The new edition of Achieve Magazine is out now!

APPRENTICESHIPS AT SALFORD CITY COLLEGE

Frontier House Merchants Quay Salford Quays M50 3SR

0161 631 5555apprenticeships@salfordcc.ac.ukwww.salfordcc.ac.uk

Editor-in-chief: Allan Milne

Features Editor: Sophie Mehta

Art Director: Tom Davidson

Guest Contributors: Roy Cavanagh MBE, Mandy Shepherd, Paul Best

Welcome to our 2018 autumn/winter edition of Achieve.

It seems like just yesterday that the first edition of Achieve, was published. This was issued a year ago, in time for our Annual Client Christmas Lunch.

This year, we will be sharing the magazine once again with clients joining us for our Christmas celebration. The lunch is a key event in our calendar. Together, we enjoy great food and entertainment all provided by our students. This, along with other occasions including our annual awards provides fantastic opportunities to further develop the relationships we share with our valued employer partners.

Both ourselves and our employer clients play critical roles in the journey of our apprentices, and the better we work together, the better opportunities our apprentices receive.

The continued transition from apprenticeship frameworks to apprenticeship standards demands a strong, trusting and energetic relationship between employers and the college as their apprenticeship training provider. There are currently 300 standards approved for delivery, with a further 280 in development. The potential for developing staff using apprenticeship standards is enormous.

We have, and continue to give serious consideration to how best we improve the learning experience for all of our apprentices and at the same time ensure employers can easily play a key part of the apprenticeship experience. To

support this, in 2018 we appointed Smart Apprentice as our long term digital solutions partner. Smart Apprentice and their digital learning platform, Smart Assessor, are market leaders in the apprenticeship sector. We are delighted to be working with them. For more information, please see page 23.

As we continue to grow and develop our apprenticeship provision, maintaining our quality is paramount. In recent years we have worked extremely hard to position ourselves as one of the leading college providers of apprenticeships in the UK. Although official success figures for 2017-18 are yet to be published, we are once again delighted with the results right across our apprenticeship provision. In a challenging and changing environment our apprenticeship staff have once again delivered. We are incredibly fortunate to employ some of the most talented and committed personnel right across our apprenticeship team.

So, as another year comes to an end, and we reflect on the last year and plan ahead, a few things are certain; we are very proud of the brilliant apprentices we support and develop, we are very grateful to the fantastic employers who provide excellent opportunities and we are very appreciative of our team of staff that make it all happen.

Wishing you all a fantastic festive period and very prosperous new year.

DEBBIE WARD

Head of Apprenticeships & Partnerships, Senior Leadership

ALLAN MILNE

Head of Apprenticeship & Business Development

CHRIS WILEY

Head of Apprenticeship Delivery

CAV’S COLUMN

ROY CAVANAGH MBE

We must keep asking the questions, ‘how can we take on more apprentices?’ and ‘how can we be involved in the training of more young people?’ I have had an obsession with creating apprenticeship opportunities for a long time now, and that obsession continues.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CAREERS ADVICE

The provision of sound high quality careers advice to our younger generation is something that I am extremely passionate about. I know significant emphasis is placed on this across the City of Salford with schools and colleges working hard to ensure our youth are well informed. Seddon, along with many other organisations regularly lobby nationally for increased resource in this area for educational institutions.

SEDDON

At Seddon, we have 144 different job titles in a staff of around 700 people. Many people just think of the construction industry as a cohort of bricklayers, joiners, plumbers and painters, but that’s not the case. As much as each of these valued trades are mightily needed, what goes on behind the scenes is equally as important, and the job roles that are needed to make everything happen are extensive.

Accountants, solicitors, surveyors, buyers, estimators, business development managers, trainers, health and safety staff, human resources, payroll, office staff, catering staff and many more, they are just as vital in making the construction projects a success and keep the industry ticking over.

And, that’s just us! Imagine all the different roles in the thousands of companies covering thousands of occupations and professions. This is why it is my belief that fully trained professionals are needed to give advice in schools. Without them, our industry in particular could just be perceived as dirty and dangerous and with no future – which is not true.

WHERE EMPLOYERS COME IN

Of course, the whole reason behind being interested in, then trained in, an occupation or profession, is being hired into a job role. For that, an employer must give that person a chance.

I think it’s important that employers are aware of the sheer number of young people who are looking for their break into an industry or career. In my opinion, that means keeping checked in with organisations like Apprenticeships at Salford City College and snapping up talent as they get it.

MORE TO BE DONE

Even if employers make it their priority to hire and train up new talent, there is still a serious shortage of opportunities in the city, and I can’t help but feel, more needs to be done to help those young people find their place.

Only recently, Seddon had the usual 600 applications for about 15 job roles. This got me thinking about what we can do for those who just miss out. Say there are 100 candidates hoping to become plumbers, and getting to the final stages but just missing out. What happens to them then?

