Shirelle joined us as a TA apprentice in October 2020, she gained employment in a local Primary School and worked initially in Year 1 with the class teacher and 1 other TA.
Shirelle was educated in South Africa, because of this she also needed to complete Functional Skills alongside the apprenticeship. Shirelle was a more mature learner who had a family of her own and many other responsibilities in her life. She showed total commitment to the apprenticeship, managing her work, life and education with dedication and excellent time management!
Shirelle’s experience within school was varied, partially due to Covid and the lockdown situations, she experience working within the school as a whole and later only working with key children then reverting back to normal education practices with full classes of children. As part of her experience working in the school she also worked in Year 4 and supported children with additional learning, social and emotional needs. In the later stages of the apprenticeship Shirelle developed, and ran, an intervention programme supporting pupils who struggled with school due to social and emotional difficulties.
All of the teaching sessions that Shirelle attended as part of her apprenticeship were delivered online, she was an active member of the cohort supporting other learner’s, participating fully in activities and discussions and completing exceptional pieces of evidence for her portfolio. Feedback from Shirelle’s mentor at school was always positive, praising her for her adaptability, hard work and positive relationships with both children and staff.
Shirelle continued to develop and progress throughout the apprenticeship, gaining knowledge and skills that helped her to support the children within her setting.
During this time Shirelle also completed her functional skills training, sat the exams and passed them both first time.
Shirelle completed her apprenticeship on the 1st February 2022, sitting her EPA exam and gaining a DISTINCTION.
Upon completion the school employed her part time working in Year 5, Shirelle interviewed for, and gained, another position in a different local Infant School working in the reception class for the remainder of the week. This additional role developed into a full time position within the Infant school, Shirelle continued to work in Reception with the added responsibilities of running intervention programmes to support pupils in Year 2.
In April 2024 Shirelle first joined us at System People, she was initially employed in the role of Learning Advisor for our LGV apprentices, this was a huge learning curve for
Shirelle! There was a great deal of information to learn about the logistics industry including laws, legislations and driver hours. Shirelle welcomed the challenge and worked closely with Kayleigh who took a key role in supporting Shirelle’s development. Shirelle continued in this role supporting our learners for four months.
During the time that Shirelle had joined the company and had been supporting the logistics apprentices we had a shift in learner numbers, Education apprenticeship numbers grew and Logistics numbers declined due to the success of the Skills Bootcamp. After speaking to Shirelle she agreed to move from the Logistics department over to Education, back to where she started as a learner!
Shirelle has now been working within Education for nearly 8 months. She has been a huge hit with our learners, delivering her own TA classes and supporting learners and mentors across the county. Shirelle brings a unique perspective to her role, one which can only make the experience better and more productive for all of her learner’s. Shirelle shares her own experiences, looks for the positives in every situation and I hope that she will be with us for many years to come.
Shirelle is supporting her first learner to go through Gateway, the upload being due the middle of March. We wish Shirelle and her learner all the best with the upcoming Gateway and can’t wait for the result!