KS3 / KS4 Business: apprentice dental nurse for a day

NARRATOR:'High-tech engineer, dental nurse, hairdresser. An apprenticeship can be a great way to get yourself skilled up without going to uni, and earn some hard cash while you're training. There are currently over 1,500 types of job you can do as an apprentice.'

NARRATOR:'To find out more, we got together six school students. Each will discover what it's like to be an apprentice for a day.'

NARRATOR:'Here's Josh's story.'

JOSHHi, my name's Josh, I'm 16. And at school I study A-Levels in maths, chemistry, physics and biology. One of my hobbies is climbing.

JOSH:As well as my climbing, I enjoy doing rugby.

JOSH:I've got a moderate hearing loss, so I've got to wear hearing aids to bring it to a normal level, and they sit inside the ear.

JOSH:They haven't kept me back from doing anything.

JOSH:I don't really know what apprenticeships involve, so I'd be keen to find out and learn more.

NARRATOR:'Josh and the other would-be apprentices meet someone who knows plenty about jobs and how to choose the right one.'

AIMEE:What I'd really like you to do is make sure that your employer understands what an apprenticeship is all about, and they're not just going to use you for cheap labour, or to do all of the jobs that nobody else wants to do. Make sure that you do your research, okay?

AIMEE:So make sure that the employer is going to take your apprenticeship seriously. I don't want you guys being taken advantage of. The good thing is to have a really good understanding of where you want to end up, where the destination is. But have lots of different routes, research all avenues on how to get there.

AIMEE:So if one way doesn't work out, one way doesn't make you happy, you can just take another route.

NARRATOR:'Josh has an in-depth session with careers mentor, Aimee.'

JOSH:So, Josh, have you had a thought of what you might like to do with your career?

JOSH:Well, I've looked at dentistry.

AIMEE:Okay.

JOSH:I did some work experience and found it really interesting.

AIMEE:So how are you thinking that you are going to get there?

JOSH:Well I'm studying my A levels now, and the dental courses that I've looked at are 3 As, or an A and a B.

AIMEE:Very competitive, yeah.

JOSH:So that's a lot of pressure to put on someone to try and get those grades.

AIMEE:You could actually use an apprenticeship as a route to that goal. An apprenticeship as a dental nurse would be a really good way for you to then get on to a dental degree. I think that would be a really good option for you, so that you haven't put a massive amount of pressure on this one route.

JOSH:Yeah.

AIMEE:And what we've arranged is for you to spend a day with an award-winning dental practice. How does that sound?

JOSH:Yeah, that sounds exciting. It'd be a good experience.

AIMEE:You up for it?

JOSH:Yeah.

NARRATOR:'Josh is spending the day with a dental practice owned and run by husband and wife team, Jim and Marcia Fotheringham. They've won national recognition for their apprentice training programme.'

JOSH:Ready to work!

NARRATOR:'Josh is going to shadow recently qualified dental nurse Philippa. After passing GCSEs in maths, English and science, then a diploma in health care at college, Philippa took a year's apprenticeship here, gaining an NVQ Level 3.'

PHILLIPA:It is a good job, really challenging and rewarding. I do like being in the surgery, that's my favourite bit, to be working alongside the dentist.

NARRATOR:'She's going to show Josh how a surgery works.'

PHILLIPA:Hiya, nice to meet you.

JOSH:Nice to meet you.

PHILLIPA:I think it's helpful to work on the job alongside dentists, and other nurses that have done the course as well.

PHILLIPA:And then going to college one night a week, because there was other girls on the courses that we did, and they were just at college, whereas we were working alongside a dentist at the time, and we knew a lot more and were picking up on it a lot faster than what they were.

JIM:I'm happy to put a repair on it but I think at least we'll take an X-ray.

JOSH:We're just X-raying a patient's tooth to see what's causing the problems in his mouth.

JIM:There's so little tooth left you need to put some reinforcement in there, so it probably needs a root filling.

JOSH:What subjects did you do at school that you find useful now?

PHILLIPA:Obviously, your sciences, things like that are useful, but also stuff like your English.

PHILLIPA:IT was good because everything is on computers now. It used to be all on cards, but it's all on to computers now. When a dentist is dictating notes, telling you which teeth are missing, which teeth have got amalgam fillings, composites, crowns, you need to be able to keep on track of all that.

PHILLIPA:I think it's nice to challenge yourself and do that extra bit, so you can go on to university. So this is a glass-ionomer cement that we're going to mix today, which is a filling material that's used in dentistry.

PHILLIPA:I would like to go into dental hygiene, but, in the meantime, I would like to do some other courses like radiography, oral health, things like that, which is always good to get extra qualifications before you go on to do other things.

NARRATOR:'It's time to meet the boss, and find out what it takes to get on an apprenticeship here.'

MARCIA:We obviously are looking for people with GCSE qualifications. But though, there been times when we have had a person who started out as just coming in as a cleaner, they then became a receptionist, they then became a nurse, and the particular person I'm now thinking of is off at university becoming a dentist.

JOSH:What kind of qualities are you looking for when you take on a young apprentice?

MARCIA:I always say to people get as much education as you can, but, in case you are somebody who really hasn't had it, don't let that stop you from coming in. As long as you are interested in doing the work, because obviously you need the education once you come in here, so you need to be willing to do that.

MARCIA:As long as you are somebody like that, we can always work with the rest of it.

JOSH:You don't see many male dental nurses. Is it a job you would recommend for a male?

MARCIA:I think that the profession of dental nurses had been affected in a negative way by low salaries at one point. I think since that's changed, I'm hoping and I expect to see more men apply for those kinds of positions because now they are getting paid well, and making money is always good.

JOSH:I've really enjoyed today. It's been a good experience. I've learnt a lot. I definitely think an apprenticeship could be a good way into the profession.