This last week saw the 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) supported by Amazing Apprenticeships and a diverse range of fantastic organisations. The aim of the week is to raise awareness and profile of apprenticeships.
This is the fifth year, that as a school and Sixth Form, we have actively supported NAW and spoke to the students about the huge range of opportunities that are out there. However, there is still the assertion that we don’t do enough; not just from students but from public figures like Lord Agnew.
As a Sixth Form our vision is for every student to fulfil their potential, achieve their goals and develop into a truly accomplished individual; celebrating and nurturing each and every accomplishment along the way. What students choose to do after Sixth Form is entirely up to them (and their parents/carers); we can only advise and share information so that students can make truly informed decisions. One advantage the UCAS process has is that it is one central admissions system where one application covers up to five different things and it runs inline with the academic year. High quality apprenticeships appear at any time, they cover a multitude of disciplines and organisations and each application and selection process is slightly different. We can’t tell students which is the best apprenticeship no more than we can tell them which is the best university or course. It has to be about the right opportunity for the right person and the right time.
During the course of NAW some additional things that we have done as a Careers team are:
- Lead assemblies for Years 9, 10 and 11
- Invited the ASK service in to discuss Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with Years 11, 12 and 13
- There have been a range of tutor-led activities provided to complete in PSHE time
- Teachers and Sixth Form students got an ’email a day’ highlighting some great facts and resources to support finding and understanding apprenticeships as a progression opportunity
- We streamed The Big Assembly in the Advanced Study Centre for Sixth Form students
- Displayed the latest Amazing Apprenticeships posters
In general we got people discussing apprenticeships and researching their options. Our core message when we talk to any of our students is:
