Our Projects
GMLPN deliver exciting projects designed to deliver tangible benefits to their members and to strengthen the Greater Manchester skills system. Passionate about making a positive impact and empowering their community, GMLPN deliver innovative, impactful initiatives.
Live Projects
ASK
(Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge)
Funded by Education Skills and Funding Agency
The aim of the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge for Schools (ASK) programme is to support educational establishments to deliver high-quality information, advise and guidance (IAG) to their students on apprenticeships and traineeships.
Contextualising Maths Functional Skills for Early Years Apprentices
In partnership with NCFE
In partnership with NCFE, this project explores the impact of contextualised learning on Early Years Apprentices’ mathematical understanding and assessment achievements. Funded by the ETF Apprenticeship Workforce Development Fund, it targets Level Two Functional Skills Maths learners, aiming to improve comprehension and performance by linking learning directly to their job roles.
Multiply Provider Support Programme
Funded and commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority,
GMLPN support the Further Education (FE) sector with capacity building through the GM Multiply scheme. The Multiply Provider Support Programme aims to support FE learning providers to deliver high quality and appropriate maths skills across Greater Manchester.
Concluded Projects
GMLPN have successfully concluded several impactful projects
SME Project | October 2022 – September 2024
Funded by the Department for Education, the project’s aim was to support SMEs, operating in the adult care, construction and manufacturing sectors, who hadn’t employed apprentices in the past two years. The project provided information on what apprenticeships are, how they work, using the digital Apprenticeship Service, identifying appropriate standards and introducing the SMEs to apprenticeship providers
Inclusive Pathways: Autism Support | 2021-2024
Delivered in partnership with NCFE, the purpose of the Inclusive Pathways project
was to equip autistic individuals with technical and employability skills to progress into Apprenticeships or alternative destinations including traineeships, full time education and employment.
The project developed an online Inclusive Pathways Community on NCFE’s Cache Alumni platform, and launched a free, online CPD Module aimed to upskill Training Providers so they are able to:
- Identify the common co-occurring conditions with autism
- Determine effective methods of communication and collaboration for autistic individuals and co-occurring conditions
- Develop reasonable adjustments, accommodation strategies, and strength-based approaches to create an inclusive environment.
Local Skills Improvement Fund Project | October 2023-March 2024
Funded by the Greater Manchester Colleges Group, GMLPN have developed a progression pathways tool within the digital, electric vehicle and construction sectors. The pathways tool highlights the routeways through the courses and apprenticeships and identifies routes into, and progression from, new courses developed by colleges through the wider Greater Manchester LSIF project.
Mental Health Project | 2020-2021
In partnership with the Association of Colleges and with funding from the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care partnership, GMLPN embarked on a project focused on equipping FE sector staff and employers with relevant knowledge, training and resources to support their learners’ Mental Health.
- Development of a self-assessment tool and toolkit
- Facilitation of 4 Mental Health Focus Groups – with over 130 attendees
- Recruitment of 27 Mental Health Champions
- Recruitment of 13 organisations to the GMLPN Mental Health Charter
- Influencing the GMCA to extend AEB flexibilities to include more Mental Health Training
Taking Teaching Further | October 2018 – March 2020
Phase One
The Greater Manchester Learning Provider Network (GMLPN) and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce (GMCC) collaborated to bring together 35 Further Education Providers (FEPs) and 26 employers across four key sectors: Engineering & Manufacturing, Education & Childcare, Construction, and Digital.
This partnership facilitated the creation of four sector-based Industry Boards, designed to foster communication and collaboration between employers and FEPs. The primary aim of these boards was to enable knowledge exchange and address the specific challenges faced by each sector within the Greater Manchester area.
Phase Two
In partnership with the GMCC, GMLPN have developed two toolkits.
The Curriculum Co-Design Toolkit supported employers and Further Education Providers (FEPs) to collaboratively review, design, deliver, assess and evaluate curricula to develop industry relevant skills for learners enabling them to be work ready when transitioning from Further Education (FE) to employment.
The Greater Manchester Labour Market Information Electronic Toolkit provided an essential teaching resource to help address gender, pay, ethnicity and social mobility gaps, and provided up-to-date information on skills shortages and employment opportunities across Greater Manchester.
GM Apprenticeship Ambassador Programme | 2012-2021
The premise of the Apprenticeship Ambassador programme, an Apprenticeship information service for schools in Greater Manchester, was that ‘the best people to promote Apprenticeships to young people in Greater Manchester schools are apprentices.’
By mobilising real apprentices to share their personal experiences with students, who are typically only a few years younger than the ambassadors, the apprentices provided a unique insight, sharing their personal experiences as a route into a successful career.
Only the Apprenticeship Ambassador programme promotes the pathway using apprentices who have chosen that route.
