Is This The Ultimate Work Experience Placement?

Tired of eating Turkey for Christmas, fed up with the way consumerism has taken over the festive period? 

Love the outdoors and adventure?

Then put down your coursework, dust off your fur lined parker and apply for a place on a 100 day polar expedition to the Arctic Circle. 

Finnair and Visit Finland have launched a competition to find one lucky person from the UK to join a team of 4 polar explorers on their 100 days expedition.  Climb frozen waterfalls, take part in an arctic rally and view the aurora borealis on this trip of a lifetime.

As well as being able to speak fluentEnglish, you must be an experienced outdoor enthusiast and be in good physical health to take on this true test of mind and body!

Once chosen, the explorer will be required to share their experiences through photos and videos throughout their journey via online media.

UK entrants can apply between the 14th September and 19th October 2015.

Want to find out more?  Visit http://www.polarnightmagic.com/ 

Have you discovered the BBC Writers Room Blog yet?

If you are looking to get into writing for TV or radio, then look no further than the BBC’s Writers Room Blog.  Not only do you get access to great practical advice and guidance, but you also get access to commissioners and production teams right at the heart of the BBC.

Key areas worth a visit:

• The Writers Lab – with interviews, advice, toolkits, guidelines and other resources for the budding and practiced writer.

• The Script Room - a virtual open door for unrepresented writers from across the UK to submit their scripts and kick-start their careers. 

• The Opportunities page – listing opportunities for new writers from the BBC and other organisations, requests for scripts, competitions, events, workshops, masterclasses, Q&As and residential courses.

• The ScriptLibrary – download TV, radio and film scripts.

• The Be Inspired section – full of interviews with successful writers, offering inspiration and practical writing tips.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunities

CQC Safeguarding Requirements – What They Are Looking For...

Pulse has published the results of a review of 20 CQC inspection reports from practices recorded as ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’, undertaken by London-wide LMCs. 

The report highlights the most common themes against each of the five key lines of enquiry the CQC uses during their inspections.  As well as providing a baseline for every practice to achieve ‘safe’ the report goes on to detail the requirements for a practice to reach effective, caring, responsive and well-led levels, all in an easy to digest table.

To view the report follow this link: http://cms.pulsetoday.co.uk/uploads/2015/08/13/t/h/e/CQC-safeguarding-themes_amalgamated-table2.pdf

Treat People with Dignity Darling…

The CQC courted controversy this week when they published their report into a Harrogate care home for residents with Learning Disabilities.
 

The care home received a glowing report, it was described as safe and well-led. Inspectors reported that “Staff took time to speak with the people and we saw friendly relaxed interactions between staff and people living in the care home.”  

However Inspectors weren’t so happy about the words used to address residents, claiming that the use of terms such as ‘love’ and darling’ could be seen by residents as patronising, in clear breach of CQC guidelines on treating people with respect and dignity.

Stephanie Kirkman Meikle, Chief Executive of Harrogate Skills 4 Living Centre, said “When the inspectors call again in 2016, we will be delighted to show the clear benefits we have achieved: more accountable services, transparent financial dealings, a more fulfilling life for vulnerable people and improved pay and conditions for care workers. But I’m sure that the entirely appropriate use of first names, terms of endearment and colloquialisms, which are quite consistent with caring, compassionate relationships between people, will still be evident.  Why? Because it is appreciated by residents and family carers alike – I know this because they have told me so. I’m confident the inspectors will agree with us”.

Choosing the Right Font for Your CV

You can spend hours writing about your strengths and weaknesses and highlighting your greatest achievements, but if you write it in the wrong font, it will all be for nothing!

Bloomberg recently asked 3 experts in the field of typography to consider which fonts are most appropriate for which situations, here is what they said.

Best All-rounder

If in doubt go for Helvetica, it is professional, clear, crisp and without pretensions.

The High-flyer

Proxima Nova is the sophisticated big brother to Helvetica, its not a free font, but it adds a touch of class with rounder letter shapes.

For the Long CV

If you have a lot to say Garamond will help you say it in less space! It is easy to read and flows.  This font is a firm favourite all over the world, and in the UK is the preferred font in many government departments.

High Fashion

Didcot font is beautiful.  Its elegant, long letters come together to convey a feminine and classy message.  This font is only really suitable for jobs in particular industries, such as fashion – it’s the little black dress of the font world!

Applying for Clown College

Unless you are applying for clown college do not use Comic Sans.

What Times New Roman Says About You
There is nothing wrong with Times New Roman, but it doesn’t say I have imagination, it’s the safe, beige option and it can make you look old and stayed.

