Life under lockdown as a YAAN
Life under Lockdown as a YAAN
Hello! My name is Marnie and I have now been working for
Devon County Council for almost three years, joining on an apprenticeship.
My current job title is Participation Worker for South and
West Devon. My role includes running Children in Care and Care leaver groups
monthly, creating countywide events to mark important occasions such as
Takeover Day and facilitating Youth Parliament campaigning locally. Most importantly, I make sure that our Devon young people have the opportunity
to talk about what is important to them.
When
I first joined DCC, I came in on a Higher Level Personal Assistant
apprenticeship where I undertook Level 4 Business Administration. This was a
perfect fit for me as I had no clue where I wanted to be next year, let alone
in five year’s time. The apprenticeship was flexible and put me in several
placements within the organisation, including; Highways, Finance, Adult Social
Care and Children Social Care. Moving around grew my understanding of what I
was professionally interested in doing and built my report with Senior Managers
and Heads of Service’s as I supported them closely. From here, my passion for
working in Childrens Services grew and working for the Head of Childrens Social
Care and their Senior management team meant I could learn alongside them and
discover volunteering opportunities that would be relevant.
The
apprenticeship team had a calendar of sessions to get involved in throughout my
apprenticeship, these included workshops on interviews, finances and public
speaking. We also had the opportunity to volunteer in our local areas and give
back to the community, me and my cohort went to Stover Country Park and planted
600 trees for the day. Alongside this, I could also join the YAAN which is the
Young Apprentice Ambassador Network. The YAAN is a collection of apprentices
who go into schools, career fairs and organisations to speak about their
apprenticeship experience and what the pros/cons were for them. We meet four
times a year and also have a training session to prepare you for entering
schools and talking openly about your learning experience.
Doing
all of the above in the two years I was an apprentice meant that I communicated
with all levels of the organisation from visitors to the chief executive, the
apprenticeship team also created opportunities like the volunteering to help us
get in touch with our local area and championing the YAAN meant we meet with
business owners and apprentices from all over the South West. I am a strong
advocate for apprenticeships and will always suggest them to those around me
who are unsure of what to do after school or if they want to change their
career pathway. My advice to those who are looking into them is to see if there
are vacancies in a particular organisation you are interested in, you will then
be able to build a report with your colleagues whilst learning and discover
opportunities within that business.
During lockdown, I am still working! Albeit virtually, I now
run my children in care and care leaver groups over Zoom three times a week. I
have also had more time to commit to admin tasks and forward planning for the
year and being able to help out with other services like the Step Forward team
in Apprenticeships. Although our role focuses heavily on face to face contact
with our young people, we have been able to build up the online groups to be
popular and engaging and also have 1-1 Facetime sessions frequently with those
who want too. I feel like it has also bonded our team closer together as we
have had the time to be able to communicate properly with each other and have a
15 minute coffee morning catch up over Teams!
Outside of work, I’ve been trying to learn as much stuff as
possible that I would usually put off due seeing friends or having plans. My
mums hobby is dancing so she has been teaching me how to Jive and Lindy Bop, a
new skill I will be taking on a night out when this is over! I have also been
trying to do Yoga every morning and a home workout every afternoon but I do
struggle to stay motivated.. I also became an auntie to a new puppy… a little
dachshund so she is getting all our love and attention at the moment!
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