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Permalink Reply by 1er1bu90dgqrm on January 31, 2012 at 10:29

doesnt an apprentice have to be taken on full time not part time? wages are minimal that you have to pay any way so the extra days theyre working with you will be a better benefit for an employer as they will learn the ropes quicker just one day a week on the tools i would have thought to be a negative rather than any positive idea

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Graeme @ BGS on January 31, 2012 at 11:52

With youth unemployment hitting the 1 million mark in the UK and even higher elsewhere in parts of Europe we all seriously need to consider the possibility of taking on a young trainee and hopefully the goverment will wake up and seriously address this issue and give small businesses more help and assistance.

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Permalink Reply by 1er1bu90dgqrm on January 31, 2012 at 13:23

there is some funded schemes starting in april, i think its about 1200 quid taking on an apprentice as an incentive to the employer

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on January 31, 2012 at 20:36

Hi Colin, Im not sure if a part-time apprenticeship would be do-able, thats why I asked the members for their opinions on this, but also as I said to James at Select Gardens, I would be looking to secure placement days with other landscapers, 2 main reasons for this approach.

1: I do only commercial grounds maintenance, so would like to place the trainee with other scapers who do other types of landscaping so they get a good broad scope of work experience and be able to decide at the end of the year college course which field of scapeing they want to enter.

2: I dont have the vehicle capacity every day as some days I have to use my van (3 seats) and some days I have to use my pickup (crew-cab, 5 seats).

 I am going to spend time researching this and speak to other local scapers and the job centre / careers advice people in my local town and see what I can get fixed up and try to pull together a POA for the    start of summer. I would want them working in this industry before they went to college in September to make sure (well as sure I can be anyway) that they are genuinely wanting to do this line of work.

colin stevens said:

doesnt an apprentice have to be taken on full time not part time? wages are minimal that you have to pay any way so the extra days theyre working with you will be a better benefit for an employer as they will learn the ropes quicker just one day a week on the tools i would have thought to be a negative rather than any positive idea

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Permalink Reply by 1er1bu90dgqrm on January 31, 2012 at 21:40

sounds like your best bet would be to go through a training agency, they would find the other couple of days work, plus they do all the paper work etc for a small fee of course

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on January 31, 2012 at 22:32

Thats a good idea, will have a look at that also, thanks

colin stevens said:

sounds like your best bet would be to go through a training agency, they would find the other couple of days work, plus they do all the paper work etc for a small fee of course

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Permalink Reply by Andy Lawrence on January 31, 2012 at 22:32

Hi Brian,

Interested to hear how you get on with this. I am also looking to take on a part-timer this spring and would consider taking on an apprentice.

My problem would be providing sufficient work in the winter months, and as you mention, as I only provide garden maintenance not sure this would provide sufficient scope for a trainee.

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Brian www.mibservices.co.uk on January 31, 2012 at 22:45

Hi Andy, once Ive got the POA in place and all the details available I will post up the options open to me / us

Andy Lawrence said:

Hi Brian,

Interested to hear how you get on with this. I am also looking to take on a part-timer this spring and would consider taking on an apprentice.

My problem would be providing sufficient work in the winter months, and as you mention, as I only provide garden maintenance not sure this would provide sufficient scope for a trainee.

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Permalink Reply by 1er1bu90dgqrm on January 31, 2012 at 22:52

its not all about the scope of what you can offer but more teaching basic ethics and standards. when i did 2yrs amenity horticulture it was 80% tree work on my work placement, by the time i was old enough to legally do my chainsaw certs and ndh in arb i could fell better than the lecturer on the course. i passed my nvq/c&g with distinction even though i took hard and soft landscape option.

the onus is on the student to use common sense as is a lot of h+s involved probably 20% of the 2 years is h+s and the rest is about using technique and giving a basic understanding of the hows wheres and whys. the biggest problem with a lot of untrained tradesmen as can be seen with a few on here even is that they spend years trying to guess whats right rather than find out to start with, thats what makes an apprentice something special. they get chance to do things in a practice environment along with as to why things are done as well as the on the job experience to learn about making a job worth while and dealing with clients and all the peripherals that go with horticulture.

there are a few people that could have done with this to start with as has been in some past posts and some members attitudes to clients, at the end of the day as a gardene/ horticulturalist / arborist /designer etc you have to be able to adjust your work and ideas a little to suit the client to make a success of it if not you just become a handy man
Andy Lawrence said:

Hi Brian,

Interested to hear how you get on with this. I am also looking to take on a part-timer this spring and would consider taking on an apprentice.

My problem would be providing sufficient work in the winter months, and as you mention, as I only provide garden maintenance not sure this would provide sufficient scope for a trainee.

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Permalink Reply by 1er1bu90dgqrm on January 31, 2012 at 22:55

there is nothing to fear from taking on an apprentice apart from being taught something new

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Kieran Ray on February 1, 2012 at 23:42

We are taking on an aprentice come September, the lad we are taking on already does days in the school holidays with us and Saturdays every week.

We have already started the ball rolling so just to help out with the part time/full time debate, an apprentice has to do a minimum on 30 hours a week, but this can include the time they are at college.

As we undertake most aspects of landscaping and maintenance, for both commercial and domestic clients, hopefully he will have a good grasp of the industry.

When I asked him what he planned on doing after finishing his apprentership, his response was, stay with you guys, I like working for you, Its fun. But even if he dosent hopefully he will be a well trained horticulturalist to help improve the industry.  

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PRO MemberPermalink Reply by Phil Voice on February 2, 2012 at 8:50

A bit on apprenticeships from a LANTRA a year ago:

Lantra’s research has highlighted a range of problems with publicly funded Apprenticeship Frameworks. The sector needs 110,000 new entrants by 2017, and so must draw from an adult employee pool. However, Lantra’s report, Apprenticeships in the UK Land-based and Environmental Sector: Increasing Take-up and Opportunity, reveals an ‘unacceptably low’ take up of apprenticeships by employers, particularly in businesses employing 10 people or less.

Michael Smith, Lantra’s Director of Policy, Research and Development said: “The Government says more than 200,000 adults will be able to start apprenticeships each year by 2015, and has earmarked £250m.  But if it wants to hit its targets, and attract adults, it will have to make apprenticeships more flexible.”

Apprenticeships are struggling in a number of areas. For instance, colleges need more specialist resources, and training providers find land-based workers are widely spread, or working seasonally, making apprenticeships hard to deliver.

Other areas of concern include funding and its effect on recruitment. Full funding is only available for 16 to 19-year-old apprentices; much less funding is available for adults. However, many industries perceive health and safety requirements – such as under 18s from using heavy equipment - as a potential barrier to restricting employers’ and apprentices’ choices.
 

Michael added: “Apprenticeship Frameworks need to change, and our discussions with the Government show it is willing to listen to industry – which is good news. 

“Nearly a quarter of businesses provided on-the-job training which should be described as Apprenticeships. In fact, there are some excellent apprenticeship-style programmes which we think should be brought into Government Apprenticeship Framework.”

http://www.lantra.co.uk/News-Media/News/Inflexible-apprenticeships-...

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