We are delighted to welcome Gemma Dobson the RGG Team..
Gemma Dobson (RCDP) is a freelance Careers Professional who qualified with a Qualification in Careers Guidance Level 6 in 2015 whilst working within school settings.
During/post qualifying for the last 10 years she has worked in a number of career development settings including mainstream and specialist schools, the community and in a higher education institution across South Yorkshire.
Gemma is a trained assessor and trainer and works with RGG Associates supporting students who are undertaking the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development.
Gemma has a particular passion in working with young people, adults and staff in terms of personal development.
Claire and the RGG Team are excited that the current Careers and Enterprise Company funded training contract to train Careers Leaders in Schools and Colleges has been extended to July 2025.
Sam Homeward leads a team of experienced assessors delivering the accredited Level 6 Certificate in Career Leadership live on line.
A recently completed learner commented on Linked in “Amazing delivery and support from Sam Homeward. Huge thanks to all those are RGG”.
Other feedback included “I really enjoyed the delivery. It was at a pace that ensured understanding and the resources being sent out before each session allowed you to engage more thoroughly and be able to make notes alongside the PowerPoint slides so that when you go back to them, they are relevant.”
There will be training courses starting in September 2024 and early 2025.
Not only is 4 March 2024 the start of Careers Week but it is also the 20th Birthday of RGG Associates.
Initially formed as” Rowell Graves and Grimwood” by Erica Rowell, Julie Graves and Claire Grimwood in 2004 to provide commercial accredited training in IAG to schools, councils and voluntary sector organisations.
In 2005 the company was one of 3 finalists in the Hull Daily Mail Star up business of the Year. Although it did not win, it was a fantastic achievement.
As the Connexions services disbanded the company moved into generic IAG working with a diverse range of organisations including hospitals and doctors’ surgeries, voluntary organisations and call centres. Management and Leadership qualifications became a large part of the business, especially after 2008 when voluntary and charity organisations had to become more commercial as the traditional public sector funding was withdrawn.
In 2010 it was decided to rebrand and call the company to RGG Associates, a name most people had been using for several years.
Since then, the company has grown to become one of the most respected Training providers of Careers Development in the country. It helped develop the Level 4 and 6 accredited Career qualifications; became one of the first providers of the CEC funded Level 6 Certificate in Career Leadership and continues to train over 200 careers advisers and leaders a year.
Happy Birthday RGG
Agata Lee has had a lot to celebrate: the birth of Gabriella and completion of her Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance & development this month.
The normal timelines for Agata to complete the Level 6 diminished with a “hard “deadline of her maternity leave starting, so the training programme had to be rescheduled. Due to the close relationship between the learners and the assessors at RGG, the new bespoke programme was agreed and Agata completed the qualification before the arrival of Gabriella.
“Due to my personal circumstances, the tutor has adapted my assignment deadlines and provided me with individualised webinars to ensure I am able to complete the course in a timely manner. The tutor’s flexibility and support has been very much appreciated.” Agata Lee. Young Offenders Institution Support & Progression worker.
As 2024 starts we are delighted to congratulate several groups of Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance & development learners who have completed their qualifications to be qualified careers Advisers.All the learners have completed the qualification in 13/14 months.
The learners started with different experiences of working in Careers; some had been delivering guidance for some time and others none at all.
The groups were an interesting mix of academies, single sex grammar schools, universities and colleges from different areas of England.
It was nice to see two learners from the Independent sector working towards meeting new ISI Framework-well done Tranby School and Silcoates (see Corrina with her certificate).
Congratulation to you all!!
Congratulations to Colette Johnson who has completed the Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance & Development.
Colette is the Deputy Director and Careers Leader at Bishop Heber High School and decided to develop her competence further as a Careers Adviser to help the 6th form student make informed decision.
When asked about the timescales of the workshop sessions and tutorials, she explained “Timescales were good & well spread throughout the course - short enough to keep the pressure on and keep theory in mind, long enough to find time to meet deadlines. The workshop sessions were very useful, lots of up to date information provided and the fact they were recorded was an added bonus. Work like in a school is often unpredictable while also being very inflexible in terms of rearranging work load, so again, this made the course accessible for me. Would highly recommend for anyone in a school or work placement where you are required to do this, but without any protected time allocation”
Well done Colette!
RGG Associates are delighted to congratulate assessor and trainer Helga Cline on achieving her qualification an Internal Quality Assurer. Helga will join the team of IQAs at RGG Associates who regularly check the standard of assessment for the Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development and the Level 6 Certificate in Careers Leadership to ensure consistency and high-quality training and assessment are caried out by all the assessors. Well done Helga for all your hard work!
We are so pleased Helen took this on and has completed it with a true commitment to developing our careers provision and for her own professional growth.
Many thanks to you and the team for your support throughout. Helen has spoken very highly of the quality of the course.
