Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme (ASSP)

‘Developing staff to achieve the best outcomes for learners’

A guide to the Skills and Knowledge Exchange project (SaKE)

Navigate resource from the Main Menu on page 3

Commissioned and funded by The Education and Training Foundation

Introduction

The Skills and Knowledge Exchange (SaKE) project is part of a support programme, managed by the Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) on behalf of The Education and Training

Foundation, which is aiming to develop the capacity of staff who teach or support apprentices.

• The SaKE project enabled providers and industry-based staff who are involved in Apprenticeship training to take part in exchange activities and other mutually-supportive knowledge transfer to bring about more coherent Apprenticeship programmes.

• Pairs of staff – each with one college and one industry partner, both of whom are linked to a particular group of apprentices – looked at what each other did to train and support apprentices and identified how this could be improved.

• The partners in the project are: Bedford College, Milton Keynes College, Aylesbury College, The Policy Consortium in association with MLM Learning Design, Cranfield Precision, Arqadia Limited, Arcana Hair, Fountain Builders, Leighway Construction, RF Brickwork and PJ Care.

The next page shows a schematic of this resource in the form of an interactive menu. Use this to navigate and explore the different things participants did during the project.

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Skills and Knowledge Exchange (SaKE) Project Process and Stories

Introduction

Getting Started

Making Plans

Making Changes

Keeping it

Going

Process ‘How we did it’

Stories ‘What we did’

Robert Stephen & Kelly’s Story: Construction

Carla & Debbie’s Story: Hair

Stephen Kevin & Alison’s Story: Construction

Rachel & PJ Care’s Story:

Care Carl & Richard’s

Story: Construction

Jo’s & Debbie’s Story: Business Administration

Daniel & Trevor’s Story: Electrical

Engineering

How to use this resource Accompanying ‘How to Guide’

This resource is designed to be navigated via the Main Menu above (page 3 in this .pdf).

The Main Menu links to the relevant sections compiled in pages below and also to the assets produced by participants (reports, videos etc.). This resource also refers to the accompanying ‘How to Guide’ which describes how you too can design and implement a similar Skills and Knowledge Exchange project. You can find a link to the ‘How to Guide’ on the ASSP website (n.b to be finalised post QA and web address to be added)

The participants’ assets are stored in other parts of the website or on YouTube, and your browser may automatically open them, once clicked, if your organisation has given you access.

We do not foresee that users will need to scroll through this resource, rather link to sections/pages from the Main Menu. However, users may wish to scroll through or print as a document if required.

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How to use this resource

Getting Started – Menu

What’s involved?

What can I do - Peer Review

Peer Review Outcomes

What can I do?

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Getting Started What’s involved? 1 of 2

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The project set out to: • Carry out skills and knowledge exchanges between provider staff and industry representatives who work

with Apprenticeships

• Identify how to adapt support for apprentices’ learning so that it reflects workplace demands and the new approach described in The Future of Apprenticeships in England: Implementation Plan

• Record the project’s processes and the outcomes from it, and disseminate relevant messages to other providers and employers

• Produce continuing professional development (CPD) materials (i.e. this resource and the accompanying ‘How to Guide’) to enable other providers to run similar projects.

Getting Started What’s involved? 2 of 2

Peer reviews identified possible improvements and modifications to the Apprenticeship programme that were then explored and tested during the project. Each pair then undertook exchange activities and looked at how each of them were supporting learning, with a view to making on - and off - the job Apprenticeship learning more coherent and more effective. The experiences and outcomes of the project were used to produce CPD materials (this resource and the ‘How to Guide’) to help other providers and employers make similar improvements to their Apprenticeships. The project captured the experiences from the exchange activities (as they happened and on reflection) by means of reports, audio and video diaries and blogs. Much of the material used to produce the CPD materials was self-generated by the participants, with technical support and quality assurance provided by experts in the project team.

