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NHS Education for Scotland

A skilled and sustainable workforce for a healthier Scotland

Spotlight on NES for Scottish Apprenticeship Week

Spotlight on NES for Scottish Apprenticeship Week

Spotlight on NES for Scottish Apprenticeship Week

NES has been shortlisted as a finalist in the category ‘Innovation in Learning’ for this year’s Scottish Apprenticeship Awards. The nomination recognises the Dental Directorate’s Dental Care Professional (DCP) workstream team who, during these exceptional times, have developed new approaches to support the learning and skills development for their learners undertaking the Modern Apprenticeship in Dental Nursing.

The Scottish Apprenticeship Awards take place during Scottish Apprenticeship Week (1-5 March).

What is a Modern Apprenticeship?

Modern Apprenticeships offer those aged 16 and over, in paid employment within Scotland, the opportunity to train and work towards a vocational qualification. NES provides fully-funded places for trainees to undertake the Modern Apprenticeship in Dental Nursing, complementing the existing pre-registration dental nurse training.

Our Digital Transformation

The pandemic required an immediate response to adapt our approaches in how we provide education, training and assessment.

The team creatively redesigned educational programmes and assessments utilising digital technologies to create new blended learning approaches and new operating procedures

We are using innovative methods to support remote assessment of performance within the workplace using live video stream and video recordings. Trainees attend study days via an online training platform.

Feedback

Feedback from our learners, employers, and external stakeholders has been very positive:

  • It is such unusual times that we are all living through and I personally am very grateful for the support and encouragement I have had from the NES team”. (Modern Apprentice)
  • “The training was executed well. Hats off to all who worked hard to get going with the course during this unprecedented time. I feel the course was extremely well run during very difficult times” (Employer)

 Positive Outcomes

Over 80 trainees have now successfully achieved the requirements of the Modern Apprenticeship in Dental Nursing and completed their pre-registration training, with the next 90 underway.

For further information on the Modern Apprenticeship programme, check the Turas learning platform: https://learn.nes.nhs.scot/33932/dental-care-professionals/dental-nurse-modern-apprenticeship


The Scottish Apprenticeship Virtual Awards ceremony will take place on Thursday 4 March 2021, from 7.00pm-8.00pm.  The ceremony is open to everyone and you can register at:  https://www.apprenticeships.scot/events/awards/


February, 24 2021