Tom Hockley joined West Kent as an apprentice in the youth team after a week’s work experience and now, two years later, he’s been accepted to university to become a primary school teacher.
Working with young people was never a consideration for Tom, he said “I didn’t even know it was a job” but after spending time in the youth team for his work experience, Tom knew that working with young people was a career he wanted to explore further. Luckily for Tom the youth team was looking for an apprentice to join the team, he was successful at interview and joined the team in 2019.
Tom worked hard for two years building up his skills in communicating with young people aged 8-19 and he developed a knowledge of engaging with young people and running activities to aid learning. He said, “Working with young people is a very fulfilling job as you get to see their personal achievements, like their public speaking skills improve, their confidence grow or an overall positive change in their attitude”.
In September Tom is joining Canterbury Christ Church University and is looking forward to putting the skills he’s learnt as an apprentice in the youth team into practice.
West Kent currently has two youth work apprenticeships, for more information click here. Alternatively, for careers advice contact our employability team by emailing westkentworks@wkha.org.uk