Savers announced as Top Employer for Retail

Posted on by

HABC approved centre Savers was announced as one of the UK’s top 100 employers for school and college leavers at the fourth annual AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk awards ceremony, held at London City Hall on Friday 27 th May 2016.

IMG_0206

The awards ceremony celebrated all aspects of learning and development, including career progression, training and skills, as decided by feedback surveys completed by apprentices and school leaver trainees nationwide who have recently completed their qualification programs.

Savers was recognised as ‘Top Employer for Retail’, beating the likes of Harrods and Boots to receive the top accolade. The organization also won ‘Best Level of Support’ and ‘Best for Job Satisfaction’, as well as taking the runner-up spots in two further categories, ‘Best Training’ and ‘Best for Skills Development’.

Further information about the awards and a full list of winners can be found here .

We need your help!

Posted on by

The VARE project (Vocational Assessor Requirements in Europe) is an Erasmus+ project aimed at determining what requirements apply to assessors of vocational qualification across Europe. Are they required to undertake specific training, or should they be members of a professional organisation? Do they need to be subject matter experts? Are the requirements different if the assessment takes place in a classroom setting as opposed to a workplace setting?

The project aims to develop a catalogue of information on these requirements as well as highlight a number of examples for more in-depth case studies.

We would be extremely grateful if you could take the time to complete the following short survey on the requirements in your country: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NHJD3ST .  If you have any questions, you can visit the project website for information at www.vare-project.eu or email the coordinator Katherine ( Katherine.latta@highfieldabc.net ).

Please note: the deadline to complete this survey is Wednesday 1 June 2016.

Many thanks for your invaluable contribution to this research.

You’re Invited!

Posted on by

Highfield will be on the road again this summer, exhibiting at several industry events where you’ll be able to meet and speak to members of the Highfield team about our bespoke services, view a selection of user-friendly training materials written to support our qualifications, learn more about our digital solutions and see first-hand how working with Highfield can provide added value to your business.

You can come and see us at any of the following events:

Safety & Health Expo

Highfield-Awarding-Body-for-Compliance

The Safety & Health Expo is targeted at professionals working within the health and safety industry. The 3-day exhibition allows delegates to discover the latest innovations and products from leading organisations within the industry, network with like-minded colleagues, receive updates on critical legislation and accumulate CPD points.

Date : 21-23 June 2016 Venue : Excel, London Stand : U1720

Health +  Care

logo

Health + Care is not only the largest national event for health and care in the UK, but also the most comprehensive event for sector professionals. The Commissioning Show, The Residential Care Show, Technology First and The Home Care Show are all part of the event, so attendance at Health + Care will provide delegates with the opportunity to network with key sector stakeholders.

Date : 29-30 June 2016 Venue : Excel, London Stand : B46

AELP National Conference 2016

Booth 28 - HABC - Artwork

This conference features key speeches from government ministers, senior officials and leading academics. There will also be several workshops and an exhibition. The conference is aimed at all those who work within the employment and skills sector and who want to be at the forefront of future developments within the industry.

Date : 27-28 June 2016 Venue : Novotel London West, Hammersmith Stand : 28

If you would like any further information regarding any of these events  or you are planning to attend any of them and would like to arrange a meeting with a member of the Highfield team in advance,  please email danmcdade@highfieldabc.net.

We hope to see you soon.

Highfield staff gear up for London Marathon 2016

Posted on by

This Sunday marks the 35 th annual London Marathon.

Our Managing Director Christian Sprenger, IT Director Ashley Reddy and Becky Ashley will be lacing up their trainers to run a gruelling 26.2 miles in aid of our chosen charity VICTA, alongside Olympic athletes Dame Kelly Holmes and Iwan Thomas.

This fantastic charity provides equipment and services and hosts events that help blind and partially sighted children and young people to develop socially, emotionally and educationally, as well as offering their parents a vital network of support and information.

IMG_0128

Becky and Chris at the Chesterfield Marathon – trying to get some miles in preparation for the 26.2 challenge!

