NEW COURSE: Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTTLS) Poultec Training Ltd is now running Preparing to Teach in the Lifelong Learning Sector (PTTLS) courses.   This course is a new 30 hour preparatory course for all teachers new to the lifelong learning sector (LLS). It can be accredited at Level 3 or Level 4 and forms the first stage of the new suite of qualifications that all teachers in the LLS are required to take. All of the course trainers are experienced, qualified teachers and teacher educators in the lifelong learning sector and the course is run in a relaxed and friendly environment. If you are interested in attending this course or would like any further information please contact Rose Waterman on 01362 850983 or drop us an email at enquiries@poultec.co.uk.

Environmental Business Advice Service NOW AVAILABLE Poultec Training Limited is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Environmental Advice and Support service. Environmental management is now a mainstream business issue and can have many organisational benefits; as well as protecting and enhancing the environment it is possible to reduce your waste production, lower your energy and water bills, use resources more efficiently, improve your business reputation, increase your competitive edge and ensure legal compliance. Fully-funded environmental advice, support and guidance is now available to private businesses located within Breckland, Great Yarmouth and North Norfolk (Coastal) who have less than 250 employees. This service is funded by a government initiative called the Business Rural Innovation and Training Enterprise Project (BRITE2) and is supported by EEDA, Breckland District Council, Great Yarmouth District Council, ESF and the LSC. Funding is available until October 2008. To take advantage of this great opportunity please contact Environmental Advisor on 01362 850983.

Innovative Training Programme Reaps Success 10/4/08 Recognition was given this week at an awards ceremony acknowledging the success of an original work-based training programme funded by the Norfolk Learning and Skills Council using the European Social Fund. Staff at Banham Poultry were rewarded for their achievement in completing their City & Guilds ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) exams at the company’s Attleborough headquarters. 13 members of staff achieved the qualification having studied a tailor-made ESOL for the workplace course delivered by Poultec Training Ltd, who worked in close partnership with Banham Poultry to deliver flexible English classes around the factory’s shift patterns. Martin Kula, Tomasz Kubicki, Mariusz Pawlowski, Neale Mcardle, Barry Clarke, Liliana Silva, Rachel Öner, Natalija Perkuna, Catia Santos, Marta Novotna. Neale Mcardle (Poultec), Ernestas Neniskis, Edgars Doktenieks, Barry Clarke (Factory Manager), Rachel Öner (Poultec), Marius Buskevicius, Vaida Kripaviciute, Julija Tautvdaite. Dennis Foreman, Banham Poultry Director said, “We are very proud of our staff achieving their City & Guilds ESOL certification. One of the greatest challenges at Banham Poultry is the ability to overcome the language issues as we currently employ staff from approximately 7 different countries. In the interests of Health & Safety & Food Safety, it is important that all staff understand their responsibilities and we have a fully trained and coherent workforce. We actively encourage our foreign workers to participate in all aspects of learning and are happy to provide the time and facilities to those that wish to learn. It’s great to see people rewarded for their efforts.” On behalf of Poultec Training Ltd, Tutor Rachel Öner said “ESOL is an essential skill for life, for individuals, families and communities and it can make the difference between a confident and skilled workforce as well as making a difference to the economic development and effectiveness of a company. Many workers have vital skills that a company needs but are being held back due to their lack of confidence in the language. These learners have welcomed the opportunity to attend convenient classes appropriate to their needs and have progressed considerably.” Poultec Training Director Neale McArdle also attended the award ceremony to congratulate the learners and added “This is the type of project which is vital to the company and the local community and it's great to see it succeed. I'd like to add my thanks to the Poultec and Banham training teams who put in so much to ensure this success.” The on-going ESOL project has now seen more than 25 learners achieve qualifications, and follows the success of the Institute of Management course at Banham Poultry earlier this year, demonstrating the company’s commitment to staff development.