Here is a video from our project start- up meeting:

Getting Started

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Getting to grips with the process

Getting Started What can I do - Peer Review

At the start of an improvement project it is important to be clear about what is working and what needs to change. Therefore, each of the partners looked at (or reviewed) their respective contributions to the apprentices’ learning and identified areas they could improve during the project. They used a process called Peer Review, which helps people from different viewpoints but with a common interest to assess the quality and effectiveness of what they do - in this case to support a specific group of apprentices, either as tutors, assessors, line managers or supervisors. The review is an important stage in the project around which everything else hinges. It helps to ensure that the exchange activity is relevant, appropriate and likely to lead to achievable changes to bring about better learning. The accompanying ‘How to Guide’ gives further information on peer review and provides forms to use to record the outcomes (see page 8 and Appendix 4 in the ‘How to Guide’). Examples of peer review outcomes from our project can be found here. Complete examples can be seen in the accompanying ‘How to Guide’.

Getting Started

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Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes

Example one

Example two

Example three

Example four

Getting Started

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Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example one 1 of 2

The knowledge and skills employers and learners need:

• Apprentices need to work independently on tasks and communicate with internal and external customers. Entrants with below Grade C at English and Maths may struggle with this.

• Delivery should emphasise workplace expectations and responsibilities in terms of timekeeping and attendance.

• Apprentices need to learn the difference between work and school, be reliable and perform their role according to their contract.

• Imminent changes to qualifications (i.e examined units) may affect achievement and success.

• Content also changing to include business knowledge.

New demands include:

• Higher level IT skills capacity and minute taking

How skills and knowledge are being developed:

At work:

• Building on skills

• Delegating new tasks

• Communication between apprentice and internal customers

• Questioning to prompt apprentice to think and perfect work - learning from mistakes.

At college:

• Theory underpinning practice to make the apprentice think when at work

• Functional skills for those without current Grade C or + English and Maths.

This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

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examples Getting Started

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Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example one 2 of 2

How to improve what we do: at work and college

• Better communication on subject area covered in college, so that tasks in the workplace can be provided to support learning and put it into practice.

For example, delivering ‘planning and organising events’ at college, could be supported and encouraged in the workplace by allowing the apprentice to be involved in planning and organising an event - and taking on more

responsibility for this as their ability and confidence grows. This will reinforce learning and provide the candidate with ‘hands-on knowledge’, hopefully giving them greater awareness and confidence in assessments.

• Improved communication about NVQ assessor visits and planning of tasks. • Sharing information on the new content (when issued by awarding body) and working together as employer, assessor and

deliverer to aid achievement. • More emphasis on workplace expectations and responsibilities in terms of timekeeping and attendance. • Apprentices will have ICT Functional Skills for first term from September 2014. • More classroom time to be allocated to minute taking.

More examples

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This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example two 1 of 2

This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

The knowledge and skills employers and learners need:

• Qualifications should focus on skills that industry needs now e.g. houses need to be built but there is a lack of good bricklayers - awarding bodies should address this

More focus on:

• Cavity wall structures incorporating damp trays and weep vents

• Constructing corners in basic blockwork and stretcher bond face work

• Faster processes such as the use of profiles

• More time on building technology and processes (e.g. position and measurements of damp trays, lintel bearing and general site good practice)

Review focus on:

• Health and safety and arch work (most arches are pre fabricated)

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examples Getting Started

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Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example two 2 of 2

How skills and knowledge are being developed:

• Skills and knowledge are developed on site and in workplace but employers do not have time to teach on site

• Teaching should be done at college enabling learning to be applied on site

• Too many complex pieces of work that the bricklayer does not do very often

How to improve what we do:

• Focus on perfecting the basics at college and support students to perform these faster

• Allowing students to come in over holiday periods will address some of the issues

• Change the criteria to make them fit for purpose

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Getting Started

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This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example three

The knowledge and skills employers and learners need:

• A balance between practical work and theory, especially at the beginning of the programme

• More hands-on practical work at the start of the programme

• More training on hand and power tool coordination

• Knowledge/theory (e.g. interpreting information, reading block plans) and practical knowledge gained at college, should ADD to practical experience gained on site