Fonts From a Bygone Age

If the font looks like it should be on the front of your wedding invitation, or a treasure map, then don’t use it on your CV.  Swooshy, flowery, connected fonts like Zapfino are not suitable candidates for a CV.

Student Have Been Cash Strapped Since the Middle Ages!

Letters sent to the Middle Ages blog Medievalists.net, first published in Charles H Haskins ‘The Life of Medieval Students as Illustrated by their Letters’, reveal that as far back as 1220 students were writing home for money!

In one letter an Oxford student wrote home complaining that “the city is expensive and makes many demands, I have to rent lodgings, buy necessaries, and provide for many other things which I cannot now specify. Wherefore I respectfully beg your paternity that by the promptings of divine pity you may assist me, so that I may be able to complete what I have well begun.”

Somethings never change!

Are Creative Writing Courses Worth It?

Ryan Boudinot gives an insider’s view.

Ryan Boudinot’s essay on creative writing courses provided readers with a warts and all insider’s view of his life a teacher on a Master of Fine Arts creative writing program, and it has created a Twitter storm all of its own, with hate mail, threats and demands for the essay to be withdrawn.

He credits a handful of students as having produced life-changing work, and reflected that the majority of students were hardworking and dedicated, but felt they had nothing interesting to say and no interesting way to say it! 

The statements that caused the most contention include:

·         “Writers are born with talent”.
“Some people have more talent than others. That's not to say that someone with minimal talent can't work her ass off and maximize it and write something great, or that a writer born with great talent can't squander it. It's simply that writers are not all born equal.”

·         “If you didn't decide to take writing seriously by the time you were a teenager, you're probably not going to make it.
There are notable exceptions to this rule, Haruki Murakami being one. But for most people, deciding to begin pursuing creative writing in one's 30s or 40s is probably too late”.

·         “If you aren't a serious reader, don't expect anyone to read what you write.
Without exception, my best students were the ones who read the hardest books I could assign and asked for more”.

·         No one cares about your problems unless you are utterly brilliant.
“I worked with a number of students writing memoirs. One of my Real Deal students wrote a memoir that actually made me cry. He was a rare exception. For the most part, MFA students who choose to write memoirs are narcissists using the genre as therapy”.

Responses to the essay have been like those to marmite, people either loved it or truly hated it. Many of those who have attended his classes felt betrayed, Twitter has been flooded with responses, good and bad, and blogs have been set up to collate all negative comments and campaign for the article to be withdrawn. 

Follow the link to read the article yourself, and make up your own mind…

http://www.thestranger.com/books/features/2015/02/27/21792750/things-i-can-say-about-mfa-writing-programs-now-that-i-no-longer-teach-in-one

Major UK Health Organisations Issue Statement on the Use of E-Cigarettes.

With one in two lifelong smokers dying from their addiction, everyone agrees that finding ways to help smokers quit is a priority.  

There are now over 1.1 million users of e-cigarettes in the UK, and more than 10 times as many people use them to kick the habit than use local NHS stop smoking services.  However their use remains controversial, with media stories questioning their safety appearing on a regular basis, putting many smokers off trying to quit.

Now 13 of the UK’s major health organisations, including Public Health England, Action on Smoking and Health, the British Lung Foundation, Cancer Research UK, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society for Public Health have come together to issue a joint statement on the use of e-cigarettes.

Having reviewed all the available evidence they believe that whilst the long term effects of smoking e-cigarettes are not yet fully understood, and should continue to be monitored, the health risks they pose are relatively small in comparison to the risks posed by cigarette smoking.

Vaping should be seen as a tool to help in cutting down and eventually stopping the smoking of tobacco completely, rather than as a lifestyle choice.  Wherever possible e-cigarettes should be used alongside other local stop smoking services, which have been proven to be the most effective way to quit for good. 

There is no circumstance in which it is better for a smoker to continue smoking – a habit that kills 1 in every 2 and harms many others, costing the NHS and society billions every year.

For further information visit Public Health England https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-an-emerging-public-health-consensus

The August edition of the Words Worth Reading Ltd newsletter is now available to download

The August edition of the Words Worth Reading Ltd newsletter is now available to download.

The summer has continued to be busy for everyone at WWRL. We have been continuing our work with healthcare clients, completing mid-year Information Governance audits. We have also been working with clients who are bid writing for tenders, since we re-launched the services earlier this summer.

To get the latest news about business, healthcare, writing, student life, and to find out what the Words Worth Reading Ltd team have been up to, download this month's newsletter from our website by clicking here.