Whilst my early career was in finance, I left following the birth of my daughter to look after her at home and support my wife’s return to work, as gender equality is important to me.
Once my daughter reached school age I joined the office team at Brookwood Primary School, allowing me to continue supporting my family whilst also contributing to my daughter’s school in the local community.
I have always had a personal interest in computers and technology as a hobby and therefore was able to help the Brookwood team with minor technical issues as well as getting to know the BET IT team. I applied for an apprenticeship opportunity with BET IT as this presented a chance to study and learn in greater depth about IT, whilst also gaining practical experience of what day-to-day life working as an IT professional is like. It’s thoroughly motivating to have a goal to aim for and the apprenticeship sets out a clear program of how I can study towards a professionally recognised qualification and gain work experience, resulting in a job role and further opportunities in the Trust.
I love learning new skills and find I learn most effectively by getting hands-on and trying things out myself, so the format of being able to take the subjects I study in classes and directly apply them in the workplace each week fits me very well. The IT Technician role covers a wide range of topics, with lots of scope to specialise in specific areas of interest, and I feel that working as an apprentice and seeing these subjects in action will help me find the fields that I’d like to focus on far sooner than just studying on its own.
Although I miss not seeing the team at Brookwood as often, I’ve enjoyed travelling to many more schools and meeting lots more colleagues and friends who have all been very welcoming (and patient with me). Having only worked in education for three years at a single setting, it’s fascinating to see the differences that make each school and team unique, as well as what works well across the Trust.