I’ve had a brief chat with somebody who’s done this course. They did it within 6 months of signing up as an SCC instructor. They were an ex-cadet, joined the RN, served for 9 years, then left to pursue a different career path. They thought they knew a lot before because they’d been a cadet - but this course gave them the underpinning knowledge of WHY the cadets worked for them, and how to maximise the impacts of cadets in the lives of the young people in touches.
They confirmed that @Giminion description is spot on. The course content is very easily tweakable to reflect ANY youth group. It was also done in collaboration with the NYA (which might be why we don’t follow it!!).
But going back to the Statement in VoV, why does the training have to be nationally accredited??? It’s not like our mandatory training is.
I certainly think there is scope for this sort of training within RAFAC - and without CVQO being lumped into the mix because it absolutely DOES NOT have to be accreditted (nice if it was - but that often limits the scope of the award, and increases the costs - which then get passed on via CVQO to the CFAV).
Reflecting on my experiences over the last 20+ years, absolutely NONE of the training I have done through RAFAC has actually been about working with young people. How do we understanding things from their perspective. No understanding of how they function; no child psychology. No understanding their perceptions of the modern world. How to energise a group. No guidance on how to coproduce and active and engaging training program. No doing “with not too”. And very limited training around SEN and behaviour management (limited to one x one-way webinar and “here read this ACP” or the new specific support guidance on Sharepoint).
All the stuff I’ve done has come through work or personal learning - because that stuff motivates me. Others have been and gone - and some would really have benefited from that stuff - but don’t have the same learning style as me - they thrive of courses and being taught, rather than having the hunger for self directed learning or learning for the sake of learning.
I just flicked back to the staff training and induction process - just for an insight - and it was very telling. In the current induction process for new staff we’ve got the following as AVIP topics…
- SECTION 1 - RAF Air Cadets Knowledge
- SECTION 2 RAF Knowledge
- SECTION 3 Visiting your Squadron
- SECTION 4 Information Technology and Communications
- SECTION 5 Health, Safety and Environmental Protection
- SECTION 6 Safeguarding and Child Protection
- SECTION 7 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- SECTION 8 Security
With mandatory training cycles around the following…
- PREVENT
- ACTO10
- Fire
- Climatic Injuries
- HSE
- Security
- First Aid
- Responsible for Info
- Safeguarding
The ONLY task within the AVIP booklet AND the mandatory training which has any form of cadet engagement is Section 3: Meet the cadets (which then goes on to say “explain various cadet roles, a quick overview of classification and introduction to PTS” (so nothing about actually meeting the cadets at all!!!).
Comparing that to the massive volume of tasks talking about RAF Stations you may never visit, listing locations of VGSs which may be entirely irrelevant if you live too far away, completing HS&EO Form 18, who the Wing Chaplaim and Regional Commandant is…
There’s NOTHING which can help a new starter work with teenagers. There’s some very big assumptions being made within the training system that our noobie member of staff knows and understands young people. The checks and balances about this are a DBS and a Wg Staff interview to see if they get heebie-jeebies about a candidate. No observations of them around young people, no senior cadet on the boarding panel to see if they get heebie-jeebies (and they will have very different feedback from Wg Staff!!) and then complete your probationary X months (without any training on how to engage and interact with young people).
Whilst other elements of RAFAC are evolving (RAF Aspire for example), I think our recruitment and induction processes are very out of step with other youth organisations. I also think our on going staff development processes are very far behind the curve too - which, perhaps, is why we also have retention issues further down the line.
Maybe it’s time for an evolution/revolution.
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