News and Events

National Apprenticeship Week: 5th – 11th February 2024

We have been raising awareness of apprenticeships and T Levels in school to mark National Apprenticeship Week 2024. Activities have included a trip to a local college taster event, drop-in careers sessions with local apprenticeship providers and employers, an employer logo quiz, special tutor time presentations and an extended assembly.

On Tuesday 6th February, a group of Year 10 students went to visit Buxton & Leek College for their Apprenticeships Experience morning. They attended a presentation and Q&A session about how apprenticeships work and the range of careers available, and then went on to meet the tutors from different subject areas at an apprenticeships fair. Each stall had taster activities for the students to try out including building a bat box for carpentry, the nappy change challenge for childcare, VR headsets for engineering and a chocolate fountain for catering. There was also a live hair and beauty show with current apprentices talking about their work and demonstrating hair and beauty treatments. As part of the event, the group also took a tour of the college’s professional Hospitality and Catering kitchens and restaurant, and the Hair and Beauty salons, to get a feel for what a vocational training environment might be like

We welcomed local employers into school at lunchtime to talk to students about their apprenticeship vacancies and how to apply. Thank you to Mitchells & Butlers and Breedon for explaining how their apprenticeship programmes work and for answering lots (and lots!) of questions about their training in hospitality and engineering. We are looking forward to re-arranging the lunchtime drop-in sessions with Buxton Crescent Hotel and Swizzels Matlow as the snow had other ideas for us all that day! We also invited representatives from Stockport College, Macclesfield College and Buxton & Leek College to tell students about their range of apprenticeships and training courses, including T Levels – a big thank you to them for helping our students to understand more about the technical qualifications on offer.

On Wednesday 7th February, all of our Year 9s attended a special extended assembly focussing on Apprenticeships and T Levels which was delivered by Buxton & Leek College. Students learnt about the structure and benefits of both of these post-16 options, took part in an interactive quiz to test their understanding and finished with a Q&A session with college staff.

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our National Apprenticeship Week activities so useful and enjoyable this year. Our students are now more informed about apprenticeships and technical training options, and this knowledge will ultimately help them to make decisions about what they want to do in the future.