My name is Millie Chick and I’m from Faringdon Community College. I have had a really exciting week at Oxfordshire Apprenticeships.

Firstly, I arrived on Monday morning and met the team, who were really kind and helpful. Then, after setting up my desk, Mel arrived and we went to Oxford Academy. There, I met an apprenticeship ambassador, Mel, who was a vehicle engineer in the army. I watched and took photos of a talk she and others had made. I learned all about the different kinds of apprenticeships and the ways of getting placement; it was really good to hear Mel talk about her own personal experience and her apprenticeship as it gave the audience a way of applying an apprenticeship to their own lives. It was really interesting!

After this, Mel from Oxfordshire Apprenticeships and I travelled to meet apprentice and engineer Jess, who worked in the Harwell complex just outside Oxford. We met and had an interview with her; I found out that a simple apprenticeship can lead you into a wonderful career that you can thoroughly enjoy. We then saw her workshop and took some photos; it was really quite fascinating learning what she does.This ended the day, and I was really excited to come back the next day!

Tuesday arrived and first thing, I helped pack the office (Oxfordshire Apprenticeships is moving to an exciting new office) and then Mel and I went to St. Gregory the Great school, an academy of schools. Whilst there, I observed a meeting between Mel and employers who may be interested in taking on apprentices. I also learned a lot more about the new laws coming into effect in the near future regarding funding of apprentices and the public sector apprenticeship levels. It was quite insightful to hear the employer’s point of view when taking on apprentices.  

After this, we returned to the office and I learned how to use the social media sites and software that the organisation often uses. I even tweeted about the previous day’s events. Following from this, I was showed how to create an infographic and why they are such a good form of advertising. It was really fun!

On Wednesday, Sarah, one of the team at Oxfordshire Apprenticeships and I went to the ‘Educating the Educators’ conference in the Unipart site near Oxford. It was held by the ‘Business in the Community’ charity to give employers from schools and businesses an insight and the benefits of taking on an apprentice in the forthcoming years. Sarah delivered a great speech on apprenticeships and how they would suit employers. I learned a lot!

Then, after several more talks, we went on a tour of the Unipart site. Here, we were given a talk on the positive ethos and working environment in the organisation by apprentices of the company. They all seemed to be really passionate about their work due to the work ethic and guidelines set within the ‘Unipart Way.’ It was a really good experience.

On Thursday, I spent the morning in the office working independently on writing articles for the website and contributing to the social media of the day. It was good to spend some time here as it developed my independence and I could have a productive rest after some very busy days! Then, I went off to Matthew Arnold School to meet Mel, our apprenticeship ambassador. Once there, Mel and Mel delivered a talk about apprenticeships and opportunities to a select group of sixth form, whilst I listened and learned!

Friday morning came and it was really sad to say goodbye to some of the team; they are all really lovely! Whilst I was in the office, I did some more tweeting and worked on more stories to publish on the website. After this, Mel and I travelled to County Hall, due to the office move and finished writing and publishing stories. Once we had settled in for a while, we had 2 meetings; one with Jeremy in the Opportunities Team about social media campaigns around results days and one with Alison from the same department about setting up a new twitter hour, similar to #OAHour, specifically to promote apprenticeship vacancies.

That was the end of my week! I have really enjoyed doing my work experience here and it has changed my view on apprenticeships and has showed me the career paths open to me.

See my story in pictures with Storify!

Millie Chick, Year 10 at Faringdon Community College.