Chris has now been dubbed by all of us at Highfield as ‘marathon man’ as this weekend will be his 3 rd appearance at the event (we’ll keep you informed if he can beat last year’s finish time of 3 hours 29 minutes!), however for our IT Director Ashley and marketing manager Becky, it will be their first time competing.

After signing up for the challenge back in May last year, they have all embarked on rigorous training regimes and Chris has regularly been seen testing his endurance on lunch breaks! We’ve summarised Ashley’s training in numbers below using information gathered from his fitness device.

London Marathon Infographic2

As this went to press, the Highfield heroes have received over £1,500 in sponsorship so far for the London Marathon, and we certainly put the fun in fundraising at our Christmas party, which saw our wonderful team donate over £1,000 in just one night!

To support them on their adventure this weekend, please click here

90th birthday marks royal recognition for Highfield

Posted on by

Highfield will be helping HM Queen Elizabeth II celebrate her 90 th birthday this year after winning the UK’s most prestigious business accolade, the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

The Highfield Group, one of the UK’s leading education organisations, was announced as the winner of the award as part of the national celebrations to celebrate HM The Queen’s 90 th birthday on 21 April.

Sprenger Family Queen’s Award winners are chosen by a panel that includes the Prime Minister and leading figures from government and industry, making it one of the most sought after accolades for British businesses.

Highfield is one of the UK and Middle East’s leading suppliers of compliance, apprenticeship and work-based learning qualifications, training materials and e-learning. It is one of the UK’s largest exam boards, and is actively involved in the development of the UK workforce and productivity, as well as contributing to government plans for three million apprenticeships by 2020 and the switchover to apprenticeship trailblazers.

The organisation, which has its headquarters in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, works with some of the biggest names in international business to help develop their staff, including PepsiCo, Nestle, Marks & Spencer and Superdrug, and each year supports over 2 million learners across the globe to achieve their educational aspirations.

Jason Sprenger, Highfield Chief Executive, said, ‘I’m incredibly proud of this fantastic achievement, which is a testament to our exceptional team and their dedication to our core values of quality, value, service and integrity. It is proving to be an amazing 12 months for Highfield.  We are continuing to expand domestically and internationally, with offices recently opening in Sheffield, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, plus a new international headquarters planned for Doncaster later in 2016, and have numerous other blue chip companies that have committed to working with us going forward’.

Representatives from Highfield will receive the award in person from Her Majesty at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 14 July 2016.  A further ceremony with the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, Mr Andrew Coombe, will take place at Highfield’s offices later in the year.
For more information on Highfield, go to www.highfieldabc.com

For regular updates, go to https://twitter.com/HighfieldABC and www.facebook.com/HighfieldABC

For more on the Queen’s Award, go to www.gov.uk/queens-awards-for-enterprise/overview

Important changes to the SIA application process

Posted on by

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) is launching a new self-service website, aiming to simplify the licence application process and introducing the new ways of applying for licences and managing your licensing requirements.

sia-logo

From spring 2016, all licence applications and renewals will be completed through the new self-service website via your personal or business account. Your new online account will give you greater control of the application process, acting as a central hub for all information regarding your licence.

It is important that applicants and businesses are aware of these changes and confident with the new procedures. To clarify how the new self-service website will work, and introduce some of the key functions they have added to make the application process quicker and easier, the SIA has produced a series of video tutorials to help you understand what it will be like to use the new system.

To ensure that you are sufficiently prepared for the upcoming changes, we encourage you to use these videos for both your own instruction and to communicate the changes to your colleagues/learners.

Further advice and information regarding the new self-service website is available on the SIA website: www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/changes

National Apprenticeship Week 2016

Posted on by

Coordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service, National Apprenticeship Week aims to raise awareness about apprenticeships and to celebrate the life-changing impact they have on learners, employers and the economy.

Now in its ninth year, the 14-18 March marked National Apprenticeship Week 2016, and the key message this year was that ‘An apprenticeship can take you anywhere’, with a particular focus on higher skills to demonstrate how young people, entrepreneurs and businesses can ‘rise to the top’ with an apprenticeship or traineeship.

