In the first of our interviews with apprentices, we speak to 20-year-old Casey Gardner, a second-year apprentice with Persimmon Homes North Scotland, studying at Fife College.
What’s your background?
I’m from Dunfermline and I went to Woodmill High School. I always knew I’d end up doing something practical as I really enjoyed woodwork at school.
I didn’t want to be sitting in an office all day – I need to be doing something active! I left school at 16 and did a Construction Futures course at Fife College. This covered joinery, bricklaying and painting. It was good to get a grounding in all three as at first I would have said I wanted to do joinery, so getting the opportunity to try before you decide was really useful. At the end of the year, I needed to pick one of those three trades, so I chose to do a National Progression Award (NPA) in painting and decorating. At the end of that year, our lecturers put some of the more employable students forward to be interviewed. I met with Persimmon and the next day they called me to tell me I had got the job!
I was so lucky to get it as they were interviewing people from colleges all over Scotland and there was only one painting job available in that region (North Scotland).
Where are you today and what are you up to?
I’m on site today, doing customer care in Sauchie near Alloa. We’re building a new estate made up of sustainable homes and I’m looking after any snagging before people move in. Some homeowners hire a professional snagger whose job it is to spot the things that they might miss. The most common things I’ve had to rectify are settlement cracks, which happen in all new builds.
How is your apprenticeship going?
My first year just flew by, and I’ve achieved so much in a short space of time. I’m really glad that I chose this profession, especially as there is no one in my family connected to the decorating trade. I am lucky to have Persimmon Homes as an employer as they have enabled me to enter competitions, which have allowed me to grow and develop my skills. At the same time, because I won a few of these competitions, it has raised the company’s profile.
I would always encourage anyone leaving school to try the Construction Futures course as it’s a great way to help you decide what you are good at. At the same time, employers are looking for that kind of background, as they know you already have a good grounding in decorating.
Persimmon has given me a lot of responsibility quite quickly, which proves that I’m capable of the things being asked of me.
I heard about the chance to enter the PDA Apprentice of the Year competition at college and I was totally up for it. If an opportunity like that comes along, then I am taking it.
My tutors put me into a slightly more advanced level, due to my age, but I was still a first year competing against third- and fourth-year apprentices. I thought I was going to be out of my league as everything was new to me, but I won the Scottish heat and went through to the finals in Doncaster. I didn’t win that but it gave me a taste for more.
My next competition was the Scottish Association of Painting Craft Teachers (SAPCT) and, although I was a first year competing against third and fourth years (and even one time-served painter), I won first place in the Advanced Craft category. My prize was a spray plastering course. I’m looking forward to taking part in SkillBuild this year and so grateful to the college and Persimmon for supporting me through
these opportunities.
My family has been so supportive. It’s also rather handy having someone that can do some decorating around the house. My wee brother (10) thinks I’m famous because I’ve been in the newspaper for the awards I’ve won, so I’m decorating his room. He came up with a mural idea for me to paint and I bought a mini projector so I could project it on the wall and paint it. He loves it!
What skills are you learning?
Because I’m working exclusively on new builds, I knew that I wouldn’t get to do certain things that might crop up on my course, such as wallpapering or signwriting. That just made me even more determined to learn those skills in my spare time. I have wallpapered my room at home for instance and I love marbling too. I’ve actually bought all the tools to do marbling and I’ve been practising that kind of thing at home.
I’m doing an additional qualification as part of my course, which not everyone does – it’s Advanced Craft (Level 7). Persimmon has kindly agreed to fund that.
I’m also taking driving lessons, as currently I rely on my uncle to pick me up and drop me off on site. If I didn’t have him, I would need to get the bus to work.