It’s been a busy week over at Stockton Riverside College as we have been celebrating National Apprenticeship Week.

The national event is designed to celebrate apprenticeships and the level of success that learners can achieve, with a particular focus this year on encouraging more small businesses to take on apprentices.

With more than 280 live apprenticeships currently being delivered by the College we know the value of the programme.

But you don’t just have to take our word for it; our apprentices are more than happy to tell you for themselves.

Learning on the job has proven an inspiration to Lorna Trotter, 19.

With her sights set on a career in the construction industry she is picking up a whole host of new skills as a painting and decorating apprentice with the housing association, Community Campus.

“Working on site has given me the confidence to do the job because I am doing it every day,” she said.

She feels sure those skills will set her in good stead when it comes to her future career.

As part of Community Campus’s care and repair team it is Lorna’s job to go into houses after tenants have left and get them ready for the next tenants.

It is varied work and she says it has given her a broad skill base as well as those all-important employability skills.

She said: “It’s great to make a difference – going into houses, which are a mess, and leaving them looking amazing. It’s nice to be part of that.”

Plus she added: “The first thing an employer looks for when you apply for a job is experience – and an apprenticeship gives you that.”

Apprenticeships - Katie SaundersKatie Saunders says she never had any doubt that doing an apprenticeship was the right choice for her.

Keen to get started the 20-year-old said practical experience of working with children in the classroom was always far more appealing than learning from a desk five days a week.

Securing a position at Oxbridge Lane Primary School, she said: “I enjoyed the fact that you were learning and getting work experience every single day.

“I learnt how to speak to children of different ages and benefited from being able to see how the teachers dealt with different situations.”

Now, with her qualification under her belt and working as a director of fun at a children’s play area, Katie plans to carry on with her studies.

She has no doubt that her experience in the classroom, working with children, helped her to secure her current position.

She said: “Apprenticeships help to build your confidence while you are not under too much pressure.

“When you’ve helped some-one understand something, you feel as if you are really helping them – as well as feeling as if you are heading in the right direction yourself.”

Want to know more about apprenticeship opportunities available through Stockton Riverside College go to www.stockton.ac.uk/courses/apprenticeships or call 01642 865 566.