LGA Apprentice of the Year Awards 2021
Every year the Local Government Association (LGA) host the Local Government Apprentice of the year awards. Fortunately, even under the circumstances we are currently living through, this year's event still managed to ahead - all be it slightly different to the traditional format. The new virtual format was still a great opportunity for apprentices from all across the country to come together.
The
national one-day event provided the opportunity for apprentices to learn,
network and showcase their skills, expertise and initiative. Within their
virtual teams they worked together with other apprentices to take on a variety of activities aimed to develop successful
workplace behaviours, linked to a range of apprenticeship Standards. Whilst in
their teams as a fictitious Council, they were also being watched
on by the Development Leads who were scoring the apprentices on their
showcasing of skills and expertise.
On
the day, we had 8 apprentices from the Council attend the event and they were
joined by another 122 individuals from councils across the country. The event
was excellently Chaired by Bryony Houlden, South West Councils and Michelle
Kirk, East of England LGA. The apprentices also had the pleasure of listening
to Gillian Keegan MP, the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills at the
Department of Education. It was great for the apprentices to hear her speak
about her journey from starting out as apprentice to her role as a Member of
Parliament.
Megan
Kilbey, Business Administration Apprentice, gave her reflection of the day:
"I
really enjoyed the session and it was a great opportunity to network with
apprentices from all around the UK. I enjoyed the team working activities which
we produced throughout the day, as they really gave us the opportunity to
broadcast our skills to the others in our team, but to also build a stronger
bond with our teams. My confidence grew throughout the day and it really
benefited me to get feedback from my team about how they thought I worked in
the activities, and I was also able to provide feedback for them.
I
for one know I have made some new friends from this event and we have been able
to make contact with each other on LinkedIn, which means we can keep in contact
post the event and in the future. Overall, I really enjoyed the LGA Apprentice
of the Year 2021 and I hope I get the opportunity to go again in the
future."
Devon
County Council also had a representative as a Development Lead. Marion Geare,
Senior Workforce Development Adviser, gave her account of the day:
"I
recently volunteered to be a Development Lead at the LGA apprentice of the year
event. I didn’t know quite what to expect but was keen to support
apprentices to develop through this event and was attracted to both the
mentoring and facilitation aspects of the roles. We were briefed on our
role before the event and I was struck by the variety of skills which were
going to be required to meet the challenges and also the value that
participating in this event was going to have on the participants.
I
really enjoyed hearing the strengths that apprentices brought to the event
alongside the variety of apprenticeship programmes that were being undertaken.
I observed 4 different groups and was impressed by the organisational and
leadership skills which individuals brought to the groups, the way they quickly
gelled as a team and included and engaged with quieter team members to ensure
everyone was involved.
I
saw some real potential for the future, and it made me proud to be part of an
organisation which places such value on apprenticeships as a development
pathway."
The
day came to a close with the totalling of Development Lead scores on all the
Apprentices performance, this then led to the announcement of all the
individual and team awards. After the event each Apprentice had
their individual scores sent to their Manager, along with a breakdown of the
day. This can be used as a great resource for creating a future personal
development plan; bringing the skills learnt back to the workplace.
All
in all, it was great success for the first ever virtual version of the event,
and we look forward to seeing what next year brings us!
Hayden Boatman
Apprenticeships Administrator
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