7/2/12
SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council for Sport and Active Leisure, issued 9,342 Apprenticeship certificates in the year ending September 2011- up from 1,271 in 2006.
SkillsActive interim CEO Suki Kalirai says the figures show more employers in sport, fitness, caravans, playwork and the outdoors are realising the value of Apprenticeships.
“By using Apprenticeships to train new and existing staff, these employers are reducing business costs, investing in their future workforce and helping alleviate the nation’s unemployment crisis.”
Fit for Sport training manager Jack Shakespeare says 15% of the organisation’s 70 permanent staff train through Apprenticeship programmes; by 2013, he expects that figure to reach 50 per cent.
“Apprenticeships are, in our experience, the most successful way to recruit, develop and retain effective employees,” Jack says. “We are using Apprenticeship programmes to build a well-trained, motivated and loyal workforce which will help us grow and develop our business.”
Outdoor education provider PGL has 180 apprentices across its operations in the UK and France.
PGL Apprenticeship programme manager, Jo Mortimer says: “Apprenticeships are a cost-effective way to provide staff who may not have travelled the academic route with the skills and qualifications we require. Many of our apprentices have developed their management skills and gone on to work at higher levels within the business.”
Apprenticeships are a package of on-the-job training and qualifications which take between one and four years to complete. There are 13 Apprenticeship frameworks available in the sport and active leisure sector in England, covering job roles as diverse as activity leadership, playwork and spectator safety. SkillsActive has designed each framework in consultation with sector employers, to ensure they provide the skills businesses need.
Suki explains that Apprenticeship programmes are not just suited to large employers; small and medium sized businesses now have the opportunity to access funded training through SkillsActive’s Group Training Association.
“Our Group Training Association enables employers running small to medium enterprises to group together and access funded training that would otherwise be out of their reach. This training is delivered through SkillsActive’s network of approved National Skills Academy training providers.
“I encourage all employers, whatever their size, to talk to one of our account managers about how Apprenticeships could work for them.”
To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2012, SkillsActive is offering a FREE training package to the first 25 employers to register their interest in Apprenticeship funding on our website.
To learn more about Apprenticeships in the sport and active leisure sector, and how your business can benefit, please visit www.skillsactive.com/takethelead
6/2/12
My name is Luke Allen, I'm 18 and I am an apprentice within the Stevenage Sporting Futures Team.
If I’m honest, after finishing sixth form an Apprenticeship never really crossed my mind. However, my old school sent me an email about a sporting Apprenticeship at Stevenage Sporting Futures Team. I have always enjoyed sports so without any hesitation I applied, as I knew it would be something I’d enjoy and be fully committed to.
In my first month of the Apprenticeship I completed a lot of training in different activities and sports, which would be beneficial when I went into schools in Stevenage. This training would also go towards many competitions that I would also go on to help out with, for example a TAG rugby tournament and a basketball tournament.
I was put into my “host school” during my first month. I am now based at the school four days a week, supporting with PE and taking clubs either during lunch times or after schools.
Since starting at the Stevenage Sporting Futures Team, I have set up basketball, lacrosse and football clubs at the school, alongside a member of staff. Long term, I’d love to get involved in primary education, as working with children and in schools is such a rewarding job in developing life skills and my confidence as a whole.
6/2/12
Stevenage Sporting Futures Team has been passionate about developing a home-grown coaching workforce ever since it was established as a Schools Sports Partnership in 2003.
We are based in a community which is renowned for low aspiration of our young people, and we believe we can make a difference to lives through our provision of Quality PE and school sport sessions.
In 2007, we started our Partnership Coach programme. We employ 18 year olds and provide them with a year of experience and qualifications. At the end of the programme, our recruits have more confidence and a better feel for the career pathways available to them in sport.
We decided to take the concept further last year after working with SkillsActive on the Future Jobs Fund programme. The experience opened our eyes to the possibility of transforming the Partnership Coach programme into a sporting Apprenticeship. We now have 12 pilot apprentices working at Stevenage, including one who we retained from the Future Jobs Fund programme.
We work with Sporting Futures Training cic, a training provider specialising in school-based, work-based learning to support our apprentices. Our team of experienced PE specialists and coaches provide our apprentices with in house training. They also undertake a Level 2 NVQ Activity Leadership and a level 2 NGB award. Working with people, life-skills, employability comes with the turf.
