At Havant & South Downs College, we work with a number of businesses and organisations to give our students the opportunity to find the perfect fit when choosing an Apprenticeship.
We want to highlight the incredible companies we work with and their experience of having an apprentice with HSDC with our new ‘Employer of the Month’ feature.
This month we will be talking to Community Childcare Centres (Growing Places).
Tell us about your business.
Community Childcare Centres (Growing Places) have been providers of not-for-profit childcare for more than 20 years in Havant and Fareham Boroughs.
We invest in our facilities, staff and resources and are committed to ensuring the highest quality of care and education for your child.
As a charitable company, Growing Places operates a variety of childcare centres around Havant and Fareham Boroughs caring for children aged from six months to 11 years.
Well trained, highly motivated and committed staff ensure that all our children are provided with a safe, secure, warm, stimulating play and learning environment.
Our vision is ‘creating the future by inspiring the moment’.
Together we develop sociable, articulate, responsible, caring children with a tolerance, understanding and respect for each other and their community.
Our mission is: Growing Places is a charitable company, committed to enhancing lives, raising aspirations and creating opportunities for all stakeholders.
Our team members are our greatest asset and we invest in their professional development to ensure that they are able to practice the highest standards of care and education for ALL children. They facilitate children’s learning and allow for independent learning opportunities in an exciting environment.
Our ethos/culture is: Growing Places raises the aspirations for all who are part of our settings.
We provide a range of opportunities to encourage children to explore, think for themselves, find solutions and know that it is okay to make mistakes. In doing so, we build children’s resilience, self-esteem and self-belief, encouraging positive attitudes to future learning.
Why have you chosen to invest in the next generation through having an apprentice with HSDC?
The Apprenticeship model works fantastically for childcare, as it helps the apprentice to work with children, in a supervised capacity, both learning in the workplace and studying towards a nationally recognised qualification.
The Apprenticeship scheme helps us to ‘grow our own’ – ensuring that all apprentices are included in company training and benefit from being a member of Growing Places staff. The model additionally allows us to see the potential of any staff member, helping us support their future career path.
How many apprentices do you have?
We currently have 12 apprentices with HSDC.
Why have you chosen to take on an apprentice through HSDC?
We have set up a business partnership with the College to support us with recruitment and raising our profile in the local community. This in turn means that long term we can build on existing Apprenticeship training to extend it to other training opportunities in Growing Places.
What would your apprentice say about working for you?
“It’s like working with another family.”
“There are fantastic experiences for children and really good in-house training.”
“We are one big family.”
If you are interested in doing an Apprenticeship at HSDC, our Business Development Team can help you. Click here for more information and to see the current Apprenticeship opportunities we have available for you.