Since my last blog the work on the St. Paul’s site; Wood Street, where I’m working has increased and Designer Group now have around 10-15 plumbers on site meaning I’m very busy, Trust me. The site now being so busy has allowed me to work on different aspects of plumbing, which has included first fix install, crimped hot and cold services, i have also been helping carry out soil stack tests on the HDPE pipework and hydraulic tests on hot and cold services.
I have been learning how to refer to drawings, and also how to install the HDPE pipework, which we weld via electro-fusion welding. I also helped install lengths of rainwater pipework (HDPE) to the outside of the building on all sides – we accessed these areas through scaffolding and a moving platform.
I have also been assessed by my JTL assessor who observes me working safely which allowed me to pass activity 1 in the City and Guilds NVQ portfolio. i was confident of passing this activity as I have passed my CSCS test, passed the health and safety test at college, and have regular tool box talks delivered by Designer Group supervisors. My assessor asks me questions on working at height, first aid, and fire extinguisher types/uses. We finally made a plan for his next visit for him to see me solder, as i have some more experience in this now. I was advised to keep a journal of all first fix install that i carry out, and to ask my mentor to take photos of me carrying out the tasks to support the NVQ portfolio.
At college in practical I have been tasked with making up copper frames, which includes bending and soldering. Making up push fit frames, and also to dismantle a toilet cistern, before putting it all back together in order to gain an understanding of how it works. In theory I took the 04 unit test which is Scientific Principles, which I managed to pass with 80%. To be fair i was pretty good at Science at school.
I did find out some good news from college, and that is that i don’t have to take Functional Skills, which includes Maths, English and ICT to Level 2. These are part of the apprenticeship framework, and have to be passed, unless like me you achieved GCSE C’s or above in these subjects; This means when I leave college at 5:00, some of the boys have to stay an extra hour to cover these skills.
Finally its nice to be in an apprenticeship, getting trained and paid. I feel this is better than the other option I had of staying on at school in Sixth Form… The course allows me to save and pay for things such as my driving lessons.
[author image=”https://www.installeronline.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/MITCHELROBERTS.jpg” ]Mitchell Brown was recruited as a JTL apprentice in late summer of 2013. He celebrated his 17th birthday in October. He is employed by Designer Group, which has its UK headquarters in Shepherd’s Bush, London. One day each week is spent at Barking & Dagenham College in Romford as part of his striving to first achieve a Level 2 Plumbing qualification before moving forward to Level 3. Mitchell expects the process to last for four years. A former student of West Hatch High School in Chigwell, he achieved good GCSE grades and thought long and hard about whether to go forward to A levels, before deciding to accept the opportunity of a JTL apprenticeship. [/author]
