Since 2010 we’ve employed apprentices across our school in a variety of roles. Today, apprentices can be seen working with staff, children and parents in our nursery, classrooms, offices and sports clubs.
Brookside Academy is the largest primary school in Somerset with a mix of two- and three-form entry, two nurseries, holiday clubs and specialist provision for 30 children with additional physical and complex learning needs. This puts us in a strong position to offer a range of roles suited to apprentices, be they straight out of school, people with academic experience or those seeking a career change.
We began our apprenticeship journey in our nursery, with two school leavers who were taking level three childcare qualifications. We’ve since built a strong relationship with our local FE provider, Strode College, identified many more opportunities to make apprenticeships work for our school and provided a secure route to potential employment and education for our community.
Without our apprenticeship opportunities, young people from our local area would have had to travel further afield to gain experience in working with children with complex needs or helping to run after school clubs. Having the extra staff has also allowed us to offer families a wider choice of hours and holiday activities for children with disabilities.
The key to running a successful apprenticeship is ensuring that recruits are a fully integrated part of the school workforce. Initially it was a challenge getting staff to remember that our apprentices were much more to the school than students on work experience, but they now attend the same meetings and training as our teachers, coaches and business team. I’ve seen a high level of professionalism from them from day one, and we’ve benefited greatly from their positive attitude, skills and willingness to learn.
In six years we’ve had 29 apprentices through our doors, many of whom have stayed with us when contracts and permanent roles have become available. They have come to us through a variety of routes, but all have said that they didn’t hear about our apprenticeship opportunities through their school. The places are well-publicised in FE colleges, but I believe there’s greater scope for us to work with local secondaries and promote it as an option for younger people.
I highly recommend that schools look at providing apprenticeships for their local community. At Brookside, we appreciate the ambition, ideas and energy of apprentices, and are proud of the way our school has been able to offer a quality route into employment in education.
