A rapid transformation to a ‘Digital Community’ at the start of lockdown, has allowed Forth Valley College’s Business Development Department to exceed Modern Apprenticeship (MA) expectations for 2020/21.
The College’s focussed and professional response to the Coronavirus epidemic was underpinned by the sector leading Microsoft Teams specialists organised through FVC's Learning and Quality Team, several of whom were existing Engineering College lecturers, and all working together with IT support, were able to set up training workshops quickly after the 17 March shutdown.
This rapid deployment of resources and training enabled the Curriculum teams to quickly adapt their learning and teaching strategies maintaining the progress of all Modern apprentices.
It also allowed the college to draw down almost double the amount of funding from Skills Development Scotland (SDS)/Scottish Funding Council (SFC), than was thought possible at the start of the pandemic.
Some notable milestones include:
- 370 apprentice progress reviews taking place between April and June 2020 mostly through Microsoft Teams or Skype
- The continuation of online aptitude tests for Engineering applicants – with more than 180 completed already
- The beginning of online aptitude tests for Construction Pre-Apprenticeship courses – with more than 100 taking place
- Business Development were also able to complete 46 online interviews for the Engineering Pre-Apprenticeship course online last week with great success. Again Microsoft Teams was very successful, with 42 successfully logging on the call for interview
- More than 250 SDS MA reviews with employers and their current MA candidates have taken place through Teams/Skype, allowing the College to draw down nearly £200,000 of funding from April to July.
William Forrest, Engineering and Science Operations Manager said: “This effort proved vital in helping to engage apprentices and their employers during the apprenticeship programme for this year, making sure Engineering MAs especially, maintained their progress throughout the period of lockdown ensuring these employees were and are ready to fulfil their essential roles within Scottish Industry as we exit from this current crisis.”
“This demonstrates the extremely close partnership working between Business Development and the Engineering and Science curriculum team, continuing to develop and deliver training which is valued and meaningful to all parties involved.”
Caroline Hogg, FVC’s Client Manager in the Department of Business Development, said: “I couldn’t be prouder of my team, they have all been brilliant. Feedback from this online process has been really positive from MAs and their employers and the online interviews for the Engineering and Construction Pre-Apprenticeship courses have been a great success.
“Despite the fact that the process of collecting electronic signatures and feedback has taken a lot longer, the perseverance has paid off with the Business Development team drawing down funds, exceeding what had been predicted by this point in the crisis.
“We are now preparing ahead for the new intake in August. Through the online ‘Digital Community’ that has now become second nature with our staff, all the Engineering and Construction inductions will take place through Microsoft Teams and any SDS paperwork that students need to fill out has been set up as an assignment, which shows an audit trail for compliance. This means they will do their application forms online as part of the new process and then meet their Business Partner to talk them through the induction paperwork.
“All this shows just how creative, innovative and adaptable our staff can be, especially when facing dark and difficult times. However, we have now put the necessary plans and procedures in place to help new Modern Apprentices and their employers start the new academic year when the College reopens in August, in line with Scottish Government Guidance.”
The award winning FVC Business Development Team led by Caroline consists of 13 staff and each and every one of them has risen to the challenge posed by the lockdown and working remotely from home.
One member of the team – Business Development Partner Lorraine Kerr - was praised recently by one of the College’s employer partners.
Dougie Gair, Learning Architect, Machine & Weld, Well Control, at TechnipFMC, said: “We have received excellent support from Lorraine Kerr, our Forth Valley College Business Partner, during the Covid 19 crisis. As you may know I was off ill, not Covid related, for eight weeks from before the crisis started until the beginning of May.
“During this time Lorraine worked tirelessly and reached out to my colleagues John Brady and Kirsty Morgan at TechnipFMC to guide and support all our apprentices, especially the first years, who suddenly had to adapt to home learning when the college closed. This worked brilliantly well, with most of the apprentices adapting well to home study with the support and guidance provided.
“When I did return on 1 May, Lorraine went above and beyond by quickly getting me up to speed and then by trialling, proving and adopting virtual SDS quarterly reviews. This worked excellently allowing Lorraine, myself, John and Kirsty to carry out 45 reviews over a five-and-a-half-week period. If you had said four months ago we could carry out the reviews remotely, I think most of us would have said that will be impossible, but with Lorraine’s ingenuity and diligence, we have proved it is possible.
“If Forth Valley College has an internal awards or rewards system, I would like to nominate Lorraine Kerr for all the help, support and time she has given TechnipFMC and their apprentices over the last four months. It is people like Lorraine who make colleges like Forth Valley stand out to employers like ourselves.”