Monthly Archives: October 2020

HR News, Mental Health, Mental Health at Work, News

XpertHR helps employers support workers mental health ahead of World Mental Health Day with new resources

In the run up to World Mental Health Day on 10th October, XpertHR explores how employers can support the mental health of employees in their new briefing, Looking after your team’s mental health, and podcast,  where they address the mental health challenges arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to the charity, Mind, one in four people will experience a mental health condition each year[i]. The pandemic is likely to exacerbate this. A forecast by the Centre for Mental Health[ii] suggested that at least half a million more people in the UK may experience mental ill health as a result of COVID-19 in the next two years. Given these statistics it is very likely that line managers will manage an individual with a mental health issue, so they need the skills and understanding to support them.

Jeya Thiruchelvam, managing editor at XpertHR says, “Mental health in the workplace was on the agenda prior to COVID-19, but this year has been especially difficult for some. Many of us have had to adapt to working remotely over-night often in less than ideal spaces while also juggling family commitments. This is likely to continue well into next year given the government’s recent U-turn on returning to the office.

“Also the impact of the pandemic on every aspect of our daily lives from job security to our ability to be close to friends and family is placing our mental health under huge strain. Now more than ever line managers need practical guidance to help employees who may be struggling.”

XpertHR’s briefing explores how good and poor mental health can look different on different people and offers advice for spotting the early warning signs of a mental health problem and how managers can start a conversation about mental health with an employee, including what to do before, during and after the conversation.

XpertHR offers the following tips for managers:

 

  • Have regular one-to-one catch-ups and weekly check-ins with your team to identify potential issues early, before they develop into more serious problems. Do these virtually with remote workers.

 

  • Be aware of the potential early warning signs of poor mental health include feeling tired, sleeping poorly, having a dishevelled appearance, mood swings, loss of confidence and motivation, struggling to absorb information, feeling aggressive and or/tearful, and contributing less to team meetings, activities and tasks.

 

  • Notice any changes in your team members; people do not change without a reason. It may not be due to their mental health but if you notice a change in someone, there will be a reason for it, so speak to them.

 

  • If you are concerned that someone is displaying early warning signs of poor mental health, have a conversation with them sooner rather than later. Timing is critical; do not wait for the individual to display several warning signs.

 

  • When you are having a sensitive conversation around an employee’s mental health be accepting, genuine and empathetic.

 

  • Once you have had the conversation think about what comes next. Your next steps will be shaped by what you learned during the conversation. What is going to happen as a result of the conversation?

 

  • Direct individuals to sources of support within the organisation (HR, occupation health, EAPs, private GP or health screening) or externally (GPs, counselling services, family/friends, charities)

 

Jeya Thiruchelvam adds, “Just like our physical health, mental health is fluid and can change from day to day, week to week. Line managers will need to adapt their support to suit the evolving situation and be even more on the ball when spotting signs with many workers still working at home.”

To read XpertHR’s briefing, ‘Looking after your team’s mental health’ in full, click here.

To listen to the podcast: ‘How to encourage mental health wellbeing among employees’ with Richard Martin, from the employment relations and HR training provider Byrne Dean, discussing managing mental health wellbeing, click here.

To listen to the Coronavirus and your workforce webinar: ‘Supporting employees’ mental health’ with Dr. Barbara Mariposa, a medical doctor with a background in psychiatry and public health, click here.

For more information on XpertHR visit: www.xperthr.co.uk

[i] https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/statistics-and-facts-about-mental-health/how-common-are-mental-health-problems/#.XSSB_bxKi1s

[ii] https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/news/least-half-million-more-people-uk-may-experience-mental-ill-health-result-covid-19-says-first-forecast-centre-mental-health

COVID-19 Tests, Healthcare, News

BBI Solutions Confirms UK Government contract for UK-Rapid Test Consortium

CRUMLIN-BASED BBI Solutions, a leading manufacturer of biological reagents and finished test platforms for the in-vitro diagnostics market, notes the press release issued by the UK Rapid Test Consortium (“UK-RTC”), of which BBI Solutions is a partner, on the UK Government’s first order for one million COVID-19 lateral flow antibody tests (the “AbC-19™ Rapid test”).

