As part of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week, we are taking the opportunity to celebrate our apprentices both past and present.

National Apprenticeship Week is a national celebration that brings together businesses and apprentices to focus on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

We have many apprentices across our Trust, in both teaching and support roles.  We spoke to three of our apprentices, Harry, Teri and James about their time as an apprentice with Omega Multi-Academy Trust and what this meant to them.

Harry Capper

Harry first started at Park Road Community Primary School in 2017 after taking a qualification in PE and School Sport. From this, he began his Level 3 Teaching Assistant apprenticeship. After completing his apprenticeship, Harry joined Chapelford Village Primary School on a part-time basis, splitting his time between both Chapelford and Park Road schools. Harry is now a full-time, High-Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) at Chapelford and continues to grow with new challenges and responsibilities. 

Harry added “The apprenticeship scheme helped me massively, gaining valuable experience in the primary setting. Allowing me to grow and gain qualifications whilst getting the hands-on working experience too. I always think back to the start of my apprenticeship, and I am very happy I took the path I did, it gave me the stepping stones to start what I hope will be a lasting career in primary education. I knew that from my PE and Sports background I wanted to further my role. I now take charge of multiple sports teams across the whole school, entering in competitions across Warrington and Cheshire. I love my job!”

Teri Rigby

Teri Rigby started with the Omega Multi-Academy Trust in August 2022 as an Apprentice Business Administrator. Having recently passed her apprenticeship in January 2023, Teri has now secured a full-time role as a Trust Administrator. Teri will continue with further training and is now enrolled with the Institute of Executive Assistants and Administrators to become a PA. 

Teri said: “By doing an apprenticeship, I experienced all the different situations that were taught on my course.  The opportunities given to me helped me relate my role to my learning. I was able to learn and ask questions about different services that we, as a trust, offer. Without doing an apprenticeship I wouldn’t have the experience or knowledge to be able to do my current role or progress on my further training plan.”

James Bibby

In September we welcomed PE Apprentice James Bibby to Park Road Community Primary School.  As part of his role, James helps to keep the children active through a series of fun activities which are set up at break time and lunch time. This may include different types of races and obstacle courses as and organising outdoor activities. James works alongside all teachers to assist in their PE lessons, for every year group, from Early Years through to Year 6.

James said: “My goal is to help children develop a love for sport and PE and to help find new interests and hobbies in things that they may never have been interested in. I also hope to be able to build positive relationships with every child in the school so that everybody can feel included in all activities and look forward to each PE lesson. I am looking forward to the rest of this school year and getting to work with all the children and get to know everyone involved at the school to build professional relationships and see how everyone develops by working as a team to the best of our abilities."

In celebrating our apprentices during National Apprenticeship Week, we recognise the invaluable contributions they make to our Trust and our school communities. The stories of Harry, James, and Teri exemplify the power of apprenticeships, providing not only practical skills and qualifications but also a platform for personal and professional growth.  We will continue to invest in the development of our apprentices, and nurture talent within our trust as we foster a culture of learning, innovation and opportunity, ensuring a brighter future for both our apprentices and our trust as a whole.