This is where I feel, more needs to be done. With the help of Apprenticeships at Salford City College, Salford City Council and as many employers as possible, can we make a change to the lives of young people in the city and give them more opportunity? Do you want to help make a difference? That’s the question.

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Construction and the built environment is an important sector, and though people may not realise it, something we all need to appreciate more. Hospitals, houses, schools, supermarkets; where you walk, where you drink, the lights you switch on, they all have started with a construction project.

But for all this to happen we need a skilled workforce. That is where Apprenticeships at Salford City College come in. Their top class facilities, excellent teaching staff and industry contacts create the perfect foundation for a career in the sector.

“A champion of training for young people.”

Roy Cavanagh MBE has remained with the major contractor, Seddon, for over 50 years. He received an MBE for his services to construction, and is renowned for his efforts in campaigning for apprenticeships and training for young people across Salford and the UK. Roy is passionate about anything Salfordian - being born and raised in the city - and has lived in Ordsall, Little Hulton and now Worsley.

APPRENTICESHIPS AT SALFORD CITY COLLEGE AND MARKS & SPENCER TEAM UP TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP LOCAL PEOPLE SHINE

MediaCityUK and the surrounding Salford Quays is fortunate to house some of the biggest and best companies from across the UK, many with global reputations. None are better known than retail giant Marks and Spencer.

Founded in 1884 in the North of England, the organisation is now recognised across the globe for its clothing, home and food products. Though its headquarters are based in the City of London, Marks and Spencer have specialist business centres across the UK, housing many of their key functions. It is the National Human Resource Business Centre (People Services) that is based in the Quays, employing over 200 people to provide the company with the best possible services.

Nicola Ferraby, Head of Colleague Services, describes the location as a ‘fantastic place to work’ with ‘talented and brilliant colleagues that provide an incredible service across the Marks and Spencer organisation’.

Nicola and her colleagues in Salford have recognised apprenticeships as being a way of supporting talent development, and Apprenticeships at Salford City College are delighted to have been appointed as their apprenticeship provider.

“WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE THEM ON BOARD.”

Nicola said: “Continued development of colleagues is critical to the success of the business. This includes both new recruits and current staff seeking to grow within the organisation.

“We can support current colleagues with skills and knowledge development training which we are doing with our Team Leader Development Programme which Ian Smith and Dawn Navarro are currently completing.”

Dawn Navarro, one of the apprentices completing the programme, said: “I feel I’m benefi tting from my apprenticeship as I’m fi nding it interesting learning new

techniques and tools to use within my team to help bring them out of themselves and make us all better as a team.”

Ian Smith added: “I’m enjoying building on skills I already have and developing new ways of working to bring out the best of my team and myself, so we can do our utmost for the business.”

Nicola continued: “We can also recruit new people into our business and provide them with a structured and well developed growth programme, as we have done with Olivia Johnson and Megan Jewel Ross who are employed in a customer service capacity. Both are from the local community and we are delighted to have them on board.”

“CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEAGUES IS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE BUSINESS.”

Karen Kenny, Apprenticeship Delivery Leader for Apprenticeships at Salford City College said: “From early discussions it was very clear that Nicola and the team were seeking to invest in apprenticeship provision for all the right reasons. We have worked hard together to ensure the apprenticeship programmes fi t to the values of the company and we look forward to working with them over a long period of time to help them achieve their goals.”

The company, along with Apprenticeships at Salford City College and Salford City Council have shown their determination to provide opportunities for local people, specifi cally the immediate community around Salford Quays.

To achieve this, a partnership with the local school Oasis Academy has been established with the view to recruit a cohort of student leavers annually.

THE APPRENTICESHIPS TEAM AT SALFORD CITY COLLEGE TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEIR CLIENTS.

As a registered nurse, Sue Hilton was always determined to provide the highest quality of care for her patients. Now, as Apprenticeship Delivery Leader for Health, Social Care and Childcare she is equally determined to ensure that her team deliver the highest calibre of care apprenticeships.

As Apprenticeship Delivery Leader, Sue is responsible for leading a team of training assessors, delivering care apprenticeships to a large and growing number of organisations across the North West. The team have a wealth of experience across different care settings and are all passionate about training the future workforce.

Alison Hatch, Assistant Business Partner at Wigan Council, said: “Throughout the procurement process we met some exceptional providers. But I have to say, when we met Sue and were introduced to her team, they quickly became our first choice. They are clearly passionate to deliver a brilliant service and this is backed up by their successful outcomes in recent years.”

Debbie Ward, Head of Apprenticeships and Partnerships for Apprenticeships at Salford City College added: “across all of our apprenticeship delivery and support functions we have brilliant people. Sue and her team epitomise this. They are enthusiastic, hardworking and committed to ensuring the quality of provision they offer is outstanding.”

