College welcomes Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills
Hugh Baird College and University Centre was delighted to welcome Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills to its Healthcare Campus on Wednesday 16th June.
The College’s Healthcare Campus is home to its Health and Social Care courses and the Life Rooms, Bootle, a resource for the local community.
The Minister had the chance to meet teaching staff, and students from across the College enrolled on Health and Social Care courses, from the 14-16 College, right up to learners currently working in the NHS and attending the College on a part-time basis.
The aim of the visit was for the Minister to further her understanding of how the College can contribute to improving the skills of our young people, particularly as the country works towards recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The College was especially excited to be able to show the Minister their future investment plans. Rachael Hennigan, Principal and Chief Executive, said:
We were pleased to welcome the Minister to the College and demonstrate to her how we support our fantastic learners to excel and gain the skills they need to be a success in industry. I was particularly pleased to be able to share with the Minister our plans for new facilities to help us deliver the innovative T-level programmes we have commencing from this September.
This new qualification gives young people the chance to develop high level technical skills and gain work experience through a 45-day placement, while combining the academic theory and study of traditional A-levels. Hugh Baird College are the only College in the Liverpool City Region to be offering T-levels from this September.
Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills Gillian Keegan said:
It was fantastic to visit Hugh Baird College’s Healthcare Campus and meet some of their brilliant health and social care apprentices and students. Through close links with the local NHS, the college are training not just the frontline talent of today, but also for the future. I was really inspired to see how students of all ages were being supported to develop new careers, or to upskill in their current jobs specialising a wide range of areas from mental health to dementia and paediatrics though to adult care. It was also great to see how the college is using its Life Rooms to engage and provide wellbeing support for the local community.
The College is looking forward to improving its estate over the coming years, prides itself on enabling all its students to achieve, no matter what their starting point, and is keen to work closely with the Minister and the Department for Education.
