Build the Future: Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week
This week marks the 15th annual National Apprenticeship Week.
And what better time is there to shine light on the positive impact that apprenticeships are having on our apprentices, and also on Agincare’s commitment to training our staff to deliver high quality care in the community.
To find out more, we spoke to apprentices and managers across Agincare, asking them what benefits they saw and how apprenticeships were helping to, in accordance with the event’s theme for this year, ‘Build the Future’.
What is an apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship allows you to earn while you learn; all while gaining the right qualifications to help you progress your career in care.
At Agincare, all of our apprenticeships are delivered by training provider, Training Now.
Training Now is part of the Agincare Group meaning that every member of our team has the opportunity to begin an apprenticeship without the need to change job role or employer.
While our apprentices are working, they are developing the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their roles. They are also helping us to ‘Build the Future’, making sure we have a well-qualified and talented team.
Building your future
Through the range of apprenticeships and short courses we offer to our care workers and office teams, we are supporting people to build their own futures, and discover a career in care.
Jane Nash, Deputy Manager of our Leominster home care branch tells us:
We currently have 5 apprentices and a further 3 staff members who are showing an interest in signing up to an apprenticeship program.
Our apprentices develop knowledge and learn new skills which enhance their performance in the work place. This in turn improves the quality of our service to clients.
For many, there can be a lack of clarity in where a career in social care can lead. Unlike other careers that offer a clear pathway, in social care there are lots of options.
You may start out as a care assistant and become a nurse, or equally a dual registered manager such as Filipe who, until a recent promotion to head office, was managing three home care branches.
Building the future of Agincare
By investing in people, we are guaranteeing that Agincare delivers professional care from a well-trained and passionate team long into the future.
Through these training opportunities, our branch managers are seeing first-hand the positive difference it makes for those progressing their career.
Katie Denny from Weymouth home care branch said:
“I think that there are lots of positive impacts that come about when our care assistants are completing and working towards their apprenticeships.
Firstly, it gives us the opportunity to have more interaction as we support them working and learning. It’s also great to see them interested in policy and practice, asking questions and then flagging up potential improvements that we could make as a result of what they have learnt.”
Over the two years, the social care sector has seen a recruitment crisis with the demand for care workers being higher than ever.
As Sean Colledge, Recruitment Business Partner, explains, apprenticeships are playing a vital role in training those who are new to care, and also providing opportunities for progression to those considering a career in the sector.
“It has been a very difficult employment climate over the last couple of years for care. We know that job seekers will look at a wide range of opportunities to get job satisfaction and stability. The high focus on care homes has led to an upsurge in people new to care interested in positions within Agincare. This wouldn’t have been possible without the support from Training Now offering these team members high quality apprenticeships.
In addition, apprenticeships have helped with developing existing team members to increase their skills and provide outstanding care to our residents, demonstrating to them that Agincare are willing and able to invest in caring and passionate people.”
A shout out to our apprentices
The Coronavirus pandemic has put unprecedented pressure on those working towards an apprenticeship qualification.
That’s why, for National Apprenticeship Week, we are giving a big shout out to all of our apprentices (an amazing 301 of them), who have continued to care while working towards furthering their career with us.
One of the many success stories is that of Sales Manager, Aaron Wolfendale, who completed his Level 3 Team Leading Apprenticeship and gained a distinction in his end point assessment.
Describing how the apprenticeship had benefitted him, Aaron said:
As a Sales Manager for Agincare Group, my learning has helped me to develop more confidence in my ability. At the end of the day, I owe it to my team to know that I need to learn new things as well as learning from them.
I know my management training has meant that I am bringing up my team as well as myself. It has had a profound impact on my role. I am not just a regular leader, but I now think I bring more value to my post within Agincare.
Christie, Deputy Manager of Blenheim Care Home since September 2021, is currently working towards her Level 4 Adult Social Care Apprenticeship. She expressed how an apprenticeship had helped her develop in her new role.
The apprenticeship programme has had a positive impact on my role and has helped me manage certain situations in a more managerial way. It has helped me to understand different methods of productive working and how to implement them within my role.
Discover a career with Agincare
Whether you are an existing employee, or are considering joining the Agincare team, we have a range of job opportunities and apprenticeships available.