Over 152,000 people across Greater Manchester work in care roles, making it the second biggest sector for employment. More than 5,000 different organisations employ those people and 94% of them regularly use training providers, like the college, to develop their staff.

The Health & Social Care Delivery Team Back: Pauline Cooper, Julie Russell, Gail Gilhooly, Front: Fiona Walker, Helen Murphy, Sue Hilton

Sue and her team support around 400 apprentices every year from within the sector ensuring they have the support they need to develop their careers. The team deliver outstanding provision. In 2016-17 their success rates were exceptional, with 87% of all of the apprentices achieving, this is around 20% higher than the national average and places them amongst the elite providers in this area. Why have they seen so much success? They take great pride in developing trusted relationships with the employer clients they support.

Sue said: “We are passionate about supporting the companies we work with. I have worked in care and so have my team. We all understand the pressures organisations are under to provide a brilliant care service, so we are the best people to support them. “In fact, I and most of my team have held supervisor and/or management posts whilst working in care, so we absolutely recognise how important it is to have talented, compassionate and motivated staff. Every day we work hard to ensure we support our clients with this.”

In support of this is one of the college’s newest employer clients, Wigan Council. Following a successful tendering process over the summer, Wigan Council have committed to supporting 80 apprentices on either level 2 or level 3 apprenticeship programmes. Sue and her team have already enrolled over 30 apprentices onto programmes and are currently on the hunt for more talent.

Lauren Jones and Campbell Girvan, apprentices from Casey in partnership with Apprenticeships at Salford City College, were given the opportunity of a lifetime when they were selected to fly out to Bucharest and help improve homes within deprived Romanian communities.

Apprentices help build better futures for communities in Romania

By embarking upon an apprenticeship, most individuals are striving to create a better future for themselves. Two extremely dedicated apprentices have gone one step further and have helped create better futures for others in the process.

The pair, along with eight others, headed to Bucharest, Romania, for the expedition which was put on in partnership with Bolton at Home, Salix Homes and FAST Charity Romania. The charity, founded in 1998, works with families from marginalised communities in the centre of Romania. They aim to eliminate poverty, deprivation and discrimination in areas including Sacele, Tarlungeni, Zizin and Budila, by providing educational services and social assistance to families who are in need of this support.

“They went with a mix of excitement and trepidation, but they returned full of confidence.”

The apprentices were sent out as part of the Building Better Futures Programme, which is now in its sixth year. Campbell, a plumbing apprentice employed by Casey was one of the apprentices chosen, as was Lauren, a professional construction trainee at Casey.

Lauren said: “I loved every second of my time working away in Romania. I met some truly amazing people, all with different qualities and mindsets, but all still truly remarkable. When I was invited on the trip, I believed my only goal was to go and do my best in changing the lives of the people out there in Romania. But, after spending two weeks there, I realised I did so much more than that. I have developed so many of my own skills and learnt so many new things whilst undertaking this experience, things that will stay with me and help me in the future.”

Lauren is currently studying at City Skills, Salford City College, for her BTEC Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment, pat of her technical and professional apprenticeship whilst working at Casey. She continued: “I have to say, the highlight of the experience was seeing all the local children getting involved with the work and seeing them so happy.

“I am so honored to have been part of the project, building better futures and changing the lives of so many people.”

Brian Knowles, Contracts Manager at Casey, also believed this was a unique and worthwhile experience for the Casey apprentices. He said: “Casey are currently working on a number of projects with Salix Homes and have recruited several apprentices to work on the schemes. When Salix said they had two places available for the trip to Romania we thought it would be an excellent opportunity.

“As well as a great community project it would develop teamwork and expand horizons. Campbell and Lauren jumped at the chance to go. I think they went with a mix of excitement and trepidation but they returned full of confidence.

“I’m really proud of how hard they worked and how they handled themselves and they should be too.”

It would seem the pair have impressed not only their employer and the college but also trip organisers Bolton at Home. Terence Dawber, Building Surveyor from Bolton at Home and one of the team leaders on the trip, said: “Campbell was brilliant out there. He worked really hard and was somebody we could rely on to get tasks completed. It’s great to see such passion in younger colleagues and Campbell is full of it. He has some great knowledge of trades especially plumbing and should be extremely proud of all his accomplishments - great to see and be a part of.”

When commenting on Lauren’s performance, he said: “Lauren was brilliant with everything we threw at her. I couldn’t believe that her apprenticeship was at such an early stage. There is no doubt that she will make an amazing site manager.”

Maria Lester, Environmental Operations Manager at Salix Homes, added: “Both Lauren and Campbell did themselves and Casey proud and are a real credit to the organisation. Whilst out there we managed to build a football pitch, paint and plaster numerous houses, demolish a shack and dig out and build foundations for a new house, as well helping hundreds of children in the local community.”

Well done to all those involved!

LEVY TELL YOU...

ABOUT APPRENTICESHIPS

Of the £3.1 billion funds paid by large employers into the Apprenticeship Levy, only 14% has been spent to date. This leaves a whopping £2.7 billion unspent.

