With 20th November only three weeks away, we’re busy making the final arrangements for our celebration of Apprenticeships at the House of Commons.

Apprenticeship Ambassador for Business, Gordon Birtwistle MP, will be hosting the event at which the Directors of 3aaa, Di McEvoy-Robinson and Peter Marples, will welcome Apprentices, employers and key stakeholders to celebrate the successful partnerships that we have established and also present awards to some of our most inspirational Apprentices and committed employers.

‘The magnificent surroundings of the Palace of Westminster will be a super backdrop for this celebration of Apprenticeships and will make it a very special day for those Apprentices and employers whose commitment we will be recognising’ said Di McEvoy-Robinson commenting on the event.

You’ll now find a 3aaa Academy in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Tamworth, Walsall, Birmingham, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Oxford, St Albans and Portsmouth.  If you’re an employer looking to take on an Apprentice or a young person looking to take your first steps into an exciting career in IT, Social Media or Accounting get in touch with us 01332 880 515

We’re continuing our growth across England as we work with more and more employers who are looking to benefit from recruiting Apprentices.

Having recently opened Academies in Sheffield, Leicester and Derby we’re now in 14 locations across England and have ambitious plans to open more Academies during the rest of 2013 and the start of 2014.

With so many young people now recognising that an Apprenticeship is a great route into an exciting and fulfilling career we’re really pleased that opening our new Academies means that we can make the connection between more of these young people and employers who are keen to nurture and develop young talent.

You’ll now find a 3aaa Academy in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Tamworth, Walsall, Birmingham, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Oxford, St Albans and Portsmouth. If you’re an employer looking to take on an Apprentice or a young person looking to take your first steps into an exciting career in IT, Social Media or Accounting get in touch with us 01332 880 515

Last week our newly appointed MD, Andy Palmer, was invited to attend the Annual Learning and Skills lecture which was delivered by Matthew Coffey, National Director of Learning and Skills for Ofsted.

The subject was the provision of training and education in England’s prisons and secure units so, appropriately enough, the event was held at Wormwood Scrubs prison.  Matthew spoke with passion about the action that he believes should be taken to address what are clearly poor standards of training and education that people in custody receive.

What really struck a chord for Andy was that all of the data and anecdotal evidence that shows that one of key indicators of whether someone is going to end up in custody during their life is their education and employment status from the age of 16.  Those who find themselves sustainable and long term employment and training at a young age are far less likely to start on a path that ultimately leads to custody.

Andy, who is also a Board member at Ofsted, said

‘This event reinforced for me just how important the work that we do at 3aaa is.  It is life changing – some of our Apprentices may always have known what they wanted to do and seamlessly find a job.  For others seeing our marketing material or having a conversation with one of the 3aaa team about their future may well give them inspiration or a direction that they were previously lacking – inspiration and direction that they don’t necessarily get from schools’.

You’ll now find a 3aaa Academy in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Tamworth, Walsall, Birmingham, Bedford, Milton Keynes, Oxford, St Albans and Portsmouth.  If you’re an employer looking to take on an Apprentice or a young person looking to take your first steps into an exciting career in IT, Social Media or Accounting get in touch with us 01332 880 515

Ian Brooks was speaking to IT apprentices aged 16 to 18 at the National Skills Academy for IT’s IT Gold Standard Apprentice Event in London. The event aimed to give the youngers, who already have the technical skills, a masterclass in soft skills such as public speaking and networking.

“Going forward, the kind of career I had, with 28 years in one company, is probably not going to happen.

“You have to self-train, you have to read, you have to study. You can’t expect to be spoon-fed anymore. The world is moving too fast to spoon feed the information. You earn your success in life,” said Brooks.

Brooks preferred to take an applied learning route into IT, first doing an ordinary national diploma in technology, electrical and electronics engineering at North Oxon Technical College, before doing a degree in engineering, electrical and electronics engineering at the University of Bradford.

He therefore encouraged the practical route into the IT industry being pursued by apprentices.

“I think for some people it’s very clear what they want to do very early on [and they are] sufficiently motivated by academic work [so they go to university],” said Brooks.

“But other people want to do more applied work, more hands on work. [For example] applied learning about how to work with other people, how to deal with problem solving – not just technical skills.”

Technical skills were of little use without soft skills, Brooks said.

“You need to have a good idea and you have to engage others,” he said. “Without soft skills, you have a good idea that nobody is listening to.”

There were around 80 apprentices, part of a programme run by the National Skills Academy for IT in partnership with BT and training provider NITP, at the event in London.

Each one is currently employed in paid apprenticeships with small and medium sized companies in one of three roles: IT technician, software or web developer and database analyst.

A total 425 apprentices are on the programme across the UK, employed by around 360 SMEs.