Calibre is a private sector facilitation organisation that coordinates specialist international training in the following sectors:

Medicine and Healthcare.

Defence and Security.

Aviation and Aerospace.

The essential focus of our service it to provide quality outcomes for our clients, who may be staff / training candidates or employer groups.

Dedicated, focused training

As part of our service, we help arrange specialist training with carefully-selected providers, to cover areas such as:
– Specialist English for the sector in question.  (eg. Medical English).
– Onboarding programme.  (A programme designed to supplement the employer’s own induction programme).
– Cultural Induction and Community Connect programme.  (A programme designed to help new staff integrate into the local community and into their new workplace, thereby ensuring greater levels of service provision, staff retention and employee satisfaction).

Examples of our support programmes
As an illustration of the type of support that our Onboarding and Cultural Connect programmes provide, here is a summary syllabus for these modules as appropriate to a medical / healthcare context:

Onboarding programme:
This module is a further vocationally-orientated course that is designed to help participants to integrate in a very practical way into the medical and care sectors in the UK.  It is designed to run in advance of the worker’s commencement in their new role and then assist them as they start work in that role.  This module is supported by ‘need to know’ information resources including infographics.  Where necessary, additional English language support sessions can be arranged to further support the participant.  Each new overseas-sourced candidate, has a dedicated support tutor, whose role is to provide practical input, guidance and support for their developing career.
Programme duration: 4 weeks intensive oversight + 1 year ongoing aftercare.

Syllabus topics covered by the programme:

  1. Introduction & overview — why the programme is needed and the benefits of completing
  2. Programme accompanying information resource: how to use to complete the course and subsequent use once in employment / career / working environment contexts
  3. Key terms and concepts for the working context 
  4. How the learning outcomes of the course fit with undertaking employment in the sector
  5. Understanding NHS, private healthcare and social & residential care provider structures in regard to their employees (line management, etc.)
  6. NHS and Private Care hierarchies
  7. Employee rights and responsibilities 
  8. Employment contract conditions and compliance
  9. Workplace communication – colleagues (junior, senior), patients/residents
  10. Career progression & related themes
  11. Professional bodies membership, and sector trade union membership – registration and making the most of these memberships
  12. Work-related visa information 
  13. Workplace disputes – examples, with guidance and signposting
  14. Calibre ongoing support: signposting to specialist advice, solution routes and information sources.

Cultural Induction and Community Connect programme:
This module is an additional culturally- and vocationally-orientated course that is designed to introduce participants to the workings of the medical and care sectors in the UK, whether the participants will be working in a care home, paramedic, GP surgery or hospital setting, etc.  Course content includes consideration of the various regulatory bodies, organisational structures and operational systems that apply in the UK – as an extension of the onboarding programme.  The course aims to ensure that participants are prepared for the rigours of work at delivery level in the sector and potentially support them in their sector-specific test(s) and registration (e.g. NMC test for nursing, etc).  

In addition, Calibre staff will also enable the student candidate to integrate into the UK location they will be working in by means of Calibre’s “Community Connect” service: Community Connect is not provided by other service providers and is based on the lived experiences of international sourced employees working in the sector and includes the very important living as well as working dimension of existing overseas employees – a significant support factor as important to all Best Practice and aspiring Best Practice employers in the NHS and private health and care sectors. Where necessary, additional English language support sessions can be arranged to further support the participant.
Programme duration: 4 weeks.

Syllabus topics covered by the programme:

  1. Introduction & overview — why the programme is needed and its benefits
  2. Introduction to living in Britain: practicalities and trouble-shooting  
  3. British society overview – need to know cultural information and how to handle interpersonal communication
  4. UK immigration compliance
  5. Induction and starting work successfully as an international / overseas recruit
  6. Team working – cultural differences and expectations
  7. Interaction with patients / service users / residents – bedside manner
  8. Use of one’s first language in workplace settings
  9. Language, written & spoken needs in workplace – colleague & service user contexts
  10. Self-representing on requests and on issues
  11. Accommodation-related rights and responsibilities
  12. Daily living: travel, socialising, shopping
  13. Diversity – the different UK Diverse Communities and related guidance on inclusion and anti-discrimination compliance under Employer and UK Law
  14. Community Connect  — assistance and introduction service
  15. Workplace issues – awareness on discrimination, prejudice, exploitation issues, with possible responses & solution routes
  16. Calibre ongoing support: signposting to specialist advice, solution routes and information sources.

 

(C) Copyright: Calibre.  All rights reserved.