Use it or lose it: after two years, Apprenticeship Levy funds start to disappear.

300 new apprenticeship standards have been introduced for delivery and around 280 more are in development.

Our oldest apprentice is 54 years old. You can be an apprentice at any age as long as you are employed and have need for knowledge and skills development in your chosen occupational specialism.

For more information go to the Institute for Apprenticeships website.

www.instituteforapprenticeships.org

The Institute for Apprenticeships was established in May 2017 with the objective of increasing quality across the apprenticeship sector and also to support the government with an apprenticeship strategy.

From April 2019, Apprenticeship Levy paying employers can gift up to 25% of their levy to smaller employers to use for their own staff development. This is a fantastic way of increasing social investment or supporting supply chains.

Choosing an apprenticeship provider is a very important decision. The national success rate is 67%. We are proud to be 20% above this in many sectors.

APPRENTICESHIPS AT SALFORD CITY COLLEGE LAUNCH HIGHER APPRENTICESHIPS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT WITH SEDDON

Pictured: Management Training Associate, Roger Cunliffe, with the Seddon Higher Apprentices: Gareth Barnes, Ian Preece, Jon Hulley, Sam Smith, Steve Dawson, Chris Ellison, Andy Coley and Karl Barraclough.

There has never been a better time to be an apprentice. That is true for school leavers, college leavers and even those already within the work place.

Employers are increasing utilising their apprenticeship levy to not only develop and support new staff, but to develop the talent they already have. Because of this, Apprenticeships at Salford City College have seen a real need for the introduction of Higher Apprenticeships in Project Management.

The new Associate Project Manager Apprenticeship Standard, a level 5 management qualification, has now launched with Apprenticeships at Salford City College and Seddon.

“WE COULDN’T BE MORE DELIGHTED WITH THE FINAL PRODUCT.”

Apprenticeships at Salford City College are a leading provider of apprenticeships in the area. For the last three years they have been the number one college provider of apprenticeships in Greater Manchester and support around 1200 apprentices and 400 employers across the city.

Seddon too are known for their excellence when it comes to apprentices. In fact, they are leading the way in their sector when it comes to apprentice employment, often having around 80 apprentices employed at any one time.

Thanks to this new apprenticeship offer, Seddon have taken their investment in apprenticeships one step further, with a commitment to develop 40 of their key project staff in line with the new Project Management Apprenticeship Standard, to be delivered by Salford City College.

This will see their staff achieve industry recognised project management qualifications, alongside the wider skills, knowledge and behaviours that the standards demands.

Training Manager at Seddon, Kat Healy, who has been instrumental in designing the programme with the management associates from the college said: ‘’The programme is ideal for our business. We want to drive organisational change, ensuring consistency and quality across all projects we are involved in.

“We have worked extremely hard with Apprenticeships at Salford City College to mould the Project Management Apprenticeship Standard in alignment to our own needs, and we couldn’t be more delighted with the final product.”

Allan Milne, Head of Apprenticeship and Business Development at Apprenticeships at Salford City College, said: “The Apprenticeship Reforms have ensured that there has been a wave of fantastic new apprenticeship programmes introduced and that are currently in development. The result of this that any individual at any level within a business in any function can be an apprentice and improve their career.”

The first cohort of project management apprentices have now embarked upon their training with Seddon, with other companies following the way in partnership with the college.

If you would like to make the most out of your apprenticeship levy and develop your workforce at the same time, contact Apprenticeships at Salford City College on 0161 631 5555 or by emailing apprenticeships@salfordcc.ac.uk.

How we use our Apprenticeship Levy

Like every other large employer with a PAYE cost of over £3million per year, SCC Group, which includes Apprenticeships at Salford City College and all the colleges in Salford, are subject to paying the Apprenticeship Levy.

Head of Human Resource and Organisational Development for SCC Group, Kelly Mason, sees the levy as being a real bonus for the organisation. She said: “We have used and are using our Apprenticeship Levy to really strengthen the skills and behaviours of colleagues across a number of key areas within the colleges. We have ongoing investment in leadership, we have key support areas being developed such as accounting, HR and recruitment and we also use it to attract new staff into the organisation with the opportunity of a great development programme.”

Debbie Ward, Head of Apprenticeships and Partnerships, and executive lead for the Apprenticeship Levy, added: “As an executive team, we talk a lot about the importance of brilliant staff. The levy offers us a great way of investing in staff using high quality, long-term programmes. Attracting the best new talent to the organisation is also critical to being able to deliver the highest calibre of provision for our students and apprentices. The Apprenticeship Levy helps with this immensely.”

As a whole, the education sector has invested significant resource in developing new standards such as the Learning and Skills Teacher Standard. There are a number of new programmes available or very nearly available which could have a huge impact on how we recruit and train staff in our core operational area - teaching and assessing.

