‘Noisemakers’ are welcome to join Year 1 Singing Club

In the summer term our Year 1 Singing Club launches so all five-year-old noisemakers are welcome!

Children will use their voices to gain in confidence, develop social skills and musicianship, and improve their singing skills. Having spent much of the last year in lockdown, it is perhaps social skill development that will be one of the most crucial elements of development for many of this tender age in the coming months.

We will also be beginning our search for nine new children to join the cathedral choir as choristers in September 2022. If you know a child that will move into Year 3 at that stage, perhaps they would like the chance to sing in that beautiful building every day and enjoy the special musical education that comes alongside that? More details are on our website here www. peterborough-cathedral.org. uk/choristerships.aspx

After a year of travel frustration, a year of bucket list adventures postponed and much needed breaks from routine cancelled, it’s time to start planning ahead and thinking about how we are going to travel in the future.

After being stuck at home all year, you may be after something unique, somewhere quirky to stay, somewhere to get properly immersed in the culture.

Not In The Guidebooks is a group of people dedicated to seeking out off the beaten track experiences and places to stay all over the world. Everything we promote is experiential, so you won’t just be sightseeing, you’ll be actively doing something on your holiday. Whether it’s tasting whisky in the best bars in Glasgow, getting your hands dirty on an eco-farm in Costa Rica, or painting the landscapes of Andalucía, whatever your interests, there’s a holiday for you.

We work hard to bring you incredible experiences from all over the globe.

Experiences that help you meet the locals and immerse yourself in the culture, quirky retreats far from big chain hotels and all-inclusive resorts, holidays that hone in on your passions or offer an opportunity to try something new, and activities that support local communities and local businesses.

Get off the beaten track and head to the coastline of Abruzzo, where you spend a week getting hands on with Italian cuisine: cooking, fishing, milking, visiting the local markets.

If you’re on the hunt for a holiday that offers something a bit different, then why not combine an adventure to a stunning part of the world with an activity you love? Holidays like a photography retreat in Essaouira, Morocco, where you stay in a stunning riad and then use the port city as your own photography playground l are your opportunity to do just that.

On a tour around northern Vietnam, you’ll stay in family-run homestays where you’ll try authentic cuisine, experience the culture and meet the people, and ensure that your money goes directly to your hosts.

You’ll also cruise through the world-famous Ha

Long Bay, visit incredible waterfalls and mountain ranges, swim in natural infinity pools overlooking rice paddies and lush green valleys and explore the waterways of Ninh Binh on a bamboo raft.

To explore more holiday suggestions, visit www. notintheguidebooks.com/jpi website.

Turn back the clock a year ago, and for many of us, working from home was a something of a novelty. However, with employees having adapted to an efficient and effective way of doing their job away from the office environment, remote working has become the big winner of the pandemic. But how ‘flexible friendly’ are employers when it comes to health, safety and wellbeing of their home-based staff?

While many business have benefitted from their employers working from home in areas like increased productivity and less sick leave; what makes them stand out from the rest as a newly-recognised ‘working from home employer’?

In the main, employers have changed their attitudes to remote working, with evidence that home-based staff can, and do, function well.

However, it is crucial that employers do not become complacent when it comes to the health, safety and general wellbeing of their staff – or push the ‘niceties’ to one side.

Keeping people safe at home is a priority, and this is where the importance of a risk assessment comes in; looking at a staff member’s working conditions; the height of their desk, the type of chair they are sitting and their general surroundings for example.

In the ‘office’, this would have been easy to do – but months of working from home could have resulted in a lapse of these checks. As a recruitment firm, we know how important this is, and conduct our own risk assessments on all our placements. Having clear guidelines about lunch breaks, start and finish times are also key to giving staff structure to their day.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that as of October 2020, almost a quarter of the UK workforce were working exclusively from home. Flexible and remote working can be seen as added value to an employer brand or proposition.

There are rich streams of as yet untapped talent that have been restricted by ‘traditional’ working boundaries. Just as employers can widen their search for candidates, job seekers can become more discerning about who they choose to work for – and are more likely to choose a company that actively embraces and supports all aspects of flexible working.

Employers can stand out from competitors by offering attractive extras like a working from home allowance; a high level of virtual engagement and encouragement, displaying gestures of gratitude or appreciation, and supporting staff – who may be in a solitary position – to find more creative / personally accountable ways of working.