Anita's story

Anita was working for us as an admin lead for around 6 months when she saw the Level 3 Leadership and Management apprenticeship advertised in our staff Learning and Development newsletter.

After a quick chat with her manager Anita applied and was offered the opportunity.

Anita said, 'at that point I was line managing eight members of staff and although I had done some line management in a previous job, I hadn't had any formal training to give me the confidence or background in what I was doing. The basic training gave some background on the expectation of the role but not the reasoning behind actions and various ways to deal with issues and changes. Completing further training introduced some models and methods and went into more detail.

The way our training was organised meant that there was a cohort of people going through the training at the same time. We were working to a similar schedule and the regular face to face group sessions meant there was a support network which was one of the best parts of the training. As an apprentice 20% of the work week is set aside your apprenticeship but I occasionally found myself working on assignments and the portfolio in my own time.

My skills coach was aware that I had a life outside of work and that sometimes meant that deadlines could be moved. As long as you're working hard and making progress you get to do things your own way. All of my colleagues from managers, team members and wider services were all supportive. They completed forms if I needed their opinions and were able to make time to sit down and explain areas where I had less experience or limited exposure to in my role.

The course has given me a much wider knowledge about what being a manager is and what kind of manager I want to be. The course isn't just a checklist of what a manager should do, it gives you the knowledge, skills and behaviours that a leader and manager should demonstrate. Even though I've changed roles within the Trust since starting the apprenticeship so much of it is transferable that I will be using what I've learnt for a very long time!'