Recognising Achievement at "the Company that Cares"  Banham Poultry's famous strap line was certainly in evidence on 8th February 2008 during a Presentation Ceremony for the management team at their Attleborough HQ. The event recognised all the hard work candidates had put into completing their ILM (Institute of Leadership and Management) awards. Many of the candidates were collecting their first management qualification and were justifiably proud of their achievement. Certificates were presented by Banham Director, Dennis Foreman who explained "I'm really pleased to see our management team achieve so much. It's great for us as a business to have a well trained management team. I'm now keen to see more of our staff taking advantage of this great opportunity and will certainly encourage them to do so." Training manager Malcolm Strange was the driving force behind this training and he explained that he would like to see the staff at Banham develop and grow with the company. There are a great number of opportunities within the factory for people to develop, the training department, with the support of Poultec are here to facilitate this.   Poultec Training Director Neale McArdle and Skills Academy Manager Nathan Raines also attended the awards presentation and congratulated the candidates on their hard work and effort. The programme is the result of a great partnership between Banham Poultry Ltd and Poultec Training Ltd and has enabled the management team to realise their full potential. On behalf of Poultec training, Kevin Bowman said The journey that some of these candidates have been on has been great and the personal development that goes with it has been amazing. Each candidate has progressed over the 8 week period and I am proud to have been a part of it. Congratulations to all candidates. The ILM endorsed award was specifically designed for Banham Poultry Ltd, by Poultec Training Ltd, to meet the needs of the management team at their poultry processing plant in Attleborough. Since this training was first started in October 2007, a second group of managers/supervisors have started the 8 week intensive course. Good Luck to those who will be sitting their examination in March 2008.

Poultec Celebrates Learning

Learn, excel and be recognised! That was certainly the theme at the Celebration of Learning held by Poultec Training of Mattishall near Dereham on 26th July. At this annual event Poultec gathered together the most outstanding learners from the year’s programmes, to recognise the achievement and hard work put in by learners across the region.

The ceremony demonstrateed the high levels of commitment, enthusiasm and desire for skills of both learners and trainers alike. The event celebrateed life-long learning and the thirst people have to gain knowledge even after they have left school, showing true dedication to self development and learning in the work environment. Recognising achievers who have made outstanding effort in their area of study, the celebrations reward 11 learners with presentations in 6 categories; Food Manufacturing, Agriculture, Contact Centre, Retail & Customer Service, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), Business Administration, and IT.

Poultec Training is a key partner in providing skills and qualifications in the work environment. Working with many local companies and organisations Poultec delivers a wide range of learning opportunities and is very keen to support the Government’s skills agenda. Neale McArdle, Poultec’s Training Director said “I would like to congratulate all of these learners on their achievement and also recognise the professionalism of our training team in supporting this event”.

An impressive line-up of speakers demonstrateed the importance in which the learning community holds this annual ceremony which will be held at the South Green Park Enterprise Centre, Mattishall. The line-up includeed Jeff Verguson, John Nixon for the Sector Skills Council for Food & Drink – Improve Ltd, Andy Hodgeson of the Norfolk Learning Partnership and Selwyn Prime of the Institute of Leadership & Management.

New Food Centre Puts UK Skills in Front

Food, fanfare and opportunity haled the opening of the £650,000 Norfolk Food Centre of Excellence and National Skills Academy for Meat & Poultry at Poultec Training, Mattishall, Norfolk. 150 delegates from across Norfolk, the region and the country attended a full day of presentations, food demonstrations and celebrations. Many local producers displayed a wonderful array of Norfolk’s finest foods and drinks and Norfolk chef, Galton Blackiston, showed eager delegates how to cook and serve local lamb to perfection.

The buffet lunch was a feast of local produce from Norfolk and regional food producers. Many companies generously sponsored ingredients including Banham Poultry, MFD Foods, Cromer Crab Company, Mrs Temple’s Cheese, with other ingredients being supplied by Silent Partners Catering, Norfolk Garden Preserves, Channell’s Norfolk Chutney, Cley Smokehouse, Woodforde Farm Weston Longville Asparagus, Mill Bakery, Shouldham Thorpe salads, Norfolk Aberdeen Angus beef and Waveney Mushrooms.