The increased workforce provided by Apprenticeships has had a great impact in our schools and community - improving participation and providing positive role models for our youngsters. Apprenticeships have also enabled us to have a club based apprentice at Stevenage Scorpians - a level 2 Coach who works developing basketball within the town.
We hope through Sporting Futures Training we can take the model to other areas, as the value for our apprentices and the young people who work with them is immense.
6/2/12
As a timely boost to raising sports participation in the region ahead of London 2012, the Football League Trust (FLT) and the Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) grasped the opportunities presented by SkillsActive in June last year, to benefit from the Skills Enhancement Fund.
SkillsActive is funded by Sport England to support national governing bodies of sport to deliver the workforce development commitments in their current plans, and the news represents one of the biggest regional success stories to kick start 2012.
The £50m Skills Enhancement Fund, available until June 2012, aims to engage employers in Yorkshire and Humber in skills development and increase the region’s skills base. It is co-financed through the Skills Funding Agency through the European Social Fund and Yorkshire Forward and managed by Calderdale College.
Steve Mitchell, Head of National Partnerships at SkillsActive says: “We are delighted that the funding has had such a terrific impact and developed new skills of so many individuals within the sports industry. We worked in partnership with Calderdale College to develop Coaching Tenders under the Framework Activity Route, which provides funding for qualifications that will have a direct and very significant impact in the sector.”
The FLT has now delivered almost 1,000 level one and two qualifications to approximately 500 staff in areas such as coaching, dance, disability awareness, and mental health awareness. 15 ASA staff have also gained their UKCC Level 1 Teaching Aquatics qualification and additional disability CPD modules, providing the participants with disability specific knowledge.
Angus Martin, The Football Leisure Trust’s Regional Community Manager for Yorkshire & the North East explains: “There was, and still is, a gap for our staff and volunteers to pick up new and additional qualifications due to the growing variety of work that our 72 community schemes get involved with across health, education, sports participation, social inclusion and the environment.
“The funding allowed us to offer an excellent range of CPD to our staff that wouldn’t otherwise have been possible. We would probably only have been able to deliver a tenth of the CPD on our own, so the funding has been a huge boost for us.”
Vicky Norman, ASA Aquatic Officer for the North East says: “Disability specific knowledge is crucial in learn-to-swim programmes to help integrate disabled children into mainstream schemes. These teachers will now have some insight into the needs and requirements of disabled people within a learn to swim setting.”
Clive Howarth, Head of Relationships at the Skills Funding Agency in Yorkshire and Humber, says: “This unique initiative, not available in any other English region, is designed to support skills training that isn’t usually funded, and to allow more individuals who wouldn’t normally get the chance to learn new skills and to achieve recognised qualifications. In the UK’s Olympic year the level of interest in sport has increased significantly and the Skills Funding Agency is delighted to have been able to help turn this interest into qualifications.”
A Leeds student has his sporting career mapped out with his dream of competing at the 2016 Olympics becoming a real possibility, which he attributes to the inspirational guidance he has received from SkillsActive’s Advanced Level Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE).
Jack Bateson from Pool In Wharfedale, near Leeds has been boxing since he was 9 years old, encouraged by his Dad and Uncle who have been coaching the sport as far as he can remember. He recalls the day a letter arrived to invite him to apply for the AASE programme and never looked back, making the move from his new sixth form college to join Bradford College.
“The programme has helped me so much, I’m really sad to be leaving at the end of this year; I’ve had such a strong network of support. I have learned a huge amount about what it takes to reach the top and perform to the best of your ability, the coaching team have been fantastic.
“AASE has helped me to plan for the future and set my career plans, with short, medium and long term goals through to the 2016 Olympics.”
Created by SkillsActive and funded by the Skills Funding Agency, AASE is a sports performance programme for young talented athletes. It’s designed to directly measure an athlete’s ability to plan, apply and evaluate their development in the appropriate technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of their sport. It also addresses wider issues such as lifestyle, career development, communication and health and safety.
Jack enjoyed a unique trip to Tenerife through the AASE Boxing programme last August, training at high altitude with young boxers from all over the UK. They experienced firsthand a different training environment that opened his eyes to training in different ways, including running up mountains.
He is currently training in the England Youth squad and is looking forward to the second stage trials for the GB Senior Development squad that will be selected over the next few months. The GB squad will meet regularly in Sheffield with the ultimate goal of competing at the 2016 Olympics and beyond.
