Bal Lolay, Branch Manager for New Directions Birmingham comments: 'This is a really innovative forum for discussion. We have all of the business managers from across the region together, and hopefully we can identify some key areas of best practice. New Directions are here to support as one of the UK's premier education recruitment and training agencies. We hope to support driving efficiency in spend, but understand the need to never compromise on quality.

The event will run two workshops for colleagues to discuss change and development within the education sector.

Plenary and closing remarks will be offered by Val Andrew, ASCL Business Management Specialist and Malcolm Trobe, ASCL Deputy General Secretary (policy).

The decision was made to nominate Matthew from the outstanding feedback received from Julie Wilkinson at Meadowside who quotes "Matthew is one of the best temporary members of staff they have had".

Matthew received vouchers from a local music store to support his hobby as he is a member of a local band.

Evenlode Primary School open proceedings

The ceremony attended by 11 schools from Penarth including Albert Primary, Victoria Primary, Sully Primary, Ysgol Pen-y-garth, Fairfield Primary, Murch Primary, St Joseph’s Primary, Cogan Primary, Llandough Primary, Dinas Powys Infants and was hosted by Evenlode Primary School.

Opening the ceremony Steve Rees, head teacher at Evenlode thanked everyone for their attendance, including Tanni Grey-Thompson – 16 time Olympic medal winner and Penarth Town Mayor Anthony Earnest.

Mr Rees commented: ‘Each class at Evenlode has been learning about a different aspect of the Olympics. We even have a couple of hopefuls for the 2020 Olympics here at the school including Rhys and Alex Lewis, brothers who are Wales’ top sailing and tennis champions respectively and Joshua Cook who is the current under 12 Welsh gymnastic champion.’

The event ran from 9.00am with Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson giving a talk at an assembly, where she revealed she keeps her Olympic medals in a bag by the washing machine at home.

Each school then began a set of rotations competing with each other in some rather non-conventional Olympic games. The day celebrated the spirit of the Paralympic participation and children took part in sitting volleyball, wheelchair rugby and blind partner relay.

The day came to a close at 3.00pm where the ‘torch’ was passed to Sully Primary School – the next to host an Olympic event.

Speaking at the event, Howard Burge, Regional Manager for New Directions said: ‘We are truly overwhelmed to be a part of this very special day. Helping Welsh school children to celebrate and even aspire to be a part of the 2020 Olympics is fantastic.’

Wales has a real participation in the 2012 Olympics. Not only will the first event take place in Cardiff with the women’s football kicking off at the Millennium Stadium, the medals for the event are being made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant.

New Directions also has further involvement with the 2012 games. Group Learning and Development Manager, Victoria Deane is part of the World Host team to deliver customer service training to the Olympic camp volunteers across Wales.

School child sporting a New Directions t-shirt

Howard Burge and Rhian Vernall of New Directions soak up the atmosphere

The VIP crowd including Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson

Children enjoy the Olympic opening ceremony in the sunshine

Nazia, Kate and Bob from New Directions Education

On Thursday May 9 the partnership launched their first careers event at the UEL campus in Stratford. With a series of events including a panel discussion and several workshops, the day attracted over 100 graduates.

Former Head Master turned New Directions Business Development Manager Bob Meier comments: ‘I was asked to take part in a panel discussion at the event. It gave newly qualified teachers the opportunity to ask the burning questions all teachers starting their career want to ask. It was certainly a lively session; lasting well over the one hour allocated.’

The New Directions team pre-registered details from over 70 students at the event. They ranged from Teaching Assistants to Newly Qualified Teachers in both the primary and secondary sectors. Kate Robinson, speaking on behalf of New Directions added: ‘The day was incredibly inspirational – delegates were enthused and inspired by the panel discussion, especially the honesty of Bob. They were extremely keen to consume his vast knowledge within the education sector.’

University of East London offers around 100 different programmes across their Cass School of Education and Communities. These range from under graduate to post graduate, as well short-courses for continuous professional development.

The Newham Borough, which houses the Cass School at UEL, and is home to 80% of their students, has exactly 100 schools. These are predominantly infant, junior and community primary schools.

Kate Robinson adds ‘The demographic of the students we registered compliments the borough perfectly. We will be working closely with the university in the coming weeks to match NQTs to schools.’

Natalie Poole from Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Victoria Deane from Cathays in Cardiff have both beaten stiff competition to make it through to this year’s short list.