Sirius Academy West are rightly proud of their newly qualified Careers Adviser Karen Faulkner. Karen worked hard to achieve her Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development with RGG Associates #trainedbyrgg
The Students at Sirius West will have a Careers Adviser who does #SoMuchMoreThanTalkingAboutJobs
Claire and Erica are delighted to welcome to the team of assessors at RGG Associates Sam Homewood and Becky Marshall. Both assessors bring a wealth of experience to RGG as can be seen from their biographies in the Team section of the website. Welcome ladies, we are looking forward to working with you!
Congratulations to Samantha Robinson of John Leggott College who recently achieved her Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development with RGG Associates.
Samantha has been very busy as she has gained her Level 6 Certificate in Careers Leadership, funded by the Careers and Enterprise Company, also with us.
Congratulations are being made once again as we welcome Wendy Kerley to our team of assessors at RGG Associates. Wendy has recently achieved her level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA) and is the first learner to pass through RGG Associates new CAVA programme. So double celebrations are in order.
Wendy runs her own business as a careers practitioner and works in a number of schools in the York and Leeds area. We are really pleased that she is already sharing her experience as a career development practitioner with our Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development learners.
For more information on the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement please go to our course page.
RGG Associates are delighted to be working with the CDI (Career Development Institute) to support their newly appointed trainee associate assessors to complete the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement.
Qualified assessors who are also qualified and experienced careers guidance practitioners are hard to find. So late last year the CDI Academy Manager approached us as we offer the Level 3 CAVA qualification in a careers guidance context. RGG Associates currently have 3 careers guidance practitioners undertaking this qualification, one of whom is working as a trainee associate assessor with RGG Associates.
This qualification is a great addition to the careers guidance practitioner’s CV as it allows them to add another ‘string to their bow’ if they are freelance and they can support their employer if the organisation recruits trainee careers advisers.
For more information on the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement please go to our course page.
Jess Eyre-Tanner recently gained her Level 6 Certificate in Careers Leader training with RGG Associates and sent us this jolly photo. We couldn’t resist sharing it with everyone as she looks so happy. Jess said in her email: “Thank you for all your support and guidance! Big proud me moment!”
We are proud of her too! Well done Jess!
RGG Associates are pleased to announce that as from August 2021 we are an approved centre for NOCN qualifications. Initially we will be offering the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement and the level 3 Certificate in information, Advice or Guidance. However, NOCN offer a plethora of awards as well as the opportunity to put together bespoke courses that can be accredited by them. So, if you have any training needs which you think might be met by us through NOCN please contact either erica@rggassoc.co.uk or claire@rggassoc.co.uk
Congratulations to Kate Morris who has recently achieved her Level 3 Assessors Award (CAVA) through RGG Associates.
Kate will be using her new qualification and joining RGG as an assessor for the Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance & Development.
Kate brings to the role a wealth of experience as career development practitioner both in schools and with adults and more recently with students at the University of York.
We look forward to working with you Kate!
Claire and Erica are delighted to announce the addition of another assessor to our team. In September Helga Cline will become a full-time assessor and trainer with RGG Associates. She will principally be working with Claire to deliver the level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development, so if you are one of our learners you may get to meet her in the Autumn. You can check out her biog in the Team section of this website.
As the country went into lockdown to suppress the Coronavirus it became clear to directors Erica Rowell and Claire Grimwood that our traditional delivery of face to face training and coaching would no longer be tenable.
As we had a number of learners on the Level 6 Diploma and Career Leader courses, we had to act fast to maintain communication with our learners and continue to deliver the quality training which they had been promised.
Over Easter we managed to convert all the remaining training sessions, resources and tutorials that had been planned into online delivery.
Our learners were fantastic, getting to grips with new technology and preparatory reading while keeping their children, pets and partners away from the screen!
Due to the success of the online learning we have created, we have now taken the decision to offer blended learning on a permanent basis.
This will allow us even more flexibility in meeting our learners’ needs.
After a rigorous application procedure, we are delighted to announce that RGG Associates have been approved by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) to support main and employer providers train their career development professionals. This will be of interest to employers of both Careers Leaders and Careers Guidance practitioners. We can offer the Level 6 Diploma in Careers Guidance and Development as the technical qualification to support the apprentice’s in-house training. Please contact either Erica Rowell erica@rggassoc.co.uk or Claire Grimwood claire@rggassoc.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
RGG Associates are delighted that Phillippa Hartley from Huntcliff School North Lincolnshire was named as Careers Leader of the Year at the Careers and Enterprise Company’s Careers Excellence Awards 2019 held on 27th September.
Phillippa was a learner on RGG Associates first Level 6 Careers Leader Award course in the Humber which started in November 2018 and as she says:
“All the training and the hard work paid off on Friday when I attended the national awards!”
Huntcliff School was also commended for their progress made in achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks.
We also have associations with another Careers Excellence Award prize winner as Jackie McGarry, Careers Leader at Catcote Academy in Tees Valley who won the SEND Champion of the Year Award, attended our Level 6 Careers Leader course in the North East also during 2018. Congratulations to Jackie for all her hard work in raising the profile for SEND careers!