Alongside his career in boxing, Jack Bateson 17 explains that the AASE programme has helped him plan for a career as a PE teacher and he hopes to secure a place at University for the end of this year.
His advice for other young athletes considering a place on the AASE programme to boost their chances of a successful sporting career? Jack said, “I would definitely recommend the AASE programme to anyone, but it’s not an easy ride. It has helped me to juggle my boxing and education in the best possible way and realise that it is only hard work that gets you to the very top.”
Alex Nicholson, 17 from Cramlington and his Academy team mate Louis Storey, 18 from Walkerville are both in year two of the AASE programme combined with their respective NVQ and BTEC courses.
Created by SkillsActive and funded by the Skills Funding Agency, AASE is a sports performance programme for young talented athletes. It’s designed to directly measure an athlete’s ability to plan, apply and evaluate their development in the appropriate technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of their sport. It also addresses wider issues such as lifestyle, career development, communication and health and safety.
Like thousands of teenagers across the UK, they have dreamed since their childhood of playing in the Premiership but just talking to them for a few minutes it seems their hard work and 100% commitment to both their sport and education is about to pay off.
Alex joined Newcastle United at the age of 13, now in year two of his scholarship he has already played several times for Newcastle United Reserves. He describes the AASE programme as, “perfect for me, I’m getting paid to study, play and train to be the best I can be.
Alex adds; “There is so much to learn off the pitch and the course really made me think about my career goals and not just think about playing football as you never know what is around the corner.” Alex now plans to become a football coach or PE teacher in the future.
Louis has progressed from Sunday league and County football, to joining Newcastle United on a scholarship in July 2010 and has already seen big improvements to his game, thanks to the AASE course. He explains, “I have applied the conditioning training that we learned to my personal programme to boost my overall fitness and it has really helped. I feel much fitter playing now and my confidence is increasing all the time.”
A tailored education programme relevant to their sport, is very much key to the success of the AASE programme, as highlighted by Louis’ commitment to learning: “I am really motivated to reach a distinction in each of my BTEC units and I know the better my results, the more chance I have to go to University and continue my studies. The staff and tutors have taught us so many life skills and above all an appreciation that we cannot rely on football forever, they have instilled a love for learning in my approach to life. I have also enjoyed completing the Level 2 Coaching Award and can definitely see myself coaching one day.”
Jimmy Nelson, Manager of Education and Welfare at Newcastle United says, “The AASE course is a terrific deal for any young footballer, the programme of support is second to none. I would love to turn back the clock and be an apprentice now, there really is no comparison to Apprenticeships 30 years ago, education is core to their learning as a player and making them aware of their responsibilities.”
Max Coates, 18, from Scorton near Richmond is juggling his ‘A’ level studies with the second year of AASE at Loughborough College with his sights set on racing in the Ginetta G50 support class at the British Touring Car Championship this year.
Progressing to the next level demands significant sponsorship to fund the team to prepare the car effectively for each race and AASE has helped Max to achieve these sponsorship targets. He explains, “We hope to confirm later this week that we have secured the sponsorship we need to step up to the G50 Championship this year. It has been a long road with a huge family support team behind me, but we are almost there. The AASE programme has helped me understand the media and the importance of an increased profile including social media and how to secure sponsorship.”
He goes on to explain how the course has given him the tools to reach the pinnacle of his sport. “The programme has improved me as a driver, thanks to a real attention to detail in all aspects; my fitness, nutrition and preparation that I didn’t fully appreciate before and has given me a real focus.”
After two years in the Ginetta Junior Championship, Max is now targeting the British Touring Car Championship and then the World Level Touring Car Championship, inspired by Britain’s recent Formula One World Champions.
He says, “You can’t get two better role models for our sport than Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, they certainly give you added inspiration. AASE has really helped me to learn more about my sport and I really appreciate the small margins that can be the difference between winning and losing a race.
“I would love to be involved with managing a team or coaching drivers one day, next year I am planning to take a gap year to do some work experience in the mechanics of motorsport, technical skills are so important.
“Winning the Championship this year could be the launch pad to successful senior career for me. I know I have an amazing opportunity and just one chance to make it happen.”#
Created by SkillsActive and funded by the Skills Funding Agency, AASE is a sports performance programme for young talented athletes. It’s designed to directly measure an athlete’s ability to plan, apply and evaluate their development in the appropriate technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of their sport. It also addresses wider issues such as lifestyle, career development, communication and health and safety.
