With the expansion of funded early learning and childcare becoming an entitlement for all three and four-year-olds in 2020, Aberdeenshire Council is taking a major step forward this year in its effort to nurture homegrown talent to support the early years workforce.
This week, as part of its development of Foundation Apprenticeships, 130 senior secondary pupils from across Aberdeenshire are enjoying an induction programme for a brand new Children and Young People Foundation Apprenticeship. The course will see them working in early years settings for half a day per week throughout their next two school years as well as studying a variety of related subjects during school time and attaining a qualification equivalent to a Higher at the end of it.
Local early years provider Great Western Nurseries is working in partnership with the council to help the local authority’s early years team to develop training materials and train them as assessors for the course. Support will also be provided by Education Scotland and Robert Gordon University.
Cllr Gillian Owen, chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s education and children’s services Committee explained: “This innovative approach to equipping school pupils with a range of important skills at the same time as encouraging more local people to consider a career in early years will also help to build the capacity within our early years team.
“It’s another important development in our journey alongside Skills Development Scotland to offer a much greater number of Foundation Apprenticeships. We are very pleased to see these young people’s journey into vocational training beginning and I’d like to wish every one of them the best of luck at this exciting time.”
As part of their induction the young people taking part will benefit from a range of workshops covering everything from child protection to metaskills they will be able to use to help them develop their work experience portfolios.
Vice Chair Cllr Mark Findlater added: “Foundation Apprenticeships support a range of career pathways including Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships, work, college or university. They are recognised qualifications by both universities and employers.”
Julie Strachan, head of learning teaching development at RGU said: “RGU is delighted to work with Aberdeenshire Council to support Foundation Apprenticeships for senior-phase school pupils in the North-east. As one of Scotland’s largest providers of Graduate Apprenticeships, RGU believes strongly in the value of Scotland’s apprenticeship family – Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships – and the benefits these offer to learners and employers alike. By sharing our expertise in work-based learning, we will help to ensure that the apprentices feel well-equipped to succeed in the work environment both now and in their future careers.”
