Join our Local Business Apprenticeships Network
Do you run a business on the Isles of Scilly? Is offering an apprenticeship something you have done previously, or something you would consider doing in the future? If so, we’d like to invite you to the next meeting of our Local Business Apprenticeship Network.
These meetings are a chance for local employers to come together to informally share their experiences, ambitions and ideas relating to apprenticeships. The aim is to gain a better collective understanding of how to make apprenticeships work across the islands and increase the number of development opportunities available to people living on Scilly.
For employers, apprenticeships provide a cost-effective way to build skills, improve retention, and future-proof their workforce. It doesn’t matter whether you have any previous experience of offering or undertaking an apprenticeship, or whether you represent an organisation with many employees, or none at all – anybody who is in a position to consider offering an apprenticeship in the future is welcome to come and join the discussion.
How to join the meeting
The next meeting of the Local Business Apprenticeships Network will take place on Thursday 11 December, between 2pm and 3pm in the Klondike room at the Carn Gwaval Wellbeing Centre.
If you can’t make it in person, you can join us via MS Teams. Simply email learnscilly@scilly.gov.uk at least 24 hours before the meeting to get the joining details, or call 01720 424444.
Don’t miss this opportunity to help ensure that skills needed on the islands are preserved and passed on in a way that benefits everyone!
Apprenticeships at the Council of the Isles of Scilly
In addition to launching our Local Business Apprenticeships Network for employers, we’ve been focusing on developing our own Council apprenticeships offer, which you may have seen being promoted at recruitment events and careers conventions throughout the year. In October, we returned to Five Islands Academy to speak to students about apprenticeships at the Council.
The work to develop this offer and expand our apprenticeships network has been prioritised by our Learn Scilly team in order to deliver our Corporate Plan 2022-2026 objective to “Support island-based businesses to offer apprenticeships and training programmes on the islands and lead by example in doing the same for our own workforce.” By making use of Government’s apprenticeship levy, we now have apprentices working in a variety of roles across the Council, including team leadership, town planning, environment and sustainability, learning and development and marketing, and are in a good position to signpost other employers to sources of support.
We recently signed up our 5th Council apprentice, this time via an internal development route. The apprenticeships we are able to promote to external candidates are always advertised on our jobs webpage. However, at times when none are listed, we encourage anyone interested in undertaking a local apprenticeship to email learnscilly@scilly.gov.uk or call 01720 424444 to discuss future opportunities and share your ideas with our Learn Scilly team.
The levels of apprenticeships offered at the Council currently range from Level 3 to Level 7 (degree level). These apprenticeships enable members of our community to earn while learning and gaining qualifications tailored to particular roles, which also aids the development of our workforce by supporting organisational growth and service delivery across the organisation.
Cllr Robert Francis, Chairman of Council said: “The Council is dedicated to promoting lifelong learning and career progression for both new and existing staff, and we’re eager to improve succession planning and resilience across the organisation. We’re also prioritising activity which increases the range of options available to anyone leaving the islands’ school at 16 and want to ensure that anyone who wishes to stay on the islands to complete on the job training via an apprenticeship can access the required levels of support to do so. If you think you can help in this effort to collaborate with other organisations and increase the islands’ skills base for the benefit of everyone living and working here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Learn Scilly team.”