'Working with Children and Young People' Apprenticeship Scheme
Aim
To develop a Children and Young People Apprentice Scheme to train individuals with the understanding, skills and qualifications required in employment within the children and youth sector
Project Description
EVAD has set up a ‘Working with children and young people’ apprenticeship scheme and act as a host to 10 youth apprenticeships each year for a period of 3 years.
In partnership with Job Match and through funding from Fair Share, EVAD employs individuals who currently lack certain skills which prevent them from gaining employment but individuals who show a passion or interest in working with children and young people.
EVAD places each apprentice in an appropriate organisation where they can undertake the roles and responsibilities of a children and youth worker and gain qualifications for this type of work.
The project will host 10 youth trainees (each year) aged between 16 and 60 who have low basic skills, low self confidence, single parents, people with disabilities and people not in employment, education or training. These 10 trainees will then work with children and young people throughout the area aged between 0 and 25. The project offers work based training for each trainee and will allow the individual to gain CACHE level 2 in play work or Play Wales P3 and work towards a NVQ Level 2 in Youth Work. The work placement will allow each individual to gain the experience and skills required of a children and youth worker which will hopefully enable them to gain a full time job once the training is completed.
This project is about creating opportunities and tackling issues of those trying to get employment, in particular in the children and youth work sector. The project will make a genuine difference in the lives of the trainees by providing them with an opportunity to gain the skills, experience and qualifications needed to become a children and youth worker.
It will also make a difference to the lives of the children and young people the trainees will be engaging with as the project will provide 30 more children and youth workers, over a period of 3 years to develop projects, activities and sessions for the children and young people.
Year 1
The first year of the project was a resounding success.
The project created opportunities and tackled issues of those seeking employment in particular in the children and youth work sector. This project has created numerous opportunities in terms of the experience, knowledge and skills gained and also in terms of the support received throughout.
The trainees were given the opportunity to work with children and young people and undertake numerous practical courses and gain various qualifications to improve their knowledge and skills needed in this sector.
The seven trainees that completed the apprenticeship have all obtained employment as a result of the experience and qualifications gained on this apprenticeship. Six of the trainees gained a play qualification, and seven submitted their NVQ folders and are now waiting for the folder to be assessed by an external verifier.
Overall it is felt the WCYP Apprenticeship scheme has met all the aims and objectives in the first year. The high level of achievements and development of the trainees has provided a pool of high quality, qualified youth workers available to employers to work with children and young people. The experience, knowledge and skills gained by the trainees are unique to the WCYP apprenticeship scheme. Without undertaking the apprenticeship scheme, the trainees would not have had the opportunities to experience a variety of children and youth work settings and to have achieved skills, qualifications and knowledge gained, which as a result has led to each trainee being perceived as valuable to an employer within the children and youth sector.
The second year of the project has now been approved and 10 trainees will be in place by July 2009
