So following the RAFAC forum / convention, the first done virtually, there are now 7 videos from this for us all to see, on SharePoint - Sign in to your account
Great that this has been shared, as my OC Wg who attended continues to adopt the Mushroom effect and has shared nothing 
I particularly found the Safeguarding update very interesting, positive and refreshing.
The bit where Dawn talks about the future being bright for âstaples like flying, gliding and shootingâ was my favourite.
Really impressed with the Bader team and a clear direction of what is in the pipeline, very good management of expectations.
Wing delivery - very good. Although I found it very frustrating due to local policy preventing some of that but it is what it is.
Safeguarding - great fresh set of eyes looking forward to seeing progression here
Training - good effort so far. Got a feeling that was no real plan going forward just lots of ahoc work. Suprised we didnt hear about the future of ultifail. Kind of got a slight feeling they were disjointed from the progression of the remainder of org.
Really appreciated the transparency around Covid 19 recovery and how we are still.working it out. Prefer the central approach rather than the ACF brigade approach.
Iâd thoroughly recommend more of these are run for the masses thoughâŚtransparency is key in these times of uncertainty.
Iâm really pleased they released it. It shows really good engagement with the coal face, even if some of the presentations werenât great.
I liked the Bader one, the COS was ok, I found the TG one not so good. The content of the guides looks professional but it didnât seem like a well thought out process other than being a bit detached from the real world.
Big thumbs up to the interlinking portals for Staff, Admin etc.
My only comment would be I was unsure if being on an activity on sms would auto create a VA claim should the activity be eligible - a bit like the auto travel allowance using registers - excellent stuff.
I Like the look of the training materials and hope to see senior logbooks like the new leading ones - which are a superb resource. Even better if they can come printedâŚ
A little more detail on space would be nice; I thought as per a recent thread on here it wouldnât be badged - but there was mention of blue and bronze.
Printing of own certificates for cadet achievement in principle sounds sensible, but there is a unit cost implication here - although it means we can present whenever we want with no wait (although waiting for badges will still be a thing), it does mean extra Squadron cost of printing on card or laminating.
Disappointed that there was mention of units having to upload training materials themselves to CP; would it not be better for cadet portal to see that a cadet is second class and so push the first class logbook and other first class material to them, then upon first class being entered on sms âunlockâ or suggest that the leading logbooks would be of interest, or similar.
On that note it would be a god send if we could push CVQO somehow through the portal, as this can be completed online now, it would save us having to flick between sms/cadet portal and the moodle application - I would ask for similar with silver cyber. I appreciate building in third party software is tricky and possibly not future proof - but it would save multiple log ins to multiple areas - and there is so much more potential for cadet portal.
Just my first initial thoughts!
I suspect what youâve just outlined will get resolved in the Ultifail replacement.
Ceasingly appalling presentation.
The âHow to Guidesâ whilst appreciated strike many of us âat the coal faceâ as very much a âquick do something so that we dont get fired approachâ.
Should of had this stuff 10 years ago.
Replace Ultifail ASAP.
Sort the badge shortage.
Reduce training admin burden
Trust sqn staff that if we put a qual on bader it has been done, shouldnât have to go any where else before a badge arrives.
Actually release the space syllabus
Sort out silver and gold cyber
We are a flying organisation. More on this, less on fluffy nonsense.
This sums it up really Bader team seem to be progressing with a modern way of working thatâs is unified and everyone has expressed itâs the right direction except TG who appear to want to do their own thing and distance themselves from a unified approachâŚthatâs just my opinion though. Why build millions of portals on sharepoint to make info/docs get lose and not have a training portal that can link to Cadet Portal and Staff/Volunteer Portal that had it all in one place with a useable and consistent interface that even those without sharepoint access can get to
From a classification povâŚ
I only hope printed materials will still be provided. As much as I would love to have 30 cadets doing their various classifications and inputting everything on an online workbook, that both they and I have access to, I donât have 30 laptops on squadron with reliable internet for them to be able to fill workbooks as they go - also, having a device in front of some of them during a lesson may just be too distracting⌠So a printed workbook where they can follow the lesson through and write answers in the boxes as they go is likely the only feasible option. It also gives them a solid resource for referencing when taking the open book exams.
Once all completed to Master Cadet it would be a pretty comprehensive set of workbooks, and would really prove why the course is worth a BTEC.
No, no NO!!! This defeats the entire point of having standardised trg material (however good sqn efforts are) - the tail will be wagging the dog. This should be TGâs remit - although it would help immensely if all the dross / out of date / defunct / duplication / whatever could be erased from Sharepoint - subject topics of expertise / knowledge need to be incorporated (as the Shooting Portal") as the âgo toâ areas.
I wonder if certain people with the right access cough @james_elliott cough could accidentally delete everything on SharePoint?
I used to think SharePoint was dreadful. Then we got it at work and it is actually really user-friendly. Turns out itâs how we as an organisation use it that is the issue after all
I think as a whole some presentation training wouldnât go amiss for anyone that needs to present in future. They werenât awful overall but certainly could have been better and more attuned to what we teach cadets. Slides with too much text on mean you donât pay attention to the speaker.
I really liked that you could submit questions in advance as well as ask them there and then, and I think this has to be the best way to hold them in future. Can you imagine the travel, VA and mess bill of 130+ people all converging on Cranditz?
I donât know what level of training our Bader PoCâs get but perhaps all region, and maybe even wing Bader PoCâs should go through some sort of Microsoft Certified Sharepoint training, maybe gain their Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) SharePoint.
i liked the comment by Lawlor that he thinks the format works well enough to stop him driving to High Wycombe!
I can see the world being a different place after this pandemic.
I second the comments about TG dept suggesting that Sqns can upload documents - documents they provide. surely it is straightforward to have them make them available on CP??!!
I laughed at the question about âwill there be a CFAV recruitment campaign in reaction to those Staff weâre bound to lose post-pandemicâ
the question should have been - how is HQAC going to promote retention in those who do stay and make sure they do stay?
no point bringing in fresh blood if the team you do have are not motivated, have low moral and are too over-worked to adequately deal with new Staff recruits.
I believe it is really straight forward
it is - if you watch the TG presentation the question comes in
âcan the Training Material be made available on CP?â
Answer: Yes, this is up to the Squadrons to up load it themselves.
Sorry meant to say it i belive it would be really simple to upload to CP centrally if they asked the team
Also the question about new staff and DBS was wrong; instead of being can we please supervise staff with no DBS it should have been âAs new safeguarding lead what are you going to do to reduce the waiting time, regularly up to 5 or 6 months, on new and renewal DBS checks?â
The problem is within our organisation as we all know a DBS (in normal times) can be turned around in several days.
This is one of the biggest obstacles to keeping new staff interested and causes havoc when, for example, an OC is banned from squadron for months on end as a DBS is leisurely floating through the system.
It is unjustifiable, embarrassing and frankly shameful.
Or why havent we adopted the electronic DBS process