Building confidence and developing employability skills
Get Ready for Work at Cranford Park Academy,
Belina – a partner in the SWEET Project AND FAMILY WORKS
This group is made up of mums from the school who want to get back to work. Belina is working together with the group to develop confidence and to help them understand how they can build on their existing skills to get back to work. Before we prepare formal CVs we do an activity whereby we put the parents into groups and ask them them to prepare a poster for employers that promotes the skills and characteristics of Mothers.
Mums R Greatest – or Umbrella ella ella …
The first group showed a mum whose skills are represented by a large umbrella that is made up of all the tasks she undertakes to care for her family and keep them safe (and dry).
All in one – Get a Mum!
The second group showed the transferable skills Mums have – shopper, tutor, driver, that make her a fantastic Personal Life Assistant
Service with a smile
With her big smile and hands, the third group made clear that Mums are multi-talented, super skilled and nurturing.
Having the chance to work together and think about their skills and characteristics in relation to what employers need enables the parents to talk about all the things they do already and consider how an employer might value them. As we move on to the more formal part of the session mums are already feeling more confident about what they can achieve and how they can look at the jobs on offer and tailor their existing skills to each role.
Working with local partners
The success of the programme has come in great part from the partnership developed with the supportive and insightful Family Support Worker at the School, who has facilitated getting the parents to the group through one to one activity and putting publicity out to parents.
Sweet participants – leadership
Anila Saif, Sweet participant, who attended our GRoW programme in the Spring at the Macmillan Children’s Centre is now working with the parents as part of the Belina team – helping them to prepare their CVs and advising them on local courses and activities. Her strong local knowledge and personal experience of getting back to work whilst having four children under ten (including two under three) has made her a role model for parents on the new GRoW programme.