NEWS RELEASE
1st March 2007

New national accolade for Poultec Training

Poultec Training in Mattishall has earned a national accolade as a centre of specialist learning for meat and poultry food manufacturing skills.

It has been selected as one of the first accredited Academy Training Centres within the new National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing. The government’s skills minister Phil Hope announced the go-ahead for the academy, which is set to open in April, and is forecast to deliver new skills to at least 28,000 people during its first four years.

It is only the fourth of a new network of sector-based National Skills Academies to be established, and is the culmination of more than two years of research, planning and development by leading employers, co-ordinated by Improve, the food and drink sector skills council.

The academy will be administered from Improve’s head offices at York, while the majority of training programmes will be delivered through a network of approved Academy Training Centres, including Poultec Training. It is anticipated that there will be 35 such centres within three years. Initially there are five, each designated by its particular specialist area of expertise. The other four are Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education (fish processing); University of Lincoln Holbeach Campus (chilled ready meals); Reaseheath College in Nantwich (dairy); and Johnson Diversey in Northampton (food hygiene).

“This is a major new landmark in the training provision for food and drink manufacturers,” said the chairman of Improve Paul Wilkinson, who is also chairman of two food manufacturers, Big Bear and Produce World. “The National Skills Academy has been driven by employers’ needs, has been designed by employers, and will be run by employers.”
Edward Bales, managing director of Poultec Training, said: “We are delighted to have been selected as one of the first Academy Training Centres. This status will enable us to continue to develop our Food Centre of Excellence and also our training provision to meet the needs of employers and individuals in the food sector.”

A key benefit of the academy is that it will draw upon the best expertise available in order to develop new training programmes and learning units specifically to meet the needs of employers. Already there are ideas in the pipeline for about 40 new programmes and units which eventually will be accessed through the new academy.

The first wholly new programme to be offered nationwide as soon as the academy opens its doors is ‘Production management – a lean approach’. It has been designed especially for the academy and will deliver learning units pitched at NVQ levels 2 and 3. Learners can select from job-specific units for bakery, meat and poultry, sea-fish processing, or general food manufacturing. More units for other specialist areas will be added later.

The programme can be followed in the form of a blended e-learning course, which is a combination of online study and classroom or work-based learning. The online parts of the programme will be available through the National Skills Academy web site, which will go live in March, and which will also provide an information base for learners and employers.

Web site features will include: diagnostic tools to identify the skills that individuals might require and the best training solutions available; a course-finder tool that works with a fully searchable database; on-line training courses; and access to training materials. The web site will also act as the communications and information centre for the academy’s administration.

  POULTEC NAMED AS ONE OF TOP TRAINING PROVIDERS BY GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG

Mattishall based Poultec Training was today named as one of the top training providers in the country by the Adult Learning Inspectorate, the government body responsible for the quality of education and training for adults and young people. At the launch of his annual report for 2005-06 Chief Inspector, David Sherlock, named Poultec as being one of only 151 organisations to receive “good” or “outstanding” inspection grades for every aspect of its training.

Pupils, Bacteria and Solutions!

This week, go-ahead Costessey High School, offered pupils the opportunity to be the first to use Norfolk’s brand new Food Centre at South Green Park, Mattishall. The Food Centre is a Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) for the food and drink industry and is one of only two in the whole of the Eastern Region.

At the CoVE pupils experience an environment more akin to learning in the workplace with tutors experience in delivering food courses throughout the UK. The Foundation Food Safety course which pupils followed and all of them passed, took them

through how bacteria is easily transferred, how it can contaminate food and what action should be taken to ensure food safety. The pupils on the course were from Costessey High School’s Food Technology Programme for which Food Hygiene is an essential part.

The centre offers the technology to make learning not only fun but also to demonstrate how bacteria can be easily transferred from surface to surface, hands to hands and beyond to food itself. Pupils used scanning equipment which showed where bacteria were lurking and highlighted where and just how far the bacteria had travelled during the experiment, covering surfaces, hands equipment and more. Also food temperature testing was part of the programme emphasizing the importance of temperature control both at low temperatures and high temperatures. Pupils used heat probes to monitor foods checking them against hygiene regulations.