Pictured: Darren Varney, a construction trades assessor at Coventry College
During National Apprenticeship Week (February 7-13), we find out about the rewards of working with apprentices from Darren Varney, construction trades assessor at Coventry College, and Mike Rolfe, apprentice trainer at MidKent College
Darren: In 2005 I was seconded from my job as a same-day response repairs worker for a social landlord to a training and development role, and I ended up in college. I find helping young people to gain the skills to develop into a lifelong career is a really rewarding privilege.
Mike: I was in construction from 1967 to1990. I originally trained as an engineer, moved over to quantity surveying and eventually took my exams to become a member of the Architect and Surveyors Institute. I left construction to focus on education and training, working with young offenders and community services, took on a career advice role focused on training and financial support for ex-service personnel, and then got involved in a training company. I briefly retired in 2015, it was unbelievably boring, and so I applied for and got a part-time post working with young learners at MidKent College. This quickly became full-time and I am now called an apprentice trainer (which includes both site-based assessment and occasional teaching - the technical element is taught at college).
Darren: I was an apprentice myself so I can talk first-hand about the great start it gave me. College has changed a bit since but qualifications and skills remain just as important - if not more so with the post-Brexit exodus of skilled EU workers. My message to apprentices is if you want to carve out a career in the construction industry, you can. Attitude goes a long way and practice brings the skills to life. It’s a lucrative and growing sector, particularly with changes in planning for house building; it has opened up a great many opportunities and I think seeing apprentices develop into those roles has to be the best part of what colleges do.
Mike: I’m frustrated and yet motivated by the fact that young people now believe they can become quantity surveyors or engineers via mobile phone apps and the latest IT programs - they have the equipment to do the job and they think it’s an easy option. But they still need to understand the basics behind the technology - often, their lack of understanding means they can’t see if the system they are using is actually making mistakes because they are unable to determine (check manually) if its calculation is correct. A deep desire to pass that knowledge on to young people is what keeps me going.
Darren: Apprentices are work-ready, they get given a great opportunity to blossom, employers fully support the college’s work, and so apprenticeships have proved successful overall. As a teacher, a key building block of my job is industrial experience allied with keeping close to industry. If you are, say, a bricklayer, you also get the chance through teaching to prove you can still do it, so it’s the best of both worlds. Of course, your skills are still there, it’s like riding a bike. In a training role you get to do demonstrations and show off a bit; if you can make wallpapering look easy, or tile a wall and explain the process simultaneously, you will probably succeed.
Mike: When you get success it’s usually a resounding one - for instance, one female student on my level 4 quantity surveying course did level 3s in business administration and then construction and the built environment, and is now doing level 4 (one of the new standards) in construction, quantity surveying and technician. She’s been with us 4.5 yrs and if she stays on for a degree it will be seven years before she finishes.
Darren: The role is varied and I’m always speaking to parents and employers. You need empathy, understanding and taking things at face value. I work with people and life is filled with the challenges they face; it’s simply not about marking a register and hoping everything goes your way. I find it fascinating to explore how the mind works, and how we learn concepts and remember things long-term.
Mike: As we move towards T-levels, students need around 350 hours of work experience as part of the qualifications. This has meant spending a lot of time asking employers to take young people for a couple of days besides discussing designing and filling potential apprenticeship courses. I work primarily in the apprenticeship unit but am being asked to wear my quantity surveyor hat to support T-level students in areas such as measured quantities, construction, tendering and commercial law. Life has become even more varied as MidKent has just won a grant to develop a decarbonisation in construction project. We’re hoping to build a course around that.
There are 32 staff in our apprenticeship dept across a variety of disciplines (carpentry, brick-laying, motor vehicles etc) that each have a training officer, someone on technical elements and sometimes assessors as well. As a training officer I regularly review our apprentices’ performance in the curriculum and work-based learning elements. My caseload is 47 students split into three groups at different stages of level 4 who I see on separate days each week. I also make 90-minute on-site visits to each apprentice once every 10-12 weeks, regularly meet with employers and go through students’ e-portfolios
Darren: After 15 years’ working in training and development it would be difficult to return, although spending 20 years in construction was far from wasted, given all the skills and experience I accrued and pass on today.
Darren: It’s the support from employers who invariably help apprentices fit into their business and work closely with us. It’s young people’s strength, ambition, bravery and dedication to what they are doing - the very same young people who often get unfairly criticised for ‘hanging round street corners’ or ‘dropping litter’.
Mike: It surprises me how little employers know about training opportunities available to them beyond key qualifications such as NVQs and HNCs. Nowadays apprenticeships are the economically sensible route to take, with co-financing helping to open up the apprenticeship system to all sectors.
Darren: Many tutors will stay in that role and build on what they have. Or perhaps they’ll arrive with an amazing CV and wide industry experience. There will always be many more things to develop and often the opportunity to move up to team leader, which includes teaching and covering for other staff.
Mike: I’ve always only taken qualifications to prove to myself I can get them, not for more money or for my employer. It’s controversial to say this but work-based learning qualifications that people gain at levels 3 and 4 are fine as are degree apprenticeships; but if you try recruiting someone with a BTec level 3, an HNC or a degree without that practical experience, does it always have sustainable value?
Darren: If you have the practical experience and skills to pass on to the next generation, it’s a very rewarding thing to do. It may be quite different to what you’ve done before yet also strangely familiar. Teaching can give you a chance to help so many people.
Mike: For me it’s more about work/life balance - during lockdown many people have started to realise money isn’t everything. They want to spend more time with their families and not be at work all the time. Summer working hours in construction are particularly harsh with people regularly working from 7am to 8pm, whereas a typical teaching day in FE is 8.30-4.30pm. My neighbour used to commute to London every day, I rarely saw him, but now he’s cut back commuting and is usually in his garden by 5.30pm every day.
Darren: Patience is a must plus the resolve to let things go, particularly when lessons don’t go to plan – and that’s absolutely fine. If you’re self-critical, it will only mean your lessons should get better. Also, are you creative and able to put people at ease? You’ll students are a pretty forgiving audience.
Mike: When your job gets easy, it’s time to change. And remember: if you enjoy what you do and pass that on to others, then you’ll be able to do the job. However, some people are too abrasive to teach, lacking the depth of understanding needed - young people can be a little complex at times!
Darren: Apprentices need reassurance, resistance and confidence to grow. They should not fear making errors - we all improve by learning from our mistakes; no trade is easy to learn (eg plastering takes loads of practice, but it’s doable). They also need commitment and strength, especially when things go wrong, to help them see things through until eventually they hopefully all fall into place. We must not forget that apprentices are all different and need more than just information to succeed.
Mike: They need to know I know what I’m talking about. Teachers have to understand the limits of their capability, so if you don’t know something, tell your students you will find out - or else they will find you out!
Mike: It’s the excitement of not knowing what each day will bring; there’s so much variety.
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