After assisting London Fire Brigade in the qualification of a number of watch-based Assessors to A1 standard, QA Associates have been asked to help the brigade with a further pilot project.
The project will establish if firefighters who have completed their Fire-fighter Development Program are eligible for a National Vocation Qualification by using independent verification without the need for separate evidence.
Come and visit us on stand 5 at the 2009 AOA Annual Conference and Exhibition at the London Hilton Metropole 7th and 8th December 2009.
MJ Airport Associates in collaboration with QA Associates will be giving details of our new accredited courses for the aviation industry.
Come and chat to either Mark or Dennis about what training we can offer in air-side operations. For pre-conference information contact Mark on 07525 628319 or the QA Associates office on 01773 748866.
Many training providers offer a ‘Certificate of Training Attendance’ with their training courses – but what does that mean? Well the answer is exactly that – it serves as proof of training attendance not that anything was learnt.
Wouldn’t it be good if as well as a certificate of attendance the employee could receive a formal accredited qualification that supports that learning took place? From early next year MJ Airport Associates is working towards offering many of their training courses with a formal accredited qualification.
In collaboration with QA Associates, courses will be offered with customised BTEC qualification. BTEC’s are proven and trusted qualifications that are internationally recognised and highly respected by employers. Employee’s like them because they provide a more personal approach to their own vocational learning requirements.
Using QA Associates as an ‘approved centre’ for quality assurance, courses and student work will be independently verified following on-site and on-course assessment of knowledge, understanding and skills by qualified assessors.
The BTEC qualifications will be made available to both UK and overseas candidates. If you would like to know more about BTEC courses or are interested in arranging a training course with a BTEC qualification then please contact Mark Turner of MJ Airport Associates.
QA Associates have become a partner provider with West Nottinghamshire College to deliver a number of work-based qualifications throughout the United Kingdom.
West Nottinghamshire College achieved a clean sweep of top grades in the recent round of Ofsted inspections. This impressive result puts the college in an elite group of colleges nationally with only a handful of others achieving the same result.
The Ofsted report highlighted powerful partnerships and in particular, inspectors noted the excellent relationships developed to meet the needs of local and national employers.
This new partnership with the college will enable QA to offer free vocational training to eligible learners through the governments flag ship initiative for improving workforce skills – ‘Train to Gain’.
For the past six months, Jason, our media designer has been developing electronic portfolios. The aim of the project being to remove the need for all the paper that is found in a traditional NVQ portfolio and utilise electronic evidence from other systems found in the workplace. It also reduces bureaucracy as suggested by QCA.
After an extensive period of testing, the paperless portfolio, which is based on a memory stick, is now a resilient product and one that we feel will be well received. Many thanks to all the RFFS’s that have assisted in the development of the product.
Portfolios for V1, A1, L10 & L11 qualifications are now available.
QA Associates became the BTEC ‘approved centre’ for the Fire & Community Safety Section at The Fire Service College at the beginning of 2007.
With a brief of developing a range of qualifications for fire safety courses that are delivered at the college or on outreach, 19 courses at levels 3 & 4 have been approved by Edexcel.
We currently have over 150 students registered for various customised qualifications and the work of the first four students taking the Level 4 ‘BTEC Professional Award in Fire Safety (Fire Alarms, Detection & Emergency Lighting)’ has now been Certified.
For more information, contact Dave Rae at the FSC on 01608 812095.
QA Associates have become one of the first Centres to be approved by City & Guilds to deliver the new NVQ Level 2 qualification Co-ordinating Aviation Operations on the Ground.
Although the qualification has four different pathways, QA will initially be focusing upon only three:
• Providing Safe Airside Operations at Airports
• Providing Airside Ramp Services
• Supporting Aircraft Operations
This qualification will compliment our existing vocational standards work with Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting Services, and is aimed at demonstrating the competence of personnel at airports who are involved in Safety Operations, Ground Handling Services and turnaround of aircraft.
Delivery of the award will be available from April 2008. Operations Managers & Ground Handling Service Managers should contact Director Dennis Fretwell for further details on 01773 748866.
QA Associates recently assisted Derry City Council to select two new Crew Managers at the airport Rescue & Firefighting Service. The successful candidates then went on to their training course at ITC and came out as two of the best candidates.
Robert Bradley of the City Council was very pleased with the process which was carried out in an impartial and independent way, leaving all candidates with the feeling that they had all had a fair opportunity to gain a post.
Feedback has been provided to each of those who went through the selection process and a development program for the successful candidates is due to commence under the guidance of QA Associates.
For further details on the process, contact Dennis Fretwell.
QA Associates have commenced training personnel from Westinghouse Rail Systems in Manual Handling.
This is a half day course followed by a short examination. Successful students achieve a certificate from The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The program is to be rolled out across all Westinghouse sites as part of the companies successful Health & Safety program.
If you are interested in this course for your company’s personnel, please contact us for more details.
QA Associates’ consultant Keith Webster recently assisted Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service in their selection process for two new Brigade Managers.
Keith carried out external verification of the process and advised on interpreting the Brigade Manager Role Maps and related Behavioural Anchored Rating Scales.
