National Apprenticeship Week 2020 is taking place this week and as part of activities apprentices at our hospital enjoyed a team building away day yesterday, Tuesday 4 February.
Apprentices from teams and departments across the hospital visited the CluedUp! escape rooms and Quaser in Norwich.
Here Jessica Smouton, our Corporate Affairs Apprentice Administrator, explains a little more about the day;
“When we arrived at ‘Clued Up’ we were split into three groups and each group was designated an escape room. My group was given the ‘Bank Heist’ and the idea of the game was to unlock the vault and steal as much money as possible before the 60 Minutes was up. My group managed to steal £665,000 from the vault which was a success! This activity was very beneficial as it required us to work as part of a team and use effective communication to ensure that everyone knew what the clue was and the information we needed to solve it.
“Next, we went to ‘Quasar’ and were separated into two different teams – Red and Blue. Once we were given the debrief we all got equipped and were shown where the base was and HQ. Before the game started my team communicated with each other in order to come up with an action plan where we decided what everyone’s role would be. I was in charge of guarding our base in order to prevent our HQ from getting hit. I found this activity very beneficial as it required us to have good communication and teamwork skills to ensure that everyone on the team was involved and made aware of the action plan.
“The day overall was a success as it also allowed me to speak to other apprentices around the trust allowing me to gain a better understanding of what their roles are within the hospital as well as what they hope to achieve from their apprenticeship. I would recommend these activities as I believe that it allows you to develop your communication and teamwork skills in a way which is interactive and fun.”
NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK
National Apprenticeship Week 2020 is taking place from today, Monday 3, to Sunday 9 February, and we’re supporting the campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of apprenticeships as well as saying thank you to apprentices working at our hospital.
The theme for the week is ‘Look Beyond’ - to see beyond the outdated apprentice stereotypes to celebrate the diversity of opportunity and value that apprenticeships bring.
At the James Paget we have found that our apprentices are invaluable. Quickly picking up new skills and learning while in their diverse roles, they provide great assistance to our teams and often go on to permanent jobs with us once their apprenticeship is complete.
We offer apprenticeships in a number of areas around the hospital and are hoping to expand opportunities further in the future. It’s all part of our ‘grow our own’ policy – encouraging individuals to join us at all ages and stages of development and providing education, training and support to allow career progression.
Apprenticeships are open to anyone aged 16 or older and can give you an insight into working in the NHS in a busy acute hospital environment. If you’re interested in finding out more you can visit our apprenticeship pages under the ‘Work for Us’ section of our website and view current vacancies, which include apprenticeship opportunities.
During the week our current apprentices will be taking part in an annual ‘away day’ tomorrow, Tuesday 4 February. This year they are heading to the CluedUp! escape rooms and Quaser in Norwich to take part in a team building day focused on communication and our Trust Values and Behaviours.
There will also be two events on Thursday – a ‘coffee morning’ for our apprentices and a ‘drop-in’ for managers at the hospital to find out details about providing apprenticeships to encourage them to offer more opportunities.
We’ll also be getting involved in the national campaign on social media, via @JPUH_Apprentice on Twitter and our main Facebook and Twitter accounts, using #NAW2020 and #LookBeyond.
