UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024

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The Education and Engagement Service (EES) will be hosting its next residential UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme 1-3 July 2024.

This programme offers a unique three-day course where teachers get to experience the workings of Parliament first-hand before returning to their classrooms to build their students’ understanding and increase their engagement with UK Parliament.

The EES will cover the cost of transport, accommodation, and most meals for teachers taking part and we welcome applications from teachers, school/college leaders and teacher training providers working with young people aged 5-18.

Throughout the three days, the teachers will get to experience:

• Q&A sessions with the Speaker, Lord Speaker, and Members of both Houses
• Talks from subject specialists
• Workshops devoted to key aspects of the work of UK Parliament
• Opportunities to explore new and exciting teaching ideas
• Tours of the Palace of Westminster and the Parliamentary Education Centre

In 2023, 100% of the teachers who attended rated the course as excellent, and 100% of the teachers left saying they felt confident teaching about UK Parliament as a result of the programme. One attendee shared: “It has been the most amazing course I’ve been on. I’ve found it has really fired my passion again. It has given me real and practical ideas I can take back to school.”

All interested educators, schools, colleges and teachers of all phases and school/college leaders are encouraged to apply.

Application forms are available online at UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme and the closing date is Sunday 24 March 2024.

Please note that the course is often over-subscribed so teachers will be accepted based on their answers to the application questions.

If you or teachers in your constituency would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]

New home for the hotlines list

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We wanted to let you know about the new home for the w4mp hotlines list!

We have worked closely with MST to adapt the hotlines list, following feedback on its storage on SharePoint. This version of the w4mp hotlines list returns to you being able to copy and paste information, as well as being able to find information using CTRL+F, so we hope you find it useful! However, please give us any feedback on how you find it, as we are always looking for ways to improve it!

If you didn’t know, the w4mp hotlines list is a great resource for caseworkers who are looking for contact details for different organisations, government departments, companies etc. when supporting their constituents. It not only has helplines that their constituents can use, but also emails and phone numbers that give MPs’ staff a more direct contact link to these organisations, which can make supporting constituents queries a lot easier. It is regularly updated and this new w4mp hotlines list is essentially a live document, so you know that it will always have the latest known contact details. You can see a list of the latest updates here: https://w4mp.org/hotline-numbers-for-mps-meps-msps-ams-and-their-staff/

If you have any questions or feedback, let us know. Otherwise, we hope you like the new home of the w4mp hotlines list!

Please note that the list is available only to people who have parliamentary network accounts. We are not able to share the list with people who are not on the network.

The price of postage stamps will rise on 2 April 2024

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The price of Royal Mail postage stamps will rise on 2 April 2024 as follows:

  • A first-class stamp for a standard letter will rise to £1.35
  • The price of a second-class stamp for a standard letter will rise to £0.85

You can see the full details of these and other services here: https://www.royalmail.com/sites/royalmail.com/files/2024-03/our-prices-april-2024-v1-ta.pdf

CV Writing for Members’ Staff

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Available to all Members’ Staff:

Course Overview

  • Explain what makes an effective CV
  • Structure and format their CV for maximum impact
  • Eliminate unnecessary information and material
  • Project confidence and a positive mindset through the words used
  • Amend and update their own CV to meet a Job or Person Specification
  • Enable participants to take a structured approach to writing job applications and build confidence in applying for roles

Most of the sessions are now fully booked, but there are still spaces for 26 March 2024 from 09:30 to 11:30. You can also join the wait-list for future sessions.

To sign up or join the wait-list, please go to ACT: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2109 and log in using your Parliamentary account.

Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution

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The ICO is hosting a webinar for Members’ staff on Constituency Casework Data and Dissolution on Thursday 7 March from 2pm.

There will be an open Q&A session where you can ask any questions on this subject.

To attend, please visit this page and then follow the link to register:

https://parlinet.parliament.uk/information-resources/news-newsletters-notices/news/2024/february/preparing-casework-for-dissolution/

Taylor Bennett Foundation PR & Communications Training Programme

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The Taylor Bennett Foundation is a charity that exists to encourage people from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background to pursue a career in communications. Their award-winning PR Training Programme is a paid, full-time, eight-week training programme in Public Relations (PR) and Communications designed to equip participants from a Black, Asian & minority ethnic background with the relevant knowledge, insights and skills to work in the PR and communications industry.

They are now looking for applications for their latest round of traineeships, run in partnership with HSBC UK. The programme runs from May 20th – July 10th 2024.

To be eligible

  • You must be from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic background.
  • You must be a graduate or graduated within the last three years. We accept applications from graduates who have studied any subject.
  • You must be strongly interested in pursuing a career in Public Relations (PR) and communications.
  • You must be a British national or have an immigration status that allows you to be employed in the UK at the end of the programme.

Full details can be found here: https://www.taylorbennettfoundation.org/pr-training-programme-candidates

Closing Date: 15 April 2024

CV Writing for Members’ Staff

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House of Commons Training Session

Course Overview

  • Explain what makes an effective CV
  • Structure and format their CV for maximum impact
  • Eliminate unnecessary information and material
  • Project confidence and a positive mindset through the words used
  • Amend and update their own CV to meet a Job or Person Specification
  • Enable participants to take a structured approach to writing job applications and build confidence in applying for roles

Sessions available on:

  • 4 March 2024 – 09:00 – 11:00
  • 11 March 2024 – 09:00 – 11:00
  • 21 March 2024 – 09:00 – 11:00
  • 26 March 2024 – 09:30 – 11:30
  • 5 April 2024 – 09:30 – 11:30
  • 10 April 2024 – 13:30 – 15:30

To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=2109

Common employment law disputes – Caseworker Discussion Forum

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Time: 14:30 – 15:30
Date: Thursday 22 February 2024
Location: Virtual via Microsoft Teams

The February 2024 forum will be on the topic of Common employment law disputes. We will be joined by Patrick Brione from the Library’s Business and Transport Section.

To book, please go here: https://parliament.learningpool.com/mod/facetoface/signup.php?s=16610

MPs’ Staff Survey on Wellbeing

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All MPs’ staff should have received an email inviting them to complete the Wellness Working Group annual survey on wellbeing.

If you haven’t already completed this important survey, w4mp strongly encourages you to do so as soon as possible – the closing date is Friday 19 January 2024.

If you are a member of staff and have not received the invitation, please email [email protected] from your parliamentary network account and they will send you a link.

Navigating the new constituencies

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As we all know, the current set of parliamentary constituencies is being replaced for the next election and the borders of constituencies will change substantially.  And because boundary reviews are carried out by separate organisations for each nation that no-one officially produces a single dataset of all the new constituencies covering the whole UK.

However MySociety has done some great work pulling it all together and has created:

See their blog post for full details.