8 minute read
Education & Training
A renowned horticulture college has joined forces with the National Trust to develop the next generation of gardeners for its properties.
Pershore College, part of WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group), is the new gardening apprenticeship provider for the charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England.
It is recruiting nine new apprentices to work in the gardens of properties managed by the National Trust across the UK and Ireland.
Apprenticeships are available at properties including Acorn Bank in Penrith, Baddesley Clinton in Warwick & Packwood (one role across both sites) in Solihull, Calke Abbey in Derby, Cliveden
Horticulture college and National Trust develop next generation of gardeners
in Maidenhead, Lyme Park in Stockport, Mottisfont in Romsey, Wentworth Castle in South Yorkshire, Rowallane Garden in County Down and Dyffryn in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Apprentices will be joining the garden teams at the properties and will play a key role in keeping the historic gardens in fantastic condition for the public to enjoy.
Since reintroducing its apprenticeship scheme in 2017, the National Trust has grown from having eight apprentices to more than 100 across the organisation.
These two-year apprenticeships will include six block weeks of studying at Pershore College, which is one of the few regional hubs of the Royal Horticulture Society. Subjects studied will include business, plant identification and vegetation control.
Caroline Noon, National Trust apprenticeship manager, said: “We are excited to be launching these roles across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and looking to build and expand on our already successful apprenticeship development programme.
Matt Handy, industrial training manager for horticulture at Pershore College, added: “It’s exciting to be teaming up with a renowned organisation like the National Trust to support the development of the gardeners of the future.”
ADAO delivers recruitment platform for TalentEdu
College offers City of Culture legacy courses
A centre of musical excellence could be created in the heart of Coventry thanks to one of several new exciting courses at a city college.
Coventry College is launching four new courses in music, e-sports, dance and musical theatre, and adult fashion.
The new subjects are being offered as legacy courses to Coventry’s status as the UK City of Culture 2021, serving young people in the area.
Laura Johnson, curriculum manager at the college, said the new course in music would offer opportunities for young people in the city.
“The reinstatement of a music qualification is really exciting and an area we hope will continue to grow over the next few years,” she said. “Coventry has always produced fantastic musicians and we are hoping to continue that as a result of offering these courses for students.
The college will also be one of the first in the country to offer a new e-sports BTEC qualification. It is being launched following the success of the college’s e-sports team – Coventry Crosshairs – who have competed nationally.
A new combined qualification in dance and musical theatre has also been created, offering students the chance to develop a range of skills to become multi-skilled performers.
The college will also be offering a fashion course specifically for adult learners for the first time, providing an opportunity for people wanting to retrain or upskill in the industry. The course will include a mix of face-to-face learning and online blended teaching.
Laura added: “It is key that the college can flex its offer to meet the needs of students and ensure that the city and its employers has the skills base to meet the needs of emerging industries.”
For more details visit www.coventrycollege.ac.uk
TalentEdu approached ADAO to create a website with a goal of being the best-in-class higher education recruitment platform.
The platform would have a dual purpose of offering headhunting services in the world of higher education, alongside a job posting board where potential candidates can apply themselves. ADAO was also tasked with providing a logo refresh alongside business collateral for its client.
After several successful years recruiting within higher education as part of another company, TalentEdu had recently decided to make it on his own – and the website was an integral part in the early business growth plan. With TalentEdu’s expertise in this sector and an already strong web presence, there is plenty of potential for the site to become a one-stop hub for universities to place vacant positions on the jobs portal – which in turn could boost the likelihood of stronger candidates applying for roles through the site.
David Ohandjanian, founder of ADAO, said: “TalentEdu were a pleasure to work with; they trusted our awardwinning agency from the outset of the project to create a fitting brand, web presence and marketing campaign. They clearly understood the need to create a solid and professional foundation for the new business at the outset. It’s been incredible to see the company grow from strength to strength in recent months.”
Mark Holleran, managing director at TalentEdu, said: “I came to ADAO at the formation of TalentEdu and the team did a great job in delivering a fantastic website and working with me to develop the brand. Our work with ADAO has enabled us to provide a great service to our clients through our campaign websites and the feedback from the higher education sector has been really positive.”
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New incentive scheme for T Levels placements
WCG is urging employers to take advantage of the new government incentive to help provide young people with invaluable workplace experience.
WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) will be delivering T Levels from September and the Government has announced that businesses which support the qualifications with industry placement opportunities will be able to claim a £1,000 cash boost.
It has been announced that employers will be entitled to £1,000 per placement offered – of which students must complete a minimum of 315 hours, equivalent to 45 days, over two years to pass their T Level.
T Levels are part of the Government’s flagship reforms to technical education in England and are equivalent to three A Levels.
The qualifications are based on employer-designed standards and will have a focus on gaining workplace experience to help students be employment-ready.
The college is seeking employers in the digital sector to offer placements in areas including desktop support, infrastructure engineering, desktop engineering support, helpdesk, networking and infrastructure security.
Debbie Parkes, Industry Placement Manager at WCG, said: “The incentive fund is designed to offer support to employers impacted by the pandemic, to ensure they can continue to host placements. Employers will be able to claim for up to 20 students for Digital Support Services at WCG from 27 May 2021 until July 2022. “We believe T Levels offer local businesses an excellent chance to nurture and build a skilled talent pipeline for the future.”
To find out more about T Levels, contact the WCG Business Development team: E: employerenquiries@wcg.ac.uk T: 0330 135 6940 W: wcg.ac.uk/tlevelemployers
Employers invited to Trident Tuesday Tours
Employers are being invited to a series of behind-the-scenes tours at a leading regional engineering college to discover how apprenticeships could benefit their business.
Warwick Trident College, part of WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group), is hosting exclusive tours for employers of its industry-leading engineering and motor vehicle training facilities every Tuesday morning, for the foreseeable future.
The Trident Tuesday Tours will run from 8am to 10am and aim to encourage more businesses to consider apprenticeships - ultimately helping the region and country to meet the skills gap in the engineering industry.
Warwick Trident College provides stateof-the-art engineering and motor vehicle workshops and laboratories. This includes an advanced machinery centre and robotic facility, comprehensive vehicle engineering facilities, vehicle diagnostic equipment and a range of premium training vehicles.
WCG already has successful apprenticeship programmes in place with Jaguar Land Rover, BT Fleet, Cummins Engines, Greenmech, Downhurst Engineering and many more employers, ranging from major corporations to small businesses.
Alan May, Director of Engineering Apprenticeships at Warwick Trident College, said: “Apprentices can be invaluable to any organisation and that is truer than ever before in the post-pandemic world – especially in engineering where the industry is constantly facing a skills shortage.
“Recent announcements from Government have shown the national commitment to bringing through skilled individuals to work in key industries, and we’re committed to supporting that in the Midlands where engineering is a crucial sector.