Lauren Brooks, 17 from Stroud has been playing netball since she was introduced to the game at Primary School in Cirencester and now has her sights set on representing her country at the highest level. Hartpury College, Gloucestershire was the perfect choice for combining her A level studies with her intense training regime as a member of the Junior Netball Academy and England Excel U17 squad member which totals 17 hours of training each week.
Hartpury College was chosen by Netball South West to pilot the AASE scheme in Netball in 2007 with established links to Lauren’s club Hucclecote Netball Club, it has proved the ideal environment for developing sports stars.
Lauren credits the AASE programme with improving her time management and planning skills to juggle her education and strict training regime.
She said: “I have learned so much on the AASE programme, it has really taught us life skills and helped me plan for the future and back up options as I can’t rely on netball as a career unfortunately. The sports and fitness industry is growing all the time and the course has given us a real insight into what career opportunities are out there.
“At the moment, my ‘A’ levels are the priority, but I hope to move on to study Sports Science at Bath University and push for a place in the England team for the U21 World Youth Championships, next year. It’s tough but really worthwhile and I would encourage anyone given the opportunity to join the AASE scheme.”
The AASE scheme, which was created by SkillsActive and funded by the Skills Funding Agency has been designed to meet the needs of young, talented netball players (aged 16-18), who have the potential to achieve excellence in netball.
The AASE programme takes two years to complete and aims to develop players through technical skills, tactical knowledge, physical conditioning and psychological techniques. Away from the practical elements, Apprentices also cover units on communication, managing an athlete’s lifestyle and career, and health and safety.
Ashleigh Munns, 17 from Basildon is not a typical college student; she juggles studying for three A levels, the AASE programme and playing top flight basketball for her club Sevenoaks Suns which means she’s up against senior GB internationals every week. She has all but given up her social life to reach her full potential and travel the 80 mile round trip to club training twice a week in Sevenoaks, but her hunger and desire shows no bounds.
Choosing to enrol on the AASE basketball programme at SEEVIC, as the only girl alongside 13 boys, has been a turning point that she believes has really increased her confidence and self belief. She now has her sights set on a place at an NCAA Div 1 or Div 2 University to further her playing career, inspired by several club team mates at Sevenoaks Suns that have chosen to study in the USA.
Looking back, she said “before I started at College, I didn’t have as much confidence generally. At first I hated not having a social life and not seeing my school friends but over the last 12 months, I have totally committed to basketball and AASE was the missing link to help my game and develop me as a stronger and more confident person.”
Her selection for the AASE basketball Leonardo trip to Germany for two weeks last summer, was she says ‘one of the most amazing experiences of my life’, not because they won four out of five games but she found a new self-belief in her ability instilled by the coaching team and team mates that became close friends.
The AASE programme involves regular strength and conditioning sessions which complement her club training sessions, and individual mentoring and performance analysis totalling ten sessions per week. The style of learning and work ethic is now instilled in her training and performance, she commented, “I didn’t used to like working hard, now I love being pushed to my limits and I know working hard brings results, it’s the only way to improve”.
Ashleigh’s goal for 2012 is to be selected for the England U18 team to compete at the European Championships in August and as the Olympic Games comes to London, she hopes women’s sport, in particular basketball, will be elevated to where it belongs, commenting; “it’s just not taken seriously enough in this country, but in my experience the AASE programme is really helping to move things in the right direction.”
Created by SkillsActive and funded by the Skills Funding Agency, AASE is a sports performance programme for young talented athletes. It’s designed to directly measure an athlete’s ability to plan, apply and evaluate their development in the appropriate technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of their sport. It also addresses wider issues such as lifestyle, career development, communication and health and safety.
3/2/12
Paul worked as a playworker before moving into a development role, supporting and encouraging others to provide opportunities to play.
Following this, he took up his role with SkillsActive, leading the Playwork team in the development of workforce strategy, occupational standards and qualifications.
While at SkillsActive he continued his involvement in the delivery of play services through an active involvement in the management of an adventure playground, never losing touch with the children and young people who benefit from play provision.
The Award is being presented at the 10th Annual Playwork Conference in Eastbourne on 6- 7 March 2012.
SkillsActive will also be at the event, offering workshops on the new level 4 and 5 playwork qualifications at the event and explaining the fascinating world of SIC and SOC codes!
To nominate someone for this special award, please visit http://www.playworkconferences.org.uk/Awards.html
Nominations close Friday 10 February 2012.
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