Apprentice Feedback

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Helen Connor: Library and Knowledge Services Manager.

'I undertook a level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor apprenticeship during my role as Library and Knowledge Services Manager at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, as a new manager in the NHS I wanted to enhance my management skills and learn the theories behind how to be a competent leader.

I enrolled onto the apprenticeship May 2023. I was guided by the apprenticeship manager through the registration process with the provider Ixion and assigned a Teaching Assessor. Ixion set up a plan of class-based learning on Teams which taught me different aspects of leadership and the relevant theories attached.

 I was set an assignment to complete after each teaching session which gave opportunities to provide examples on specific skills , knowledge and behaviours in my workplace. Books and online articles could be accessed through Stenhouse Library to help me complete the assignments.  I would receive feedback on my assignments and if I experienced any difficulties I could approach my TA, Apprenticeship Manager or Line Manager who would be there to support me. 20% of my time at work was given to work on my apprenticeship which allowed me to undertake training, keep up my journal and write assignments. As the apprenticeship is work-based much of the programme and the tasks set fitted in with my normal day-to-day work.

In July 2024 I completed my End Point Assessment (EPA) which was comprised of a presentation and questions & answers on my portfolio. During my EPA I was able to demonstrate what I had learnt during my apprenticeship and I pleased to say I received a distinction!

I had a great experience undertaking my apprenticeship from start to finish and has allowed me to learn theories on leadership and management and be able to put this into practice in my day-to-day work'

For more information about Team Leader/Supervisor Level 3 apprenticeship please click on the link below:

Team leader or supervisor / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education 

For more information about all apprenticeships please email:  krft.apprenticeships@nhs.net

Lincy Antony: Advanced Nurse Practitioner: Message from Chief Executive Jo Farrah:

'Talking about celebrating brilliant colleagues, it was great to take some time out this week to congratulate Senior Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) Lincy Antony for passing her MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice apprenticeship with distinction in July 2024.

Lincy is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner within the Breast Team at Kingston Hospital responsible for assessing, diagnosing, treating and monitoring patients with breast disease and breast cancer. Lincy also supports and trains new advanced nurse practitioners. Lincy enrolled onto the MSc in Advanced Clinical Practice with the University of West London May 2022 and completed the programme successfully July 2024. My hope is that Lincy’s achievement will inspire more colleagues to explore the advanced clinical practice pathway and how they might take their career to the next level in a specialist field. I encourage anyone interested to watch our ACP webinar '

To find out more about the Advanced Clinical Practitioner (Integrated Degree) please click on the link below 

Advanced clinical practitioner (integrated degree) / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education 

For more information about all apprenticeships please email:   krft.apprenticeships@nhs.net 

Donna Turvey: Senior Committee Secretary and Admin Lead for Learning from Deaths.

Onboarding process: 'This was really easy. It was made clear as to what information was required and there was support from both the apprenticeship team and Cambridge Spark. Setting up the accounts on Aptem and Edukate was easy'

Cambridge Spark – Data Mentor and Coach: 'I felt my coach was supportive and thorough in my catch ups with my coach and my manager.

As the course went on and I got to know my coach better, I felt they were personable and approachable. 

I started off with a different data mentor to who I finished with. When my new Data Mentor came along, they had lots of feedback on ways to improve in order to get it to distinction level. This feedback was important to me'

Workshops and Learning: 'I felt all topics required to be learnt were covered in the workshops/EduKate pre-learning and the trainers who delivered the training were excellent. The trainers definitely made this experience for me – they were engaging, approachable, knowledgeable, supportive and made the (fairly long) workshops fun to attend. The videos are great. The learning modules on EduKate started off really well. The first few modules there were videos, quizzes and activities to complete which really helped to embed learning. The post-workshop activities were really engaging with some quite big tasks to complete.

The workshops themselves, there were usually 2-3 break-out sessions during the workshops where we would break out into smaller groups and tasked with completing an activity. We were always encouraged to work together to complete these tasks so you could learn from each other'

End Point Assessment: 'The process through Gateway was easy and straight forward and I felt fully supported by my manager, coach and data mentor. It was a little daunting as I was one of the first (if not the first) to go through Gateway in my cohort. The examining body, Accelerate People, I felt had good communication prior to the examination date and there were no issues with the pre-work required to be submitted to them. I had a particularly nice examiner who made me feel at ease, comfortable and supported throughout the exam.

 I particularly have to mention my examiner patience. I had some very bad technical issues halfway through the exam which was almost getting to the point of having to reschedule to sit the exam on another day, however the examiner gave me time to contact IT and get the situation resolved and talked me through how to change some of my settings on my computer in order to be able to carry on. 

My examiner was patient and supported me through in a calming and friendly manner. I would say overall I have very much enjoyed completing this apprenticeship. I had a change in direct colleagues towards the start of the course with my previous colleague leaving I had to pick up a lot of their workload.

 I helped train their replacement, and at the same time formally increased my job role/responsibilities which took me from a Band 4 to a Band 5, and there has been a huge amount of work required for the disaggregation and merger in our team, with the disaggregation seeing our team lose both our community patient safety managers and us having to pick up their workload. I must commend my manager as they have been fully supportive throughout and understanding and would always show this support in my review meetings with my Coach'

For more information about all apprenticeships please email: 

krft.apprenticeships@nhs.net

Richard Vinluan: Team Administrator: Infection Prevention and Control.

' I enrolled onto a Data Technician Level 3 apprenticeship with Cambridge Spark March 2023 and have successfully passed with a merit grade and achieved a pass in the scenario demonstration section and also a distinction for my portfolio. I have had an amazing experience learning with Cambridge Spark, all of the tutors and mentors were super helpful throughout my learning journey and were always available to answer any questions or help me with anything. The modules and tasks were manageable and the programme has already made a big difference in my team by improving the way data is recorded and how spreadsheets are used. My line manager and team were great in allowing flexibility to study, research and write my portfolio around my day-to-day tasks. Hopefully I will look to do a level 4 Digital Business analyst apprenticeship or something similar later down the line with Cambridge Spark. I cannot recommend Cambridge Spark enough and look forward to the celebration dinner held in Cambridge that I have been invited to attend end of September'

For more information about Data Technician Level 3 apprenticeship please click on the link below:

Data technician / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education 

For more information about all apprenticeships please email:  krft.apprenticeships@nhs.net

Ohunene Peters: Forensic Admin Team:

 'I achieved 2 distinctions for both assessments with my Customer Services Practitioner Level 2 apprenticeship with Lifetime Training. 1 distinction for my Practical Observation and another for my Professional Discussion. My TA expressed throughout the practical observation I demonstrated excellent dedication to my role and responsibilities, methodically working through tasks and checking and confirming all entries were correct before completing and saving my work. During my professional discussion my TA confirmed I described a wide range of both internal and external customers and I identified needs such as efficiency when working together with internal customers to be able to competently support each other towards the overall aim of improving health and well-being of children in the borough. All that I need to complete now is the remaining part of my showcase report which is the final part of my apprenticeship programme once a date has been fixed. I want to use this feedback as an opportunity to thank the apprenticeship team and apprenticeship provider for all of the support and kindness I have received along the way with my learning journey'

For more information about the Customer Services Practitioner Level 2 apprenticeship please click on the link below: 

Customer service practitioner / 

Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education 

For more information about all apprenticeships please email: krft.apprenticeships@nhs.net