Back to School with Top Advice
An Alfreton teenager has gone from class clown to head boy since leaving school for one of the UK’s leading training providers which has a base in the town.
Jamie Brentnall left Frederick Gent School in South Normanton at 16 to work full-time for a high street confectionary chain before being made redundant.
That could have seen him joining the ranks of the unemployed young – but instead he headed for a training organisation in the town centre.
TBG Learning, which operates learning centres across the country, was so impressed with his attitude it offered him a job – completing a hat-trick of Alfreton team members that have completed the transition from learner to employee following senior staff Tina Coupland and John Mapletoft.
Jamie is now TBG’s marketing and sales co-ordinator, encouraging others to find their own route to employment. One of the ways in which he does this is by going into local schools and talking to current students – and perhaps fittingly the first school he visited was Frederick Gent.
“I started working at Thornton’s after I left school but got laid off so I joined the Education to Employment (E2E) course at TBG Learning,” said the 19-year-old.
“I then did a placement with the centre manager supporting the ICT tutors before being offered a full-time role in administration.
“In October I moved into marketing and sales and I am really enjoying getting out there and promoting what we do and speaking to people who we might be able to help.
“Frederick Gent was the first school I went into once I started my new job marketing. That particular school doesn’t normally allow other providers in but obviously I knew all the teachers so they let me come in.
“I used to be class clown and when I went back and spoke to some of my old tutors they didn’t even recognise me.
“All of my school friends went to university. They are surprised at how well I am doing and argue about the fact I am now earning more money!”
But Jamie doesn’t need to be getting paid to put the hours in. He has also been working hard during his own time to raise money for charity and help young people in the area.
He added: “We recently raised £520 for Women v Cancer with a weekend bucket collection at B&Q in Somercotes.
“I was there for two days collecting and talking to people. This was something I was keen to be involved in as I have had two family members affected by cancer, one who survived and one who didn’t.
“I do some voluntary work at the Polygon Youth Club in the town and that is really rewarding too.”
TBG Learning is a not-for-profit organisation that helps 30,000 people break down barriers to employment every year by offering employability and training opportunities.
Cherry Brooks is the firm’s business manager for Derbyshire and feels Jamie’s story is a great example of what can be achieved through this sort of programme, no matter how well people have responded to traditional teaching techniques in the past.
She said: “Jamie has changed enormously since he first came to us and we couldn’t be more pleased for him.
“The fact that Jamie has been through our training process himself puts him in a fantastic position to accurately describe its benefits to those thinking of participating.
“It is also great that he has carried this positive attitude into his own time, volunteering and doing charity work to help others less fortunate.
“It just goes to show what can be achieved when you are proactive.”
Back to News