Off travk apprentice Review

When at Westwood we are in classrooms learning and doing coursework to get our NVQs but when we are in our local depots back at home we are experiancing what life is like on the tracks. We go out with the gangs and observe to see what they do and experiance what we would be doing in just a few months time.

I have developed my collaboration skills because on track we have to work in teams to get things done. We also have to look after each other in order to stay safe on track because the trains are still running. In off track. We deal with the public and people who live near the tracks and so being able to enhance my collaboration and speaking skills is necessary.

I enjoy my programme alot because at Westwood, we meet lots of new people all over the country that are in the same shoes as you and so are going through what you are going through. We also get to experiance new things such as working on track and working with new tools. Alot of us have never dreamt of even stepping foot on track so to have this experience is unbelievable.

The programme is structured very well because they use to make us stay at Westwood for 21 weeks straight just learning to get our NVQs but now they send us home more often to experience what we will be doing as careers instead which gets us use to how things are going to work out isntead of having to come out fresh from Westwood not knowing anything

We get alot of support from Network rail. They make sure we are fit and well for work. Anything worrying us they made it easy to approach them because they made it out as if they are our friends and not our employers and so we built a bond with them.

We recieve alot of support from our trainers. They have a group of people called ADCs who help you if you need any help with the work or you feel like you are struggling. They do anything in their power to make you feel comfortable to ensure that we pass all our subjects.

We learn about health and safery within the work place with Babcock. This helps us perform our roles better because when we go out there into the world of work it helps us keep each other safe especially because we all work in such a safety critical environment. It also means that anything that we see unsafe, we can challenge at get everyone home safe everyday

We do fitness twice a week because our jobs are so physically demanding. In fit 2, we learn theory about our bodies and what makes us healthy, how to eat healthy, why sleep is good for you and how to improve your fitness depending on your goal. In fit 1 or 3, we do phyical activities such as circuits or we are in the gym

Yes

Network rail is such a big company that you could find yourself in. The opportunities they have is immense that you could find yourself doing things you never thought you could do. It allows you to bring the best version of you out. It also allows you to find something you could enjoy doing for the rest of your life. And if you are a person that like to do alot of things, the opportunity is there

Be the best version of you and dont give them the answers you think they want to hear, give them the answers that are true to you. Make sure that you stay calm during the process and you dont need to know anything about the rail to apply so you dont need to worry about that