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NEWS AND EVENTS

Archive by author: Fraser WoodsReturn
STEM West 2019

STEM West 2019

Hundreds of pupils from across the West Region (Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire) ventured to the Clydebank Campus of West College Scotland for STEM West 2019 which is organised by the Scottish Government funded Developing the Young Workforce West regional group (DYW West) in partnership with their host organisation West College Scotland. 600 secondary pupils attended engaging with 40 exhibitors offering information and interactive activities to help inspire them to consider STEM related careers and subject choices at school.

 

Now in its 3rd year the annual STEM event (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) attracted a diverse range of employers including NHS GGC, Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Thales and many others.

 

Commenting on the event DYW West Director Bob Davidson said, “This is our largest event of the year and I would like to thank the college, the employers & schools for all their support with the event. All of the employers that attend represent sectors identified as having future growth, with many having positions for school leavers now or in the near future such as modern or graduate apprenticeships. It is a great opportunity for young people & teachers to engage with industry in a fun way to learn more about what they could do on leaving school and how STEM subjects can help them, the routes to that job and the skills and qualifications they would need.”

 

We were delighted to welcome the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Jamie Hepburn MSP along on the 2nd day who commented “STEM is an integral part of our future economic and social development, and it is vital that we nurture strong relationships between employers and educational establishments through the Developing the Young Workforce Programme. This event is a wonderful opportunity to do that and for young people to explore the opportunities STEM subjects offer.”

 

Bob further commented by saying “we are always seeking organisations of all sizes & sectors to get involved with DYW. We can help companies with their workforce planning, future talent pipeline and increasing awareness of their industry & opportunities to young people, teachers and families. Please get in touch with DYW West if you would like to find out more about how together we can help young people better prepare for the world of work”

 

Once again we'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone who came across both days we couldn't have done it without you! To see images of the event see our social media channels!

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Inver Racers at Silverstone: Greenpower International Final

Inver Racers at Silverstone: Greenpower International Final

On Thursday 17th October, Inver Racers competed against Greenpower teams from all over the world, including the USA, China and Spain as well as Scotland and England. After their successes at East Fortune and Grampian Transport Museum, they had earned their place among the best F24 race teams in the world. 

 

Inver Racers finished in 76th place out of over 100 teams on the day, and also won the SQN Agency social media award for best use of social platforms across the 2018/19 season. You can see their Twitter page for a great example of why they deserved this award.

 

Inver Racers have gone from strength to strength on their journey to the International Final. At their first race at East Fortune, they finished first in class (earning them their Silverstone spot) and following this, finished 2nd in class at the Grampian Transport Museum Heat.

 

To read more about Inver Racers, they were featured in this article from the Greenock Telegraph.

 

From everyone at DYW West, congratulations Inver Racers on your amazing journey!

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Can you Support DYW West in 2019?

Can you Support DYW West in 2019?

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DYW Programme Awarded Future Policy Silver Award 2019

DYW Programme Awarded Future Policy Silver Award 2019

This morning, Scotland’s Developing the Young Workforce Programme has been awarded the Future Policy Silver Award 2019 by the World Future Council. The Future Policy Award is the only global award that recognises policies for the benefit of present and future generations.

 

The DYW programme has been selected among 67 nominated policies from 36 countries. Also known as “Oscar for Best Policies”, the Future Policy Award highlights the world’s most impactful policies which empower youth. The other winning laws and policies come from Rwanda, Estonia, Nepal, Los Angeles (USA), Senegal, South Africa and Europe.

 

The winners will be awarded on 16th October during the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Belgrade, Serbia at the 2019 Future Policy Award Ceremony, which is organised by the World Future Council, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

 

This is an amazing achievement for the Developing the Young Workforce Programme. It is also a wonderful accolade for all the partner organisations involved and for those at every level in Scotland who have worked tirelessly to tackle youth unemployment, address inequality and develop new pathways to help young people into positive and sustained destinations. Above all, it recognises the success of young people across Scotland who have strived to overcome barriers to employment and have been empowered to develop skills for learning, life and work and to embrace new opportunities and pathways.

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Could you support DYW West in 2019?

Could you support DYW West in 2019?

In this video, our Chair, Andrew Bowman, outlines ways in which you could do your part as employers to help young people get more prepared for the world of work. To view the full video, head to our YouTube channel!

 

 

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STEM West Returns for 2019

STEM West Returns for 2019

On the 25th & 26th of November, STEM West will be held at West College Scotland Clydebank Campus for its 3rd year. We’d like to invite employers from STEM related industries to inspire the future workforce in a fun and interactive way.

 

In previous years, we’ve had representatives from companies like Rolls-Royce, Arnold Clark and the NHS to name a few. Each employer brings along something interactive and engaging that offers an insight to the work they do. For example, last year Ferguson Marine brought a Virtual Reality welder, where pupils would strap on a VR headset and find out what it is Ferguson Marine do on a daily basis.

 

With over 500 pupils attending over 2 days, this could be a great opportunity for you to represent your organisation/industry in a fun and interactive way and introduce young people to the world of STEM.

 

If this sounds like something you could do, don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@dywwest.co.uk.

 

You can see a gallery of photos from last year’s event here.

And you can see a video of last year here.

