WWYC

WORKING WITH YOUR COUNCIL

A DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE WITH MENTORING SUPPORT

Gloucestershire Training Partnership offers the opportunity to gain knowledge of the Parish and Town Council sector by giving support in the completion of the portfolio, Working With Your Council (WWYC)

What is this?

A structured foundation course developed by the University of Gloucestershire and Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) covering;-

Roles and Responsibilities
Law
Procedures
Finance
Planning
Community Action.

Who is it for?

Clerks, administration and councillors who wish to obtain a comprehensive grounding in understanding all the above in the workings of their council to help their own confidence and efficiency.

Why do it?

It is an ideal start in learning with peer support, about the role you need to play, involving practical, useful examples and experience from your day to day activities, in demonstrating your increasing knowledge for your role. WWYC is also an excellent forerunner to the Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA)

What’s next?

You need to complete a registration card (available from the address below). The fee structure is based upon your length of service and council income. As a special offer from GTP we offer the portfolio for £50.00.

Our Mentoring day with Elisabeth Skinner form the University of Gloucestershire, is on Wednesday 10 November 2010 at Churchdown Parish Offices. Cost to GAPTC members is £80 and a booking form can be obtained from the address below. It is possible to qualify for a bursary towards this cost, please ask for details.

The completion of the portfolio can be undertaken by you without support, by submitting the file to the external verifier as instructed. A certificate is given to all who qualify.

I recommend consideration of WWYC for all new clerks, as it is well structured to guide you through the basics of knowledge and signposts further sources of information. I would emphasise that WWYC is based on ‘the day job’ not based on obscure learning. This course has also been used by some councils in helping Councillors come to grips with their role.

Please contact:-

GAPTC

Community House

15 College Green

Gloucester

GL1 2LZ

Caralyn Ruddleston training@gaptc.org.uk

Kim Bedford advice@gaptc.org.uk

CiLCA – The Qualification for you

The Certificate in Local Council Administration is a distance learning course verified by the Monitoring and Verification Board which is directly applicable to “the day job”.

Cost to the Council is £150.00 for registration, but for those councils with an income of less than £25,000 there is a bursary of £100.00 available towards the cost of the course fee and training. Details available on application.

On registering for CiLCA, the candidate has up to two years to complete the portfolio of evidence for submission. GAPTC recommends candidates set a date prior to two years as a goal and endeavour to stick to this!

SUPPORT

Having decided to tackle CiLCA, I am happy to assure you of GAPTC support, not just on the end of a phone or email, but we provide two day courses, which covers the six main topic areas: Roles and Responsibilities; Law; Procedures; Finance: Planning and Community Action. The two days for your diary are Wednesday 14 July and Wednesday 27 October. Please ask for the booking form from Caralyn. Further dates will be sent for early 2011 for the next two support sessions.

WHY CiLCA?

I feel that the time and commitment you put into offering support and help to your council needs to be recognised and the CiLCA qualification does just this! Expect to put in on average about 30 hours of work and one of the rewards is another notch on the salary scale, providing your council has signed up to the National Agreement. CiLCA also offers an opportunity to ensure you have the basic knowledge to carry out a professional job. By signing up additionally for the two study days there is a chance to share the learning with colleagues. CiLCA is the recognised qualification in our sector as a sign of achievement and is required in most job applications. Consider your future aspirations.

CONSIDER

So think about your future, think about your current knowledge, think about your council. This is your next step to professionalism. CiLCA is also a requirement of your council to have a qualified Clerk in adopting the Power of Well Being and obtaining Quality Status. Ask Kim for more details.

Now is the time to explore this – Contact Kim or Caralyn as detailed below. We look forward to hearing from you.

Kim Bedford advice@gaptc.org.uk
Caralyn Ruddleston training@gaptc.org.uk