ACHIEVE MAGAZINE
Welcome to the winter 2020 edition of Achieve! Inspirational apprentices 2020 is certainly a year that will go down in history. The challenges, difficulties and loss that the Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted on us has been immense, and sadly we are still not out of the woods yet. As we are all aware, the next three or four months are critical in terms of vaccine roll out and virus control. We are incredibly proud of and very grateful to all frontline and key workers who have supported the nation in recent months. We are extremely proud of the apprentices we support who have been involved in thr frontline efforts during the pandemic. We have many adult care apprentices across Greater Manchester who have worked tirelessly looking after some of the most vulnerable people in society. We have singled out Sarah Lomas (page 13) who has shared her experiences with us; her words are inspirational and provide a great insight into life on the frontline. We are also very proud of the many construction apprentices we have working for employers involved in developing the nightingale hospitals, maintaining all existing hospitals and crucial care infrastructure. We have other examples of apprentices we have working in logistics and other key business support functions, who have also played such an important role in recent times. Ensuring education continues has also been a key focus nationally. It is vital that our children, young adults and adults within education have been able to continue to learn and develop. We are very proud of the way our apprenticeship team and colleagues across Salford City College Group have continued to provide the best possible education and support. In March, our apprenticeship team had to adapt very quickly to limited face-to-face contact with apprentices. Fortunately, we have been implementing increasing digital solutions and practices over the last 18 months, and the resources and skills we have developed meant colleagues were able to respond quickly when face-toface contact was limited. As you can see from some of the statistics on page 8, we have continued to support apprentices and employers superbly well. By limiting our face-to-face activity, our teams have been on the road less, meaning that they can spend more time with apprentices digitally. This has had a very positive impact for many apprentices in uncertain times.
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Time to be determined and focused on creating opportunities We are also immensely grateful to our employer partners for creating opportunities for new apprentices. Economic commentary indicates we are in unheralded times, and nationally, apprenticeship numbers are down as much as 70%. However, we have not experienced this. To date, we have started more apprentices then we had by this time last academic year, and many are new apprentices, recruited into new employment opportunities! With the Government announcing that they have extended the new apprenticeship incentives scheme for employers by a further two months, to the end of March 2021, we are more determined than ever to ensure we continue this upward trajectory. Apprenticeships are a great way for people to develop careers that will last a lifetime and we have to be determined and focused on creating opportunities for the people of Salford and Greater Manchester. One of the highlights of the year for Apprenticeships at Salford City College is being shortlisted for the learning provider of the year award in the prestigious annual national Learning Awards. Feedback from the judging panel to date has been very positive, highlighting the fantastic opportunities, we, in partnership with our employer partners and stakeholders, create for local people. The final decision on the award winners will be announced early 2021. The judging panel made very positive comments about the passion and motivation displayed by Apprenticeships at Salford City College staff. We are so very fortunate to employ some of the most talented and passionate people in the sector. They have supported apprentices, employers and each other so very well in what has been some of the hardest times any of us will experience and we are very grateful for this. Finally we would like to wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas and hope 2021 is kind to us all. Stay safe, Allan Milne
ALLAN MILNE
KAREN KENNY
Head of Apprenticeships
Head of Apprenticeship Delivery