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Andrew Bowman: New DYW West Chair

Andrew Bowman: New DYW West Chair

Developing the Young Workforce West (DYW) regional group has appointed Andrew Bowman as its new Chair person.

Mr Bowman, who joined the DYW West Board of Directors in January 2019, will take up his role of Chair immediately replacing former Chair, SSE’s Head of Performance Victor Stirling.

DYW West was established in 2016 to help employers to shape their future workforce and covers Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire.

DYW West Programme Director, Bob Davidson said:

“I’d like to thank Victor for all of his hard work over the past three years, and we are delighted to have someone of the calibre and enthusiasm of Andrew to replace him as our new Chair.

"Andrew is well connected and works with the business base across the region, which is essential. He has a wide range of experience across various industries and sectors and has been a long-term supporter of the DYW West programme.

“We are aware of his successes within Inverclyde, and I am confident his enthusiasm and experience will help drive DYW West to provide further opportunities for our partners and employers across the West region.”

DYW West is one of twenty-one regional groups across Scotland borne out of the Wood Commission review into developing Scotland’s young workforce and is funded by the Scottish Government. The group is hosted within the Paisley Campus of West College Scotland and funded until 31 March 2021.

On accepting the role, Andrew said:

“I am delighted to be appointed Chair of this vibrant, exciting and vitally important organisation. 

“DYW West is a crucial cog in creating opportunities for both employers and young people and has delivered excellent results within youth employment.

“I’d like to thank my fellow Directors for this opportunity and look forward to working with them, Bob and his team to deliver further growth and success for the west region’s current and future young workforce.”

Having grown up in Gourock, Andrew joined Riverside Inverclyde in August 2016 and is responsible for securing new investment into the Inverclyde area and encouraging growth within existing businesses.  Andrew spent the seven previous years at Zurich Insurance where he grew to Strategic Assistant of the Zurich Municipal business based in London.

Andrew is also the Junior Vice-President of Inverclyde Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of Creative Inverclyde; a social enterprise focused on growing the creating sector. Andrew studied at GCU and lives in Greenock with his wife and two children.

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Hire Me Workshops

Hire Me Workshops

Workshops aimed at helping young Renfrewshire school leavers successfully apply for work have recently taken place at West College Scotland Paisley Campus. Held over February and March, the “Hire Me” workshops were organised and delivered in partnership between Renfrewshire Council & DYW West.

 

The workshops comprised of separate sessions focused around application forms, CVs and interviews for approx. 50 pupils and were delivered by West College Scotland board member John Leburn; Invest In Renfrewshire Assistant Manager Michael Moran and DYW West Director, Bob Davidson. In addition, each group was taken on a tour of the college to talk to lecturers about their relevant departments and the opportunities on offer to students.

 

Commenting on the workshops DYW West Director Bob Davidson said “these workshops should give young people a better chance in the future to secure a job having been coached through the relevant steps in the recruitment process. Thank you to the college, Renfrewshire Council and all involved for working together to deliver this important piece of work”

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Incredible Innovations Final 2019

Incredible Innovations Final 2019

The inaugural Incredible Innovations Competition started back in September 2018 and was born out of talks between DYW West, West College Scotland and Morrison Construction with the sole focus of allowing young people to come together try and help their school in a variety of different ways.

 

Teams coordinated market research, came up with ideas, produced prototypes, created presentations and drew up business plans to impress a panel of judges at the finals of the competition, held on the 26th March at the West College Scotland Paisley campus.

 

The competition was open to young people from Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde and teams from Notre Dame High School, Williamwood High School, Mary Russell School, St. Stephens High School, St. Peter the Apostle High School, Our Lady and St. Patrick's High School and St. Columba's High School battled it out to win the lucrative prize of £1000 which would go towards making their ideas a reality and improving the unique problems each school faced.

 

Only one school would win the £1000 on the day, and that honour was awarded to Notre Dame High School for with their eco-friendly, reusable water bottle idea. However, there were two Runners-Up prizes worth £500 that were awarded to from St. Peter the Apostle High School and Williamwood High School with their homework planner app and multi-phone charger ideas respectively.

 

Morrison Construction has also committed to supplying 250 water bottles to kick-start the Mary Russell School Eco-Warrior project.

 

Morrison Construction, Economic Performance Manager, Jim Johnstone said: ‘‘It was fantastic to be part of the Incredible Innovations competition since its inception in August last year, travelling to schools and meeting the pupils and teachers involved.

 

‘‘I was delighted to present the winners cheque to the Notre Dame High School team. It is wonderful to know the prize money will be used to supply 1,300 personal water bottles to existing and new pupils, as well as staff, cutting the use of plastic at the school.

 

‘‘I would also like to congratulate the other finalist teams on their high-quality presentations, you made the judging panels task very difficult.’’

 

Commenting on the competition, DYW West Director Bob Davidson said: “Everything that the pupils have done to reach the finals will help them prepare for life after school – working as a team, conducting research, managing budgets, public speaking and much more – all skills employers want.

 

‘‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the schools, pupils and teachers that entered and congratulations to the winners, runners up and all that reached the final. Finally thank you to Morrison Construction and West College Scotland for being great partners and working together with us on the competition - the project will run again after the summer.”

 

DYW West are always looking for employers of all sizes and sectors to get involved by helping bring the curriculum to life and prepare young people for the world of work. Please visit www.dywwest.co.uk to get in touch.

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