A different school of thought. Hastingsbury prove that Apprenticeships can flourish in schools

In the past, Apprenticeships have often been associated with industries such as construction or engineering, but not anymore.  With the Government committed to increasing funding for adult Apprenticeships by £250m a year, creating 75,000 additional apprentice places for both existing and new staff, there are a wide range of sectors that are benefiting from the scheme including schools.

Hastingsbury Business and Enterprise College, based in Kempston is one of the first schools in the local area to take on an apprentice in Business Administration.  Lynne McBride, Cover Administrator at Hastingsbury told us how her apprentice Sinita Bhakar has helped to support staff across the organisation. 

“Sinita is actually an ex-pupil and had worked with us previously on a short term contract so the move into the apprentice administrator role was very smooth.” Said Lynne.

“The good thing about the Apprenticeship position is that Sinita gets the on-going training that she needs, paid for by the Government, plus she has the opportunity to gain an NVQ qualification, which is great for her future career.”

Lynne went on to explain that another major benefit of the scheme was that Sinita was able to learn best practice from the very start of her career and even pass some of that on to the wider department. 

“Sinita definitely seems to have learnt a lot and she’s been able to apply her knowledge to her day-to-day work. For example, on her course she was given the latest information regarding health and safety and was able to update the team about this.”  Lynne added.

“What’s more, I’ve definitely seen a change in Sinita since she started the Apprenticeship.  She was quite a confident girl before, but she has definitely become more independent in her work and in the way she approaches more challenging tasks.  It’s also been a positive experience for the department as a whole.  A young person coming into the team has helped to create a new working dynamic and I would recommend any other schools thinking about taking on an apprentice to go for it!”

To find out more about Apprenticeships at Bedford College visit www.bedfordtrainingservices.co.uk or call 0300 011 23 44 to speak to a Business Development Adviser.