HSE have made sure that you will still have a direct dialogue with their experts, a high level of interaction with the other attendees, and lots of opportunities to ask questions. Printed course material will be delivered direct to your door.
Upcoming courses include:
National Apprentice Week is fast approaching and will run from 8 to 14 February 2021. It provides an opportunity for organisations to showcase the contribution they are making to the future finishes and interiors workforce and society. The Week can provide a platform to come together and celebrate apprenticeship journeys and successes as well as to say ‘Thank You’ to everyone who makes them possible.
“Build the Future” is the theme for NAW2021 and the core focus is to encourage everyone to consider how apprenticeships help individuals to build the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career. Key to this is positive stories, if you are thinking about taking on an apprentice in the finishes and interiors sector, have an apprenticeship success story (either yourself or someone you supported with an apprenticeship that has flourished in your business) please contact the FIS Team.
For the very first time, National Apprentice Week is entirely based in a digital world. From virtual career fairs through to factory tours. There will be personal stories from apprentices and employers about their own journeys and experiences and why apprenticeships help to #BuildTheFuture.
You can also join in the conversation with the #AskAnApprentice or #AskAnEmployer sessions to help employers, potential apprentices, teachers and parents understand the real benefits of apprenticeships.
FIS has a raft of information on Apprenticeships, including our Guidance for Employers. If you have plans for National Apprentice Week or have a story that you want to share/tell, please get in touch so we can share via SpecFinish and our Social Channels.
Alternatively give us a call on 0121 707 0077 or email info@thefis.org – we will be happy to help.
Find out more about some of the amazing apprentices who have been recognised through the FIS Fit-Out Futures Awards.
For updates during the week follow FIS on Twitter or FIS on Linkedin
Hold the date: Wednesday 10th February Midday, FIS is hosting a dedicated webinar focussed on support for apprentices.
The Institute announced its plans to move to a simplified EQA system in August 2020. The changes will see EQA delivered by Ofqual or, for integrated degree apprenticeships, the Office for Students (OfS).
The Institute is now setting up a new group of professional and employer-led organisations – called the Employer Directory – for Ofqual and OfS to draw on industry expertise.
We want as many sector representative bodies as possible to apply and support us with real industry insight. This will keep employers at the heart of protecting quality in apprenticeships. Please share the Institute’s employer directory page with your networks and across your social media channels.
There is a demand for people with occupational expertise to become vocational and end point assessors for finishing and interiors occupations. More colleges and independent training providers are now preparing to deliver apprenticeships and other training programmes for Dryliners, Ceiling Fixers, Partition Installers and Plasterers, people with experience are now required to pass on their skills and knowledge to the next generation of operatives.
If you feel you have reached that point in your career when it’s time to give something back, vocational and end point assessment is definitely worth considering. You will need good interpersonal, administrative and organisational skills and the more occupational experience you have the better you will be equipped to assess an individual’s skills and knowledge. Being a part of people’s development and witnessing their success is very rewarding. If you are interested please visit https://www.nwskillsacademy.co.uk/ or call 0161 442 4344.
George Swann FIS Skills and Training Lead said:
“Becoming an assessor can be a secure and rewarding career choice and the opportunity to shape the next generation of talent. It is a key role in the success of the sector, helping new entrants to gain their qualifications and become highly skilled in their trade. This is a fantastic opportunity for experienced industry professionals to use their skills and knowledge in a new capacity and FIS encourage you to find out more. The continuing shortage of skilled labour will not be address without good quality training and assessment”.
Further information can be found at
NOCN Level 3 Award in Assessing Competence in the Work Environment – NOCN and Become an End Point Assessor
https://www.cityandguilds.com/search?n=0&q=end+point+assessment&s=relevance
If you would like to talk through the requirements of this role contact the FIS by calling 0121 707 0077 or emailing info@thefis.org. The success of new entrants to the sector and therefore the longevity of the skills is reliant on dedicated competent assessors.
The hub provides information on sector careers, apprenticeships and funding, as well as access to e-learning, CPD and other training. It brings together details of courses specific to the finishes and interiors sector, making accessing and booking training quick and easy.
The Department for Education has launched ‘An Hour to Skill’ campaign which aims to encourage employers and the nation to set aside just one hour a week for online learning by taking a free course from The Skills Toolkit.
Although this is primarily focused on encouraging people to develop for their next step in career progression, employers may wish to take advantage by using these free courses to train existing employees. Statistics show 94% of employees stay at a company longer if there is investment in their individual career development. At the time of writing there are nearly 90 courses available.
These high-quality, online courses aim to enhance individuals’ job prospects, giving them easy access to skills that could unlock job opportunities in a competitive market, or help them get ahead in their current role. The Skills Toolkit features more than 70 courses designed by some of the nation’s leading businesses and educational institutions including Amazon Web Services, Cisco, FutureLearn, Lloyds Bank, LinkedIn Learning, Microsoft, The Open University and many more.
Learn about:
The courses form part of the government’s Plan for Jobs, which aims to help boost the UK economy as it recovers from the impact of COVID-19.
FIS has created a dedicated resource to help companies within our sector source training. As well as our active network of Approved Training Providers, through the FIS you can access a range of Continual Professional Development (CPD) and eTraining to support development of people and demonstration of competence.
FIS has launched two new Career and Competency Pathway documents for drylining and ceiling fixing occupations. With a focus on quality and safety within the sector, the pathways show how individuals can show proof of competence by the achievement of training and qualifications.
Through the FIS Skills Board and support for the ongoing competence work as part of the Grenfell Industry Response Group activities, FIS has a renewed focus on developing the principles outlined in the FIS Competency Framework (SAKE) which measures competency through a combination of skills, attitude, knowledge, experience.
The new career and competency pathways map the qualifications and training available against the critical stages of a career in drylining and ceiling fixing occupations. It provides a spine of information to help individuals and organisations to understand which steps to take and whether an individual is ready to progress through a better defined “gateway” to the next stage of their career. The pathway is aligning trained and assessed outcomes that support progression within the occupation, through to supervisory and management roles.
Commenting on the launch of the pathway, FIS Skills Board Chair, Paul Leach of Stortford Interiors said: “The aim of this work is to provide a better-defined pathway built around clear job roles and the stages within a career in key occupations within our sector. It will remain fluid and we can adapt it as new competency standards, qualifications and guidance emerges, but we felt it important to make a start to both support companies in managing competencies and help to present careers within the sector. The publishing of these pathways is a vital and clear rally call to the sector as we seek to improve competence within the workforce and address any skills shortages.”
FIS Skills and Training Lead, George Swann added: “Many are already well on this journey and undoubtedly there will be subtle differences within individual companies. But, by providing this standard pathway we can help all contractors and employers to understand what good looks like, benchmark where they are at and hopefully support a better culture of training and development through the sector. We often talk about skills and competency and default to a conversation about card colour, but a genuine focus on competency is much more than this and involves ongoing learning as well as effective supervision and management and providing support and encouragement for individuals. Having an organisational training plan supports social value requirements which are now prominent in contracts.”
The pathways are designed to be adapted by individual companies in-line with roles within organisations. FIS is working to provide more detailed standardised job descriptions to further support a consistent approach to career management within the industry, and developing pathways to cover all the core occupational areas associated with the Finishes and Interiors sector.
You can download the Career and Competency Pathway documents for Drylining and Ceiling Fixing occupations here
For further information or for any questions and comments please contact the FIS by email at info@thefis.org or call 0121 707 0077.