Below are some of the incredible staff the college is currently developing.

MICHAEL RILEY ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT

CURRENTLY STUDYING TOWARDS THE ACCA LEVEL 7 QUALIFICATION

“I am currently studying toward my ACCA Level 7 qualification, which is equivalent to a master’s degree. Upon completion this will mean that I will be chartered in the accounting industry and therefore able to undertake more significant roles within an organisation. The qualification is split into three levels, which covers technical accounting skills as well as managerial skills.

“Being chartered is a sought after title in the accounting industry and it opens upon numerous opportunities and avenues for progression in the future. I also feel that my qualification will benefit the college because I will be more technically capable within the finance department which will enable me to better assist colleagues throughout the college. I hope to develop my role for both my own growth and also to enable the college to grow and ultimately be more financially successful.”

KAYLEY CORRY MARKETING & PR OFFICER

CURRENTLY STUDYING TOWARDS THE ILM LEVEL 3 DIPLOMA FOR MANAGERS AND TEAM LEADER/ SUPERVISOR APPRENTICESHIP

“I am honoured to be given the opportunity to study further, alongside my job, using funds from our Apprenticeship Levy.

“The qualification will help me to become, in the future, a manager. But, more importantly, the skills I will obtain from my studying will ensure I have the capability of becoming an excellent manager not only for my organisation but also to motivate and lead a team to success.”

National Apprenticeship Week

It’s almost that time of year again, National Apprenticeship Week, fi ve days in the calendar when the country takes the time to celebrate, appreciate and learn about the role of apprenticeships in the lives of employers, young people, adults and on the economy.

National Apprenticeship week 2019 will take place between the 4th and the 8th of March next year, and though it might seem some way in the future, this important event in the Apprenticeships at Salford City College calendar is just around the corner and we are already gearing up for it.

Need to know: National Apprenticeship Week

National Apprenticeship Week aims to raise awareness across the country about apprenticeships. It is an opportunity for apprentices, employers and apprenticeships providers to come together to share success stories, all whilst encouraging others to choose apprenticeship pathways.

2019 will mark the twelfth event and to celebrate, Apprenticeships at Salford City College will be hosting their Annual Apprenticeship Awards. Each year the college revels in the achievements of their outstanding apprentices and the very best employer partnerships they have.

Recap: National Apprenticeship Week 2018

Last year’s event couldn’t have been more of a success! 18 winners took to the stage on the night, which included seven employer category winners and multiple apprentice success stories.

An apprentice from each apprenticeship sector was chosen from the vast number of nominations received.

There were then awards for small and medium employers of the year, and two awards for large employer of the year – one for the private sector and one for the public. There were also awards for traineeship of the year, partnership of the year and the college also acknowledged their sector based work academy, which is run in conjunction with the Salford Royal NHS Trust.

Roy Cavanagh MBE, from Seddon, who works closely with the college and who is known throughout Salford for his work and passion in training local apprentices within the construction industry was also honoured and awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award at the event.

But, the real champion of the night was Overall Apprentice of the Year, Heather Beardall.

The grand fi nale saw Heather, an apprentice with Morson Group, awarded the highest accolade of the event. Judges whittled down all of the apprentice sector winners to just one person, with Heather walking away triumphant.

On top of the awards, guests and nominees were treated to various musical performances, canapés and Special guests on the night also included the elected City Mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett and the Chief Executive of Salford City Council, Jim Taylor.

Laura Edwards, an apprentice, award nominee and also the Walkden South candidate for Labour at the time, spoke at the event about her apprenticeship journey, offering inspiration for apprentices and employers alike.

Apprenticeship Awards 2019

The Apprenticeships at Salford City College Annual Awards will be held on Thursday 7 March 2019.

Want to be involved? You will be able to nominate your apprentices and put yourselves forward for an award.

Nominations are now open. Please go to www.salfordcc.ac.uk to make your submission.

Not one of our employer partners yet? Call us on 0161 631 5555.

A new dawn for Dawnus and Apprenticeships at Salford City College

“I’m buzzing!” were the words 16-year-old McKenzie Kelly used to describe his feelings after he was recruited by Apprenticeships at Salford City College to work with Dawnus Construction.

McKenzie, from Salford, along two other Salford City College apprentices, were taken on by Dawnus to work on the Manchester and Salford Inner Relief Route Improvement Project.

Dawnus, who have recently opened a new offi ce in Salford as they work on improving the roads in the area are eager to support local residents as part of their social value promise to the City of Salford - and they did just that by taking on these new recruits.

Mandy Shepherd, Team Leader for Apprenticeship Recruitment and Business Development is extremely proud of the apprentices and her team’s accomplishment in placing them with the construction fi rm. She said: “Sometimes candidates don’t see how happy we are to see them achieve, and quite often we are that busy delivering a fast-paced recruitment service, that we don’t refl ect or showcase what it actually means to each individual apprentice, but from time to time it hits you and you think, that is exactly why we do what we do.

