How did you and your fellow apprentices celebrate National Apprenticeship Week?
Our management team got us gifts all through the week, so we had ‘Maltesers Monday’ when we all got chocolates, and they gave us flowers another day, and the children made us thank you cards to show their appreciation too. It was really lovely.
What do you enjoy about being an apprentice?
I didn’t always want to work in childcare. When I left school with two A Levels I wanted to be a PE teacher. But since I joined the nursery I have loved it. Every day is different and planning out children’s futures for them is really rewarding. I’m doing my NVQ Level 3 and I hope to qualify in May. I’m really looking forward to it. I want to be a room or a team leader and work my way up within Childbase as I truly love what I do.
What opportunities for professional development do you have?
I’ve done a first-aid course and a ‘Teach to Reach’ course where we learned about extending children’s learning. We had to act as children to help us think what they would do, and we got to meet other apprentices from across the company. The more training I do, the more interesting the job becomes. As well as training, the management team always asks us for ideas, or whether we have interests in other roles. That’s how I became charity representative for the nursery, organising lots of fundraising events, such as a five-mile walk from Leamington to Warwick that raised over £1,000.