• More training on use of compressed air equipment in college sessions

How skills and knowledge are being developed:

At college: • Theoretical aspects of carpentry and joinery, as well as hands-on

sessions At work: • Induction in Health and Safety alongside all aspects of the trade,

by observing experienced co-workers and by being supervised throughout the tasks

How to improve what we do: • Practical evening sessions in college • Block learning

This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

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Getting Started

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Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example four 1 of 2 This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

Updating the pathway should take place around:

Enabling the employer to see the apprentices’ process of work: Tech Cert and NVQ Portfolio – sharing practical and theory workbooks with employer

Time for the apprentice to hone and develop skills between end of L2/beginning L3.

More development or input on setting out/profiling at initial building stages – to include angle work, complicated setting out systems, involve positioning of opens (doors/windows) and also bespoke designs e.g. glasswork systems (even experienced employees are struggling with this).

Working below ground (sub-structure work), footings, working around services that have been previously installed.

In depth work with Cladding to Timber frame and Metal

Frame Modular system designs. Basic Formers, Formwork and working with concrete Basic Centre work, simple segmental arches to full circles

(can’t always guarantee that premade systems arrive on time or maybe wrong size)

Raking and Re-pointing work Working more closely with other trades whilst studying

at college Future builds include Commercial Buildings (different

design aspects and regulations e.g. Care Homes)

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examples Getting Started

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How skills and knowledge are being developed:

Good partnership working exists between employer and college. At college: Provider apprentices get more support than CSkills

apprentices (employer used college for apprenticeship route back in 2010/2012 but changed to CSkills levy system).

At work: Can only do the bare minimum at work due to time

constraints on workforce and costs. Access to certain sites can be restricted/or have special

security arrangements e.g. working on military land, therefore visits or evidence gathering can be a problem.

How to improve what we do:

• More observations on site are required (CSkills minimum requirement is 1 assessment per year for L2 and L3): increase observations at college.

• Working closely with apprentices and employers to develop areas that need more practical skills and to deliver the learning in college.

• Co-ordinate college program with employers’ work needs; looking at the future not just the here and now; extend the learning and practical skills in specialist areas.

• Working with other trades within the college who are on other Apprenticeship Programmes.

• Tutors need to ensure that their work practices are current to industry standards and for CPD purposes.

Getting Started Peer Review Outcomes: Example four 2 of 2

More examples

Getting Started

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This example has been taken from a completed peer review. Complete examples can be seen in the ‘How to Guide’.

Making Plans- Menu

What’s involved?

What can I do?

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After participants reviewed their current support for Apprenticeship learning they needed to focus on the area(s) they intended to look at during the project and the method, or exchange activity, to identify how to make this support more coherent and more effective.

Exchange Activity Plans Here are some examples of completed plans from our project:

Exchange Activities Exchange activities could include, for example: • Visits to each others’ workplace to better understand both the work and college environments; • Shadowing at the respective workplaces to see how theories were taught and put into practice; • Observation of certain techniques (or even staff meetings or training events); • Demonstration of certain techniques and, where possible, the opportunity to practice new techniques or activities; • Discussion, review, reflection and evaluation of learning from experiences. Please see page 9 and Appendix 5 of the ‘How to Guide’ for more information on plans and a form for action planning Here is a video from one of our project meetings, the participants are discussing their experiences so far:

Making Plans What’s involved?

Making Plans

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Example one

Example two

Sharing Initial experiences

Making Plans What can I do - Action Planning 1 of 2

The Peer Reviews identified a wide range of areas where change or improvements would be desirable. However, the project participants needed to focus on issues that could be addressed during the very tight project timescale, with the intention to look again at other issues once the project had concluded. The partners therefore agreed an action plan for exploring specific issues and the tasks (exchange activities) required to bring this about.

