IPS International
Northbank House
Sir Thomas Longley Road
Medway City Estate
Rochester
Kent
ME2 4DU
Tel: 01634 298800
IPS International Ltd.
54-56 Castle Street,
Dover,
Kent
CT16 1PJ
Tel: 01304 228180
theoffice@ips-international.com
IPS International Ltd is registered in England number 3368622,
with its registered office at the Rochester address above.
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All IPS International driver CPC courses have been accredited for another year by the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT).
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IPS is exhibiting at the FIT Show 2013. The Fabricator and Installer Trade is that glass and glazing industry exhibition held at the Telford International Centre. The show which includes free seminars is open from 10.00am through to 5.00pm (4.00pm on the 18th April). Car parking and entry is free plus you can stay in touch with the office using the free WiFi. More....
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| Author: JoanneT_DonM | 27/03/2013 |
IPS were approached by Poulten Selfe & Lee, manufacturers of automatic viscometers under the RHEOTEK brand to provide advice, guidance and support in the recruitment of glass blowing apprentices. Two successfully recruited apprentices commenced the GQA Level 2 Certificate in Glass Processing Apprentice Framework in March. This quickly extended to delivering work-based learning to the highly competent existing staff.
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Congratulations to Ryan Taylor who wins the first prize in the IPS National Apprenticeship Week photograph competition. Congratulations to Della Watts who wins the second place prize. The competition was open to any current IPS Apprentice and they must have submitted a photograph that represents their own apprenticeship. Click the article title to view the winning photgraphs.
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The last day of National Apprenticeship Week and its also Red Nose day. The charity group at IPS have declared a casual dress and wear something red day and a cup cake day with 50p donations for each cake purchased. Apprentices, visitors and IPS staff joined in and £78 had been raised for Comic Relief.
Thanks to Lisa, Della, Alan (chocolate cake) Kirkham and Mr Kipling for the scrummy cakes. Thanks to Nigel for organising the lollipop sale in the workshop.
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The Duke of York visited Kent Choices 4U but what else happened?
At the IPS stand we saw lots of young people enquiring about apprenticeships but quite a number under the impression that they had to stay at school till they were 18 years old. This does raise serious questions about the advice and guidance that schools are giving out. The law now says that from 2013 all young people will have to stay on in education, training or work with training untill they are 17 years old and from 2015 they will need to stay on untill they are 18 years old.
An Apprenticeship is work with training that a young person can do from age 16 onwards and the apprentice get paid by the employer as well.
Click the title for hyperlinks and more news...
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Day 3 of National Apprenticeship Week and day one of Kent Choices 4U. A busy day at the Kent showground at Detling with rumours of a very high profile visitor at tomorrows show. Today IPS presented two interactive sessions, in Engineering an electronics challenge and in Health and Social Care a quiz and risk assessment both highly participative and enjoyed by all. The apprenticeship theme for today is Made by Apprentices and we thought we would go back to 2010 and show a Time capsule made by IPS apprentices. Click the title for pictures and more...
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The snow and freezing temperatures caused travel disruption in most of Kent but National Apprenticeship Week continues. IPS staff are completing plans for the Kent Choices 4U tomorrow at Detling near Maidstone with at least two interactive apprenticeship challenges being set up. Good news if you employ an apprentice or are considering it. Click the title for more...
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Lots of activity promoting National Apprenticeship Week today. Articles in most newspapers, radio phone in discussions and some encouraging announcements from government ministers. David Cameraon announces Apprenticeships as the new norm to either go to University or into an Apprenticeship, see a BBC article on the announcement. Mayor of London Boris Johnson announces that first year apprentices get 30% discount on Travelcards and Bus and Tram season tickets. Skills Minister Mathew Hancock appeared on the LBC radio Drivetime phone in show taking calls from employers and apprentices between 7.00pm and 8.00pm. The Daily Telegraph publishes a guide to apprenticeships.
Click the article titlew for weblinks and more...
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National Apprenticeship Week 2013 - two chances to win
National Apprenticeship Week 2013 is happening from the 11th to 15th March; see some news items on our website and earlier in the Facebook timeline for more details. Following are details of two Apprenticeship Week competitions open to apprentices. Click the title for more details...
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IPS International welcomes the growth in Apprenticeships over the last few years announced by the government department for Business Innovation and Skills earlier this month. Apprenticeship starts in England have topped half a million, in the 2011/12 academic year 520,600 people started an apprenticeship, an increase of 13.9 per cent on the preceding year. There was particularly strong growth in the engineering sector, with starts up 21.5 per cent to 59,480.
Locally, Kent had the second highest number of apprenticeship starts in the southeast at 11,200 marking a 24 per cent increase on the previous year. Medway was up 10.9 per cent at 2,700 starts.
Click the title for full information including photographs on Flickr.
