Our first aviation learners reached the EPA gateway.

2019nnualeview

RACPD added level 3 Transporting Freight by Road (rigid and non-rigid pathways) to its logistics qualifications.

Courses drew to a close in Gutersloh as the regiment rebased to Larkhill.

RACPD Roadshows took place in various regiments helping to showcase and encourage sign up.

Our annual photography competition yielded some great entries. The winning shot provided by Sgt Donohue from 29 Cdo Regt RA. RACPD maintained matrix

accreditation for another year.

Year in pictures

Foreword 2019 has been yet another busy year, full of successes and of course some set-backs. Despite a reducing staff and learner headcount we retained an outstanding level of delivery quality and ensured that over 1700 soldiers gained an educational qualification at level 1 or above. We continued to offer apprenticeship training and other courses to individual soldiers and we also provided advice and guidance to those thinking of doing some education or leaving the Army. We believe that giving soldiers more education and better qualifications will help them stay in the Army; they know they are keeping pace with their civilian counterparts and are getting themselves better qualified at little or no cost. We consider that our purpose, ‘to enable better life opportunities for soldiers’ is critical to the operational effectiveness of the Royal Artillery and the wider Army, and we have continued to encourage and celebrate all our learners’ achievements.

The information below and in the following pages is only a snapshot of 2019 but I hope it gives you a sense of our purpose and our continued commitment to the officers and soldiers of the Royal Artillery.

EVENTS OF 2019Staffing

The focus at the beginning of 2019 was on maintaining staff engagement and morale after a significant restructuring exercise in late 2018. Due to changes in apprenticeship funding and decreasing numbers of soldiers on apprenticeship programmes, we were forced to reduce costs and therefore staff.

We lost six members of staff from the main office and from regimental locations, with a seventh (Shaun Thompson, the 26 Regiment Personal Development Advisor), leaving in June once the regiment moved back to Larkhill from Germany. Throughout the year the remaining staff have been positive and resourceful, looking for new apprenticeship standards and ways of saving money whilst not reducing the quality of the advice and courses delivered.

We held a company conference in June which was attended by 45 personnel including those in regimental locations. The focus was on apprenticeship reform, including future apprenticeship Standards and changes to Functional Skills. Briefings were given on the financial situation and future strategy, wellbeing and mental health awareness in the workplace and an afternoon team building activity took place at the Salisbury Races which was followed by a BBQ. Staff particularly enjoyed the team event as it allowed everyone to get to know each other better; and helped to overcome the difficulties of building and maintaining great working relationships at distance.

At the end of the year we were very sad to say goodbye to Zena Hadjicostas, who was our longest serving member of staff. Zena was employed in RACPD for almost 18 years and had seen a multitude of soldiers come through our doors as well as four CEOs!

ApprenticeshipsApprenticeship reform really started to take hold in 2019. This is a national programme aimed at getting employers to take more responsibility for both funding and delivery of apprenticeships and is a huge change nationally. Apprenticeships are moving from being assessed in the workplace through workplace evidence and regular assessments of competency, to an end point assessment which an apprentice will either pass or fail. The range and breadth of programmes are changing and we worked hard in 2019 to keep ahead of the changes by attending workshops and supporting the Royal Artillery at trailblazer meetings. We have been delivering an aviation standard for over a year and had our first learner reach and pass Gateway, which means ‘ready for assessment’. At time of writing he had not yet completed the formal end point assessment. We are very proud that given the upheaval of staff losses and the continued change with in apprenticeship programmes that we maintained outstanding achievement rates of 80% overall and 85% timely.

FinanceThe charity still has a healthy reserve albeit we continued to reduce that through planned deficits. The reserve, built up during the early years of apprenticeship delivery has enabled us to weather the ongoing storms of continued uncertainty over apprenticeship reform, development and endorsement of new standards and how those will affect staff requirements in the future. There has been a reduction in the number of Royal Artillery recruits over the past two years but that seems to be back on an upward trajectory heading into 2020.

Sheldrake TrainingIn 2016 Sheldrake Training was established as a trading subsidiary of RACPD to enable

us to deliver courses to civilian organisations not covered under our charitable objects.

We have been working with Appleford School (above) for the past three years providing education and support to both pupils and staff. This year we helped six members of boarding house staff to complete the level 3 Children and Young people’s Workforce qualification, two are still on programme.

We also became authorised to carry out End Point Assessment for the Aviation suite of apprenticeships and the Equine Groom at levels 2 and 3. In 2020 we will be further developing our capability to carry out assessment in both sectors.

