What do you think of when you hear the word ‘apprenticeship’? Do certain careers come to mind? Or a certain type of person? How do you view apprenticeships in general? With this week being National Apprenticeship week we started off our Go_Girl sessions with group discussions exploring these questions, in the hope of challenging some of the misconceptions about this type of education. We also watched this video on the ‘Amazing Apprenticeships’ website:

Many of the Go_Girl group had heard of apprenticeships, but were surprised to see the variety of opportunities available. We also talked about traineeships, which some of the group had not heard of. Traineeships provide high quality work experience alongside support in gaining English and Maths skills. They often progress onto apprenticeships, and can be a great way to get a ‘foot in the door’. Together, we explored the Workfinder web app from Founders4Schools, which offers young people the opportunity to search for jobs, traineeships and apprenticeships near where they live. Next, we all had a go at signing up to the Government’s apprenticeship finding website, which helps you to look for opportunities in your area. There was a lot on offer in the Oxfordshire area, from hospitality and hairdressing to animal rescue.

The government wants to see 3 million young people training as apprentices by 2020 – perhaps some of the Go_Girl team will be part of this movement!

After a break and some cake to celebrate two birthdays in the group, we carried on working on our projects. The Go_Girls are putting in so much hard work to make their projects a reality, even working on them in their spare time where possible. Not everyone has Internet access at home, so some of the young women have been coming into the Education department on extra days to put in the hours on their initiatives. One of the Go_Girls is busy modelling her game character on Unity at the moment – impressive stuff!