National Apprenticeship Week 2018 - as it happens
A round-up of key events happening during NAW 2018 (5 to 9 March).
Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds MP and Sue Husband, Director of the National Apprenticeship Service at the NAW 2018 launch event at BBC Broadcasting House.
The 11th National Apprenticeship Week (#NAW2018) will bring together employers and apprentices from across England to showcase the success of apprenticeships whilst encouraging even more people to choose apprenticeships as a pathway to a great career.
Friday, 9 March
A fitting end to National Apprenticeship Week 2018 involved 250 apprentices – from across a variety of sectors and job roles – in ‘Class of 2018’ graduation ceremonies, taking place in 6 prestigious venues across England. Apprentices that have completed their apprenticeship in the last 12 months were recognised and celebrated; whilst showcasing why more people should choose consider an apprenticeship as a pathway to a great career.
Our 10,000 talks movement - #10kTalks – to inspire the next generation of apprentices in schools across the country has exceeded all expectations, reaching over 33,500 people in over 300 schools during #NAW2018. Great news for all involved! We know a further 130 schools also hosted teacher-to-teacher talks - reaching over 2,300 educators. Thank you to all apprentices, schools and employers involved in 10,000 talks and making them such a huge success!
News from the Big Assembly, taking place yesterday, reached 20,000 individuals with their live video stream of apprentices and employers sharing their apprenticeships stories. This is a brilliant achievement for the Big Assembly and the apprenticeships community!
Thursday, 8 March
Celebrating the positive impact of female apprentices in workplaces across the country as part of International Women’s Day, we today hosted an apprenticeships work for women event at the National Gallery, London. Taking place on the penultimate day of National Apprenticeship Week 2018, MP’s, business leaders, inspirational apprentices and teachers were among the 200 attendees celebrating female apprentices. The event closed with calls for the audience to continue to press for more to be done on gender inequality in the workplace.
There are many fabulous examples of girls in STEM apprenticeship roles today, all in support of International Women’s Day. From Private Loice Ochieng, an engineer in the Army to Megan Whitbred, fellow engineer apprentice at Troup Bywaters + Anders and electrical engineer Alex from British Gypsum we have been truly inspired by the many great examples of how apprenticeships are working for women!
It has been great to see such support from across the apprenticeship community for #NAW2018. Current and ex-apprentices, including some of our own award winners, have come out in force to talk positively about the impact apprenticeships have had on their lives. Charlotte Hughes, Higher and Degree apprentice winner in 2017 addressed the audience at our ‘apprenticeships work for women’ event. Weightmans, and their apprentice Jordan Coulton, who hosted the 2017 awards, award winner from 2016 - Holly Broadhurst - and Get In Go Far campaign star Daisy Coombes, both from JCB - are continuing their support of apprenticeships.
Wednesday, 7 March
Royal mail have created a #NAW2018 postmark which will be used on all post sent this week, helping to spread the word about National Apprenticeship Week – so keep an eye out in your post! Today 7 Royal mail apprentices with roles including project management, engineering, HR and vehicle maintenance met Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Anne Milton as part of her country wide tour.
The Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network (ADCN) 1st year event heads to the House of Commons Helen Grant MP, and chair of the ADCN, hosted an event to celebrate its first year to recognise the achievements of its members, who have passionately championed apprenticeships and diversity amongst employers. The event included guest speakers; Neil Bentley from WorldSkills, Jodie Williams from Yorkshire Water, Gp Capt Steve Dharamraj from the Royal Air Force, Mike Thompson from Barclays, Elaine Billington from United Utilities and Claire Paul from the BBC.
Paul Broadhead, Rolls Royce has written about the history of apprenticeships within Rolls Royce, and how apprenticeships help them to build on the diversity in the work force, which is critical in developing the company.
Tuesday, 6 March
Sue Husband spent some of #NAW2018 day 2 work shadowing Department for Education apprentices, finding out more about their role in the public sector.
She was also interviewed by Julia Hartley-Brewer on TalkRadio about National Apprenticeship Week and why apprenticeships are important to individuals, employers, local communities and the economy. You can ‘Listen again’ from tomorrow.
Apprenticeships and Skills Minister Anne Milton continued her tour of the country on day 2 of NAW 2018, attending a YBS Group Northern Power House event in Bradford, before travelling to ASDA House in Leeds to meet apprentices.
The tour finished off with a visit to Askham Bryan College in York to meet apprentices and find out more about the apprenticeships available. With so many impressive apprentices and employers met so far, what will tomorrow bring!
Sarah Barley, our current National Apprenticeship Champion of the Year, has posted a brilliant piece on why schools are critical in success of apprenticeships.
Monday, 5 March
National Apprenticeship Week 2018 commenced with an event at the BBC and the announcement of a new ground-breaking apprenticeship programme.
With speakers including Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds MP, Claire Paul, the BBC’s Director of Leadership Development and New Talent, Sue Husband, Director of the National Apprenticeship and hosted by BBC Home Affairs Editor Mark Easton, the event showcased why apprenticeships work and people should choose an apprenticeship as a pathway to a great career.
Apprentices addressing the audience included Rachel Coburn and Jonathan Chappell-Seetayah, both from the BBC; Katherine Sweeting, Andrew Fuller, Prem Lama, Roseanne Mills and Martina Tredgett from the RAF; Jamala Osman from Barclays; and Caitlin Stuart from Troup Bywater + Anders.
Apprenticeship & Skills Minister Anne Milton shared breakfast this morning with apprentices from Kelloggs, based in Manchester. The visit gave the Minister an insight into the apprenticeship programme delivered by Kelloggs. The Minister then visited St Ambrose RC High School where she attended a 10K Talk before chairing a roundtable with young people to discuss their views and their perceptions of apprenticeships.
Apprenticeship and Skills Minister Anne Milton sharing breakfast with apprentices from Kelloggs
Northern Saints Church of England Primary School in Sunderland gave the thumbs up to a shop floor visit at Unipres UK - on day one of National Apprenticeship Week. These potential future apprentices received a tour of the shop floor from apprentices, before witnessing fanuc robots in action too.
Our hastag #NAW2018 and National Apprenticeship Week were both trending on Twitter throughout launch day.
Get involved
Full details of the events happening across England can be found on the events map.
Events and activities for the week will be shared on Twitter and LinkedIn over the week, and event images will also be made available on Flickr.
Updates to this page
Last updated 9 March 2018 + show all updates
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Updated with key events from the week.
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Added a round up of our day 2 activity.
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First published.