February 2024 Parenta magazine_compressed

Apprenticeships
- a path to a rewarding career
Do you have an effective plan in place
for the recruitment, training and retention
of your staff, or does the thought of a
resignation letter landing on your desk fill
you with dread?
There are many challenges facing early
years leaders today, but the issue of
attracting staff into the industry and then
training them in a way that is useful and
relevant to real-life settings is problematic.
Sometimes potential staff are unqualified
and/or you don’t have the money to train
them from scratch - or you want to have
more of an input into their training.
Sometimes you are looking to upskill
existing staff, but you don’t want to lose
them as employees whilst they train.
Luckily, some solutions could be ideal
for your setting, and those solutions are
apprenticeships.
Apprenticeships? Aren’t
they old-fashioned?
Some people have an outdated view of
apprenticeships, thinking they are only
for the traditional trade industries such as
plumbers and carpenters, but nowadays,
the apprentice route to employment is a
well-trodden path and people can train in
thousands of industries as an apprentice,
learning on the job and earning whilst
they learn too. There are apprenticeships
to become qualified teachers, business
analysts, marketing managers,
hairdressers, and engineers too, and there
are entry levels from unqualified to degree
level.
And yes, early years apprenticeships are
available and well-funded too!
The Government have raised the profile
of apprenticeships in recent years as
industries struggled to find enough
workers leaving education with the skills
they need to fill the posts they needed.
Additional training was often required to
upskill staff, so routes to employment that
also included an educational part became
more attractive.
Step forward, the humble but powerful,
apprenticeship.
National Apprenticeship
Week
National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) takes
place from the 5th to the 11th of February
2024 and is a great opportunity for the
education and skills sectors to come
together to match people to jobs, as well
as celebrate and honour the achievements
of apprentices around the country. There
is no doubt that apprentices have a very
positive impact on businesses, local
communities, and the wider economy
and now is the time to recognise their
importance.
The theme for this year’s week is “Skills For
Life” (#SkillsForLife and #NAW2024) which
emphasises that apprenticeships are no
longer simply a way to get a ‘foot in the
door’. Many apprenticeships now offer
higher qualifications up to and including
degree and post-graduate qualifications,
so there really is something for everyone in
the apprenticeship scheme.
Many early years settings have a long
history of working with the Government,
local colleges and training providers to
offer apprenticeships at several levels
and have found them to be an invaluable
source of staff recruitment and training.
What is an apprenticeship?
The Government’s definition of an
apprenticeship is:
“A paid job where the employee learns
and gains valuable experiences. Alongside
on-the-job training, apprentices spend
at least 20%* of their working hours
completing classroom-based learning with
a college, university or training provider
which leads to a nationally recognised
qualification.” * This equates to an average
of 6 hours per week on a 30-hour week.
Apprenticeships are a way of providing
hands-on experience in a sector or role
of interest to the apprentice with a formal
assessment which leads to a nationally
recognised qualification. One of the best
parts, however, is that the person is
learning on the job and because it is a job,
they get paid a wage whilst learning. Since
many apprenticeships are designed with
the needs of the end employer in mind
too, many apprenticeships can lead on
to further employment at the end of the
training period.
How are apprenticeships
funded?
Many courses for young people (16-18)
are fully funded by the Government
which means that most employers don’t
pay anything and there are no course
fees to pay. Apprentices should be paid
minimum wage at least, but this can be
covered 100% by the Government if they
are aged 16-18. Most apprenticeships for
older people carry substantial Government
funding too.
There are also incentive schemes for
recruiting young people. Employers and
training providers could receive £1,000
each if they recruit an apprentice who is
either:
✏ Aged 16 to 18 years old
✏ Aged 19 to 25 years old and has an
education, health and care (EHC) plan
✏ Has been in the care of their local
authority
How can apprenticeships be
useful in early years?
Apprenticeships are a popular tried and
trusted way for early years settings to
help recruit and fund first-time job seekers
because they are accredited and mostly
fully funded. Apprentices here usually
start with a Level 2 or Level 3 Childcare
qualification.
However, there are also higher-level
apprenticeships and apprenticeships also
include things like:
✏ Early Years Educator
✏ Teacher
✏ Learning mentor (Teaching Assistant)
✏ Children, Young People & Families
Manager
Parenta specialises in training people in:
✏ Level 2 Childcare (EYP)
✏ Level 3 Childcare (EYE)
✏ Level 3 Team Leader
✏ Level 5 EYLP
Apprenticeships can also involve
specialisms in areas like music or working
with pupils with special educational needs
or challenging behaviour, helping them
to overcome barriers to learning and fulfil
their potential.
How can I find out more?
There is a lot of information on the NAW
website at nationalapprenticeshipweek.
co.uk. Alternatively, Parenta are experts
in recruiting and training apprentices for
the early years sector and you can contact
them on 0800 002 9242 or visit www.
parenta.com/recruit-an-apprentice/. There
are also a lot of articles and advice about
apprenticeships on the Parenta website at:
www.parenta.com/parentablog/childcareapprenticeships/
Celebrating National
Apprenticeship Week
We’ve also listed below some other ways
you could celebrate NAW in your setting:
✏ Reach out to local schools and
colleges to speak to them about
potential apprenticeship opportunities
– you could also offer work experience
for interested students
✏ Register your interest by signing up for
the monthly newsletter on the NAW
website
✏ Join one of the employment webinars
on the website
✏ Spread the word about NAW on your
social media channels
✏ Consider upskilling existing staff with
an apprenticeship – possibly a Level
5 EYLP
✏ Call Parenta on 0800 002 9242 for
more information
More information
✏ nationalapprenticeshipweek.co.uk
✏ www.parenta.com/
childcaretrainingcourses
Scan here for
more references
& information:
14 February 2024 | parenta.com
parenta.com | February 2024 15