Next Making Plans

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Making Plans What can I do - Action Planning 2 of 2

The action plans:

• Identified the issues to be considered during the exchange • Described how these would be explored • Set SMART targets relating to challenging activities that were achievable within the time and

resources available • Listed possible results from the exchange – i.e. outcomes in terms of increased knowledge and

staff capacity, and outputs that could be used in CPD resources Activity logs were kept using a simple template to report on progress at fortnightly intervals, as well as written, video or audio records of thoughts and experiences. Click here to see the issues explored in our project and related SMART targets Appendix 5 of the ‘How to Guide’ provides a form for action planning and sample action plans.

Making Plans

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Making Plans What can I do – Setting SMART targets

Issues to explore Related SMART Targets

Relevance of theory criteria Score the criteria’s relevance on a scale of 1-10 according to employer’s needs. Look at 2 units per week for the following 4 weeks and record feedback .

Relevance of practical units Score their relevance on a scale of 1-10 according to employer’s needs. Evaluate all 11 projects, over a period of 4 weeks, 3 per week (after the theory criteria has been completed) and record feedback.

Additional assessments on site by Assessor on sub-contracted apprentices

Work with the sub-contract provider in agreeing to additional observations at a cost to them by 1st Nov 14 with Executive Director and Management Team/subcontractor’s workforce.

Assessors to look at when in their program they can carry out additional assessments on sub-contracted apprentices by 20th Oct 14 with employer/subcontractor and apprentices

Setting out/profiling Work alongside employer to establish working practices for setting out/profiling with direct observation to look for developmental areas by 15th Nov 14

Current work practices Observe current work practices and interview existing workforce to establish additional areas of concern by 1st Nov 14

Apprentice theory/practical work packs

Review the work packs with employer to identify the relevance to the workplace by 1st Dec 14

Examples of issues explored in the project and related SMART targets

Making Plans

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Making Changes What we did 1 of 4

The participants in the SaKE project held many visits and meetings at their respective workplaces, initially to identify issues to explore but increasingly to work together to make changes and improvements. Demonstrations of technical processes were given to show how theories were used in the workplace. One college and industry partnership went on to change the content of the underpinning theory to match current practice . See the following links for further information:

See Daniel and Trevor’s story for additional documents and

video clips.

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Daniel & Trevor’s Record of Review &

Activity Plan

Daniel & Trevor Final Interview

Daniel & Trevor’s Exchange Activity

Log

Making Changes What we did 2 of 4

Additional short courses were run for apprentices to provide them with extra skills to increase employability. See Carla and Debbie’s story for further information, documents, audio and video. Partners reviewed apprentices’ workbooks with a view to improving them. See Carl and Richard’s story and Carla and Debbie’s story for further information, documents, audio and video. Providing apprentices with the right tools for their practical work was a major issue for one pair. See Robert, Stephen and Kelly’s story for further information, documents, video and audio.

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Making Changes What we did 3 of 4

Accelerating young apprentices’ work readiness was explored at a workshop for employers, college tutors and apprentices and resulted in proposals for changes to induction processes and more guidance for young apprentices. See Jo and Debbie’s story for further information, documents, video and audio. The relevance of the units in apprentices’ technical certificate were reviewed by an employer and feedback was provided on what was of most use in the workplace. See Carl and Richard’s story for further information, documents, audio and video.

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Making Changes What we did 4 of 4

The lack of practical training in working in very restricted areas was considered by one exchange pair. As a result, a simulated area was created on college premises to give learners exposure to site conditions and a video was produced to the show techniques involved. See Stephen, Kevin and Alison’s story for further information, documents and video. Greater employer awareness of the capacity and capability of the colleges, in terms of equipment and ability to respond flexibly to employers’ needs, resulted from the project. Similarly, reciprocal benefit to providers came from seeing how theories are used in the workplace. For further information, see Daniel and Trevor’s video clip and Carla and Debbie’s audio report:

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Daniel & Trevor Final Interview

