Northampton Skills Bootcamp targets new early years recruits

Realise has launched its ‘apprenticeship accelerator’ programme with the aim of recruiting 650 people across the UK to the short courses over 18 months.

Northampton has been selected as one of four main Skills Bootcamp hubs – along with Slough, Liverpool and Kent - where training will be delivered face-to-face over a three-week course.

The Bootcamp, the first of its kind to be funded by the Department for Education, will be open to anyone aged over 19 and training is delivered free of charge to the learner to anybody not currently employed in the early years sector.

Individuals who complete the Bootcamp will be guaranteed an interview for a job with a local nursery and will automatically be eligible to begin a Level 3 apprenticeship when they secure employment.

For those applying to join the Bootcamp in areas of the UK outside the four hubs, the Bootcamp will be delivered online over a period of six weeks.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the Skills Bootcamp should e-mail Karen Derbyshire, Operations Director for Early Years at Realise, at [email protected]

Karen said: “With the number of children eligible for free childcare set to grow substantially in the next 18 months, it’s more important than ever to not only attract new people to the industry but to get them qualified as quickly as possible, while ensuring they go through appropriate training.

“We have selected Northampton as one of our main locations for training delivery because we know that it’s an area with a high demand for new recruits to the sector.

“The Skills Bootcamp is a real opportunity for people who are currently unemployed, in another job but looking for a new career or people who have worked in early years previously and are now looking to return to the sector.

“For the learner, it is the chance to take the first steps to forging a new career and for nursery settings, it’s an opportunity to add another Level 2 qualified team member to their ranks once they are considered competent by the nursery manager.

“The areas we have selected to deliver face-to-face training in are all ones we know have a high demand for new recruits into early years and that will be supplemented by our online offering.”

As well as securing a guaranteed interview, those completing the Skills Bootcamp will also have access to career coaches while the process of receiving enhanced DBS checks will begin during the training.

The Skills Bootcamp can be accessed by those working in early years who have not yet secured a Level 2 apprenticeship, although the employer must contribute 10% of the costs if it’s an SME or 30 per cent for large operators.

Realise currently has 1,850 active early years apprentices across more than 1,000 employers in the UK.