Can you believe we’re at the end of 2023? Neither can we! This year has flown by, with lots of exciting moments and milestones achieved for us here at Primary Goal. As we find ourselves at the tail end of the year, we thought this would be a great opportunity to get all nostalgic and have a (digital) wander through our favourite memories of the year. 

Lloyd’s partnership 

In 2022 Primary Goal secured £580,000 of apprenticeship levy funding for St. Bart’s Multi-Academy Trust which secured over 40 places on our Digital Champion Programme resulting in Lloyd’s biggest levy share to date. This year, we went back to take a look at the impact the partnership with Lloyds Banking Group and St Barts Multi Academy Trust has had.  

Our Digital Champion Programme has boosted confidence among educators of all levels when it comes to adopting technology. With tailored training and hands-on guidance, they have not only mastered various digital tools but have also gained the assurance to seamlessly integrate them into their teaching and leadership methods. This newfound confidence doesn’t just stop at the classroom door; it radiates throughout the school community. When teachers feel secure in their ability to navigate the digital landscape, it naturally translates into more engaging and interactive lessons for the students.   

We even had local MP’s, Jonathan Gullis (Stoke-on-Trent North) and Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) visiting our schools to showcase our Digital Champions! 

Amey partnership 

Back in September, we partnered with Amey, who provided funding for Primary Goal’s Flagship Digital Champion Programme to be delivered to The Discovery Trust.   

Since then, we’ve been working directly with The Discovery Trust, enabling them to enhance and build on their current digital journey for their staff, through the Digital Champion programme. Amey provided £390,000 of apprenticeship levy as part of their ESG and CSR strategy, which is funding the upskilling of 30 members of staff across the whole trust, helping them to enhance their digital skillset.   

Over the last 18months, Primary Goal have secured over £7.8m in apprenticeship levy funding to provide digital training as part of MAT and individual school digital strategies, across England.   

We would like to take this opportunity to thank some of our fantastic apprenticeship levy sponsors which include Lloyds, Amey, WMCA, Co-op, Amazon, Sodexo and BT. We are looking forward to working with you all again and many others in 2024! 

A visit to Buckingham Palace in May 

Primary Goal’s CEO, Louise Salmon, and her husband Owen Salmon LtRN received an exclusive invitation to attend the first garden party since King Charles III coronation, hosted by the newly appointed Prince and Princess of Wales, Princess Anne and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace.  

They were recognised for supporting themes of youth (young adults), community, diversity, and sustainability during their careers. This recognition is a testament to their unwavering dedication and hard work towards the betterment of all across our society through education and sport. 

Award ceremonies  

Primary Goal’s Digital Champion Apprentice Nicola Swady swept the board at the inaugural The News and Observer Series Apprenticeship Awards, sponsored by the Royal Navy. Nicola, known as Nicci, received Technology and Digital Apprentice of the Year, presented by The News Publishing Editor, Mark Waldron, as well as the award for Health and Public Services Apprentice of the Year for her contribution within Schools, presented by CDR Sara Balls. 

Nicci is a part of the 2022-2023 wave of Portsmouth Digital Champions, who are supporting the development of the Portsmouth: The Digital City project. These apprentices, working in education, have become the experts across the city to drive forward digital change and support best practice by completing a Digital Champion apprenticeship over 15 months. Their efforts have truly embedded pedagogical digital practice and are having an extremely positive knock-on effect.  

Launch of the Portsmouth Digital City 

One of our proudest moments this year was the launch of the Portsmouth Digital City. We teamed up with the Portsmouth Education Partnership (PEP) to improve the digital skills of people in the city and close the digital education gap. 

This partnership has resulted in awards for Digital Champions across the city acknowledging their fantastic contributions, and additional technical training to upskill the city. This ripple effect is helping to close the digital skills gap within the city, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with the outcome. 

DisruptED 

Early in the year our team attended the DisruptED unconference, hosted at the iconic Battersea Power Station. The energy in the room was moving, and it was clear that everyone there was just as passionate about education and disrupting the status quo as we are. 