Audio Report

Keeping it Going – Menu

The project was committed to ensuring that improvements promoted by the exchange process would be sustained. Building on the benefits from projects such as this one requires careful development. Here are some ideas for maintaining momentum:

Show that the effort is worthwhile

Keep employers in the loop

Identify unmet needs

Promote Apprenticeships to employers

Develop communities of practice

Disseminate the project findings widely

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Keeping it Going Showing that the effort is worthwhile

Initially, some participants were unsure whether the additional time and effort required for the project would be worth it. It is often difficult to see the benefits of such activities without actually experiencing them, especially when the daily routine is already crowded. Click here to see Robert’s view on this. For Carla and Debbie, the main difficulty was finding the time to meet and to develop and deliver the training - alongside already busy schedules. However, they both found the results were so beneficial it was well worth finding the time. Click here to listen to Carla and Debbie’s audio report. A further benefit was the insights gained from the project into what the college might develop as full cost courses and short courses for the self-employed. See Di’s view on this here (see Di towards the end of the clip). See Carla and Debbie’s Case Study here. See page 12 of the accompanying ‘How to Guide’ for further information and top tips

Keeping it Going

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Keeping it Going Identify unmet needs

Valuable insights were gained into what employers really need apprentices to learn – the skills in demand in the workplace which make them valuable members of the workforce. Stephen noted that working with big site employers revealed a need for their apprentices to gain experience at college of working below ground. The college developed a narrow trench simulation to give learners this practical experience. See Stephen’s views here. New funding arrangements for Apprenticeships will put employers’ needs at the core of the system and require modernisation of units and more responsive approaches. Here is a clip from our final project meeting: See page 12 of the accompanying ‘How to Guide’ for further information and top tips

Keeping it Going

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Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Keeping it Going Develop communities of practice 1 of 2

Vocational tutors must keep up to date to maintain an informed dialogue with their industry counterparts. Strong interaction between providers’ curriculum specialists and industry specialists is invaluable, for example, Daniel and Trevor had similar engineering backgrounds and found they thought in very similar ways. Cranfield Precision found out about the technical facilities that Aylesbury College has and will now be able to develop processes that will increase their business success and utilise college resources. They will also take on teaching of more specialist areas, particularly where they have specialist facilities. This is discussed in the following clips:

Daniel & Trevor Final Interview

Project Review Meeting : Clip 1

Project Review Meeting : Clip 2

N.B Trevor & Daniel towards end of clip

Next Keeping it Going

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Project Review Meeting: Clip 4

Keeping it Going Develop communities of practice 2 of 2

Carl and Richard spoke the same vocational language, so both gained a great deal from reviewing the theory and practical parts of their apprentices’ qualifications and identifying where the emphasis needed to be placed to develop relevant workplace skills. Here is a video of Carl and Richard discussing this on site: Top tip: Involve curriculum specialists in planning Apprenticeship Programmes and promote interaction with employers as part of their CPD. See here for some comments from our final project meeting: See page 13 of the accompanying ‘How to Guide’ for further information and top tips

Keeping it Going

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Carl & Richard On Site

Project Review Meeting: Clip 1

Project Review Meeting: Clip 4

Keeping it Going Keep employers in the loop

Employers need to know what apprentices are being taught ‘off the job’. Share schemes of work at the start of an Apprenticeship so that employers know what was being taught each week. They can then reinforce these concepts with practical experience at work.

Project Review Meeting: Clip 3

Keeping it Going

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Here is a clip from our end of project meeting:

Day to day dialogue is so important to ensure the Apprenticeship pathway is coherent for the learner. Keeping the communication going!

Keeping it Going Promote Apprenticeships to employers

The exchange activities improved awareness of how employers perceived their apprentices and the value placed on them. Trevor noted at the final project meeting, “We need those apprentices…they’re a valuable resource...” New employers need a robust briefing about what is involved in taking on an apprentice. Here is the related discussion in our end of project meeting: Top tip: Use the material generated from this project (and others) as marketing material for prospective employers to engage them in Apprenticeships and for prospective apprentices.

