Collingwood Welcomes Careers Advisers During National Apprenticeship Week

The National Apprenticeship Week, sponsored by the Government (BIS) and the National Apprenticeship Service takes a week each year to promote the value of apprenticeships to both employers who currently do not provide them and to young people entering the job market.   In support of this HMS COLLINGWOOD, Fareham which is the centre for the delivery of all the apprenticeship programmes the Royal Navy has on offer and is the home of Warfare and Weapon engineering training, held a visit to the establishment from eight careers advisers representing 15 Secondary Schools, Further Education colleges and Youth organisations in the Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport area. The visit included a presentation about the value of apprenticeships to both the Navy and its trainees which was held in the new Vocational Qualification Centre, Ramsay Building. An SFA funded, state of the art facility designed to house modern ICT classrooms, Ramsay Building also provides an education centre incorporating a Learndirect e-Learning Centre and offices for the VT Flagship (Babcock) apprenticeship staff. A tour of this facility was followed by a brief tour of apprentices undergoing training around HMS COLLINGWOOD.    A representative from the Portsmouth Armed Forces Careers Office was also present throughout the visit.

Commander Sean Winkle the Royal Navy’s Apprenticeship Programme Contract Manager said “Whilst the thrust of National Apprenticeship Week is to promote the value of providing apprenticeships to employers, I am especially interested in highlighting to young people leaving schools at 16 or 18  that the training provided by the Navy is much more than learning the skills we need as part of a fighting arm of the nation’s military forces, it also offers an array of valued trades and an opportunity to get a number of nationally recognised qualifications, many of which are provided through the apprenticeship programmes.”

During the Careers Advisers met with Engineering Technicians, who are at the beginning of their apprenticeships.  Louisa King a Careers Adviser for the Youth Support Service based at Havant and Waterlooville, chatted to Engineering Technician Christopher Hindley (age 20) from Cheshire about his career choice and how he found the training.  She said “This has been really useful and informative, it’s been helpful to meet the trainees and the see the environment they’re in.  This will help us feed in to our work when advising young people.”  Engineering Technician James Kirk (age 22) from Newcastle also spent time talking with the Careers Advisers about his experience.