All About STEM NEWS
All About STEM: Cheshire West & Chester Council Apprenticeship Workshops
Throughout February and March, All About STEM have partnered with Cheshire West and Chester Council to facilitate week-long Apprenticeships Workshops in schools.
Queens Park High School Chester & The Bishops’ Bluecoat Church of England High School both enjoyed daily sessions to discover:
– What apprenticeships are
– What makes apprenticeships different
– What is the apprentice learning model
– What are the benefits of apprenticeships
– Which apprenticeships are available
As part of their Apprenticeship Workshops, students used the apprenticeship learning model to enhance and improve their understanding of five different technologies (coding, nanotechnology, ergonomics, magnetism & electricity). Following this, they utilised the knowledge acquired in these sessions to design a classroom of the future and complete a CREST Discovery Award.
There were plenty of creative opportunities too as learners worked on their final projects and showcased their innovative ideas!
All About STEM, Managing Director, Michelle Dow said, “We are thrilled to work in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council to inform schools on the amazing apprenticeship opportunities available to them. It has been a fantastic few weeks inspiring schools with advice and information, real-life experiences and hands-on activities. Like All About STEM, Cheshire West and Chester Council are committed to investing in young people to help them understand employment pathways, to find their perfect career destination and realise their full potential.”
All About STEM, Project Manager, Dr Dave Armson said, “Working with Cheshire West and Chester has provided a brilliant opportunity for learners to understand how apprenticeships work, the roles on offer and how apprenticeships continue their education. The practical foundation of the workshops demonstrates how vocational education works, how it can lead to employment in the future and, alongside other careers opportunities in school, ensures pupils leave with a strong understanding of the options available to them post 16.”
Andrea Watts, Careers Lead, Queens Park High School said, “Learning about futures, options and pathways is an important part of the curriculum at Queen’s Park High School to enable our students to gain the knowledge and skills they require to be successful for life within and outside of the classroom. The Apprenticeship workshops supported our Year 8 students on their learning journey to find out about apprenticeships as a possible pathway they may want to pursue in the future. The engaging and practical workshops supported students to develop transferable skills within a STEM context which LMI data indicates will be areas of growth in terms of future employment opportunities. Preparing students to be successful in pursuing their future career aspirations is important to the future of our students and to the wealth of the nation.”
Catherine Toczyski, Careers Lead, Bishop’s Bluecoat C of E High School said, “I think the workshops got the students thinking about their potential career options and it emphasised the importance of the STEM subjects in everything we do. I think it was important for us as we do the EDGE programme in year 8 and the timing was perfect as the EDGE was launched to them the following Tuesday. The students can use the workshop to meet a lot of the EDGE targets and it helps them to realise the importance of enhancing their employability skills. In our school more and more students are opting for the apprenticeship route after both year 11 and year 13 so the sooner they know about this option the more engaged they will become in their lessons ( we see this regularly in year 11 – when they know what they need to achieve to get to their chosen destination they knuckle down and get on with their studies!!)”
Teacher Feedback:
“Students have expressed that the workshop is useful, insightful, interesting and most that I have spoken to understand that apprenticeships are a good route to take if they want something different.”
“I really like how the 5 workshops all tied in to the end task of designing the classroom. I believe the end task managed to engage the students really well.”
CREST Awards
CREST Discovery Awards offer an introduction to real project work and give students the freedom to run their own investigations. They can be completed in one day, with students working together in self-managed groups.
All About STEM are the North West Regional CREST Support Organisation
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