Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2022 (SAW) takes place 7-11 March 2022.

Once again we are asking employers in and around the West Region (Renfrewshire, East Ren, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire) to get involved – to showcase to young people, educators, parents / carers / guardians, and other employers – that there are lots of employers offering apprenticeship opportunities now or in the near future.

In the past we have taken a large banner around employers and arranged a photo of their apprentice(s) holding the banner – due to Covid we are not doing it that way this year.

Instead, employers can show their support in a number of ways:

1. Take a photo of current apprentice(s) and post on social channel with hashtag #ScotAppWeek22 and tag DYW West
2. If able to you can overlay the photo with your logo, our logo and add in the hashtag as text and URL if apprenticeship vacancies are live now or soon will be – and post as explained in 1. above
3. Get an apprentice to hold the attached 1 pager  (include your logo and some text such as URL) and take a photo and post as in 1. above
4. Record a short video and post using hashtag #ScotAppWeek22 – video content could be a current apprentice talking about their role / how they got it / what they do or another person in the company to attract future apprentices to apply and therefore mention what you are looking for, qualifications, skills and experience – apply by date / where to go for more info etc – and post using hashtag etc

We have attached a SAW 1 pager that you can edit, download and print which you can then use to take a photo with and post on your socials to show support for Scottish Apprenticeship Week 22.

We have also included an example of what the 1 pager should look like.

Can you please let the DYW West team know by 7^th March 22  if you are able to take part and your preferred way of getting involved from 1-4 above. (email)

Thank you

DYW West

The ambition of the Young Person’s Guarantee is that within two years every young person in Scotland aged 16-24 will have the opportunity of a job, apprenticeship, further or higher education, training programme or volunteering.

This employer webinar will help you find out more about the benefits of engaging with young people, support available and how to get involved. Delivered by the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) the webinar includes:

• An overview of the Young Person’s Guarantee, the 5 asks of employers and how to sign up

• Examples from employers in Creative Industries on how they’ve got involved

• Sectoral information from SDS including apprenticeships and business support

The event will be hosted and introduced by Kathryn Willens, Head of Partnerships (Scotland) at Creative & Cultural Skills. We will also hear from Museums Galleries Scotland and BBC Scotland about how they are supporting young people into work in the Creative Industries in Scotland.

The webinar will be held on 10th Feb at 10.30am

Register here https://buff.ly/3AfSZBL

Your Year, Your Career is a social media signposting campaign to a range of sector specific virtual resources for S1s, S2s and S3s. The resources are for educators to be able to use within their classrooms or for young people and parents to learn about the world of work at home.

Resources for the following sectors have been developed:
 

Food and Drink (Tasty Careers)
Healthcare (Healthy Careers)
Energy (Energising Careers)
Construction (Build Your Future)
Creative Industries (Discover Creative)

STEM West our annual STEM event - where organisations involved in STEM help to inspire young people to choose STEM subjects at school and showcase early careers in their industry - was held from 22nd-26th November 2021.

We decided to have the event online again due to Covid and asked for employers to create and submit STEM related video content that could be shown in schools.

We wouldn't have been able to have a successful STEM West 21 without all of the amazing employers who put time and effort into creating videos for us.

We want to say a massive thank you to all of the employers who sent us a video for #STEMWest21 and to everyone who has viewed the videos so far! 

#STEMWest will be back next year!

If you've not had a chance to check out the videos then you can see them all on our YouTube channel https://buff.ly/3cMQrjT

You can also check out the list of the great employers we had take part from the attachment below.

Scotland's Biggest Parent's Event is back for another year!

This year Scotland’s Biggest Parents’ Events (SBPE) will take place over the week of 15–19 November 2021 which coincides with a new national week ‘Scottish Careers Week’ developed by Skills Development Scotland.

SBPE's National Launch Event, will take place on Monday 15th November at 7pm, along with a series of more local events and activities across the rest of the week and social media activity.

The aim is to deliver some key messages about jobs and skills of the future and how employers and wider partners are involved in guaranteeing our young people in Scotland a positive step after school. We will feature information on the Scottish Careers Service with our partners Skills Development Scotland and you will hear about how Developing the Young Workforce is bringing the curriculum to life through employer experiences in schools. All of this in a jam packed 30 minute video!
 