This first order is part of the UK Government’s plans to roll-out COVID-19 surveillance studies to help build a picture of how the virus has spread across the country.

The AbC-19™ Rapid test uses a small drop of blood from a finger-prick, and shows results in 20 minutes, without the need for a patient sample to be sent to a laboratory.

The test is currently CE-Marked for professional use, and can be administered by healthcare professionals, such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists and healthcare workers, at the point-of-care. The UK-RTC are seeking approval from the MHRA for self-test use.

The consortium will draw on BBI Solutions’ rapid test development and expertise, as well as its wider manufacturing capabilities, primarily at its headquarters at Crumlin, South Wales, and its site in Edinburgh.

BBI Solutions is also working closely with healthcare providers to optimise its smartphone diagnostic reader to be used in conjunction with the test. BBI’s patented Novarum technology will guide users at home through performing a test before securely providing the results with their healthcare provider.

The UK-RTC is reproduced in full at the end of this statement.

Dr Mario Gualano, CEO, BBI Solutions, said: “I am delighted that the UK-RTC has now received its first contract from the UK Government for our COVID-19 lateral flow antibody test.

“We believe that the AbC-19™ Rapid test has the immediate opportunity to allow the UK to build a swift and clear picture of how the virus has spread throughout the population. It also has the potential to be deployed in conjunction with vaccine candidates to help assess initial immune responses.”

Finance News, Furlough, HR News, News

Kilsby Williams urges businesses to check for furlough claim inaccuracies following HMRC warning

South East Wales’ largest independent accountancy firm is urging all business that have utilised the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to thoroughly check their claims for inaccuracies before the cut-off date, to avoid the risk of fines or even prosecution.

Newport-based Kilsby Williams is issuing this warning following a growing number of businesses recently receiving a letter from HMRC, informing them of potential errors and reminding them that all claims must be wholly accurate.

Common errors that employers have been making when submitting these claims include claiming for an employee that was not actually eligible for the scheme and using the wrong calculations or reference figures when determining furlough pay.

For employers who identify previous miscalculations, HMRC has set 20 October 2020 as the cut-off date for self-declarations. Any self-declarations made after 20 October 2020 are potentially subject to penalties and even prosecution in the most severe cases.

Kilsby Williams is advising all employers making claims to ensure they retain all copies of the written confirmations issued to all employees notifying them that they were to be placed on the scheme, as well as retaining copies of the calculations used for all CJRS claims made.

Sadie Leadbetter, Payroll Manager, Kilsby Williams, said: “It is of vital importance that employers who have received a warning letter from HMRC regarding their CJRS claims take this warning seriously.

“Even if the errors made were completely accidental, businesses could indeed find themselves facing a HMRC enquiry, followed by hefty penalties and even prosecution.

“This scheme has been a life-line for many firms, and we are urging all affected employers to thorough check back through their claims, or to get in touch with an expert who can provide an audit service and ensure full compliance on your behalf.”

For those employers who have received a letter informing them of possible inaccuracies, Kilsby Williams is able to provide a comprehensive CJRS audit service, identifying claim areas where non-compliance may have arisen and helping to settle this, to avoid the large costs associated with an HMRC enquiry.

For further information, please visit www.kilsbywilliams.com

Established in 1991, Kilsby Williams offers clients expertise in a number of key accountancy areas, delivering a bespoke service to meet their specific needs. The business works with clients from across South Wales, the Midlands and London, ranging from sole traders to companies in international quoted groups.

News

REVEALED: What lockdown has really done to our backs

By Ann Kuan, Senior Private Physiotherapist at Vita Health Group

Our backs have undoubtedly felt the strain of lockdown. From binge watching movies in bed, to sitting at our kitchen tables hunched over our laptops, to an influx in people getting fit. Our bodies, and more specifically our backs, have felt the impact.

Non-specific lower back pain i.e. a pain that is not due to a serious disease and where the exact cause of the pain is unclear, is a complaint that we have observed in our practices a great deal recently. As you might imagine, the causes of this pain are very varied. Saying that, one commonality is that, almost all lower back issues tend to result from an increased volume, intensity and frequency of some form of activity, which, if managed appropriately early on, could have been prevented.

So, just what is causing this pain in our backs?