Keeping it Going

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Project Review Meeting: Clip 3

Keeping it Going Disseminate the project findings widely

Getting the messages from this project about the benefits of the exchange activities to a wider audience is extremely important - internally, in the organisations concerned, and externally to other providers, employers and other interested parties. Here is a related clip from our end of project review meeting:

See page 14 of the accompanying ‘How to Guide’ for further information and top tips

Project Review Meeting: Clip 4

Keeping it Going

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Carla and Debbie’s Story: Hair 1 of 2

Carla, Hair and Beauty Lecturer at Milton Keynes College, and Debbie, General Manager, Arcana Salon: • Looked at how to develop apprentices’ employability

• Developed bespoke training in specific hairdressing and retail

skills

Review & Activity Plan

‘Hair Up’ Session Plan

They found that the training provided enrichment and employability for apprentices, but could also provide a bridge to further learning for trainees not retained after their apprenticeship or hairdressers wishing to extend their skills.

Material from Carla and Debbie

Audio Report

Review &

Activity Plan

Case Study

‘Hair Up’

Session Plan

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Carla and Debbie’s Story: Hair 2 of 2

Carla and Debbie felt that the benefits of their SaKE process included:

• More awareness of what the college can offer • Identification of additional skills apprentices, employers and employees in the

industry need, and how to meet them • A positive impact on trainee retention and enthusiasm for learning • Bespoke course provision that could generate income for the college

Case Study

Find out more:

Carla and Debbie’s Case Study : Carla and Debbie’s Audio Report:

Audio Report

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Material from Carla and Debbie

Audio Report

Review &

Activity Plan

Case Study

‘Hair Up’

Session Plan

Stephen Kevin and Alison’s Story: Construction 1 of 3

Leighway Construction Ltd. are a well-established firm in the Aylesbury area; their workforce consists of a large number of qualified and registered bricklayers and craftsmen. They are able to offer complete services including plastering, electrics, plumbing and decorating. Aylesbury College have been working with them for some time providing Apprenticeship pathways and both sides of the partnership feel that the relationship works well.

Material from Stephen Kevin and Alison

Below Ground

Demo

Review &

Activity Plan

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Review & Activity Plan

A number of areas were identified where improvements to the Apprenticeship journey could be made. Of particular importance was “working below ground (sub-structure work), footings, working around services that have been previously installed”, where learners get little or no practical experience.

This issue was felt to be particularly important since new builds now require different skills in laying foundations - the challenge being the ability to work in very restricted areas.

Stephen from Aylesbury College worked with Kevin and Alison from Leighway Construction Ltd.

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Stephen Kevin and Alison’s Story: Construction 2 of 3

See the video clip for a demonstration of how to place feet in a very narrow trench, and the effective use of materials and tools. This simulated area has been created on college premises to give learners exposure to site conditions.

Stephen, Alison and Kevin worked on this project together, keeping in regular touch by email and telephone – there was a constant dialogue. See the videos for some further insights from Stephen:

Below Ground Demonstration

Final Interview

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Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Material from Stephen Kevin and Alison

Below Ground

Demo

Review &

Activity Plan

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Stephen Kevin and Alison’s Story: Construction 3 of 3

Stephen’s longer term plan is to make this simulated area part of the construction workshop (i.e. a permanent feature) to give constant access to below ground practice. This will allow apprentices to build up skills that the employer wants and will also provide a facility for fulltime students to increase their practical skills. He intends to develop it to include angled bends as well as straight runs.

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Final Interview

Material from Stephen Kevin and Alison

Below Ground

Demo

Review &

Activity Plan

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Robert Stephen and Kelly’s Story: Construction 1 of 3

Robert is a carpentry and joinery tutor at Aylesbury College. Robert’s employer partners were Stephen and Kelly from Fountain Builders.

