Cotswolds school wins WCG National Apprenticeship Week challenge

A Cotswolds school has won an apprenticeship knowledge challenge organised by a leading college group against competition from across the Midlands.

Chipping Campden School was one of 18 schools to take part in the challenge which was run by college group WCG as part of National Apprenticeship Week.

Year 10 and year 11 students from the schools were asked to complete a quiz which was compiled by the college regarding apprenticeships – with schools from the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire all taking part.

The college group received nearly 200 responses from schools reached out to, with 75 of the responses coming from students at Chipping Campden School.

WCG awarded the school with a £500 prize for the school to use on new equipment or supplies for its students to use.

James Slattery, Work-Related Lead at Chipping Campden School, said:

“When we received the invite to take part in the National Apprenticeship Week challenge we were very keen to promote it.

“We have a responsibility as a school to ensure young people are aware of the attractive career opportunities apprenticeships bring and to ensure they understand that the university route isn’t their only option – and being involved with this challenge has helped us to do just that.

“There was a good appetite from students and staff to get involved. To win £500 is a fantastic, unexpected prize and we’ll be sitting down soon to assess how we can best use it to support students at the school.”

There were also individual winners for the best performing pupils. Winning students studied at Chipping Campden School, Lutterworth High School and The Parker E-ACT Academy.

The first place student won a 10 inch Samsung Galaxy Tablet and two runners-up claimed a Love2Shop voucher worth £100 each.

Mark Eden, Director of Work-Based Learning at WCG, added:

“We had an amazing response to the challenge which we ran as part of National Apprenticeship Week and we would like to thank all of the students and schools that engaged with us.

“Chipping Campden School submitted the most responses to the quiz and 75 was a very impressive number, the school really bought into the challenge and was a deserved winner of the overall prize.

“The quiz featured around 20 different topics around apprenticeships and the students were asked to complete it as homework or as part of a PSHE lesson.

“The goal of the challenge was to help educate more young people around the benefits of apprenticeships and the opportunities that will be available to them when they finish their GCSE studies.”

Other schools that took part in the challenge include Lutterworth High School, Lutterworth College, The Parker E-ACT Academy, Woodrush High School, Pershore High School, Lawrence Sheriff School, Cotswold School, North Leamington School, Rugby Quest Academy, St Thomas More Catholic School & Sixth Form College, Etone College, Avon Valley School, Harris Academy, Daventry School, Finham Park, Dixon School and Thomas Estley School.