS Mileage, Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote
- Jo Loss – Teams, Windows 10, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook.
Are you interested in becoming a Super User? Read all about it and register your interest.
Bluetooth is here
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We are always trying to bring improvements and developments to your technology to make life easier for you. This week to support accessibility and flexible working we have enabled Bluetooth for your ECC laptops.
We are sure you will know this but just in case – Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard which is used for transmitting data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances.
So, if you have Bluetooth headsets, earphones, ear pods, a mouse or keyboard you will now be able to set this up to work with your ECC laptop/device. This functionality can also help in terms of accessibility. For instance, it may now be possible for a user with a Bluetooth enabled hearing aid(s) to use make use of the ECC enabled Bluetooth functionality.
Setting up Bluetooth is quite simple to do and to help you we’ve got a 5-step guide available on the IT Training Resource Portal.
A couple of things to note, firstly as much as we want you to enjoy this functionality, because of the sheer volume and breadth of Bluetooth enabled devices available out there, we are only able to enable the functionality on your laptop. Once that’s done, connecting, maintaining, and troubleshooting whichever Bluetooth device you may choose, is down to you.
And secondly, if you are using Bluetooth equipment for the purpose of sensitive and confidential conversations, use equipment with Bluetooth 5 instead of Bluetooth 4. Bluetooth 5 is the latest version and as well as a faster (twice the speed of 4), smoother connection is seen as more secure.
You can tell which Bluetooth version your device uses – it should tell you on the packaging, the equipment itself or by looking up your equipment online to find out. Bluetooth 5 has been around for a couple of years now so it’s likely that’s what you will have.
What do you want to improve for your lessons this term?
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Teachers and LSAs, are you planning something new? Do you want to practise a new tool or method? I can drop in on a lesson, or meet online to help you reflect and evaluate, which could be quicker and more productive than solving an issue alone. Speak to your CL to request a session. View this short to find out more – https://shorts.flipgrid.com/watch/16073333137998572
Curriculum Leads: during a professional discussion after a session visit, you can offer the teacher a mentor session. Teachers might want further reflection, or to discuss a new idea. They might want to improve questioning, teaching methods or assessment, or use a different tech tool or resource. We can meet online, email, or talk on Teams. Individuals or groups.
Weekly drop-ins on the Tutor and LSA Tea Room on ACL Teams: another way to catch up, learn from each other and solve problems. I’ll be there with Jo Loss.
Thank you, Karen Gowlett.
Learner Wellbeing Afternoon Tea
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We would like to invite all learners to take part in our virtual Afternoon Tea! Please encourage your learners to join.
This online session will be held on Teams on Fridays, every fortnight, at 2:00-3:00 and is available to all ACL learners.
Our afternoon tea is a place to socialise, meet other learners, ask some questions, and find some information about wellbeing and our provision.
Dates:
- 26th February 2:00-3:00
- 12th March 2:00-3:00
- 26th March 2:00-3:00
- 9th April 2:00-3:00
- 23rd April 2:00-3:00
- 7th May 2:00-3:00
They can find the link to these sessions in ‘Your Wellbeing’ area on VLE.
Warm regards,
Senior Leadership Team (SLT)
Katherine Burns, ACL Principal
Christian Norman, VP Curriculum & Learning
Teresa Ablewhite, VP Quality & Compliance
Claire Maynard, Business Operations Manager
Amanda Rawlings, Commercial Manager
If you have any feedback or queries relating to this email, please contact acl.internalcomms@essex.gov.uk