2019 in numbersAchievement rates

80% Timely achievement

85% Overall achievement

Staff

16 leavers

7 starters

PD Promotions

£13,600 allocated via PD Promotions to fund regimental

educational and adventurous activities

Incentive scheme

£78,000 earned by soldiers via individual

incentive scheme

compared to Army Apprenticeship Averages TAR - 69% AR - 80%

Individual achievement rates

Telecommunications 92% Logistics 88%

Aviation Operations 73% Functional Skills 75%

Registrations

1, 737 learners on programme with 88% successfully gaining a qualification at level 1 or above

Completions (other courses)

Door Supervisor 83 Information, Advice and Guidance level 2 98

(52 online, 46 tutor led)

Level 3 Award in Education & Training - 22 IOSH - 25

Fork Lift Truck and Driver CPC - 31Level 2 and 3 IT qualifications - 93

The annual RA Personal Development Awards celebrated the success of individuals from across all Gunner regiments. The presentation of awards takes place in April 2020.The 2019 recipients are: 1) LBdr Lorima Tagicakibau, 32 Regt RA, Learner of the Year

2) LBdr James Kirkdale, 32 Regt RA, Chairman’s Special Recognition Award

RA Personal Development Award winners 2019

1

2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11

4) Gnr Selene Heslington, 4 Regt RA, Highly Commended Apprentice of the Year

6) Sgt Daniel Arthur, 4 Regt RA, Highly Commended Assessor of the Year

8) LBdr Paul Taylor, 47 Regt RA, Highly commended Advanced Course Learner of the Year

3) LBdr Ellis Mallett, 29 Cdo Regt RA, Apprentice of the Year

5) Sgt Matthew Sheehan, 16 Regt RA, Assessor of the Year

7) Bdr Chloe Stromdale, 19 Regt RA, Advanced Course Learner of the Year

Joint winners PD Supporter of the Year9) Sgt Claire Collins, 1 RHA & 10) WO2 Aaron Traynor, 7 Para RHA

11) Mrs Michelle Hampson, 103 Regt RA, Reserve Learner of the Year

The PD Promotions policy continued into its eleventh year, supporting a further 900 soldiers with their educational activities and adventure training pursuits. A total of £13,600 was allocated.

PD Promotions

3 RHA

EX NORTHERN CAVALLS 4 Regt RA NORDIC SKI TEAM

5 Regt RA NORDIC SKI TEAM

14 REGT RA NIMIJEN MARCHES

12 REGT RA NORDIC SKI TEAM

7 Para RHA SURFING

5 Regt RA EX DEEP DESCENT

29 CDO Regt RA

ALPINE SKI TEAM32 Regt RA

EX GIBRALTAR HARBOUR

26 Regt RA

EX CONGREVE CAPER

THE KING’S TROOP RHA

EX TELEMARK TITAN YOs’ BRANCHEX TIGER BLIZZARD

Chart Title

Salaries Other AAP Registration Fees Incentive Scheme External Trainers

The Board of Trustees continues to support the executive and staff to deliver outstanding personal and professional development. 1) Major General W J F Bramble CBE 2) Colonel (Retd) S Ellison 3) Mr N A Hopkins OBE 4) Colonel M J Kelly (Resigned 26 November 2019 5) Colonel C Palmer (Appointed 26 November 2019) 6) Mr J B Knowles 7) Brigadier M Pullan 8) Colonel J B Musgrave (Resigned 6 March 2019) 9) Colonel A B Phillips (Appointed 28 May 2019) 10) Mrs A J Storey

Trustees

5

3 2

4

1

6

8 10

Income Expenditure

Army Apprenticeships 75%

AAP 4%Fees 6%

Wiltshire College 5%

New College Swindon 3%

Trading Activities 2%

Gains on Investments 4%

Other 1%

Salaries 73%

Other 15%

AAP 1%

Registration Fees 6%External Trainers 2%

Incentive Scheme 2%

How we gained/spent our money

5

7

9

Targets for 2020

1 - Adapt to apprenticeship reform and Army recruiting targets by tailoring existing delivery.

2 - Maintain staff engagement and outstanding levels of delivery during a period of continued change.

3 - Maintain strong partnerships with Awarding Organisations and specialist training providers to deliver additional courses.

4 - Increase college-funded delivery

5 - Develop opportunities with our training subsidiary, Sheldrake Training Limited (STL).

6 - Introduce a wider range of apprenticeships to a broader customer-base through RACPD and STL.

RACPD, RA Barracks, Larkhill, Salisbury Wiltshire SP4 8QT Tel: 01980 845789 racpd.org.uk @racpd @racpdmarketing