Robert and Kelly were keen to explore the feasibility of apprentices owning their own tools. They identified this during the review and planning stage of the process. Here is an extract from Robert and Fountain Builders’ Review and Exchange Activity Plan (see point 3):

Here is a clip of Robert and an colleague discussing their experience of the project at an early stage:

Extract: Record of Review

Sharing Initial Experiences

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Material from Robert, Stephen & Kelly

Case Study

Extract:

Record of Review

Sharing Initial

Experiences

Extract:

Interview with Kelly

Robert:

Audio Clip

Robert:

Final Interview

Robert: Audio clip

Robert Stephen and Kelly’s Story: Construction 2 of 3

Robert met with Kelly and Stephen from Fountain Builders on several occasions, they also communicated by telephone and email. They discussed the idea of apprentices having their own tools. They were able to link this idea to the curriculum, as QCF641 (Manual Handling) covers apprentices handling their own personal belongings (in this case, possibly tools). Here is an extract from an interview Robert recorded with Kelly:

Robert and his employer partners found that there were a number of issues to consider. Here are some of Robert’s reflections later in the process:

Extract: Interview with Kelly

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Material from Robert, Kelly and Stephen

Case Study

Extract:

Record of Review

Sharing Initial

Experiences

Extract:

Interview with Kelly

Robert:

Audio Clip

Robert:

Final Interview

Robert Stephen and Kelly’s Story: Construction 3 3 of 3

Finding the funding to implement Robert, Stephen and Kelly’s idea is clearly an issue. Here are Robert’s reflections on possible ways forward that he and his partners are exploring:

You can view Robert, Stephen and Kelly’s case study here:

Case Study

Robert: Final Interview

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Material from Robert, Kelly and Stephen

Case Study

Extract:

Record of Review

Sharing Initial

Experiences

Extract:

Interview with Kelly

Robert:

Audio Clip

Robert:

Final Interview

Rachel and PJ Care’s Story: Care 1 of 2

Material from Rachel and PJ Care

Audio Report

Case Study

Apprentice Feedback 1

Apprentice Feedback 2

Project Review Meeting: Clip 3

Rachel, a Health and Social Care Assessor at Milton Keynes College, worked with Training Managers at PJ Care to make Equality and Diversity (E&D) training more user-friendly, especially to enable apprentices to implement the theories they were learning in practice and to deepen their knowledge. Although there were problems to be overcome, notably the change of industry partner, Rachel gained a great deal from the exchange process, especially in seeing the work from an industry perspective, and the employer found out more about the resources that the college could produce.

Audio Report

Case Study

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Rachel and PJ Care’s Story: Care 2 of 2

They developed a workbook to provide guidance and resources to help the apprentices to use E&D principles in their work, using examples that are more relevant to the apprentices’ work and life experiences.

Lisa (from PJ Care) is a member of the local Apprenticeship Ambassadors’ Group and she explained the usefulness of this group at the final project review meeting (see Lisa towards the end of the clip):

Rachel has received great feedback from some apprentices on how they could benefit from the workbook. Video recordings and plans have been produced and the workbook will be further developed.

Apprentice Feedback 1

Project Review Meeting: Clip 3

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Apprentice Feedback 2

Material from Rachel and PJ Care

Audio Report

Case Study

Apprentice Feedback 1

Apprentice Feedback 2

Project Review Meeting: Clip 3

Carl and Richard’s Story: Construction 1 of 2

Material from Carl and Richard

Record of

Review

Extract: Activity

Log

Project Review Meeting: Clip

2

Networking

between tutors

Extract: Activity

Plan

Richard &

Carl on site

Carl, Construction Lecturer at Aylesbusy College, and Richard of RF Brickwork, reviewed the knowledge and skills needed by apprentices, how these were being developed and how this could be improved. See Carl’s Record of Review:

Richard agreed to give feedback on the relevance of the theoretical units in the technical certificate units to the work that apprentices were likely to do on site. Here are extracts from Carl and Richard’s action plan and activity log

Meanwhile, Carl consulted other project participants on the issue of more flexible qualifications:

Record of Review

Extract: Activity Plan

Extract: Activity Log

Networking between tutors

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Carl and Richard’s Story: Construction 2 of 2

Carl, Construction Lecturer at Aylesbusy College, and Richard of RF Brickwork, reviewed the knowledge and skills needed by apprentices, how these were being developed and how this could be improved.