Throughout the week over 30,000 apprenticeships and 1,500 traineeships were pledged by employers using the interactive ‘Pledge-o-meter’. This tool allowed businesses to demonstrate their commitment to vocational training by pledging their apprenticeships vacancies and traineeships opportunities for the year ahead.

Production team

At Highfield, we are passionate to raise the profile of apprenticeships, particularly as an alternative career path so it is exciting to see that many more young adults are choosing an apprenticeship to further their career prospects. We also showcased  how the apprenticeships undertaken by our colleagues Emily, Rob and Sarah resulted in them landing full-time jobs. We are very proud that at Highfield we can offer great progression opportunities for motivated, talented and dedicated team members, and each of our former apprentices demonstrated these qualities and have risen through the ranks following their apprenticeships. In fact Rob who first started at the company as an IT apprentice is now set to manage his own team of e-learning apprentices later this year.

In case you missed it, we’ve created a round-up of all of Highfield’s social media activity during National Apprenticeship Week over on Storify. View it here: https://storify.com/HighfieldABC/national-apprenticeship-week-2016

We’d love to know how your HABC centre celebrated National Apprenticeship Week 2016. Did you host or take part in any events or activities? Share your experiences below.

Meet the HABC team at The Health and Safety Event

Posted on by

Layout 1 (Page 2) Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance (HABC) will be at this year’s Health & Safety Event with all the latest news, updates and developments in the world of skills and training for frontline health and safety professionals and educators.

And leading the HABC team will be our new Business Development Manager, Christian Hopper, who has 15 years’ experience in the health and safety sector and will be on hand throughout the event to discuss all your learning and skills needs.

Christian Hopper - Colour Held at Birmingham NEC from 22 to 24 March 2016, The Health and Safety Event provides the perfect networking and educational opportunity for anyone responsible for running a safe and efficient workplace.

And as well as having the chance to gain CPD and insights with over 45 free-to-attend seminars on the changing landscape of health and safety – including a presentation from the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) Head of Regulation, Kevin Myers, on new enforcement guidelines – you’ll be able to come along to the HABC stand (J16 within the NEBOSH Education Pavilion) and find out more on how we can help you, including:

  • Details on our range of health and safety and compliance qualifications, ranging from Level 1 to Level 4 and covering specific sectors such as manufacturing, catering, retail, construction and care workplaces
  • Information on specialised health and safety books and learning resources from Highfield International, plus details on resources for associated areas such as fire safety, risk assessment and COSHH
  • Updates on e-learning solutions for health and safety at Levels 1, 2 and 3 from Highfield e-learning, plus case studies on how we created bespoke health and safety e-learning programmes for some of the world’s top companies
  • More on how HABC supports its centres and educators to help reduce workplace harm and deliver the training that employers and learners need to do their jobs safely and effectively.

IMG_4536 If you’d like to arrange a meeting with Christian at The Health and Safety Event, please contact him on 07484 054405 or email christianhopper@highfieldabc.net You can also follow him on Twitter at HABC_HealthandSafety

For more information on The Health and Safety Event, go to http://www.healthandsafetyevents.co.uk/Home

It worked for me: Highfield Apprenticeship

Posted on by

Rob started working for Highfield in 2012 as an IT apprentice. Demonstrating excellent potential, he secured a permanent position with the company following his apprenticeship placement to become a developer within our e-learning team. Like many of his colleagues within the company, Rob has risen through the ranks of the company due to this exceptional commitment and talent, and he is now set to commence managing a new team of IT apprentices later in the year.

Rob profile pic

What were your responsibilities as an apprentice?

During my apprenticeship I was responsible for providing outstanding customer service in both internal and external technical IT support. I was also responsible for the design and creation of the range of new Highfield Apprenti-kit products.

What attracted you to an apprenticeship?

Being able to earn whilst I learn, gain new skills and invaluable experience and obtain qualifications in a professional environment.

What skills and experience did you gain from your apprenticeship?

During my apprenticeship I worked alongside all areas of IT picking up skills and experience in customer service, internal and external technical IT support, product design and development and basic programming.