#SEEDIFFERENT – The GM Apprenticeship Hub – 2015 to 2021
The Apprenticeship Hub website was used as a hub of information for all things Apprenticeships across Greater Manchester. The aim was not to reproduce materials and information that is already out there, but to collate it in one place.
The Greater Manchester Apprenticeship Hub brought together partners from across the city region, working together to increase the scale, breadth and quality of Apprenticeships in Greater Manchester.
We utilised 4 main social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. GMLPN used these to make information easily accessible to all the stakeholder audiences.
Case studies developed include:
ETF Professional Exchange | 2019-2021
The ETF Professional Exchange Project was funded by the Education and Training Foundation. The project brought FE Staff including senior managers and practitioners together to work together, learn from each other, discuss challenged and share best practices. GMLPN facilitated meetings across 3 years for the following groups:
- Assessment to Training
- Delivering Digital Standards
- English, Maths and Digital
- Equality and Diversity
- Improving Quality
- New and Growing Training Providers
- Recruiting Learners
- Safeguarding
- Work Placements
Through the meetings, the project engaged with 604 direct participants from 185 organisations, with a further 435 indirect participants engaged through indirect learning passed on by participating colleagues.
Key outputs of the projects included generating several resource banks, created by the sharing of best practice and the development of key action lists/check lists that providers could implement in their own organisations.
Since the project concluded, GMLPN have continued to support members through Professional Exchanges as part of the Provider Support Programme.
GM Search and Apply – April 2015 to July 2016
The aim for the project was to increase participation in post-16 education and training and to raise the profile of Apprenticeships amongst young people in Greater Manchester. The project:
- Helped providers to list their course information on UCAS progress System
- Encouraged more providers to engage with the UCA Progress System
- Increased the numbers of young people searching and applying for a range of opportunities
- Actively promoted and the supported the use of the system
- Developed a process to support young people who express an interest in Apprenticeships and Traineeships
Traineeships Toolkit – September 2014 – July 2016
The aim of the Toolkit was to increase the number of Traineeship starts in Greater Manchester resulting in an in increase the number of trainees progressing into Apprenticeships. By improving the quality of Traineeship delivery, it was anticipated a higher proportion of trainees would stay and complete the programme and a high proportion will be ready to progress to an Apprenticeship.
To achieve these aims, the project had four key elements:
- A series of seven masterclasses were delivered, in support of Traineeship providers, to enhance their delivery with the aim of increasing their progression rates to Apprenticeships. The masterclasses covered topics intended to support recruitment, delivery, employer engagement and work placements.
- Information sessions were delivered to referral agencies including Job Centre Plus (JCP), Career Connect and Positive Steps. The sessions were aimed at increasing the number of referrals by raising awareness of Traineeships amongst advisors and signposting them to resources on the Traineeship Toolkit.
- The Traineeship Toolkit was maintained and updated to ensure that it remained accurate and relevant for providers and referral agencies.
- GMLPN produced 7 Video Case Studies featuring apprentices who had progressed to their current role from a Traineeship. These were developed as a resource to inform, inspire and motivate other young people to consider a Traineeship as a pathway into an Apprenticeship.
Demonstrating IMPACT Programme – April 2014 to July 2015
The Demonstrating IMPACT Programme, funded by the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), was designed to support educational providers in aligning their offerings with the needs of businesses, to be more responsive to employers and demonstrate Return on Investment for employers.
The programme also aimed to show employers that the learning solutions provided by these institutions are valuable, are directly relevant to the demands of the job market, enhance the employability of learners and can deliver a tangible return on investment in terms of skills development.
The Programme involved the delivery of masterclasses, coaching and peer to peer support. Following the end of the funded project, GMLPN developed the offer further and the Provider Support Programme was launched.
The Greater Manchester Skills Gateway Service – April 2014 to July 2015
The Greater Manchester Skills Gateway, funded by the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), provided a support service to businesses that they understood and valued. It included 3 strands of work:
- An Independent Referral Service
- Skills Catalogue
- Media Campaign
The Greater Manchester Skills Ambassador Programme – June 2014 to July 2015
The Greater Manchester Skills Ambassador Programme recruited business leaders to promote the benefits of investing in skills to other Greater Manchester employers – at business forums and networking events.
Partner with us on a Project
Partner with us on a project and help shape the future of education and skills in Greater Manchester! Reach out today to explore collaboration opportunities
-
This programme is a lifeline for me. As the only person delivering maths on the Apprenticeship Programme, there is little opportunity to share ideas and reflect on my practice. Speaking with other professionals helps me to understand that some of the issues I have are widespread across the sector and of course, I benefit from learning what everyone else is doing.
Wendy Fairhurst | Functional Skills Lecturer | Bury College