Click to view Launch Video

International Chefs day is celebrated every year to honour the profession and educate people about the sector. We partnered up to host an event with West College Scotland and the Scottish Chefs Federation.

The event was held over two days where 28 schools attended West College Scotland's Paisley, Clydebank and Clydebank campuses. Pupils took part in multiple activities with guest chefs and mocktail mixologists to help inspire them to think about a career in the Hospitality sector and promote heathy eating.

The events at each campus were very successful and everyone seemed to have a great day overall!

Here's to next year!

CCG have partnered with OLSP to create a 4 week construction programme that kicked off on the 21^st October. The programme will cover a variety of topics such as career talks about the site based apprenticeships and office based roles, along with work readiness and employer expectations from their HR department. Pupils will also be able to build on their employability skills by completing CV/ Cover letters and interview techniques with CCG.

Pupils have the opportunity for site visit, at a local site, to hear from the Site Manager and to meet the apprentices on site. At the end of the programme, Pupils interested in work experience on site, have the chance to apply for a 2 week work experience onsite working with plumbing, joinery and electrical trades on site.

 We had 18 pupils take part in the first 2 webinars. Pupils have really enjoyed the sessions and are looking forward to the next steps.

You may have heard of the Young Person’s Guarantee which aims to ensure that within two years every 16-24 year old in Scotland has access to a job or learning opportunity.

The impact of the pandemic on employers and young people alongside a challenging labour market means that there’s never been a more important time to consider young talent within the workforce.

Employers from all industries and of all sizes are already coming forward to support the Guarantee, however we need more.

This webinar will help employers in Tourism and Hospitality find out why it makes it easier for young people and employers to connect, and how to get involved.

Hosted by The Torridon and delivered by the Scottish Government and Skills Development Scotland the webinar includes:

• an overview of the Young Person’s Guarantee, the 5 asks of employers and how to sign up
• examples from employers on how they’ve got involved
• sectoral information from SDS including apprenticeships and business support

The event will be hosted and introduced by Rohaise Rose-Bristow, People Director at The Torridon. We will  be joined by Springboard who support unemployed people to improve their job prospects – futureproofing the hospitality and tourism talent pipeline. Finally we will hear from Julie Mackenzie, Organisational Development Partner at Gleneagles who will discuss the work they do to bring young people into the sector.

The webinar takes place Friday 22 October, 10-11am.

More details and sign up

Nominations for the Scottish Apprenticeship Awards are now open!

The pandemic has changed every aspect of people’s lives and apprenticeships are playing a key part in Scotland’s economic transformation.

It’s never been more important to recognise the success of dedicated apprentices, the commitment of their employers and innovation shown by learning providers.

This year, the awards will also showcase apprentices and employers working hard to support Scotland’s climate change ambitions and target of net zero emissions by 2045 with the introduction of two new categories: 

• Supporting Net Zero Apprentice Employer of the Year  
• Support Net Zero Apprentice of the Year 

Please consider putting forward individuals and organisations who you believe demonstrate excellence in the delivery of apprenticeships, whether they are an apprentice, employer, ambassador, instructor, or training provider.  

Award nominations close at noon on Wednesday 27 October 2021 winners will be revealed during Scottish Apprenticeship Week in March 2022.  

Visit apprenticeships.scot/awards to find out more about the new categories, use the new nominations platform and to submit nominations.  

If you have any questions, please contact Emma.Milroy@sds.co.uk 

Tuesday 10^th August 21 marked exam results day in Scotland, DYW West supported the #NoWrongPath campaign.

#NoWrongPath is a social media movement which provides inspiration and reassurance to young people receiving their exam results.

We recognise that some young people may feel disheartened by their exam results this year, particularly in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the disruption to both education and the job market.

#NoWrongPath helps to demonstrate that many people in interesting job roles across Scotland may not have taken a straight, obvious or traditional path to get there. It shows young people that there is #NoWrongPath to get to where you want to be.

The campaign shows young people the options that are available to them and that exam results are not necessarily the key to unlocking future success.