Next Step Apprenticeships - Schools
Judith - Level 4 School Business Professional Apprenticeship
My appraisal had identified a desire to widen my skills and
knowledge and the School Business Professional Apprenticeship seemed an ideal
way to do this. I had started working in
School Admin when my children were small as it provided family friendly hours,
but as they got older I was looking for more challenge and had more time to
offer.
I started on the course in June 2021 with an online session
and over the next two years met my fellow students four times in person with
sessions held in Oxford. I was allocated
a Coach to support me through my studies and found their input really useful,
we met virtually within each module.
This was an opportunity to talk about how the course was impacting on my
work and a chance to reflect and consider the future.
There were six modules to my course: HR, Finance. Marketing,
Infrastructure, Managing Support Services and Procurement. After the introductory in person sessions
there was online work to complete exploring the topics in more depth. There were activities that I completed and
then assessment questions as well. These
took my learning and applied them to my school as well as exploring the topics
theoretically. School supported me giving
me time to complete my studies in the working week, and individuals gave their
time to allow me to ask questions and talk through my assignments.
To complete the assessment, I also undertook a work based
project, which was a great example of transferring my learning to the
workplace. I chose to focus on HR and
looked at our induction processes and procedures.
When all my work was complete I went to ‘Gateway’ which is
the final assessment involving a written assessment and presentation of my
response, then verbal questioning and presentation of my work based
project. It was a relief to hear a week
later that I had passed with a distinction.
It was the culmination of a lot of work.
When I initially considered an apprenticeship I thought I
was too old! I turned forty a month
after starting the course but it has been a great way to study while working
and extend my knowledge. It has helped
me move into a School Business Manager role and although every day is a school
day in terms of learning I feel I have a great foundation on which to build.
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