The new work from home environment has meant that many people have been sitting in less ergonomic positions and for much longer periods of time. With people dropping their daily commute, working through lunch and missing out on those regular photocopier chats at their offices, people have been sedentary for much longer periods.

The other thing we have witnessed is a greater number of people taking up exercise over the lockdown period. Whilst this is, of course, a good thing for both mental and physical health, we have found that many people went from ‘zero to hero’ very quickly. For instance, at the start of lockdown and when many of us were only allowed out once a day, we saw a number of people going from doing very little fitness, to increasing the volume of their workouts fivefold. People who were perhaps used to doing just one run a week, started running every day and for longer distances. And if they weren’t running, they were cycling or walking further. Likewise, those who were self-isolating or restricted on leaving the house, switched from the odd gym session to doing daily online workouts, often at a much higher intensity.

We also witnessed a big boom in people purchasing fitness equipment. So much so in fact, that many of the big providers sold out completely. Unfortunately, in some cases, this resulted in people buying whatever they could for fear of losing out and thus working out with equipment that was perhaps unsuitable for their fitness level. The other issue this caused was a number of people with a great deal of fitness kit, yet without the knowledge on how to use it correctly.

On top of this, with so many people juggling childcare, home-schooling and working from home, trying to squeeze in a workout in such little time was (as you would expect) tricky. As such, we found that many people often scrimped on warm ups, cool downs and stretching – sometimes doing none at all.

And it wasn’t just exercise that people were going overboard with either. DIY and gardening boomed during lockdown, leading to many people bending over weeding for hours on end, trying to reach those difficult places when painting and assuming some very interesting positions to hammer in those nails.

All of the above elements led to a number of issues for Brits’ backs. Put simply, our bodies simply weren’t used to the increased volume, frequency and change in intensity of these activities, and our backs definitely felt the strain.

With a number of regional lockdowns potentially coming down the line, what can we do to ensure we take care for our backs, nip pain in the bud early on, and ensure a small niggle doesn’t become something more. Here are our five tips:

  1. Commit to a warm up: Always warm up before doing any form of exercise by doing dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches are active movements where your joints and muscles go through a full range of motion. They can be functional and mimic the movement of the activity or sport you’re about to perform. For example, a swimmer may circle their arms before getting into the water. Other examples include trunk twists, walking lunges, or squats. Anna Cousins, online PT and virtual trainer explains, “I use a lot of dynamic stretching in my workouts, it’s a much safer method, and achieves better results than static stretching. Static stretching involves taking a muscle to full length and holding for 15 to 60 seconds, such as touching your toes, whereas dynamic stretching involves movement — such as hip flexor lunges, plie squats or arm circles — to accomplish flexibility of the muscle groups. The benefits of dynamic stretching include more power, fewer injuries, better coordination or balance and efficient neuromuscular activation.”

 

  1. Progress at a steady pace: If you are trying to increase the amount of exercise you do, be sure to increase the frequency, intensity and volume at a steady pace and one that your body is used to. For instance, if you are used to running one 5k a week, don’t jump to a 30-minute 5k run every day. The key is to gradually increase your volume over time and if you experience any niggles or pain, drop back down or do a lower intensity workout. Pushing your body too hard will only result in problems down the line and will likely set you back long term.

 

  1. Rank your pain level and modify: If you do experience a niggle, ask yourself how bad the pain is. Can you do normal activities? Or is the pain stopping you from doing everyday things like climbing the stairs? If the niggle is resulting in you being unable to conduct everyday tasks, you should seek help immediately. However, if you think the pain is mild, perhaps consider some other options first. For instance, you may wish to moderate your workout from high intensity to low intensity for a while. Likewise, after working out be sure to use ice, heat or relief balms to get those niggles under control. Listen to your body at all times.

 

  1. Don’t sit for hours on end: It doesn’t matter how fit and strong you are, lower back pain can result from even the most sedentary actions. For instance, working from the kitchen table, sofa or bed are far from good for your posture and neither is sitting at a desk for long periods of time. The key here is to take advice on getting a more ergonomic set up and also take multiple breaks. Even just getting up, making a cup of tea or doing a few stretches will really make a difference. Remember without your commute, your regular moves between meetings and indeed that photocopier chat, you are likely to be doing a whole lot less movement at home and sitting for much longer periods.

