National Apprenticeship Week (NAW 2018)

Education 5th March 2018 Return to News

5 to 9 March is National Apprentice Week with events being held across the country, including the National Apprentice Show which is running this week in Sandown Park.

On the show’s website, there is a comment from Teresa May who states “There has never been a better time to employ an apprentice” and that she “would encourage all businesses to consider how employing an apprentice can help them grow”.

Whilst there are obvious benefits on both sides, there is also a duty to safeguard and protect young people when they are placed in industry.

Apprentices can be as young as 16 and so their protection and safeguarding is still vital, in the workplace and in college.

Safeguarding and Apprentices

In a recent Ofsted report, a council was branded ‘inadequate’ after Ofsted warned of a radicalisation risk. One of the most serious concerns turned up by the inspection was that of safeguarding.

When working with external agencies or subcontractors to recruit and train apprentices, it is important to understand who has the responsibility for safeguarding. In the case mentioned above, managers too often placed the responsibility for developing a culture of safeguarding with subcontractors “without fully recognising their own role in ensuring effective safeguarding policies and procedures”.

Ofsted and Apprenticeships

In a speech given at the FE Week Annual Apprenticeship Conference, Paul Joyce, Ofsted's Deputy Director, spoke of the government’s target to create 3 million apprenticeships.

He went on to say how Ofsted “want these apprenticeships to be of high quality” and that “Inspectors will continue to expect apprenticeship providers to comply with defined requirements and regulations”.

He concluded by saying that Ofsted intend to support providers in raising the quality of apprenticeship provision “for the good of employers, the economy and most importantly of all, for the apprentices”.

Safeguarding training

As experts in Safeguarding and Duty of Care, EduCare work with the Apprenticeship Managers at Pertemps, Kwik Fit and PGL Travel to provide safeguarding and child protection training.

Our courses help apprenticeship providers equip all staff with the knowledge to understand and spot potential safeguarding issues.

FREE training course

To mark National Apprentice Week we are offering a free copy of our Prevent Duty training course.

This course is designed to build your understanding of extremism and radicalisation, how people may be drawn into terrorism and what you should do if you have a concern.

Claim your free course