Tutor: Alison O’Brien and Kenrick Forde

The Office Skills department is a very popular department at The Hadleigh Training Centre. The Trainees usually have no previous computer skills and are able to work at their own pace, trainees are also able to learn advance computer skills. Trainees are able to become competent at using computers proficiently by using Microsoft Office software including Word, Excel, Access, Publisher, and PowerPoint. Trainees have access to workbooks covering Spreadsheets, Databases, and Word processing ranging from a basic level to an advanced level. The Office Skills department also gives trainees access to OCR CLAIT workbooks. 

The Hadleigh Training Centre is now an OCR CLAIT accredited centre and hopefully in the near future trainees will be able to attain an OCR CLAIT qualification. The Internet can also be used to do such tasks as sending and receiving emails as well as browsing the Internet.

The trainees are given as much help, as they need from the tutors to obtain the level of computer skills they want and to ensure they are getting what they want and need from the department. Within the Office Skills department office practice is also taught this includes typing exercises to enable trainees to be more competent at typing word processing documents, this makes their work more accurate and allows them to gain confidence in this area of work. Trainees are able to gain office experience by working on reception, filing, using the photocopier and the fax machine together with theory work on other office procedures.

The Office Skills department liaises with the Employment Development department to enable every trainee to have the opportunity to produce an up-to-date Curriculum Vita. 

Overall the Office Skills department is as close to a real office environment as it can be, some trainees are given work from Management, Tutors or the Salvation Army groups to complete.