Family First and Realise partner for apprenticeship push

Family First Nurseries Group has launched an ambitious new apprenticeship programme designed to drive hundreds of new recruits into the early years sector – and the Realise team is proudly supporting.

Formed in 2019 and now a 100-strong group operating across the Midlands and southern England, Family First is seeking to fill up to 150 new apprentice vacancies between now and the end of September.

The long-term strategy is to continue with the apprenticeship focus on an annual basis, with the aim of recruiting and retaining new talent into the industry.

Realise, the UK’s No 1 early years training provider, will be responsible for delivering the majority of the training for Family First’s biggest ever apprenticeship programme.

Jamie Gordon, Head of Talent at Family First, said: “This is a significant development for Family First which will ensure we continue to develop our people to deliver consistently high-quality early years education to our children.

“There have been challenges around recruitment and retention across the entire industry for a number of years and we are always seeking innovative and effective ways to negate those issues.

“With a robust recruitment process in place, we are extremely excited to be launching a programme which will help us create a high number of talented and qualified Level 3 team members over the next 18 months and increase our pool of apprentices by as much as 80% over the coming months.

“We will be operating on a collegiate style set-up with cohorts beginning and working through their apprenticeship programmes at the same time.

“As well as driving their own individual career pathways, it will ensure all our apprentices will have the chance to create a national network of like-minded individuals who are on the same development journey.

“We are committed to not only recruiting new learners into early years but also retaining them as an integral part of Family First for many years to come.

“There are several different elements of the retention strategy including ongoing career progression and a salary structure which operates well above industry standard.

“That will include all new learners being paid the National Living Wage for apprentices from day one and then, when they are qualified, they will immediately enjoy a pay rise to the same rate as fellow Level 3 qualified staff members, regardless of their age.”

The new scheme will run on a hub-and-spoke model, with current senior members of Family First nurseries becoming Hub Ambassadors to provide assistance to apprentices working in the same geographical areas.

Michele Falconer, Apprentice Lead for Family First, said: “We have some nurseries where all, or the vast majority, of the management and leadership teams have come through the apprenticeship route and that is something we are extremely proud of and are excited to replicate in the future.

“We are very confident in the impact the apprenticeship programme can provide us with, and a significant reason for that is the outstanding partnership we have with Realise.

“Both the Family First and Realise teams have a shared passion for providing the very best service for the early years sector in general and our people and children specifically.

“That creates a unique partnership driven by a bespoke and agile curriculum which has been developed by the Family First and Realise teams.”

Realise supports more than 2,500 early years learners from over 1,000 settings across England.

Karen Derbyshire, Director of Realise Early Years, said: “We are hugely excited to be supporting Family First in the next phase of its apprenticeship journey.

“To see such an ambitious nursery group invest so heavily in apprenticeships and commit to attracting new talent into the industry is heart-warming and our team is ready to support with the recruitment process and training delivery.

“We look forward to working with dozens of new Family First apprentices over the coming months and delivering training which will embed them in the Family First ethos and culture which makes the group so successful.”