 

  1. Don’t forget self-care: Many people will be surprised to hear that anxiety and stress can make backpain worse. Ask yourself if you are feeling extra stressed as a result of this ailment? If you are, it may be that you should see a professional sooner to provide that extra reassurance that it is nothing too sinister. Ultimately, reducing your stress and getting that expert support could actually reduce your pain. Even if you don’t feel your pain is having a big impact on your mental health try to commit to practicing self-care regularly. Practicing mindfulness or meditation, or even just taking some ‘you time’ can really help reduce stress build up and can often alleviate back issues. Likewise, with better self-care, you will be more in tune with your body so that you can identify any issues before they turn into something more.

If you are unsure about whether your niggle could be something more, or indeed you have any concerns about whether lockdown has impacted your body, take our simple quiz here or take a look below.

And remember, an active lifestyle really is the key to a healthy body – and of course to a healthy mind too. Just make sure you do things in the right way and don’t increase the volume, intensity and frequency of the activities you do too much or too quickly.

For Backcare Awareness Week this week (5th – 9th October) Vita Health Group has worked with online PT, Anna Cousins, to create the following four back care related videos. Why not give them a try!

  1. Back Stretches – Anna’s top favourite daily stretches to ease back pain: https://youtu.be/A6dqG5PB57I    
  2. Warm up before a workout: https://youtu.be/aWe0HuzBJUY
  3. Work Break  – Mobility session – (stretches at your desk): https://youtu.be/1keIPD5coes
  4. De Stress yoga style flow for anxiety and stress release: https://youtu.be/2cQ5sGCIIQw
News

Professional biography business secures seed investment

A new business has been launched in Swansea dedicated to helping individuals document their lives in a personal, professional biography.

My Story Told has been launched on the back of an increase in interest in researching family trees and reconnecting with long lost relatives – a phenomenon that has grown exponentially during the UK’s lockdown.

Findmypast says it has seen a 50% surge in new visits and searches on their platform since March – suggesting that lockdown has led a lot of people to start studying their family trees. Ancestry, the family-history website, has seen a 37% increase in new subscriptions year-over-year during the pandemic.

My Story Told guides individuals through their life-journey by conducting many hours of in-depth interviews that are recorded. This information is transcribed, edited, and sliced and diced into chapters, working closely with the individual whose life is being documented.

Pictures, images, family trees and other historical documents are then added during the design process to produce a bespoke product perfectly tailored to the needs of each customer. The end-product is a set of hard-back books that can be passed down through the generations, though My Story Told also offers a multimedia package that includes video extracts and sound recordings.

The business was launched thanks to a seed investment by Seren Global Media, a media company with a presence in Swansea and London. Its staff are all former journalists and editors, well versed in accurately documenting stories of all descriptions.

Wyn Jenkins, the founder of My Story Told, said:

“As a child, I was always fascinated by my own family tree, which had been carefully documented by my father, as well as a two-page letter written by my great grandfather detailing aspects of his life and his family.

“While important for personal reasons, I realised these documents also have important historical significance, detailing a moment in time from the past and a way of life we find it hard to imagine now. I had always thought how interesting it would have been if he had written more – a whole book maybe.

“That is why we have formed this business. To allow future generations to better understand their ancestors – who they were and how they lived. To give ordinary people the opportunity to tell their story and leave a legacy for future generations to enjoy. Many people have great stories to tell, which would be appreciated by their children and grandchildren now. But imagine how much their future generations will enjoy reading about their entire lives?

“The idea is to make leaving a legacy in the form of a professional biography a possibility for anyone – not just celebrities and the wealthy. We are committed to detailing individuals’ stories so that their legacy can be studied and celebrated for decades, if not centuries, to come. It could also change the nature of bedtime stories for generations!”

Cybersecurity, News, Tech Thought Leadership

Rick McElroy: Infosec Teams Must Act and Think Differently to Combat Adversaries

Written by Rick McElroy, Cyber Security Strategist, VMware Carbon Black 

The growth in widespread, sophisticated attacks

I have been following, with interest, the attacks on the Australian Government which have led to quite a bit of publicity and debate around who the culprits are behind the cyberattacks. Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, confirmed the attacks were widespread across “all levels of government” including in essential services and businesses. In July, he announced that $1.35 billion in existing defence funding would be spent over the next decade to boost the cybersecurity capabilities of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). Additionally, the Federal Government wants to create more than 500 new jobs in its highly secretive cyber intelligence agency as part of what its calling Australia’s largest-ever investment in cybersecurity. Organisations and governments are under incredible pressure during the outbreak of COVID-19, and many nation-state actors have seen this as a perfect crisis to exploit.

