A national developer has strengthened its collaboration with a Warwickshire college after the success of an apprenticeship training scheme.
Taylor Wimpey has been working with Moreton Morrell College, which is part of college group WCG, to develop its apprentice bricklayers – with the first cohort of apprentices passing their end point assessments with flying colours.
The training scheme saw all eight apprentices qualify, within 18 months rather than the usual two year programme with many gaining Distinctions, and now a further 13 have been enrolled onto the Level 2 Bricklaying qualification.
As part of the collaboration, Taylor Wimpey created a training facility at Moreton Morrell College to enable bricklayers to practice their building skills.
The success of the programme has led to an expansion of the existing facility to support the training of further apprentices, with plans to create a full-scale house on the college site to support the apprenticeship programme.
It sees practical training combined with theory to help apprentices gain a greater understanding of the jobs a qualified bricklayer is expected to carry out on a Taylor Wimpey site.
Michelle Reid, Divisional Apprenticeship Manager at Taylor Wimpey, said: “Taylor Wimpey and WCG have worked together extremely well over the last 18 months to two years.
“The training plan Taylor Wimpey has put in place for the bricklayer apprentices has worked well and the apprentices all enjoyed the experience and have all gone on to be qualified - some with Distinctions - within the 18 months we had planned.
“The partnership between the two is working extremely well and I look forward to more apprentices coming through the Taylor Wimpey training centre to allow us to fill the skills gap the construction industry is experiencing in the future.
“Taylor Wimpey and WCG are now working on improving the training area to make the experience for the apprentices going forward even better.”
Robert Sone, 22 from Bidford-on-Avon, was among the first apprentices to complete the course at Moreton Morrell College. He achieved a Distinction in his end point assessment and in the process of a transitional year with Taylor Wimpey before starting work as a direct bricklayer.
He said: “The course was good and everyone was really helpful and motivational. The facility at the college made you feel like you were working on site, it allowed you to get used to the surroundings and be well prepared for getting out on site.
“I’m really enjoying it so far at Taylor Wimpey and looking forward to working as a direct bricklayer.”
John Billings, Head of Work-Based Learning for Construction at Moreton Morrell College, said: “We were incredibly impressed with the first cohort of apprentices we trained from Taylor Wimpey and the future of the bricklaying profession is in safe hands.
“Our second group have now begun their training with us and the early signs are that they will be delivered to a similarly high standard.
“We’re proud to be working in partnership with Taylor Wimpey to help develop the next generation of skilled people to deliver their developments.”
To find out more about brickwork courses at WCG visit www.wcg.ac.uk/study
PICTURE CAPTION: Taylor Wimpey apprentices with Petra Gordon (far left) and Darren Varney (far right) from WCG.