National Apprenticeship Week 2022

The week commencing 7^th of February marked 2022’s National Apprenticeship Week, this year’s celebration had the theme of ‘Build the Future’ to encourage everyone to consider how apprenticeships can help young people get on the employment ladder and build the skills for a rewarding career. To mark National Apprenticeship Week, RSFC held talks, workshops and apprenticeship stands each day for students to engage with to find out all there is to know about apprenticeships.

Each day we held a CV and Apprenticeship Application Workshop which was ran by our SPDL team during lunch time. This workshop was designed to help students develop their CV writing skills and to receive support in searching for and applying for apprenticeships which can sometimes be a complicated process. If any students want more support on this, then they can contact their SPDL or the Employability Co-ordinator.

During the week we had 3 guest speakers in to talk to our students about apprenticeships, on Monday the 7^th we had Josef Stanton who was a previous student of RSFC deliver a talk on his apprenticeship journey. Josef knew that the University route wasn’t something that he wanted to do and so instead applied for the college leaver scheme for accountancy with Deloitte, Josef was offered a position on this scheme and is now in his 3^rd year with the firm. Josef spoke with the students about his application process and what a day in the life as an apprentice at Deloitte was like, there was also time for a Q&A where students had the opportunity to ask Josef questions they had about apprenticeships.

On Thursday the 10^th of February we had the amazing Andy Turner from Rochdale Council speak to the students about all there is to know about apprenticeships. Andy Turner’s talk went over the different levels of apprenticeships and what qualifications are needed to apply for these levels and what qualification you receive at the end of the apprenticeship. Andy also covered tips and tricks in searching and applying for apprenticeships and answered a number of questions asked by the students.

Grace Lewis another previous RSFC student visited us on Friday the 11^th to speak with the students about her apprenticeship experience. Grace completed a Level 3 HR Management apprenticeship at a Law Firm following leaving college, after 2 years Grace completed this apprenticeship and was able to progress to another Law Firm and is now the HR Officer completing her Level 5 CIPD in HR. Grace gave an in-depth talk on how to boost your CV to help you stand out against other apprentices and gave students advise on how they can step out of their comfort zone and network with employers to get the apprenticeship they are interested in.

As well as having a number of apprenticeships workshops and talks it was important that our students had the opportunity to meet with apprenticeship providers so they could see what apprenticeships they could access and ask the providers directly any questions they may have about the qualification or application process.

On Monday the 7th Rochdale Training had a stand in the college. Rochdale Training courses are a brilliant way to gain new practical and professional skills, on the job training, nationally recognised qualifications and earn money at the same time. Rochdale Training offer a number of different apprenticeships such as Business Admin, HR & Recruitment, Engineering, Childcare and much more, you can find out more about what they offer by having a look at their website Apprenticeships on Offer | Rochdale Training Apprenticeships NVQ Training & Short Courses for Greater Manchester & the North West.

John Sisk & Sons were another apprenticeship provider who joined us for a day on Tuesday the 8^th, they offer degree level apprenticeships in Quantity Surveying, Civil Engineering and Construction Management. Sisk are an innovative and international engineering and construction company who have a number of apprentices on sites all over the UK and Ireland. Degree apprenticeships not only provide you with on-the-job experience but you also gain the same level of qualification as you would by taking the University route. Degree apprenticeships aren’t available for every subject but are getting more popular within industries such as Construction and Engineering. You can find out more about John Sisk & Sons apprenticeships on their website UK Apprenticeships (johnsiskandson.com)

AMS Accountants Group joined us on Thursday the 10^th to show our students their AMS academy. AMS is a Top 100 accountancy firm with officers in Manchester, London Dewsbury, and Blackburn. They offer a diverse range of accountancy, tax and financial services for clients big and small. Their purpose-built academy is a multi-year programme where students work and study towards professional qualifications in accountancy or tax. Applications for their Autumn Programme are now open for our Year 13 students, students can apply using their predicted grades however will need to confirm these if successful following results day. More information can be found here AMS Academy | AMS Group Accountants | Corporate | Medical | Taxation | Finance (groupams.co.uk).

On Friday the 11^th we were joined by Manchester Metropolitan University. MMU is a leading provider of degree apprenticeships, they partner with over 540 national and local organisations to give apprentices the opportunity to earn while they learn, and to develop the skills employers want and need. MMU were on hand throughout the day for students to enquire about the different degree apprenticeships they had on offer, the most popular course appeared to be the Laboratory Scientist degree apprenticeship which is an industry-leading programme that has been developed in collaboration with a range of chemical industry employers. You can find out about MMU degree apprenticeships here Degree apprenticeships | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk).