Coleshill School and Sertec form exciting partnership

Staff from Coleshill School recently visited The Sertec Group's head office in the town to form a mutually beneficial partnership, particularly regarding apprenticeships and other employment pathways for students.

School staff met with Sertec's learning and development manager Judith Bagley and human resources director Steve Moore to devise an employability strategy for the young people at the school and the wider local community.

Sertec has ten sites across Europe, supplying components to some of the world’s leading automotive manufacturers including Jaguar Land Rover.  The company has grown rapidly over the last few years and now has 2,500 employees and a turnover of £250 million.

One of their current apprentices, Sean Rhodes, gave a presentation about his apprenticeship, starting from when he completed his GCSEs, through A' Levels, to his present position working towards an NVQ in Engineering, studying at Birmingham Metropolitan College for a foundation degree.  

Coleshill School headteacher Ian Smith-Childs believes the new partnership will greatly benefit both parties.

“As business partners we will be looking to work closely on apprenticeship opportunities for our students, starting as early as next summer," he said.  "There are lots of other opportunities as well such as: Our students being able to gain work experience within the engineering industry; Sertec supporting our practice interviews for Year 11 and Sixth Form; and presentations from Sertec at our future career events.

"As we are part of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership we will also look for Sertec to form links with our other partner schools.

"We are extremely pleased to have formed such an exciting business partnership and are looking forward to working with, and supporting, Sertec over the coming years.”

* For more information about Sertec and opportunities there for apprenticeships and employment please visit www.sertec.co.uk or the company’s facebook page.