“McKenzie’s reaction to being placed with Dawnus was priceless. It was truly an honour to hear how proud he was of himself. All I can say is if our candidates are ‘buzzing’ then we are ‘buzzing’ too.”

McKenzie, along with Bongani Masilela, one of the other apprentices taken on by Dawnus, both took part in a Kick-start to construction project, delivered by Keepmoat Homes and Inspiring Communities Salford. The Apprenticeships at Salford City College Team delivered advice and guidance on apprenticeships as part of the project and the candidates were also taken to City Skills, Salford City College, to take part in workshops. It was at this point both McKenzie and Bongani became certain this was the trade for them.

The Kickstart Project was also supported by Salford Connexions Service who helped the candidates create CVs, gave careers advice and prepared the candidates for the interview process.

Julie Baker from Keepmoat Homes said: “If it wasn’t for the partnership projects like this would not be possible. The apprenticeship team were eager to talent match these individuals to current opportunities and source employers. The diffi cult thing for these candidates is they have just left school so they have little work experience. That’s why we think the apprenticeship route is an obvious one for those who have completed our project.

“The support mechanism and partnership is fantastic from both providers and employment links from the apprenticeship team and Mandy is right in saying when we gain interviews and outcomes like this it just makes it all worthwhile.”

Many apprentices, studying towards construction qualifi cations specifi cally, will fi nd themselves training at City Skills. The college has invested substantially in creating real-life working environments, to best prepare students and apprentices for employment in the construction industry. There is an accredited BPEC Gas Training Centre, an accredited Whirlpool Training Centre, and the college is the only Worcester Bosch Gold Linked College in Greater Manchester.

Staff at the college have extensive technical and industry experience as well as established industry links with partners across the region.

Mandy's Message

Apprenticeship expert Mandy Shepherd has joined the apprenticeship team to lead the new look Apprenticeship Recruitment and Business Development Function. Mandy has signifi cant experience of supporting business and individuals across the region and is delighted to be part of the apprenticeship management team. Mandy will have a regular column in Achieve. In this, her fi rst column, she answers some questions about her fi rst three months in the role...

MANDY, WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR NEW ROLE?

Meeting some of our brilliant employer clients. I was surprised to fi nd out that we work with over 450 employers. A lot of them recruit apprentices via my team. Many also develop existing staff through our apprenticeship programmes.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS EMPLOYERS ASK YOU?

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE NEW YEAR AT WORK?

Launching our new look Apprenticeship Recruitment and Business Development Team. We have added some brilliant new colleagues to the team in specialist roles. It is critical that we provide our clients with the best service. I look forward to introducing the team in the next edition.

FINALLY, TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF?

Many are still confused by the Apprenticeship Levy and how much apprenticeships cost. Most small and medium-sized companies don’t realise that at most they will have to pay only 10% of the cost, which can be as little as £200. If they start a 16-18 year old apprentice, and are a small business with less than 49 staff they don’t pay anything.

ARE THE BIGGER COMPANIES MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE APPRENTICESHIP LEVY?

Yes, I think so. Although nationally, it appears that only around 14% of all levy money has been spent to date, many of our clients are using their levy to make a massive difference to the skills and knowledge across their business. In January we will have a new levy specialist in our team to ensure we best support current and new clients with this.

I was born and brought up in Salford and I am passionate about creating opportunities for the people of the City of Salford and Greater Manchester.

MANDY SHEPHERD

APPRENTICESHIP RECRUITMENT & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM LEADER

0161 631 5581

07540 672 476 mandy.shepherd@salfordcc.ac.uk www.salfordcc.ac.uk

Apprenticeships for all: FIVE Cities, ONE Goal

Five cities across the UK have come together, on the request of Apprenticeships and Skills Minister, Anne Milton MP, to tackle the underrepresentation of minority groups currently undertaking an apprenticeship. Birmingham, Bristol, Leicester, London and Greater Manchester, supported by their respective mayors, have all agreed to participate in The Five Cities Project, which launched in February of this year and aims to encourage those within Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities to embark upon an apprenticeship.

It is one of the governments many aspirations to widen participation and social mobility within the apprenticeship sector. The benefi ts of apprenticeships for individuals are signifi cant; from economic and fi nancial security, to increased knowledge and skills, improved confi dence and motivation and signifi cantly increased career prospects. Similarly, employers reap the rewards from staff who successfully achieve on apprenticeship programmes, increasing their skills, motivation and loyalty to their employer.

