Castle Wood School: Creating Opportunities Through Apprenticeships

Watch our interview with employer, Suzanne Kavanagh

At Heart of England Training, we know that a successful apprenticeship is about more than gaining a qualification. It is about creating meaningful opportunities, developing skills and making a positive difference in the workplace.

For Castle Wood School, apprenticeships have become an integral part of the school community, helping to support both staff development and the children they work with.

With 196 children across 21 classes, Castle Wood has made it their ambition to have an apprentice in every class, or where this isn’t possible, supporting two classes. The school has been working with Heart of England Training since around 2020 and currently has 10 apprentices at different stages of their apprenticeship journeys.

Suzanne, Apprentice Coordinator and Apprentice Leader at Castle Wood, plays a key role in supporting their apprentices and working closely with Heart of England Training to make sure they receive the best possible experience.

Suzanne works closely with Heart of England Training educator Claire to coordinate tutor sessions, study time, mentoring and coaching, while also helping apprentices stay on track with their learning.

The partnership continues throughout the apprenticeship, with regular communication between Castle Wood and Heart of England Training.

“If there’s any issues, any concerns, any good work, any praise that’s come up, I pass that on to Claire and Claire passes that on to me,” Suzanne explained.

For Suzanne, this collaborative approach is one of the key reasons the apprenticeship programme works so well.

“You have to both be on board and both have to have that philosophy of collaboration. Otherwise it doesn’t work.”

This close relationship also means Heart of England Training educators can understand the unique environment at Castle Wood. Claire regularly visits the school, gets to know staff and spends time in different classrooms, allowing her to better understand the children, the setting and how apprentices apply their learning within a special school environment.

At Castle Wood, apprentices are given dedicated time to develop their knowledge and skills away from their everyday responsibilities.

The school provides time before the children arrive, as well as half a day each week for study, research and completing apprenticeship activities. Suzanne also works closely with staff to ensure study time can be flexible around the needs of the school.

Apprentices are also given the opportunity to experience different areas of the school.

Castle Wood regularly moves apprentices between classes, allowing them to take the knowledge, skills and behaviours they have developed in one setting and apply them somewhere new.

This approach helps apprentices build confidence and become more adaptable in their roles.

Suzanne explained that although apprentices may start their journey with limited experience, the progress they make can be remarkable.

“We wouldn’t expect day one, you go in and you know everything because we understand that that is day one and they have to learn things.”

By the time an apprentice is ready to move to another class, teachers are often reluctant to see them leave.

“A lot of teachers say to me, ‘Why are they moving? Can they not stay with me for another term?’”

However, Suzanne believes moving between classes is an important part of their development, giving apprentices the opportunity to use their skills in different situations and continue progressing.

Castle Wood’s apprentices come from a wide range of backgrounds. Some have recently left school, while others have already had careers and are looking for a new direction.

Suzanne believes this diversity brings additional value to the school, with apprentices able to bring knowledge and skills from their previous experiences into their new roles.

The school takes the time to ensure apprentices understand its routines, structures, ethos and approach to behaviour management, while also helping them understand how the knowledge they gain through their apprenticeship can be applied within a special school.

“Our apprentices are an integral part of our school community,” Suzanne said.

This approach benefits not only the apprentices, but the wider school community too.

For Suzanne, the impact of a well-run apprenticeship programme can be seen across the whole school.

“When apprenticeships are well run and organised, they benefit every single member of the school community, whether that be children, teachers, teaching assistants, the office staff and the apprentices themselves.”

She believes that the key to achieving this success is ensuring everyone works together — from the school and its staff to the apprentice and their Heart of England Training tutor.

“For it to be successful it needs to be organised and you need to have everybody, not just school but also Heart of England, on board, working together to ensure that the apprentice gets the best that they can, the best opportunities, but also for the benefit of our children.”

Castle Wood’s experience demonstrates the value of creating a strong partnership between an employer, apprentice and training provider. By investing time, support and opportunities into their apprentices, the school is helping develop the next generation of education professionals while creating a positive impact across the school community.

We’re proud to work alongside Castle Wood School and look forward to seeing the continued success of their apprentices and the opportunities their programme creates in the future.

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