Learning is not just in the classroom for Foundation Apprenticeship Business students!
Foundation apprenticeships are an exciting opportunity being developed by Skills Development Scotland to support greater industry engagement with education. Schools, colleges and employers are now working in partnership to offer senior phase student opportunities to attain industry-recognised qualifications along with academic studies.
We caught up with Perth College UHI Business Lecturer, Caroline McCall, to find out how her FA Business Skills students got on when learning outside of the classroom!
“This academic session has been a successful year for our Foundation Apprenticeship Business Skills students. As well as studying their level 6 units in the first year of the programme, they have taken part in a number of activities out with the classroom to enhance their learning and encourage team building.
“The team building aspect was a key focus early on in the course, when the students visited Perth College UHI's climbing wall with their Personal Academic Tutor Vicky Gray and Business lecturer Caroline McCall.
“I enjoyed going on trips and gaining insight into the challenges companies face and how they started up”
Jodie Ferguson, Perth Academy
“The students also visited The Highland Chocolatier to get an insight into the running of a business. As well as touring the factory and Chocolate Exhibition, the visit ended with a tasting 'flight' of the Velvet Truffles in the Chocolate Lounge.
“The best thing about doing the FA was meeting new people and getting out of school. The best thing about learning is how laid back it is and how easy you can gain opportunities from the course.”
Connor Jones, Perth Grammar School
“As emerging technology is also part of their course, another trip was arranged to Showcase VR in Dundee, where the students (and staff!) got a chance to interact with state-of-the-art virtual reality (VR) equipment. The students were also given a very informative tour around the facilities by Fergus Storrier, founder of Showcase the Street - a registered charity offering a wide range of experiences to the local and wider community. Raymond Chan and his team provided an excellent experience for the students and staff in the VR arcade.
“My experience at college has been good and the best part was meeting new people. Going on trips outside of college has also been good as it’s very different to school. The help I have received from my lecturers has also helped me a lot throughout the course. I would definitely recommend this course to other students as it’s a good way to get a qualification and work experience.”
Maruam Aziz, St John’s Academy
“We wish our Foundation Apprenticeship Business Skills students all the best in their progression to 2nd year and we look forward to welcoming our new 1st year group next academic session.”
Our Foundation Apprenticeship Coordinator, Kevin Lamont, has written a blog post explaining what a Foundation Apprenticeship is - and giving us the inside scoop of what his job entails.