Greater Manchester are leading the way in tackling this issue. The target for the city is to have 16% of all apprentices to come from a BAME background by 2020, which would be an increase in over 3000 BAME apprenticeship starts in the next two years. The project across Greater Manchester will have four key elements:

ONE To explore the cultural thinking of different communities aligned to the benefi ts of apprenticeships

TWO To work with the BAME Business Community to increase the understanding of apprenticeships

THREE To support the wider employer and business community to see the benefi ts of widening participation across their apprenticeship recruitment

FOUR To work with apprenticeship providers to ensure recruitment activity and apprenticeship delivery is fully aligned to the needs of all communities across Greater Manchester

Currently, across the UK fi gures indicate that people from BAME backgrounds only make up around 10% of the apprenticeship population, compared to around 16% of the working population. Just under 20% of applicants for apprenticeships are from a BAME background, with white candidates twice as likely to get appointed to the role.

Allan Milne, Head of Apprenticeship and Business Development for Apprenticeships at Salford City College, said: “As a college that is dedicated to our apprenticeship provision, we are determined to support the project across Greater Manchester. We have signifi cant representation across the college community from people from a BAME background.

However, we are always dedicated to doing more to create a diverse and inclusive apprentice community. We will be working with partners across the city to do this.”

BIG HEARTS & BRILLIANT APPRENTICES: APPRENTICESHIPS & THE CHILDCARE SECTOR

A CASE STUDY FROM RAMILLIES HALL SCHOOL & NURSERY

The saying goes, ‘it takes a big heart to shape little minds’, but that’s not the only thing Apprenticeships at Salford City College are looking for when they recruit talent for their employer clients.

The nursery, located in Cheadle, currently employs three apprentices through the college including Isobelle Mayoh and Muneeba Aziz.

Working within the childcare sector, like any other sector, requires loyal, highly skilled and highly motivated staff to ensure a business is successful. Richard Branson once described the people of his business as ‘the ones that make the magic happen’ and Apprenticeships at Salford City College are a fi rm believer of this, which is why they do their utmost to ensure the apprentices they recruit are the very best.

Apprentices are a long term investment for any business and this couldn’t be truer than for the competitive and challenging childcare sector. Margins are tighter than ever before with more and more families taking advantage of government funded places and many arguing the funding paid for these places is far too low.

Sue Hilton, Apprenticeship Delivery Leader for Health, Social Care and Childcare for Apprenticeships at Salford City College said: ‘’I have a brilliant team of childcare specialists who support a large number of apprentices across the North West.”

Alex Darby, Trainer Assessor for Childcare, and a key member of Sue’s team, said: “We take great responsibility in supporting the future workforce in this brilliant sector. Many of our apprentices go on to be team leaders and managers and this makes us very proud.”

Alex works closely with Ramillies Hall School and Nursery, one of Apprenticeships at Salford City College’s most valued employer clients.

Isobelle said: “I like that I am gaining a qualifi cation, but am still able to work and be in the childcare setting. I am learning what it would be like to pursue this career, and it’s perfect for me because I really like working with the children. I have learnt so much so far and I would defi nitely recommend an apprenticeship. The course and qualifi cation covers everything I need to know.”

Muneeba added: “Being able to actually interact with the children and getting the hands on experience fi rst-hand as opposed to being behind the scenes in a classroom doing the coursework has been a big highlight of my apprenticeship. By completing an apprenticeship and actually working day-in-day-out in a nursery setting, I am getting the experience I will need for later on in my career.

“I have learnt so much as well! The nursery has helped train me and the college has helped me with my course, learning things like the importance of data protection and all those kinds of things I need to know in this profession.”

Isobelle Mayoh

Muneeba Aziz

Trainer Assessor Alex Darby, with Nursery Manager Lindsey Vincent and Childcare Apprentice Isobelle Mayoh

Lindsey Vincent, Nursery Manager at Ramillies Hall, said: “It’s been very useful having the apprentices here at the nursery as not only do they gain knowledge from the courses they are completing at the college as part of the qualifi cation and bring this knowledge back to us, but we can also shape them into the childcare practitioners we want them to be.”

Assessors go to new heights for their apprentices

Come rain or shine! Members of the Salford City College Apprenticeship Team battled the elements as they took on the Yorkshire Three Peaks to raise much needed money for the Apprentice Hardship Fund.

Bernard Jordan, Diane Garcia, Brent Rowson and Chris Williams, all members of the Apprenticeships at Salford City College Team, walked the hills of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent, which are known collectively as the Three Peaks. They make up part of the Pennines in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

After a gruelling day in which ʻTeam Apprenticeshipsʼ faced hail, wind, rain and sunshine, they completed the walk which took around 12-hours. As just reward they raised £630 for apprentices in great need.

The Apprentice Hardship Fund has been set up by the college to help apprentices studying with them that need additional support. Support might come in the form of food, clothing or supplies to help them complete their apprenticeship.

Diane Garcia, English teacher for Apprenticeships at Salford City College, said: “The Three Peaks Challenge was a great opportunity to do something positive for others whilst having a great day out – despite the kind of weather which usually inspires me to curl up on the sofa and bingewatch a box set.

The team at the top of Ingleborough, the final peak.

