28 APPRENTICESHIPS
Claire Shore, Blackburn College
One of the things we do collectively is give our customers and learners clarity. There are key messages that we all speak about with some real commonality.
It is about performance. It is in Blackburn College’s interests if Blackpool and The Fylde College and all the other providers perform well. It is about the performance of us all and genuinely raising the sector, and that’s the point of the things that we share. We learn from each other, and we each take feedback from our employers, our learners and our supply chain.
We actively talk about recruitment and progression and sometimes in smaller businesses that progression conversation can be quite a challenge. The apprentice wants to understand what they will learn and what they will progress to.
Our responsibility as training providers is to talk to smaller businesses, quite openly, about what that progression route will look like. If we can paint that picture far enough ahead, I’m convinced apprentices can be retained and progress when it’s right for them and the business.
Heath Groves, Sundown Solutions
How is performance measured? It’s not about As, Bs, Cs and Ds, it’s about the businesses that provide aspiration, that allow people to create those high-end jobs, which then floods the sector and allows us to have that aspiration as an area. That’s what I’ve seen over the last few years, with that more joined- up approach.
We have strategic relationships with Accrington and Rossendale College, Nelson and Colne Group and North Lancs Training Group, because we need everything that they provide as that collegiate entity. It’s not just one
college anymore, it’s not just one university, because they all do different things and it’s about refining that and working together.
We have worked to help define the T-Level syllabus. We also offered a panel of staff for five hours across the term, to become tutors. That allowed them to turn round and say, ‘We’ve got a direct link into industry’. We’ve got to take responsibility as an employer to provide that skill.
Gareth Lindsay, North Lancs Training Group
We are what I call ‘competitive collaborators’. To meet employer needs, which is of course the most important factor, working together is vital. We can’t do it on our own.
Each provider, each college, has different niches. We have to have that collaborative approach to make sure that the skills needs of the county are met. With the apprenticeship system, there’s a progression route for people. Working together can give people that route.
When it comes to recruitment for providers and colleges, it is incredibly difficult. If you look at IT, for example, to get that type of skilled person to become a tutor is nigh-on impossible.
The expertise at Sundown Solutions is expertise we haven’t got and can’t buy, so we work in partnership. We’ve lost tutors back into industry recently and it’s down to money. Being a tutor is a tough gig these days.
Martin Blunt, University of Central Lancashire
It’s fantastic that we can work collaboratively. We are a solution for business. We’ve got 34 degree or higher degree apprenticeship programmes but we can’t service every niche. We will work with different universities as well.
We’re now launching an apprenticeship matching service because we’ve got so many businesses that have vacancies but can’t tap into the network of students, those that are graduating and sixth form students.
So we’re becoming that hub that can bring them together. That is only going to bring the universities closer to the colleges and independent providers and also help the employers in recruiting. We can start to become that ‘big support’. It’s not just about the young, there are 65-year-olds who are doing fantastic apprenticeships at the moment.
Communication is one of the biggest areas of improvement and development for us along with the progress of the learner. They’re the two key factors.
Sam Howarth, Calico
We deliver the flexible apprentice scheme within the construction sector, so we work with a lot of training and education providers. We move young apprentices around through different placements and liaising with the college and communication is important. The response is really positive.
They are very much looking at the skills now but also the skills for the future. There’s also a lot of pastoral support required within the apprenticeship scheme - which we deliver. But we can’t do that without the college playing its part, supporting the apprentice and understanding and being flexible to their situation.
The apprentices that we’ve seen entering the workforce have a lot to say, so we need to listen and try and adapt in the best way as employers, and colleges can help us with that. People don’t want to go down a one-career path, they want choice and options.
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