Here is a clip of a meeting between Carl and Richard, held on a construction site, where Richard gives feedback to Carl – notably on what he would like the apprentices to do more or less of:

Carl and the college team now need to look at how they can modify the Apprentice programme to meet the demands of employers like Richard. See clips for discussion at our final project review meeting:

Richard & Carl on site

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

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Material from Carl and Richard

Record of

Review

Extract: Activity

Log

Project Review Meeting: Clip

2

Networking

between tutors

Extract: Activity

Plan

Richard &

Carl on site

Jo and Debbie’s Story: Business Administration 1 of 2

Material from Jo and Debbie

Record of

Review

Case Study

Work

Readiness

Workshop

Notes

Workshop

Clip 1

Workshop

Clip2

Workshop

Clip 3

Workshop

Clip 4

Jo, Business Studies Lecturer at Bedford College, and Debbie from Arqadia, looked at range of issues relating to apprentices in Business Administration. They considered employers’ expectations of new entrants to the workplace and the need for the college and the company to reinforce workplace expectations and responsibilities in terms of timekeeping and attendance. See their Record of Review for further details.

Record of Review

At a subsequent meeting with other project participants, Jo discovered that making the bridge between school and work was an issue with other colleagues:

Work Readiness: Sharing Experiences

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Jo and Debbie’s Story: Business Administration 2 of 2

As a result, college tutors and employers held a workshop with apprentices to consider how to better prepare new recruits for the workplace. For a flavour of the workshop discussion, see the following video clips and the document containing a list of suggested ideas:

Workshop Notes

The college is now considering its support for new apprentices, especially how to reinforce their work readiness during the induction programme and throughout the early stages of the Apprenticeship.

Workshop Clip 1

Workshop Clip 2

Workshop Clip 3

Workshop Clip 4

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Material from Jo and Debbie

Record of

Review

Case Study

Work

Readiness

Workshop

Notes

Workshop

Clip 1

Workshop

Clip2

Workshop

Clip 3

Workshop

Clip 4

Daniel and Trevor’s Story: Electrical Engineering 1 of 2

Material from Daniel and Trevor

Review &

Activity Plan

Case Study

Blog Entry

Daniel’s

PowerPoint

Activity

Log

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting Clip 1

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Daniel, Electrical Engineering Lecturer at Bedford College, and Trevor of Cranfield Precision, a company that designs and manufactures high precision design tools, looked at a range of technical and operational issues:

Review & Activity Plan

Activity Log

Daniel and Trevor visited each others’ workplace to see first hand what the apprentices are doing on - and off -the job. See Daniel’s Activity Log and blog entry:

Blog Entry

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Daniel and Trevor’s Story: Electrical Engineering 2 of 2

One outcome from the exchange has been the development of teaching materials on analogue to digital conversion techniques. With Trevor’s help, Daniel revised how this was taught and updated his teaching materials:

Daniel’s PowerPoint

Case Study

Daniel has benefitted from having his industry partner’s expertise and advice, as the email extract in Daniel and Trevor’s case study shows:

The exchange process has been very useful and enjoyable for both parties:

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting: Clip 1

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Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Material from Daniel and Trevor

Review &

Activity Plan

Case Study

Blog Entry

Daniel’s

PowerPoint

Activity

Log

Final

Interview

Project Review Meeting Clip 1

Project Review Meeting: Clip 2

Accompanying ‘How to Guide’

The CPD materials produced as part of the SaKE project, also include an accompanying ‘How to Guide’.

The ‘How to Guide’ is intended to help others who wish to try out similar ideas. You can find a link to the ‘How to Guide’ on the ASSP website (n.b to be finalised post QA and web address to be added).

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