“Iʼm a firm believer that charity begins at home, so, where better to start raising money for our Apprentice Hardship Fund. As assessors, we know that some of our students need a little extra little help at times, and the money raised will go some way towards helping people to help themselves.

“The team was really supportive of each other – there were moments when I was ready to give up, but the others kept me going. It was a great example of the encouragement and generosity of spirit that our team of assessors provides every day to our students.”

If youʼd like to do something worthwhile for the Apprentice Hardship Fund, why not set up a fundraiser and let us know by calling 0161 631 5555.

Innovative Technology for Apprentices

THE SMART SOLUTION FOR EMPLOYER AND APPRENTICE ENGAGEMENT. LEARN MORE ABOUT SMART ASSESSOR, APPRENTICESHIPS AT SALFORD CITY COLLEGE’S CHOSEN TOOL FOR APPRENTICES.

INTRODUCTION TO SMART ASSESSOR

Smart Assessor is a cloud based e-portfolio that operates both online with internet connection and offl ine without internet connection. This means as the employer your staff can access the e-portfolio to see progress against their course and upload evidence wherever they are in the world both with and without internet connection.

As a committed apprentice employer, you want full visibility of the progress of your staff member. Smart Assessor provides this. The Smart Assessor system is fully transparent so you as the employer can see exactly what has been planned with your employee, when their assessor next plans to visit, any progress that has been made and crucially you can get involved in the planning and feedback with the employee. What’s more, everything is digital – using your employer login you are able to ‘sign off’ documentation without the need to print.

EMPLOYER BENEFIT

There are various benefi ts to the employer utilising Smart Assessor, firstly:

• You can see at a glance what you have commissioned the college to deliver and exactly where the student is up to

• You can be involved in the planning and delivery of the course, tailor and contextualise it to your specifi c needs and requirements

• Your staff can engage with the Smart Assessor platform because it’s simple and easy to use and fully transparent for all parties

• You can access the Smart Assessor system anywhere in the world

3

EMPLOYER APP

Alongside all the above benefi ts you receive as an employer you also have access to a nice, easy, intuitive employer app to see the progress of your staff at a glance, on the go, anywhere in the world. The app informs you of the number of apprentices you have at the college, how often they have logged into smart assessor, future planned sessions with the college and crucially those employees who have actions overdue.

4

COMPLETE SOLUTION

As a commitment from Apprenticeships at Salford City College, as your partner of choice, we’ve commissioned Smart Assessor as the premium product in the marketplace to help facilitate our delivery to you as the apprentice’s employer. Smart Assessor is the only package on the marketplace that facilitates the end-toend learner journey. With it you can be assured that everything from signing up your staff to a course through to monitoring their progress of a course and onto successful completion of their End Point Assessment can all be captured electronically, within Smart Assessor, but crucially for you as the employer to see at any point.

Smart Assessor allows the college to contextualise their delivery for you as the employer. Instead of offering a very generic programme like most other providers. We can really understand your requirements and put a tailored programme together which helps your organisation grow.

The visual below is an example of the complete end to end learner journey provided by Smart Assessor.

BECOME A LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT APPRENTICE AND TAKE YOUR NEXT STEPS UP THE CAREER LADDER

“LEADERSHIP AND LEARNING ARE INDISPENSABLE TO EACH OTHER.”

- JOHN F. KENNEDY

AN APPRENTICESHIP IN MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

Are you looking to take your career to the next level? Perhaps there are talented members of your workforce that are almost ready for a promotion but could do with additional training to get them ready for a new role.

Did you know training and development is a key factor when it comes to staff retention? If you are a member of staff looking for career development we are sure you would agree the opportunities offered by your employer are important.

By embarking upon a management and leadership apprenticeship you are able to develop all kinds of leadership skills. This might be whilst you’re starting out in your new role or perhaps in the lead up to a big promotion.

Research has shown that training alone, on average, increases performance by 22% while training and coaching combined increases performance by 88%. With that in mind, we believe an apprenticeship is the best way to gain these new skills.

QUALITIES OF A GREAT LEADER:

• Integrity

• Attention to detail

• Positive character

• Emotional intelligence

• Ability to motivate others

• Responsible

• Trustworthy

• Good communication skills

EMPLOYER BENEFITS

Worried your employer might not get on board? Workforce development is key to staff retention and yet is often overlooked. Statistics show, 40% of employees with poor training leave their jobs within the fi rst 12 months. 74% of employees feel like they are not reaching their full potential and 69% of a businesses workforce are open to better opportunities.

Plus, those companies that are considered to offer comprehensive training programs have, on average, 218% higher income per employee.

If companies were to offer their staff not only opportunities for internal career development but also the opportunity to train further to gain those skills they are far more likely to stay on and give their all to their employer.

apprenticeships@ salfordcc.ac.uk

0161 631 5555

www.salfordcc.ac.uk