Helping a school make the best use of technology during lockdown

Meet Amy, who joined Stivichall Primary School after leaving school as a 16-year-old. She was the first of two apprentices to support the school – completing her programme at the end of the last academic year in 2021.

Amy says “Over the course of my apprenticeship I have developed most of the professional skills I will need going forward for my future career. I think the biggest skill I have developed and helped to flourish has been my communication skills. I was talking to teachers daily which helped me build relationships; and from that I could see how the teachers worked in the classroom, find the best piece of software for them, and teach them in the most effective way. This meant they could use it as soon as possible.”

The skills Amy picked up were put to the test after lockdown happened.

“I set up a teaching platform after talking to external companies, staff and parents with training and ‘how-to’ documents that staff could fall back on for support if I wasn’t around. We’re still using and developing it today, using the new functions that we didn’t have the chance to use during lockdown. We’ve been using it to post homework aimed at children who had to isolate.

“The whole apprenticeship has helped me develop my confidence and how I feel in the professional world. I’ve been very lucky to have this as my first job.”

Karen Ferguson, the Head Teacher at Stivichall Primary School said: “Amy has had a significant impact at the school. All the initiatives we took over lockdown would not have happened without her hard work. With our support, she was on a steep learning curve. While we’ve been focussed on the teaching and learning, Amy was in the background making sure all the technology was available for us. She’s really taken the staff with her.”