Over the last 18 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has created significant disruption to all aspects of our lives, including the work of the National Trust and opportunities for learning and development. During this time, the support available to learners progressing through their HSPs has been scaled back, whilst changes have been made within the Trust to help it begin to move forward again as things unlock. The Trust has also taken some of this time to review its plans for the HSPs and consider their future.
The Trust has made the decision to close the HSP programme to new applicants, but we are keen to support learners already completing their HSPs to gain recognition for their achievements. Existing learners can continue to complete and submit their units until 03 November 2021, to give them the opportunity to submit units which they have already completed, finish units which they have started, and to complete any units which they feel are particularly important to them. Once these have been reviewed and confirmed, they will receive a certificate that recognises all of the units that they have completed.
The Trust and its processes have changed significantly since the passports were originally created. In order to ensure their currency, they would now need to be updated to make sure that they reflect the topics important to the Trust and its ways of working. As such, the decision has been taken to pursue other learning and development opportunities, including Apprenticeships.
Learners already enrolled on an HSP, their managers and mentors, were contacted via e-mail on 30 September 2021 to explain the process for submitting their final units and getting recognition for their hard work. If you did not receive this communication and feel that you should have been included, please contact the Heritage Skills Passport team.
The Trust feels that this should give sufficient time to complete any units which are in progress, or any units which are especially important to the learners. If you are concerned about this, or feel that there are exceptional circumstances which apply to your situation then please contact the Heritage Skills Passport team.
The Trust will look at appropriate Apprenticeship programmes to replace the passports.
Details of all current development opportunities can be found on the Training and Development hub.
The materials will still be available for you to use, should you wish to use them as a framework for developing yourself or your team. Care should, however, be taken as these materials may not be up to date in their content or reflect current practices within the Trust.
The Heritage Skills Passport team keeps records of all of the units which have been submitted for review. You can contact the Heritage Skills Passport team for a list of those units which have been received and confirmed by us.
Where you have completed units but they have not been submitted to us, these will not form part of our records.
Details of all passports and the units within them, along with the HSP guidance material, can now be found online at heritageskillspassport.com/mentors. Select the correct passport from the menu on the right-hand side for more details.
Where you completed work in your folder, but did not submit a copy to us, we will not have a record of this.
The time window provided is designed to allow you to finish off any units that are currently in progress and any units you are particularly keen to undertake. You do not need to complete all of the units within your passport.
Yes. Electronic record forms (in both word and interactive PDF formats) can be found online at heritageskillspassport.com/mentors, along with your passport units and guidance materials.
Electronic record forms should be signed off and submitted to us as normal at submissions@heritageskillspassport.com.
All learners will get recognition for their achievements. You will receive a certificate which lists the passport which you have undertaken and the units which you have completed.
Where your manager is no longer with the Trust, you should discuss your work with your new line manager. Where this is not possible, please send any completed documentation directly to us at submissions@heritageskillspassport.com for review.
Where appropriate, speak to your line manager to see if anyone else in your team is able to support you. Where this is not possible, you can gather the evidence required for your unit and send it straight to us at submissions@heritageskillspassport.com, letting us know the situation so that we can take it into account when reviewing your work.
Yes. All of the documents relating to the passports can be found via the following link: heritageskillspassport.com/mentors.
If you have any other questions or need further support to complete your units, please contact the Heritage Skills Passport Team at info@heritageskillspassport.com.
If you have any questions regarding the decisions taken around the HSP programme, or learning and development more widely, please contact Rose.Lundie@nationaltrust.org.uk.