Welcome to an exciting new month for Own Grown Hastings Apprenticeship Initiative!
At the start of the month we had the Hastings Apprenticeship Forum. The event was really well attended by local employers, training providers, and other key stakeholders. The discussion among the attendees was great with lots of solutions to overcoming current barriers and ideas to support our aim to increase the variety and number of apprenticeships locally.
Key obstacles to overcome included:
· Finance/funding
· Awareness of apprenticeships – employers, schools
· Employability/basic skills
· Frameworks not always meeting employer needs
Suggestions for actions to support the increase in apprenticeships numbers:
· Employer engagement and outreach
· Supply of ‘good’ candidates
· Communication and information
The next meeting of the forum will take place on Wednesday 18th January, 2pm (venue tbc).
We are also continuing to talk with local employers about apprenticeships and the benefits it can offer their business. There has been a great deal of interest from employers from a range of different sectors, who are impressed with the variety of frameworks available (over 200, that can be used in over 1,200 different job roles!) and the flexibility they can offer.
One of the things we will be targeting over the coming weeks and months is employer cluster areas so we can find out what employers needs are sector by sector. The clusters we are most interested at the moment are the creative, manufacturing, tourism and hospitality sectors.
You may have noticed that we have added an apprenticeship discussion forum to the blog. Click the ‘Hastings Apprenticeship Forum’ and sign up to join the discussion with employers and training providers. This provides a place for those involved, (or would like to be involved) in apprenticeships to post a question, query or request for support or advice.
Be sure to check back next month for more news about how we are growing apprenticeships in Hastings
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