 

Why Intrinsic Security is so important

But even before COVID-19 hit us, there was no doubt that attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Our own research, through our Global Threat Report series, informed us that the number of cyberattacks, breaches and the sophistication of attacks are higher than ever. Today, increasingly elegant attack platforms and techniques are being shared amongst the criminal community and the infosec industry is not responding fast enough. Part of the problem is that too many products and agents deployed across an organisation make security management complex. Security does not need another new product, it needs an innovative approach, one that combines visibility into apps, networks, users and devices with advanced threat detection and response to deliver a unique intrinsic security approach.

What we are also seeing as a result of COVID-19, is that users are having to defend themselves at home and actions taken to ensure business continuity and resiliency only increase the attack surface. So how do we retrofit security onto that? The simple answer is that we cannot – it needs to be built-in… and back to my earlier point – it needs to be intrinsic.

Earlier in the year we attended the RSA Conference and unveiled our vision for intrinsic security, a safer, more effective security built into the fabric of the various infrastructure control points that are vulnerable to attack (endpoint, identity, network, cloud, workload and so on.)  Here at VMware Carbon Black, we believe that by building security intrinsically into the fabric of the enterprise – across applications, clouds, and devices – teams can significantly reduce the attack surface, gain greater visibility into threats, and understand where security vulnerabilities exist.

But in parallel to this, security teams must also work in tandem with the business to shift the balance of power from attackers to defenders. They must collaborate with IT teams and work to remove the complexity that is weighing down the current model and way that they do things.

 

The importance of testing 

So why has the industry not addressed this problem until now?

Again, we can make further parallels with COVID-19. We did not know how big the problem was because we were not testing enough, but now we can see all the breaches in our systems that already exist. We did not have the right data to measure, meaning much was being missed. We had some anecdotal evidence but with better visibility, better testing, and an intrinsic approach this has revealed that our historic take on infosec was incorrect. And this lack of data has also given us a false sense of security. As an industry we rush to build technology platforms, and then we rush to launch them, and we do not rigorously test them, only to find these technologies are fundamentally insecure and flawed and this needs to change.

Likewise, in tandem to this change in approach to how we build technology, infosec teams need to think and act differently. They need to be more proactively hunting down threats, pre-empting the adversary’s next move. For example, let us look at what we can learn from how a Secret Service agent investigates financial crime and/or protects dignitaries and how we can apply this to cyber. As I mentioned, infosec teams must anticipate threats and they must follow the data, just like they follow the individual. Secret Service agents are trained to think differently and to think like the enemy. They must at once react to a threat because they assume there is more to a threat than that one individual.

So how do we apply that theory to incident response and infosec teams and the modernisation of incident response? Over the last few years, it has become clear that our enemies are emboldened and becoming more aggressive. We must shift thinking and tactics to begin to turn the tide. And I believe it is fundamental that cybersecurity professionals take a page from the annals of a secret service or military agent to better understand how to combat threats. Defenders need to modernise their cybersecurity strategies and their approach to security technology to stay one step ahead of adversaries.

Benefits, FInance, Financial Wellbeing, HR News

Pandemic pinpoints financial wellbeing as employers’ key concern

Companies have identified financial wellbeing as a critical concern for the health and effectiveness of their people.

In a survey of more than 300 businesses, Punter Southall found eight out of ten employers felt their company and people would benefit from being better informed in all things financial.

But researchers found few companies knew where to begin; particularly with pensions and savings support and advice.

Only half offered any kind of guidance on money matters or well-being and just over half felt employees would not feel confident approaching their manager with their personal worries.

Even then, 87 per cent put the onus on the employee – not the company – to find out more for themselves.

Just under two in every three organisations said they didn’t know enough to offer any support to employees in this specialist area.

