Apprenticeship and Traineeship Staff Support Programmes Offer Further Support

The second phase of the two staff development programmes, ASSP and TSSP, that the Education & Training Foundation commissioned AELP, with AoC and other strategic partners to manage is now well underway. Within the regions, events designed to encourage both providers and employers to engage with Traineeships are taking place, together with a variety of dissemination activities promoting the high quality, innovative professional development resources developed by provider led projects in phase one. All the resources, including a new guide on Delivering Maths and English in Traineeships are available on the TSSP and ASSP websites. Staff from providers across the FE and skills sector are also benefiting from the consultancy service and the new communities of practice that give staff the opportunity to connect with colleagues to share experiences and find solutions to the challenges they face. Visit the AELP website to join the Traineeship Staff Support Programme Community of Practice or the Apprenticeship Staff Support Programme Community of Practice. Building on these activities, the project is now offering a series of events that aim to address issues raised by providers following phase one of each project. For Traineeship providers we are offering a webinar on Marketing Traineeships to Employers and Learners designed specifically for practitioners, staff responsible for engaging directly with employers to secure suitable work experience placements and for recruiting learners on to the programme. The webinar will be broadcast on 6 May. To complement the webinar, a workshop, supported by virtual coaching sessions, has been developed for leaders within the workforce who can influence the way Traineeships are presented to employers and are responsible for learner recruitment strategies. These one day workshops are taking place on 13 May in London and 27 May in Birmingham and are likely to prove very popular. Apprenticeship reforms and the implications of the transition from frameworks to new standards for delivery is an area where Apprenticeship providers feel they need support. To address this need a short programme, Curriculum Development for Apprenticeship Standards, that includes a one day workshop, supported action planning and a practice sharing virtual seminar has been developed. The workshops that are the centrepiece of the programme are being run on 19 May in London and 20 May in Leeds, again there is likely to be a high demand for places so register here to avoid disappointment.