100 apprentices for Family First as they look to develop stars of the future!

Realise

A nursery company is celebrating welcoming their 100th apprentice as they look to develop their own homegrown high performing staff.

A century of apprentices:

Family First, which has recently acquired its 100th nursery across the country, has now completed a century of apprentices.

Apprentices are employed to work in a nursery setting where they develop their childcare skills, while completing their academic assignments in parallel.

There are now 119 apprentices working in the business, while two others have completed their end point assessment are are fully-fledged practitioners.

This milestone in apprenticeships reflects Family First’s commitment to nurturing future talent and to ensuring the highest possible standards in its nurseries.

Focus on outstanding care:

Early Years Specialist, Michele Falconer, who is the Apprentice Lead at Family First, said: “Recruitment in our industry can be extremely challenging. Our apprenticeship scheme enables us to develop a talented, well-trained, professional workforce that will continue to provide the outstanding care that our nurseries are known for.

“Over the last 18 months we have been able to develop our apprenticeship programme at a pace that matched the development of the business.”

On Realise:

Michele continued: “Our training provider partner, Realise, have provided excellent quality, service and matched the pace of our growth.

“This partnership has led to Family First achieving a total of 119 apprentices to date, a significant milestone and we look forward to building on this to grow a talented professional workforce, providing outstanding care for the children in our nurseries.

“Everyone knows recruitment in the industry is a challenge. If we can develop our own teams then that will be of huge benefit to everyone at Family First.”

Karen Derbyshire added:

Karen Derbyshire, Operations Director of Early Years at Realise added: “We are extremely proud to be celebrating this significant milestone as Family First’s apprentice partner.

“Over the last 18 months, they have worked really hard with Realise to raise the profile of apprenticeships in Family First, putting employee development at the heart of their offer.

“The investment they have made in apprenticeships will certainly support with the recruitment challenges currently affecting the sector. This focus is already seeing huge benefits, both in the volume of apprentices employed at Family First and having their first two learners achieve end point assessment with Realise.

“We look forward to continuing as their partner, growing our offer to their employees further and supporting their continued growth.”

Let’s talk

Click the button to start the conversation.