Events Calendar

The 13th annual National Apprenticeship Week date has been announced today – and will take place from 3 to 7 February 2020.

National Apprenticeship Week is an annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships across England and is a time to recognise and applaud apprenticeship success stories across the country.

Apprenticeship employers use the opportunity to promote the success of their apprentices and highlight the huge benefits to other employers, of all sizes, who are thinking of taking on an apprentice.

Apprentices across the country will also be celebrated throughout the week, with engagement and events in schools and colleges. Many current and former apprentices will go back to school to tell their story, attracting the next generation of apprentices, so they too can fire up their future career.

Throughout the 13 years, National Apprenticeship Week has brought together apprenticeship supporters from across the country, with MPs, ambassadors, apprentices, training providers and top employers involved in recognising the value and importance of apprenticeships.

For NAW2020 we want even more people to get behind the week, to build on last year’s success, which included:

• Over 1250 events taking place across England;
• NAW2019, National Apprenticeship Week and #BlazeATrail all trending UK wide on Twitter over the course of the Week;
• Over 30,000 unique visits to the NAW resource pages on GOV.UK;
• And a hugely successful #askanapprentice day with employers, including TUI, Bentley Careers, Siemens UK, AXA Insurance and Cisco all getting involved.

Submit your NAW2020 event to the WISE Calendar

WISE Webinar: The Parent Trap: Accommodating working parents in the technology sector

A recording of this webinar is available for WISE members to view by clicking here (must be logged into the WISE website)

Jo Haslam, WISE Computing Award Winner 2019, will examine how the technology sector is accommodating parents.

Jo explains: “Becoming a parent changes everything, but it shouldn’t have to mean sacrificing your career in the technology industry. Although it should be one of the best industries to allow flexible working, many companies still don’t make it easy for working parents to balance their work and home lives.

“The games industry, in particular, is mostly sustained by younger people whose average time working in this sector is five years. That number is even less for women who most often need more flexible working conditions. At this talk, you’ll hear about my experiences from my twenties and into my thirties, becoming a mother and determined not to become another statistic.

“I’ve now been working in the games industry for 12 years and counting. At my company, Snap Finger Click, I’ve been involved in implementing a number of methods to help our staff work flexibly, allowing parents and whoever else needs it to work from home, choose their own hours, and take time off whenever they need it.

“Why restrict our talent pool and drive away our most experienced people? Through this talk, I want to share our success stories, encouraging other companies to better accommodate working parents. A long-term career in technology is something that should be achievable for everyone, no matter what life brings you.”

Jo has been a game designer for 12 years and currently works as a Design Director, making console games for multiplayer and interactive streaming, at Snap Finger Click. She started out in the games industry on the BAFTA award-winning Buzz! after graduating from Sussex University with a first-class BSc in Computer Science and an MA in Digital Media.

This webinar is for WISE members.

Booking for this event is now closed

WISE recognises that many academic institutions are working hard to support and increase the number of female students and staff and to bring gender diversity to their traditionally male dominated STEM departments.

Join WISE to discuss the changes to Athena SWAN, hear about new products and services from WISE to further support our academic members and share best practice and network with peers and colleagues.

This event is for WISE members only.

Places are limited. Pre-booking is essential.

IoC Conference 2020

The Institute of Coding is hosting its second annual conference in London 24-25 February 2020. Please save the date and plan to join us.

WISE CEO Helen will be a guest speaker on the ‘Getting women into tech roles’ panel on day 2 of the conference.

View the agenda

This conference is designed for a diverse audience of policymakers, employers, educators, and learners, and will bring together a broad group of participants to find collaborative ways to respond to topics of national interest, including the digital skills gap and the need for better diversity and inclusion in the sector.

Conference title and theme

The title of the IoC’s conference 2020 is ‘Thinking Differently’ and the theme is lifelong learning. The question we will ask at the conference is how a new focus on lifelong learning would change the United Kingdom.

Specifically, conference sessions will look at:

• Diversity of participation (diversity and inclusion)
• Diversity of delivery (place-based learning and personalisation)
• Diversity of destination (different outcomes for a wider variety of learners)

To get involved

Our call for participation is closed, but we are currently inviting conference sponsorships. If you’d like to showcase your success at our conference, please see our sponsorship plan below in PDF and Word formats.

If you would like more information on sponsorship, please email: IoC@bath.ac.uk.