156 THE BUILDING CONSERVATION DIRECTORY 2024 CATHEDRAL COMMUNICATIONS CPD Join new learning sessions at the Engine Shed to: Focus on traditional building materials and skills Learn with experts from Historic Environment Scotland Develop as heritage professionals, building practitioners, or students Build knowledge and skills in building conservation engineshed.scot technicaleducation@hes.scot Stirling, Scotland CITB has also launched work-based training to provide any people mentoring apprentices with key skills: to be able to assess their own ability to use a variety of interpersonal communication skills; to be able to give constructive feedback to apprentices; to be able to detail the skills required to coach and mentor; and to be able to support the wellbeing of the apprentices and provide pastoral support and signposting where relevant. Heritage Apprenticeships The national heritage bodies are also involved in the development of training programmes and standards for apprenticeships. Historic England with the help of CIfA, Icon, IHBC and others has developed Historic Environment Trail Blazer apprenticeships in four areas: archaeology, conservation, construction, and historic environment advice. Apprentices follow the usual model with roughly 80 per cent of their time spent at work with their employer in the office or on site, with the remaining 20 per cent in training, either in college or remote working. An apprenticeship for the Level 4 Historic Environment Advice Assistant for example, would typically involve 24 months of training delivered by Strode College in Somerset, followed by end-point assessment (EPA) over the next few months. Historic Environment Scotland has been training apprentices in stonemasonry for many years at its skills training centres in Elgin and Stirling in partnership with Forth Valley College. Under the Scottish government’s Modern Apprenticeships scheme these now include: PDA and SVQ Stonemasonry SCQF Levels 5, 6, and 7 PDA Repair & Maintenance of Traditional Structures SCQF Level 6 Award in Energy Efficiency Measures for Older and Traditional Buildings RQF Level 3 Standards developed by Historic Environment Scotland are also used by LTM Academy, an off-shoot of Laing Traditional Masonry, for its three-year BCT Modern Apprenticeship for building conservation technicians training to SVQ Level 3. OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION The NOCN website provides information about qualifications at www.nocn.org. uk. By typing ‘heritage’ into the search box on this website, a total of 55 results are shown with 33 heritage qualifications listed. See http://bc-url.com/267. Another site which provides useful advice and guidance for potential construction industry apprentices is Go Construct. See http://bc-url.com/262. This includes a video on the benefits of a construction apprenticeship, the types of apprenticeships available and an A-Z of all the job roles available in construction, with help on how apprentices may identify the perfect job for them. It compares the benefits of an apprenticeship with a university degree, provides advice on how to find an employer that offers apprenticeships and explains what happens after completing the apprenticeship. The charity COTAC has a wealth of information available about building conservation on its website at www.cotac.global. Although not covered in this article, most of the major construction professions such as architecture, surveying, planning and engineering have apprenticeship routes to qualifications and membership of the relevant institute, which can be found on their websites. For those interested in built heritage, these institutes have specialist heritage accreditation schemes achievable following several years’ work experience and further study. GRAHAM LEE is Project Manager at COTAC (Council on Training in Architectural Conservation) and is a heritage consultant to the Building Crafts College in Stratford, East London. Other contributors include Building Crafts College Stratford and CITB, whose assistance in preparing this article is gratefully acknowledged.
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