Exciting Adventures for Apprentice
When Oswestry apprentice, Jay Kaye (above), started her training she had no idea where it would lead her.
Jay has been working in accounts and administration at Derwen College; a specialist college for young people with learning disabilities and studying for her qualifications with SBC Training. However she has also been able to undertake some work as a carer at Derwen and it is the work with the young people which has really inspired her. Jay has now completed her qualifications including a level 2 Diploma in Business Administration, Maths, English and ICT and is now studying an A level in psychology with an aim to go to university in 2020 to ultimately become a psychologist.
To broaden her experience during her apprenticeship Jay decided to get involved with voluntary work and researched the possibilities through an organisation called 'Plan My Gap Year'. She wanted a short placement to ‘test it out’ and she found the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka where she spent a week volunteering at an elephant sanctuary which she absolutely loved.
Now that she has completed her apprenticeship, Jay is keen to do more voluntary work and is off to Ghana for a month where she will be volunteering at a hospital supporting mental health and at an orphanage.
When asked what the apprenticeship has achieved for her Jay has a very long list. She said "College wouldn’t have been right for me, I needed structure and discipline and having an obligation to an employer and to the residents at Derwen has given me that focus. I have found that I am capable of achieving qualifications but also I have gained so much confidence and realise that what I achieve is down to me."
Clair Schafer for SBC Training said "Jay is an inspiration and a wonderful example of what an apprenticeship can achieve. Many young people enter an apprenticeship with an employer where they hope their future career will be and in most instances that proves to be the case. But Jay found something much more fundamental and Derwen College and SBC Training were able to support her in finding where her true ambitions lie. We wish Jay every success in her travels and in achieving her long-term aims."
