Case Study

“I’m the Quality Assurance Manager at Springboard Sunderland Trust, where I ensure the quality of teaching and learning across our whole provision. This is achieved through learning walks, lesson observations, sampling of schemes learning, sampling learner work, capturing learner voice, and providing support and guidance to teaching staff in terms of suitable CPD opportunities.

With this year’s cohort of apprentices, it was evident that the on-the-job time must be protected, which was agreed and enforced throughout the apprenticeship. This meant having set time where apprentices could carry out these activities, as well as self-directed study and allocated CPD. I’ve had an open and honest relationship with the apprentices this year and have found drawing on my personal experience of university is a good way of empathising with the expectations and demands of Higher Education.

I’ve found one of the biggest barriers facing us this year has been the self-confidence of our apprentices. We’ve been blessed with people who are dedicated and committed to their apprenticeship, Springboard, and their learners, but we’ve found that praise and recognition have been essential in reminding them how good they are, how far they’ve come, and how proud we are of them.

We’ve discovered that apprentices have been able to take on additional responsibilities and become influential peers, for example, one apprentice is now leading on internal staff CPD sessions on the importance of formative assessment in the classroom and the impact this has on learners. Another has been promoted internally, sharing his passion and knowledge with a growing team. We’ve been lucky enough to have one of our apprentices secure a team lead position through completing the apprenticeship, and another is keen to continue with her progression within the organisation.

Apprenticeships have such a positive impact, not only on the apprentices, but on the organisation itself. One apprentice has taken on additional responsibilities to encourage peer observation, and another has used their project on approach management with suggestions for a more SEND specific learner review process. This has been widely accepted and encouraged them to take the lead.

I would advise any other organisations moving forward to consider the long-term impact apprenticeships can have on staff wellbeing, morale, and confidence, but also on the effectiveness of the team. In our case, this resulted in building confident and competent teachers who’ll continue to support and develop the young people who attend our organisation. Summing up our experience can be put as simple as a smooth process. We were supported every step of the way by the University of Sunderland.”