Natalie Poole is Branch Manager for the specialist educational needs team at New Directions Education. She has been nominated in the Team Leader category.

Victoria Deane is Group Learning and Development Manager for the New Directions team. She has been nominated in the Leading Leadership Skills Development category.

The awards, now in their eighth year recognise those leaders across Wales whose leadership really makes a difference.

Natalie and Victoria made the shortlist in their individual categories after being nominated by colleagues. Jeff Tune, Chairman at New Directions comments:

“Simply being recognised by others is in itself a reflection of the hard work and commitment that is put in daily by the New Directions nominees. I feel honoured and extremely proud to work with staff as talented as Natalie and Vicki and wish them both the best of luck.”

Barbara Chidgey, spokesperson for the Leading Wales Awards, said; “There is a lot of talk about the importance and impact of leadership in today’s society, our role however is to uncover and celebrate real life examples of leadership that have touched people’s lives.

“We’ve reached out to even more people across Wales this year and we’ve had a tremendous response in terms of both quantity and quality of nominations as illustrated by the largest number of finalists ever drawn up. Reading the many and inspirational nominations submitted has been an absolute privilege and extremely motivating.”

The winners will be announced at the celebratory lunch and ceremony which will take place at the Hilton, Cardiff on Thursday 31st May 2012.

A launch party was held on Thursday evening and guests helping celebrate included Welsh international Morgan Stoddart, Cardiff City mascot Bartley Blue and former New Directions supply teacher turned television star Mark “The Beast” Labbett.

This move is a massive milestone for Jeff Tune co-founder of the group. Jeff comments This business started as a family venture in a small office in central London. We were so desperate to succeed our office became our home for a long time. The irony is 15 years on we have opened our central London office just 100 metres from where it all began.

New Directions have nine offices nationwide including Birmingham, Manchester and the newly relocated Cardiff head office.

Speaking at the event John Andrews, Group Director of Operations said This business has come a long way in a short time. Our relocation reflects our ambition for the future. After ten years at Elgin House in St Mary’s Street we needed to find a location to suit our growth. The new offices are central, and we even have a bed (as part of our training offer) if Jeff decides to set up camp here again.

New Directions has bucked bank trends in recent years with year on year growth at over 30%. The business was also recently awarded the All Wales Tender to supply education professionals to schools and colleges across the UK.

For more information contact Ruth Dalton on 07972 131381 or email ruth.dalton@new-directions.co.uk

Donations of crockery and tableware from John Lewis in Cardiff will be raffled in a prize draw this evening at Penygraig Labour Club. Money raised will support the excellent work of the RAPS team in providing a support structure to parents living with a child with autism.

Natalie Poole, Branch Manager of the Specialist Education Needs team at New Directions Cardiff comments Our team are embedded within the specialist educational needs sector. We are dedicated to providing teaching staff to individuals with very specialist needs. Helping to raise awareness of autism is of real importance to us. Selling cakes in our office was an easy win!

World Autism Awareness Day highlights autism as a growing global health crisis. WAAD activities help to increase and develop world knowledge of the autism epidemic and impart information regarding the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention. Additionally, WAAD celebrates the unique talents and skills of persons with autism and is a day when individuals with autism are warmly welcomed and embraced in community events around the globe.

Baking for victory

Here's a couple of pictures from staff based at our Cardiff Head Office

Primary Team

The birthday boy in red

SEN Team

In the Welsh Government efficiency and innovation report ‘Buying Smarter in Tougher Times’, one of the key recommendations was that the public sector in Wales needs to identify common and repetitive spending.

Mark Gaisford, Chief Operating Officer for New Directions Education Ltd comments:

“We are a proud partner of the welsh education system, and  we are equally delighted at the opportunity to pioneer a model of recruitment that will not only drive quality, but save money for the authorities involved”

Gary Williams, Managing Director for New Directions Education Ltd adds:

“New Directions has been the leading agency for education recruitment in Wales for over a decade. We take pride in recruiting outstanding supply staff across the country and offering value for money. This contract will allow us to continue supporting the education system; ensuring that quality in Wales is never compromised”

New Directions Education Ltd was selected as master vendor after a selection procedure involving 20 companies who submitted tenders. The framework was awarded to the most economically advantageous tender. This agreement will run provisionally for an initial period of three years.