Punter Southall Chief Executive Jonathan Punter said: “Wellbeing has been at the forefront of everyone’s mind during this time. So, it’s no surprise that financial wellbeing in particular has emerged as a real concern. We found that employers know it matters but don’t know how to make it happen. Add in fear of cost and falling foul of regulation, and it becomes even more challenging. We’ve spent more than 30 years helping companies with pensions and savings and everything in between and have been working closely with clients on these areas during this worrying time.”

Employers also highlighted that flexible working, followed by guidance on pensions and help in the form of an employee assistance programme, as the top three most important company benefits.

News

The Impact of Facial Recognition on the Fundamental Right to Privacy

Chris Jones at TurnonVPN.org considers the growing use of facial recognition around the world and the concerns it raises for privacy

Facial recognition is a biometric technology used to identify, recognize, and authenticate individuals by comparing their distinct facial features to photos or videos within a database. Facial recognition has been gaining traction in different parts of the world, with countries such as China and the United States leading in the widespread adoption of the technology. Outside of government, facial recognition technology is used widely in the smartphone industry, social media, airports, venues, and marketing.

Despite its potential benefits in areas such as security, healthcare, retail, etc., the widespread adoption of facial recognition technology is marred by controversy. Most of the issues arise from the use of facial recognition technology in public spaces. Here are some of the biggest concerns facing the use of facial recognition technology.

 

Violation of the Right to Privacy

Facial recognition software can be used to identify a person based on just a photo or a video of their face, which significantly improves the power of surveillance. The surveillance capability of facial recognition tech poses the biggest challenge to its widespread adoption and growth. Facial recognition systems can lead to intrusion of privacy.

The problem with facial recognition technology is that unlike other biometric technologies, it can be used in a manner that does not require the participation, consent, or even the knowledge of the subject. Those against the use of facial recognition systems on public spaces cite the fundamental right to privacy.

The use of facial recognition technology to spy on unsuspecting people without their consent amounts to the violation of their right to privacy. The adverse effects of the use of facial recognition technology for mass surveillance on society are apparent in China and Hongkong. There are spirited backlash against facial recognition in the US, with the city of San Francisco being the first major city to ban the use of facial recognition by law enforcement.

 

Data Breaches

Facial recognition systems and databases are not hacker-proof. Biometric data collected by the government can be stolen by cybercriminals as it happened with the CBP database. Cybercriminals hacked into US Customs and Border Patrol and made away with data such as passport and visa images, license plates, and other sensitive information.

 

Not Accurate

Ideally, accuracy should not be a problem when working with facial recognition systems. In an ideal situation, facial recognition software will be identifying and authenticating individuals from and repository of high-resolution images. However, sometimes these systems have to work with poor quality videos and images and often become inaccurate.

 

Racial and Gender Bias

Many studies have shown that the technology is inaccurate when it comes to recognizing people of colour, especially African American women. Facial recognition systems tend to misidentify people with darker skin in general. Allowing the use of this technology in law enforcement can lead to wrongful arrests and convictions, introducing new challenges in an already bad situation.

 

Racial Profiling

Facial recognition technology can be used as a weapon against minority groups in society. It has been reported that the Chinese Communist Party uses facial recognition technology to clamp down on minority Muslim Uighurs in the country. In Israel, authorities have been using facial recognition technology to track down Palestinians deep inside West Bank.

 

Lack of Clear Regulation

At the moment, there’s no clear regulation pertaining to the use of facial recognition technology. The general lack of a regulatory framework when it comes to the use of the technology is a major cause of worry among the general public. Both the government — through various agencies such as the FBI, CIA, ICE, etc.  — and private companies can abuse facial recognition technology and get away with it.

One of the fastest-growing technologies in the world, facial recognition technology uses unique facial characteristics to identify and authenticate individuals. Facial recognition technology has a lot of potential, but the widespread adoption of the technology is plagued with controversy. Due to its surveillance capabilities, potential for abuse, many people are apprehensive of the application of the technology in security and law enforcement.

Care, Education, North Wales

Specialist school unveils new sixth form and plans for future growth

AN INDEPENDENT care and education business plans for further growth after an excellent Estyn inspection.

And Bryn Tirion Hall School has unveiled a new sixth form at its Caergwrle site to meet demand and support vulnerable children with special needs as they prepare for their future careers.

