PURPLE POST October 2022

A warm welcome to the October edition of Purple Post!

In this month’s edition…. we have two new wonderful videos to share with you from our Parenta colleagues, a really interesting article on International Men’s Day, some fun Halloween pictures, and some truly Remarkable testimonials! 

Looking ahead.... International Men's Day

19^th November marks International Men’s Day and following the diversity and inclusion week, we wanted to highlight this and recognise the men we have working in our Parenta family.

There are 3 core themes for International Men’s Day each year, these are:

1. Making a positive difference in the well-being and lives of men and boys
   
   
2. Raising awareness and/or funds for charities supporting men's and boys’ wellbeing
   
   
3. Promoting a positive conversation about men, manhood and masculinity

According to the Office of National Statistics, there were 5,583 suicides recorded in the UK in 2021 of which 74% (4,129) were men. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there were fewer suicides reported and delays in registering deaths. The results for 2021 show that suicide rates are overall very similar to the rates reported before the pandemic. This tells us that there is no evidence that suicides increased because of the pandemic.
 

• The male suicide rate was significantly higher than females at 15.8 deaths per 100,000 compared to 5.5 deaths per 100,000.
   
• The highest rate is males aged 50 – 54 with a rate of 22.5 deaths per 100,000.

On top of this, only 36% of all referrals to NHS talking therapies are for men, and 52% of men with mental health concerns were worried that their employers would think badly of them for taking time off work.

These statistics imply that men are not seeking additional support for their mental health as often as women. 

What can we do?

On 19^th November, we’re inviting the men in our Parenta family to reach out and talk to your family and friends. Alternatively, you could offer your support to a fellow male friend or family member who needs a listening ear. Celebrate the men in your life by sending a card, buying them a gift or making them breakfast in bed. Do whatever you want to show your appreciation for everything they do for you. It could be your dad, brother, partner or even your male friends. Whoever it is, make sure they know that they’re valued.

For more information on International Men’s Day or to find upcoming events to mark the day, please visit https://ukmensday.org.uk/.

Don’t forget, if you are struggling with your mental health, no matter your gender, please do reach out to the people team. You can find a wealth of resources available on the intranet under Parenta People (HR) which range from well-being apps and videos to charities you can contact for support. 

The continuing adventures of the Parenta Bear

Keep those high fives coming!

We have a Kudos winner for October – Lorraine White, congratulations, Lorraine!

We caught up with last month’s winner, Amber Rush. Amber has sadly left the business, but we caught up with her during the month, and this is what she had to say about working in the Parenta family:

"My Name is Amber Rush and I am a Management Support Officer for the Training Delivery Team. I have worked at Parenta for almost 6 years. I started as an apprentice in the MIS team doing my Level 2 Business Administration apprenticeship. However, I soon passed my apprenticeship and progressed quickly taking on the responsibility of managing completions as well as supporting with other duties within the MIS team. I then progressed within the company and took on the role of Management Support Officer for the Training Delivery Team. I help support Debra Sinclair and the RTMs with reports and updating systems. I also support the tutors with the rebooking of their learners' EPA exams and liaise with the finance department to ensure payments have been made for the retakes when necessary.

The things that I have found challenging during my roles within Parenta is there is often an important project on, but this has also helped teach me to prioritise my tasks, to ensure deadlines and targets are met.

I love being able to help support everyone to the best of my ability as I know that when I need support it is always returned. Thank you to everyone who has awarded me Kudos. It has been a real highlight to be the Kudos winner for September as I am leaving Parenta in October for a new challenge. I have really enjoyed my time working at Parenta, I have learnt many things, and have made many great friendships along the way. It has been great to see the many great things Parenta has achieved over the years especially most recently being graded a ‘GOOD’ by Ofsted! I know that Parenta will continue to do amazing."

“Amazing support, I now understand our issue and can apply this to other accounts. Thank you so much for you help!”

Spitfires Nursery

“Thank you. Jamie was very clear and patient. We covered all the points I was unsure about.”

Andrew Peters

“Staff always go above and beyond supporting me whenever I contact them! Very much appreciated, thank you Rosie!”

Anonymous

“Very good session and all issues were clearly explained and resolved. Charlotte made it easy to understand and also took some feedback about other parts of the system.”

Muhammed Khan

"This is an email to one of your wonderful workers Karley (Wilson) - the last month I’ve been chasing and chasing for my certificate so I can work at my new setting and this wonderful lady helped me so much from the first phone call, she’s such a lovely lady!! I’m honestly so grateful to her for everything she’s done for me, after calling every day without fail.. she’s the only one to call me back with a proper update of what’s happened and I’m so happy! It’s taken me forever to get this certificate and she did it in 2 days!! I’m forever grateful to her!! I love how chatty and lovely she is!! thank you :) Because of her i think i want to push to do my level 3 with you! so when I’ve settled in after starting I’ll definitely be in contact thank you so so much for your help again."

Jasleigh

“I would like to leave feedback for my fabulous tutor Fiona spencer. She is very professional at all times but really understands my way of Learning and makes the whole experience less daunting for me. Recently she came for an observation and was quite a hit with my deputy manager providing helpful info and sharing her experience with Ofsted. Fiona sent the report she did on her Ofsted visit printed in the Parenta magazine, which our manager Denise then used in a staff meeting by giving us all a copy and going through some of the fab points. Fiona was spoken of very highly with both management at the meeting and they truly appreciated the extra Mile Fiona went to."

Anonymous

1.     Don’t forget to use the staff intranet! It is a treasure chest of resources all ready and waiting for you to use.

2.     When sending documents to the Marketing team for creating and/or branding, please ensure that the FINAL version which has been approved and signed off by all relevant parties and line managers – including those from other teams – is sent to the team. Please ensure that the correct data with all the required fields is included as a CSV file. This will avoid re-work and delay in returning the documents back to you.

Thank you!

Resources to help us, our learners, and our settings

A reminder that all Parenta resources can be found here on our staff intranet, all in one handy place.

We publish additional industry expert advice, news articles and crafts in our free magazine and on our blog.

Here are this month’s How to Guides and documents that have been added to the staff intranet:

Parenta Magazine

Our free monthly magazine is packed with news articles and advice pieces - all of which are written to help nursery managers with the efficient running of their settings and to promote the health, happiness and well-being of the children in their care. Please do read it and send the magazine link to your contacts.