Over 200 nominations were accepted for the 12 categories and the winners were chosen by panel of independent expert judges.
Claudia Harris, chief executive of the Careers and Enterprise Company, said: “The organisations and individuals recognised are setting the bar in careers provision across England and changing the lives of the children they work with.
“We are delighted to be able to celebrate their work and look forward to seeing their continued impact in the years ahead.”
An article on the winners of the Careers in Excellence awards can be found through this link: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/who-were-the-winners-of-the-careers-enterprise-company-annual-awards-2019/
A full list of winners can be found on the Careers and Enterprise Company website.
https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk
During 2018 Erica Rowell was invited as a member of Careers England to contribute to a Task Group hosted by Careers England and The Edge Foundation to create a position paper on the value of Personal Guidance (Gatsby Benchmark 8) in schools and colleges. This paper will be used to advise ministers in the Department of Education and other public and funding bodies when considering parliamentary policy and reviews of spending.
In October 2017 RGG Associates were approached by the University of York to train two newly recruited members of staff from Careers and Placements to gain their Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development.
Pip (pictured) joined the University in 2017 from AVIVA where she worked as an executive recruiter. Tom Banham (Head of Careers and Placements) and Kelly MacDonald (Employability Manager) were keen to trial a trainee model and the opportunity to develop a clear talent from within the organisation as well as bring a fresh perspective to the existing Careers Consultant team. Recruited at the same time the other candidate, Charlie King, works as Placement Co-Ordinator within the Department of Politics. Both candidates embarked on the Level 6 Diploma with Erica Rowell from RGG Associates in the Autumn of 2017. Although the contextual base of the knowledge aspect of the qualification was adapted to suit the HE environment, as usual the Level 6 included the completion of some academic assignments, workshop attendance, professional discussion and observations in the workplace. Pip has achieved her Level 6 ahead of schedule and has consistently received excellent feedback on both her academic work and her practice from her assessor. Pip’s colleague from the Department of Politics will soon be joining her as a graduate of the Level 6 Diploma with RGG Associates.
Pictured are (left to right) Wayne Campbell newly appointed Academic Registrar for Student Services University of York, Pip Rackstraw Careers Consultant, Erica Rowell Director of RGG Associates and Tom Banham Head of Careers and Placements University of York.
Two RGG Associates Careers Leader courses have now been completed by 25 delegates and the feedback has been very positive.
The delegates have enjoyed the opportunity to spend time together in the training workshops sharing ideas as well as concerns and they have all enjoyed lively debates on topics such as using leadership skills to gain support from SLT, and introducing new resources and ways to use LMI with students. The networks created by the courses are continuing to develop as delegates use group email to contact each other and share resources.
The courses are quite intensive – they last between 16 to 18
weeks with quite a tight turnaround for written work. But on the
whole delegates said that they preferred to ‘get on with it’ and
the tutors are always prepared to negotiate an extension to a
deadline if necessary.
The online tutorials have worked well as delegates have been able
to arrange these around their work schedules and the professional
discussions that are carried out to complete a number of the
assessment criteria from the level 6 units are a popular way of
submitting evidence.
Overall delegates found it helpful to have the time to review and to consider fresh ideas and perspectives which can be incorporated into their careers programmes. Many of them in their feedback particularly enjoyed the session on leadership and management where we discussed strategies to ‘lead’ and ‘manage’ without necessarily being in a position of authority.
‘However, there is no doubt this training course has
developed me significantly in my increased knowledge of the
theories that underpin much of what we do and it has provided me
a secure base of expertise to advise others within our
school.’
Deputy Head North Lincolnshire Academy
‘I got quite a lot out of this session. The group is
starting to know each other more, especially as we got the
opportunity to do some group work. I don’t think that I was
fully on board about doing the qualification at the start and
agreed to do it as I’d had a change of job role but I am now
starting to see the real value of the qualification and it is
developing me more as the careers leader and getting me to
question the activities that we do, the learning outcomes and
what can be done to improve the programme for our
students.’
Careers Leader Secondary 11 – 18 school Humber region
Two further courses are being delivered over the spring and summer terms and a further two are starting in the Autumn term. Please contact Erica Rowell erica@rggassoc.co.uk or Claire Grimwood claire@rggassoc.co.uk for further information or book your place via the Careers and Enterprise Company website. https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk
Claire was delighted to be present at The CDI Conference on 4 December to witness Anne Milton MP announce the Careers Strategy “Making the most of everyone’s skills and talents”.
It was really positive to hear Anne Milton talk about “Guidance must be impartial and delivered by qualified practitioners, putting the needs of the individual first” explained Claire.” We have already spoken to many schools this week wanting to train their staff to Level 6 so they are able to provide the “in house” careers guidance.
There has also been an increase in the enquiries from schools wanting to train the Careers Lead in the 3 unit “Level 6 Certificate Careers Leadership” after the announcement of the Strategy”.
For further information please contact Claire Grimwood claire@rggassoc.co.uk
or 01482 657003 / Erica Rowell erica@rggassoc.co.uk or
01759 318380