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Next 2 day City & Guilds 7300-01 Introduction to Trainer Skills course starts on Tuesday 12th March 2013.
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During National Apprenticeship Week from 11th to 14th March, IPS will be taking part in the Kent Choices 4U Live exhibition at Detling near Maidstone on the 13th and 14th March. The two day event is free to attend and will offer career information and advice for job seekers, school leavers and prospective apprentices.
Find out more by clicking on the article title..
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This course is being run over 4 weeks on consecutive Friday’s.
Call now to book your place.
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IPS International has been working in collaboration with Her Majesty’s Young Offender Institute (HMYOI) Cookham Wood in Rochester, to establish a pathway for young people detained in Cookham Wood to achieve an EAL Level 1 NVQ Certificate in Performing Engineering Operations.
IPS International Director Don MacDonald and Internal Quality Assessor John Richards (right) handed over the first two full qualification achievement certificates to Head of Learning, Skills and Employment at HMYOI Cookham Wood Malcolm Whitelaw (left) and trainer assessor Martyn Collins (centre left). Click the article title for more...
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National Apprenticeship Week, now in its sixth year, is designed to celebrate Apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals and businesses. National Apprenticeship Week is when all eyes are on Apprenticeships and is aimed at raising the profile amongst employers, individuals, teachers, parents and the media.
IPS will be organising events at its training centres in Medway and Dover and exhibiting at the Kent Choices 4U exhibition at Detling near Maidstone on the 13th and 14th March. (click the article title for more...)
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The IET Skills survey 2012 indicates the difficulties that companies face recruiting new and skilled talent into engineering. The survey has key messages for educational, vocational and apprenticeship training at all levels in companies. The good news for engineering apprenticeships is that half of UK companies expect to recruit apprentices in the next 4 to 5 years. (click the title for more...)
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IPS International is delighted to announce that we have been awarded Investors in People (Gold Standard). This is a world-class achievement, which recognises the commitment our company has to developing and investing in its staff. This investment in turn impacts positively upon the outcomes for our learners and customers in terms of standards and provision.
Achieving this award puts IPS International in the top 3% of all organisations/institutions who have achieved any form of Investors in People recognition. To achieve Investors in People, a total of 39 standards need to be met, but for the ‘Gold Award’, this rises significantly to 165. We achieved 170!
This could not have been achieved without the commitment and support of all our staff and we offer a sincere thanks to all of our people, working for and with IPS, for their commitment, energy and passion they show for learning and development.
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The 4 day course is provided at the IPS International training centre in Rochester, Kent either as a block of four days or on one day per week for 4 weeks.
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The Skills Funding Agency rules from August 2012 to July 2013 mean that 16 to 18 year old Apprentices are fully funded and those aged 19 plus are partially funded. Apprentices aged 16 to 18 are now allowed to provide personal care provided they are suitably trained/competent and are appropriately supervised. The following is a short summary of the guidance for Apprentices working in a care setting.
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IPS International is now able to provide ECITB Management Training and Development courses and also the ECITB Level 3 NVQ Certificate in Management to companies in the South and South East of England.
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The IPS International training centre in Rochester featured as a full page spread in the August issue of South East Business magazine. Jamie Ward employed by Dover Harbour Board and just completing his first year off the job training was asked for his views by the SE Business journalist and replied "it's fantastic; its exactly what I wanted to do". Click the title for more....
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The last ever Kingsnorth Power Station Advanced Apprentices completed this week and were signed off for their NVQ 3’s thus completing all of the compulsory technical requirements of the Advanced Apprenticeship. This brings to an end a very successful relationship between E.ON and IPS in the training of Apprentices in the Engineering Department at the plant. (Click the title for the full article)
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Its just under 150 days to go until Functional Skills become a mandatory part of all Apprenticeship Frameworks. Two year one Engineering Apprentices are the first within IPS to achieve Functional Skills. All Apprenticeship Frameworks have Functional Skills as one of the qualifications to be achieved so gaining them early is a key milestone to completing the full framework of qualifications. Congratulations to Philip Smith from BAE Systems, Rochester and George Pampling from Evridge Engineering. (Click the article title for more...)
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During his last week as Mayor of Dartford, Councillor Eddy Lampkin had an action packed schedule with one of the highlights being a visit to local engineering and manufacturing company, AR Engineering Industries. From an engineering background himself Eddy understands the important contribution such industry offers to our economy and was delighted to find AR Engineering thriving in his borough, despite the turmoil suffered by so many businesses in recent years.
AR Engineering Industries is a family run precision engineering company and has been operating from its Wilmington base for almost 20 years. They predominantly manufacture components for the Automotive and Aerospace industries, along with the Food and Beverage and Utilities sectors.