What did your position involve?

My position involved providing online and over-the-phone technical support to our customers that have purchased our electronic products; I would also provide support to our internal customers looking after their hardware and network systems. I was also in charge of creating a brand new range of products called Apprenti-kits that would help thousands of other apprentices complete their apprenticeships too. These were paper-based at first before I later developed an electronic version that could be completed on a computer device.

What is it like to work for Highfield?

It is a pleasure to work for Highfield and alongside all of Highfield’s employees, we are a tight-knit company inside and outside of the office. There is never a dull day and we are always very busy, which is not a bad thing!

What was the highlight of your apprenticeship?

The highlight of my apprenticeship was when I had finished my very first product, that I knew would help so many other apprentices throughout their apprenticeships.

Do you feel that an apprenticeship was beneficial to your career?

Without completing my apprenticeship at Highfield I would not be in the position that I am in now 4 years on, I am soon to manage my own team of apprentice e-learning developers where I can use my own experience as an apprentice to help guide them through their journey.

How would you describe your apprenticeship in 3 words?

Challenging, enjoyable and rewarding.

As a former apprentice, what advice would you give to anybody considering an apprenticeship?

Go for it, there are so many fantastic opportunities in apprenticeships, you can earn a wage whilst gaining invaluable experience and qualifications, and make sure that you choose an apprenticeship in the area that you want to build a career within and that you will love and enjoy.

It worked for me: Highfield Apprenticeship

Posted on by

To mark National Apprenticeship Week and to celebrate the significance of work-based learning, we’ll be speaking to members of the Highfield team about their apprenticeship experience.

Emily profile pic

Prior to starting her apprenticeship in 2012, Emily studied graphic design at college. After completing her studies she was looking for a solution that would allow her to continue her studies in a working environment, which led her to an apprenticeship. Emily was attracted to the Highfield design apprentice role due to the variety of professional projects she had the opportunity to work on. During her apprenticeship, Emily demonstrated a strong work ethic, becoming a fundamental member of the Design team, from which she secured a full-time role with Highfield as a junior designer.

What attracted you to an apprenticeship?

I had just finished two years of studying and felt that I needed to do something a little more practical, which is why an apprenticeship shone far brighter than any university course did.

What did your position involve?

My position really was to get involved and learn from my colleagues. When you first go into an apprenticeship you need to learn how the company itself works and from then on once you have learnt the essential skills, will start to find your place in the team (it just sort of clicks).

What is it like to work for Highfield?

It is a great adventure; you are rarely doing the same type of job. You will get to work on all types of projects with different team members for multiple clients.

What were your main responsibilities as an apprentice?

I looked after the event material, the setting of exam papers and creating a newsletter for Highfield. After a few weeks I also got the chance to join in with other activities such as photo shoots, which I found to be great fun. This was helpful as I got to work with other team members learning what they did in their day-to-day jobs.

What skills and experience did you gain from your apprenticeship?

I have gained so much from working at Highfield it would be hard to pin point only a few items to talk about. Within my initial 12 months I progressed so far and learnt how to produce products and each process that goes into doing so.

What was the highlight of your apprenticeship (biggest achievement etc.)?

I believe my greatest highlight was being offered a full-time position at Highfield. I felt that I had become part of the team and part of the Highfield family.

Do you feel that an apprenticeship was beneficial to your career?

It was really the greatest thing for me at the time as I don’t think I was ready to go to university. I was a rather timid person before I started working at Highfield and over the years I have grown so much both professionally and as an individual. I feel that this has been one of the greatest things I have done in my career so far and am looking forward to future endeavours.

How would you describe your apprenticeship in three words?

Super, smashing, great!!!

As a former apprentice, what advice would you give to anybody considering an apprenticeship?

An apprenticeship was so much better for me as I was learning on the job, completing live briefs, being tutored by others with more experience than myself and growing as a person instead of sat in a classroom. Overall I would say consider an apprenticeship with Highfield as my experience here was so helpful for me and I do feel I found myself at Highfield.