Category

• Promising Local Practice

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Poverty impact

• Reduction

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Poverty driver

• Provide benefit in-kind (experience)
• Increase employment income

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Keywords

• Training
• Employment and Employability
• Empowerment

Summary

The Pupil Support Assistant Traineeship aims to tackle poverty in lone parent households. They do this through the provision of targeted support and training to enable lone parents to enter the workplace as Pupil Support Assistants. Such positions provide a working environment which fits around lone parents’ child caring responsibilities.

What difference does it make?

Employability- the project is helping support parents who previously struggled to find work into employment by removing barriers such as access to child-care. It is also contributing towards building their Curriculum Vitae’s by filling employment gaps and providing a recent reference should they wish to work elsewhere. Working as a pupil support assistant has many transferable skills such ability to communicate, patience, teamwork and can show a willingness to be flexible.
Tackling child poverty- Lone parents can find it much more difficult to find work that is flexible and well-paid due to demands of childcare. This impacts child poverty as they parents cannot work, removing these barriers can help parents find work that is flexible and well paid.

Key take-aways

• It is pivotal to the project’s success that any candidates for school placements are engaged before they start their learning journey. Parents complete visits during induction weeks to gain an understanding and familiarity with the school environment and the staff they will be working alongside.
• PVG’s are required for placement. This can be problematic as there may be system delay’s in the provision of the PVG.

 

Organisations

• Fife Gingerbread (main organisation). • Life Chances. • Direct Partners. • Fife council – Education.

Location

Fife (throughout).

Contact