Summer is showing no sign of slowing down on the skills and talent front, with the launch of Coleg Gwent Cyber Hub in Ebbw Vale bringing digital futures to local students … the groundbreaking FinTech Coding Academy training 30 Developers to be work-ready in just 10 weeks … ClwstwrVerse celebrating the world-class talent shaping the future of our creative industries … Gwaelod y Garth Primary School and Redrow launching a pioneering STEM Partnership … and CIPD Wales inviting entries for its 2023 awards …
Coleg Gwent Cyber Hub brings digital futures to local students
The launch of Coleg Gwent’s new state-of-the-art Cyber Hub at its Blaenau Gwent Learning Zone campus in Ebbw Vale looks set to strengthen the world-standard cyber security credentials of Southeast Wales.
The new hub is an integral part of Cyber College Cymru: a groundbreaking collaboration between a number of founding partners committed to defining a world-class cyber security skills programme to support FE colleges and students in Wales.
The pioneering programme is designed to help students prepare for a career in cyber security – and address fears over a local future skills gap – through a unique partnership that has seen Admiral, Fujitsu, Thales and Welsh Water invest in sector-leading facilities which include the critical capacity for students to work off-network.
The new hub will provide exceptional teaching and learning experiences, equipping the young people of Ebbw Vale and the surrounding district with the skills they need to enjoy careers in high-value digital industries – providing pathways into well-paid jobs in a fast-growing sector that offers both ground floor apprenticeship and graduate opportunities to people from all backgrounds.
30 Developers ‘work ready’ through 10-week FinTech Coding Academy
Cardiff and Vale College have successfully completed a potentially game-changing Sector Skills Academy pilot with FinTech Wales and their member partners Admiral, Deloitte, Hodge Bank and Principality – securing exceptional results across two unique, fast-track training programmes designed to meet the fast-growing skills requirement of the Welsh FinTech ecosystem.
The pilot has seen 30 students, aged between 21 and 62 with diverse career backgrounds, embark on an intense 10-week Coding Academy, fully funded by the UK Community Renewal Fund through CCR – producing 15 back-end and 15 front-end developers ‘ready to work’, with one of the newly-trained professionals already securing a role as an Academy Developer; and many more preparing for interviews that are already lined-up.
The curriculum of the initial pilot academies have been particularly focused on delivering programming languages, cloud service skills and project management methods to meet the entry-level requirements of the Welsh fintech employer community – all expertly embedded across the 10 weeks by iungo Solutions, The Knowledge Academy, risual Limited and Gaia Ines Fassò.
This Sector Skills Academies model, with a four-month turnaround from conception to delivery, demonstrates how agile, responsive and inclusive we can be in skilling up our priority sectors across the Cardiff Capital Region – and augurs well for creating sustainable talent pipelines full of people of all ages and backgrounds.
ClwstwrVerse celebrates Wales’ world-class creative talent
The ClwstwrVerse event on 4th July featured a fascinating programme of interactive workshops, demos, talks and experiences – showcasing the wide range of talent and skillsets shaping the future of media, culture and the arts across our region.
This keystone event at City Hall in Cardiff was the culmination of three years’ ground-breaking R&D into the future of a creative sector that has already shown the capability to lead the world – spotlighting the creative talent of enterprises as diverse as BBC MakerBox, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Hijinx Theatre, Painting Practice and Yello Brick.
The ‘emerging skillsets’ on display included virtual production, the omniverse and news delivery models of the future – offering the opportunity to meet the creatives behind more than 100 Clwstwr projects driving innovation locally, nationally and internationally.
Since 2019, Clwstwr – which is part of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme and funded by the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund – has invested in over 100 innovations across our screen and news sectors, with the ambition of growing the talent that will cement Wales’ place as a global leader in media innovation.
Gwaelod y Garth Primary and Redrow launch STEM Partnership
Ysgol Gynradd Gwaelod y Garth Primary School in north Cardiff has launched an innovative new partnership with Wales-headquartered housebuilder, Redrow – to nurture and encourage pupils’ interest in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).
All pupils aged four to 11 will be involved in the delivery and use of a STEM-themed street located in the school grounds, offering a whole host of learning opportunities for everyone involved – bringing real-life experience of how STEM subjects are involved in masterplanning communities from homes through to streets, schools, shops and green space.
One of the three projects planned for the pupils will be sensory-based to ensure that those with additional learning needs can also fully participate – underlining the huge focus being put on the STEM subjects being taught at a school that offers both Welsh and English-medium primary education to 280 pupils.
CIPD Wales Awards open for 2023
CIPD Wales, the professional body for HR and people development, has announced that entries are now ‘open’ for its prestigious annual awards, as the event returns in-person for 2023.
The awards celebrate the very best in human resources and people development practice across Wales, after an unprecedented two years that has seen the needs of employees and nature of work change at a dramatic pace.
The ceremony will take place at Cardiff City Hall on Friday 3rd March, announcing the winners in 12 categories:
1. Best Apprenticeship Scheme
2. Best Hybrid/Flexible Working Initiative
3. Best Diversity and Inclusion Initiative
4. Best Health and Wellbeing Initiative
5. Best HR Consultant / Consultancy
6. Best Learning and Development/Organisation Development Initiative
7. Best In-House Team
8. Best Resourcing and Talent Management Initiative
9. Best HR Student
10. Rising Star of the People Profession
11. Excellence in HR Leadership
12. Outstanding Contribution in the Field of People Development in Wales
Previous CIPD Wales Awards have recognised some of Wales’ top businesses and people organisations, including Bridgend College, Circle IT, Companies House, Conduit Global, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, Target Group and Welsh Ambulance Service Trust.
To discover all the latest stories on skills and talent in Southeast Wales and beyond, go to: www.venturewales.org