We heard from a wide range of speakers, including educators, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders, and it was fantastic to see some familiar faces who are benefitting from Primary Goal’s training. 

We’re going to be there in 2024 too and will be contributing to the day’s Sandbox Sessions! You can find out more details here. 

Primary Goal partnership with TA Education and Edge Computers 

In October, we partnered with TA Education and Edge Computers Ltd to roll out the Microsoft Transformation Acceleration programme to Multi Academy Trusts.  

Each school has the opportunity to nominate Digital Champions on a professional CPD opportunity that will work towards Microsoft Innovative Educator Experts (MIEE) accreditations.  

We’ve attended lots of events! 

This year has been very busy for us, we’ve been lucky enough to attend so many amazing events. These include: 

Louise Salmon presented our Digital Champion programme at Microsoft 

Canitum: The Digital Classroom  

Lauren Delday presented our Digital Champion, Professional Services and Digital Senior Leader programme to a range of schools. 

MATPN 

We attended MATPN for the first but definitely not the last time this year! It was an incredible event, that was both informative and fun. Getting the opportunity to showcase the impact of our Digital Champion Programme was a real treat. 

STEAM Festival at RAF Cosford 

We attended the STEAM Festival based at RAF Cosford. It was wonderful to catch up with some schools who already have Digital Champion’s on our programme to support their digital CPD. 

The ICT Service – ICT in Education Conference 

We joined forces with The ICT Service and Cambridgeshire Country Council to take local school’s digital strategies to the next level by offering our Digital Champion programme fully funded for all Cambridgeshire schools and academies. 

The conference and exhibition offered the chance for schools to find out more and ask any additional questions, as well as gave us the opportunity to showcase how impactful our Digital Champion programme is. 

Potteries Tech Festival

We enjoyed a day out at the Potteries Tech Fest where we shared the funding opportunities that Primary Goal has available for everyone! Our fabulous Andrew and Anne also delivered a wonderful session on Digital Sustainability.  

LGFL Conferences  

We popped to the amazing LGFL Conference in July where we spread the word about our fully funded digital skills solution. 

We’ve grown! 

Our workforce has grown by a whopping 52% in 2023. We have gone from one employee overseeing quality to hiring a dedicated team of quality experts, as well as quality running through all the management teams roles. We currently have 7 staff completing an apprenticeship, and a further 4 staff completing other non-apprenticeship qualifications.  

We’ve had some fantastic staff summer CPD days and winter CPD days, that have been all about focusing on continually developing our staff’s digital skills so that they are fully equipped to help our employers and learners. 

Quality continues to be at the centre of all we do. Our curriculum is always evolving as new and emerging technologies come into play, this is quickly added to our delivery so that apprentices are always up to date with industry trends and changes. We have also added Digital Marketer to our suite of standards, with big plans to add more next year. 

Our impact 

We’re excited to share that this year, around 200,000 pupils across England have been positively affected! Our digital apprenticeships and qualifications are so important as they don’t just provide education; they create chances for success, inspire dreams, and make a big difference in communities.   

Things to look out for in 2024 

We’ve got big things coming next year, including: 

The launch of our AI Digital Champion programme: Our Digital Champion programme has had a makeover. Although AI and emerging technologies have always been at the heart of our Digital Champion programmes, we are excited to be launching live AI training sessions for ALL of our Digital Champion programmes. AI is reshaping the world of education. This programme aims to ensure that school and college staff are proficiently equipped. Your staff will gain a deep understanding of how to implement AI solutions in their respective roles, thereby upgrading their technological expertise. This not only enhances productivity within your educational establishment but also optimises learning experiences for your students.  

The launch of our Data apprenticeships: You asked, we listened! Watch this space to find out more about our data apprenticeship launching in 2024 

What a fantastic year it has been, and we can’t wait to see what we achieve next year! Interested in helping your team improve their digital skillset in 2024? Click here to find out more.