Principal Paddy Prendergast revealed they have recruited six new teachers and learning assistants since the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic and welcomed five new children in past months.

Having started with one pupil when the organisation was launched in 2008, they begin this academic year with 54, now covering two sites, the most recent of which opened in Bersham, Wrexham, last year.

A period of steady and sustainable growth has been welcomed by parents, carers, local authorities, partner institutions, and Estyn, the education and training inspectorate for Wales, which gave them an excellent rating earlier this year.

Paddy was delighted with the outcome and said the spirit of togetherness and strength among the workforce is what enables them to make a real difference to the lives of youngsters who hail from challenging and traumatic backgrounds.

“This is a sector which isn’t really talked about for many reasons, but over the years we have grown and grown and soaked up the issues of children with complex needs, supporting local authorities when they need it most,” he said.

“Together with our staff – who are incredibly resilient and focused – we can provide opportunities for the pupils to break down the barriers to their learning, unlocking success.”

“There are so many unbelievable kids here who have turned things around because our staff have persevered, listened and worked with them, stuck with them and believed in them – that’s when they make progress.”

The dad-of-one added: “We have invested heavily in the new Bersham Road school as it was quite run down when we took it on.

“Most of the children are referred to us by local authorities and come to us from less than an hour away, so as we grow and are held up as a beacon of best practice I can only see more joining us.

“That’s also a big part of the reason why we decided to open up a sixth form at Caergwrle. It gives them that continued support post-16 as they look to study for vocational qualifications, continue their work experience and even progress onto A Levels, preparing them for their next steps in a familiar and supportive environment.

“We don’t want them to be lost to education and the possibility of a career because they’re not ready to leave or given the help they need. We tailor the education and care to each child, it’s not one size fits all.

“It’s a privileged position to be in, doing something we love and pushing boundaries, scrutinising and changing perceptions of what is a largely forgotten section of the education landscape.”

Estyn inspectors found that staff work together effectively to promote an exceptionally caring and inclusive ethos that successfully meets the needs of the pupils.

The report added: “They share a strong commitment to improving the life chances of all pupils and work closely with the school’s therapy and psychology team to reflect carefully on their own practice and ensure that their knowledge of individual pupils’ needs is informed by an up-to-date understanding of trauma-informed practice.

“As a result of the school’s carefully co-ordinated approach to the curriculum and the high quality of care, support and guidance they receive, most pupils make strong progress in their learning, wellbeing and independence.”

Career and Work-Related Education Manager Sarah Gaffney said the findings reinforce the foundations laid by the leadership team over the last decade.

“The organisation has grown but never lost its focus and commitment to the pupils and positive outcomes for them,” she said.

“To receive such a positive response from Estyn is terrific and gives us the confidence to continue working with our partners and the community to change the lives of these amazing young people.”

For more information, visit www.qewc.co.uk or follow them on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/BrynTirionSchool/

Data, GDPR

Egress CEO comments on recent data breach news

Recent news on data breaches will cost businesses more than just fines, warns Tony Pepper, CEO, Egress.  He says:

“The articles in Surrey Live: Data breach following cyber-attack prompts legal action against University of Surrey and Chronicle Live: Newcastle University faces potential legal action over data breach following cyber attacks are further examples of the growing increase in private lawsuits being brought against organisations that expose customers’ sensitive data. The potential cost of such lawsuits could, in fact, be far higher than fines from the regulators, not to mention the reputational impact such publicity might have.  This is why it is so important that organisations take a hybrid approach to securing their systems, not only educating and training users but also ensuring they have human-layer security technologies wrapped around the user to prevent data loss.

“We recently published our 2020 Outbound Email Data Breach Report, and this highlighted the true scale of data security risks related to email use. For example, our survey found that 93% of IT leaders surveyed said that their organisation had suffered data breaches through outbound email in the last 12 months. Likewise, rising outbound email volumes due to COVID-19-related remote working and the digitisation of manual processes are also contributing to escalating risk. 94% of respondents reported an increase in email traffic since the onset of COVID-19 and 70% believe that working remotely increases the likelihood of sensitive data being put at risk from outbound email data breaches.  Unfortunately, this means that potential private lawsuits of this nature are only going to increase, including in the education sector.”