Upon inspection of the company's factory, located just outside Dartford town centre, Eddy was impressed by the diverse capabilities of AR. During his tour of the facilities at Bybow Farm the Mayor met the AR team and was pleased to be introduced to the apprentices and remarked that, "It’s great to see young people learning skills and building themselves a career, and all with such enthusiasm"..(click the title for the full article)
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Recently BAE Systems, Rochester put their 4 first year Craft apprentices though IPC-A-610 and J-Standard-001 training onsite over a 4 day intensive training session. The purpose was to teach them the latest revisions to the Electronic standards and Soldering requirements of the manufacturing areas they are to be working in. They all passed with very high marks and produced very good quality workmanship projects, to gain Certified IPC Specialist
level certification. This is the official certification level BAE Systems needed them to achieve before they are allowed to work on customer products at BAE Systems. (click the title for more..)
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One of the most significant announcements of this years Apprenticeship week has to be AGE 16 to 24 (Apprenticeship Grant for Employers of 16 to 24 year olds). David Cameron announced earlier this week that small firms will be offered an incentive of £1500 to hire their first young apprentices. Click on the article title for more information and hyperlinks.
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IPS International Ltd will be supporting Apprenticeship Week from the 6th to the 10th February delivering Open Day Information Advice and Guidance events aimed at increasing awareness of the benefits of Apprenticeships for Apprentices and Employers. If you are interested in Apprenticeships, you are invited to come along to our Rochester or Dover offices and find out whats involved and get upto date information on how an Apprenticeship can benefit a business and be a crucial start on the career ladder.
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IPS International trains Engineering Apprentices for major companies in Kent and deliver other training and NVQs throughout the UK.
Engineering industry segments that we work with include Metals and Paper manufacture, Food production and processing, Power Stations, Maintenance Services, Machine manufacturing, Automotive components manufacture and supply chain, Plastics manufacturing and Pharmaceutical and Chemicals production. We are helping these Major Employers in Kent to recruit, and will be holding aptitude testing sessions in Rochester for potential Electrical, Mechanical, Instrumentation, Manufacturing and Production Apprentices. -->(click on title for more)
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The IOSH Managing Safely training course is for managers and supervisors in any sector, and any organisation. It’s designed to get managers up to speed on the practical actions they need to take to handle health and safety in their teams. IPS has a set of new IOSH Managing Safely course dates in January, May, July and September 2012. (Click on the news title to see the full article...)
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The ideal nationally recognised qualification for those who train others, (train the trainer) - we have course dates through to December 2012.
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IPS is pleased to announce the achievement of a grade 2 in our recent inspection by Ofsted. We have moved from a grade 3 to a very solid grade 2 in most areas of learning, recognising significant improvements achieved by all our learners, employers and all the IPS staff. The Ofsted inspectors recognised the significant progress since the last inspection in 2007. (click the article title for more ...)
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We've been busy setting up our open courses training schedule for 2012 and they are now available on our website. This covers the electrical and mechanical open courses, the IOSH Managing Safely course and our IT courses covering Excel spreadsheets and similar applications. The open course Introduction to Trainer Skills is certificated by City and Guilds as are some of the electrical installation courses such as 17th Edition. (click the article title for more and hyperlinks...)
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Medway Council announced details in September of a £200,000 fund for apprenticeships to help businesses with less than 50 employees and young people in Medway get the skills they need to grow. The fund aims to boost the number of apprenticeships in Medway and will provide local businesses with a wage or training subsidy of £2,000 to support them taking on an apprentice. To date IPS has placed 6 apprentices with employers who will benefit from the scheme. Click the article title for more...
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IPS takes part in the Engineering Education Scheme (England) for the fifth year in succession working with Kent schools to promote interest in engineering. The Engineering Education Scheme (England) is a Programme that links teams of four senior school students and their teacher with local companies to work on real scientific, engineering and technological problems. IPS is pleased to link with Benenden School in Kent helping students gain experience and inspiration to make informed choices about their future studies and career.
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IPS International gains award and recognition for Information Advice and Guidance (IAG).
IPS International first gained the Matrix Standard award for Information Advice and Guidance in 2008 and has now been re-accredited in August 2011. The Matrix Standard is the national quality standard for any organisation that delivers information, advice or guidance in learning and work. It is designed to help training providers identify and follow best practice in delivery of Information, Advice and Guidance services. The Accreditation report highlighted that learners are the central focus of the IPS service and how IAG helped them gain confidence to look forward. The report also highlighted that IPS has built on the strengths identified in 2008, the breadth of IAG knowledge existing within IPS and the signposting of learners to appropriate organisations for specific advice and guidance. IPS provides IAG to Apprentices, funded learners and commercial course learners.
