A lot of new and exciting things have taken place at Storyy Group during May. We’re always working behind the scenes to ensure we’re offering the best service possible throughout our Alternative Provision, Supported Accommodation (16+), Residential Children’s Homes and Apprenticeships & Training.
With this in mind, we wanted to give you a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to this month. We’re so proud of all the efforts our young people and staff put into making Storyy Group a great place to be and work, so without further ado, let’s start with what’s been taking place in our Alternative Provision!
Alternative Provision
This term, one of our topics for PSHE sessions at our Secondary-aged Alternative Provision was “Community and Responsibility”. Some of our students had the opportunity to visit a care home and interact with the residents, engaging with them and having meaningful conversations. This was a great opportunity to work on each student’s social skills and engage with a new person. Our students planned how to interact, focusing on open questions and active listening to ensure the conversations flowed and were engaging.
We are very proud of the students who attended, as they represented not only Storyy Group but themselves so amazingly. The feedback from the care home was fantastic and we have been asked when we will be back. Our students also saw the benefit of the visit and were just as eager to return.
So far this year, 265 of our young people have achieved AQA awards. This is a huge achievement for each and every student; we’re very proud of them all! Students can gain AQA awards in sessions such as cooking, hair & beauty, carpentry, boxing and many more! Our City and Guilds Qualification is undergoing its final EQA visit this term, so we are hoping to offer the Construction qualification from September onwards.
Our Alternative Provision team also had a good training session, ensuring everyone’s up to scratch and sharing ideas about how we can keep improving and progressing the services we provide here at Storyy Group.
Free Assemblies
We are proud to announce we have been awarded funding from Thames Valley Police Community Fund to deliver 40 assemblies for FREE across the local area. We will send some members of our team to host one of these assemblies at your school and they can cover topics such as:
– County Lines
– Knife Crime
– Drug Running
– Anti-Bullying
– Sexual Exploitation
– Cyber Bullying
– LGBTQIA+
If you would like some more information or fancy booking in an assembly, please email lee.barefoot@storyy.group.
Supported Accommodation (16+) & Children’s Homes
We are very excited to announce that our fourth Ofsted-registered Supported Accommodation (16+) will be opening in a matter of weeks! Located within the Berkshire area, this new home boasts 6 double bedrooms (2 with ensuites), 2 family-sized bathrooms, a large living room with gaming and cinema spaces, a cosy office for our Support Workers and 2 lovely garden spaces. We can’t wait to welcome young people to their new home; we would like to thank our team for creating an already wonderful and wholesome living space. Thank you all!
If you work for a local authority or Council and would like to arrange a visit to view our new Supported Accommodation (16+), please email brian.murphy@storyy.group.
Our Homes team has also been arranging lots of lovely activities for the young people to take part in. At the beginning of May, some of our young people attended a free archery open day, in which one of them scored the highest points of the day; we have our very own Robin Hood it would seem! A few visits have also been made to the gorgeous Richmond Park, alongside getting one of the Supported Accommodation’s gardens ready for summer, taking a trip to the fun fair and visiting the beautiful Dinton Pastures.
One of our young people is currently sitting their GCSE exams, with 2 others sitting their A-levels. Our Support Workers are helping them revise and keep them motivated; we wish these young people the best of luck in their exams and know they’ll smash them! A few of our young people are also taking up an offer of work experience at Ascot Racecourse next month, to work with a company that provides flowers for corporate events. Another 2 of our young people will be working with the same company in July, to help out during the Silverstone Grand Prix! This is a very exciting opportunity and we can’t wait to see the beautiful flower arrangements our incredible young people produce.
Apprenticeships & Training
Earlier this month, we welcomed Janet Regan to the Apprenticeships & Training team; Janet is joining Storyy Group as an Early Years and Residential Care tutor. Welcome to the team Janet, we’re very excited to have you working with us!
We have also welcomed Lisa Parkinson to our Apprenticeships & Training team! Lisa joins us as our Partnerships Manager; she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked in the apprenticeships & training industry for over 11 years. Lisa will work closely with employers by supporting them and offering guidance on ‘all things apprenticeships’, ensuring they have the correct provision in place. Lisa would love to hear from you if you have any questions about the apprenticeships & CPD training we offer and how we can help develop and upskill your workforce. Simply email lisa.parkinson@storyy.group or give her a call on 07523 277566 – she can’t wait to hear from you!
In other news, we have partnered with Workwhile to offer SME employers and learners based in and around London the opportunity to access Levy Transfer Funding from larger organisations. Workwhile share unspent Levy Funds from world-renowned retailers, local authorities, universities, and banking corporations to name but a few sectors. We are currently searching for those who wish to undertake apprenticeships and further training in industries such as the Care sector, Sports Coaching and Communication, including roles like Community Safety Advisors. If any of these course areas would be of interest to you, your business, or your employees, please reach out to Lisa on the aforementioned contact details. You can apply for this funding before 28th June and we would love for your business to be a part of this amazing opportunity!
And that’s it for May! We hope all those who have been on Half Term have had a very restful week and wish the best of luck to any students currently sitting exams. As always, if you have any questions or queries about our Alternative Provision, Supporter Accommodation & Children’s Homes or Apprenticeships & Training, please feel free to contact us by emailing hello@storyy.group – We can’t wait to see what June brings!