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In August HMYOI Cookham Wood in collaboration with IPS International opened a new training workshop in Motor Mechanics delivering the EAL Level 1 NVQ Certificate in Performing Engineering Operations. HMYOI Cookham Wood learning and development staff created the training room and equiped it to suit the prison environment and working conditions. IPS International devised the training regime around the qualification and sourced the training equipment (Diesel engines) from Ford Motor Company in Dagenham. The qualification is suited to young offenders as the average length of stay is 16 weeks. This means that young people can gain a qualification, learn new skills, prove that they can achieve something and move back into the education system or employment on release. (Click on the article title for more information)
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IPS welcomes a new bus service for Medway City Estate called Strood Riverside. Medway City Estate is now connected to Strood and Chatham. The 170 service launched in August runs from Medway Gate (Sealand Road) through Strood to Strood railway station and on to the Medway City Estate and then to Chatham Waterfront via the Medway Tunnel; another service 174 has a slightly different route. It runs every half hour each weekday between 7am and 8pm, meaning IPS trainees, apprentices and learners can easliy access the training centre. For more information and links, click on the article title.
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ANNUAL ENGINEERING AWARDS EVENING - 28th July 2011
The IPS International Awards evening was held at the St Georges Centre in Chatham where 20 engineering apprentices scooped 24 awards marking achievents over the last 12 months. The St Georges Centre provided a great location with a real sense of occasion. The centre is located in Chatham Dockyard and was formerly used by the Royal Navy and remains a naval memorial centre with windows and memorials dedicated to naval personnel and important historical engagements.
(please click the article title for more....)
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Open Microsoft Computer Courses
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IPS International offers five new NVQs for Transportation Drivers and reduces the costs of Training. Why not think about getting your drivers fully trained to the latest NVQ Standards? IPS can significantly reduce the costs of your CPC training by embedding the CPC requirements into a Level 2 National Vocational Qualification Certificate or Diploma. NVQs can be fully funded for your drivers depending on eligibility and prior qualifications. The NVQ is work based, so all assessments & training can be carried out in the work place with no disruption to you workload or training can be carried out at our training centers in Rochester/Dover if required.
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From the 10th September 2013 the EU requires that all Bus and Coach drivers must achieve their Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). From 10th September 2014, all Lorry Drivers must achieve the same. All courses for Driver CPC must be accredited by the Joint Approvals Unit for Periodic Training (JAUPT). In addition all training centres offering Driver CPC must recieve centre approval from JAUPT. IPS is a JAUPT approved training centre and we offer JAUPT accredited courses that will help your company adhere to the legislation, helping you to improve your business, win contracts and stay legal in 2013.
We will be running Periodic Training CPC courses for lorry drivers as they must achieve their CPC cards by 10th September 2014.
The Driver Periodic Training CPC has been introduced across the European Union to maintain high driving standards and improve road safety. All professional bus, coach and lorry drivers must hold a Driver CPC card if they want to drive for a living. (There are a few exemptions to this rule). For Further information please call Paul Traxler on 01634 298800 or email theoffice@ips-international.com
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Medway Council in Kent and partners in the Apprenticeship Challenge are challenging businesses in Medway to generate 100 new Apprenticeship places in 100 days. IPS International is a partner in the challenge along with the Kent Association of Training Organisations (KATO). The challenge was launched on the 19th May in teh Historic Dockyard. If you are a Medway based employer and want to find out more about the benefits of apprenticeships and take part in the challenge follow this link to the Medway 100 in 100 Apprenticesips Challenge website http://www.medway.gov.uk/business/economicdevelopment/apprenticeshipchallenge.aspx
---> (click on the article title for more)
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IPS International is pleased to support the Swale 100 Apprenticeships in 100 days challenge encouraging Swale employers to pledge 100 apprenticeships for 100 young people. IPS is an active participant and as a member of Kent Association of Training Organisations (KATO), a partner in the challenge. If you are a Swale employer or are interested in becoming an apprentice you can get more information on the challenge by going go to the 100 in 100 website at www.100in100.co.uk/swale. You can also view the 100 in 100 counter showing progress to date. ---> (click on the article title for more)
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IPS International will support the National Apprenticeships Service, Canterbury City Council and Kent Apprenticeships in the challenge to encourage employers to sign up 100 Apprentices in 100 days in the Canterbury district. A new website has been launched along with a freephone number. Visit www.100in100.co.uk for more details
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BAE Systems’ apprentice Dominic Hurrell has been named ‘Apprentice of the Year’ at the Company’s inaugural UK Apprenticeship Awards held in Manchester. The Awards recognise the achievements of BAE Systems apprentices from across the UK, who have excelled both in the workplace and in their academic studies. BAE Systems currently has around 1,100 engineering and business apprentices in training and will be recruiting a further 200 in 2010, making it one of the largest employers of apprentices in the UK. IPS International supplies first year off the job training to BAE Systems Platform Solutions technical apprentices from its Rochester site and congratulates Dominic, Daniel and Charlotte on their achievements.
(Click the title to see the full BAE Systems press release...)
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