Apprentice ceremony celebrates 24 new graduates
On Wednesday 4 December, the Trust held a graduation ceremony to celebrate our apprentices who have completed their first apprenticeship programmes – 24 staff spanning business administration, healthcare support work, pharmacy services and health visiting achieved qualifications.
Fay Blackwood, Associate Director of Education and Development welcomed everyone to the event and said: ‘’It’s important to remember that an apprentice is not necessarily young, or doing a ‘little’ job – they are skilled people making a really significant contribution to our Trust. It’s wonderful to see this first wave completing. Holding down full time jobs while studying is certainly not easy and you should all be incredibly proud, as should your line managers who have been there every step of the way.”
Meera Nair, Chief People Officer said: “I am very honoured and humbled to be here today, and staggered by the amount of work our apprentices have done. Your resilience, determination and dedication is inspiring. I would like to praise Ranjan Pattni, Apprenticeship Lead and Clementine Young, Apprenticeship Administrator (and an apprentice herself) for their care and tireless work supporting our apprentices and their line managers. A truly great team effort.”
Jess Simmons completed a completed Business Administration Level 3 apprenticeship with distinctions across all three areas while working as the Infection Control Administrator at University Hospital Lewisham.
Cherrie Hinds, Infection Prevention and Control Matron (Jess’ line manager) praised her for “having a great understanding of the Trust, the regulations around infection prevention and for updating and questioning existing procedures, supporting and coaching others when needed. A perfect team player – we’re all so proud.”
Jess added: “When I left my last job to go into an apprenticeship it was a really big move for me; I didn’t know if it would work out. But I am so happy I made the decision. Everyone was welcoming in the team – the training was great - and I had Cherrie and Laura Barrett ( Training provider tutor) to rely on all the way. I feel I have progressed enormously over the last 18 months, and have a much deeper understanding of the Trust. I would recommend an apprenticeship to everyone, whatever their age. The old fashioned view of apprentices being the junior helper is really not the reality, it’s rewarding and you always feel valued. I’m already looking forward to the next phase of my career here.” Jess is to continue her training and will be enrolling on the Business Administration Level 4 apprenticeship.
Ranjan Pattni, Apprenticeship Lead: Apprenticeships are a great way to train our staff and recruit new talent to the Trust. It’s been an absolute pleasure for me and Clementine to support our staff to undertake training and, even more, to see them achieve these qualifications.
Congratulations to our apprenticeship graduates:
- Business Administration Level 2: Shannon Willis, Judith Mcpherson, Karen Ebanks
- Business Administration Level 3: Jess Simmons, Dovile Pasilyte, Danielle Webster
- Business Administration Level 4: Youssef Messaoudi, Clementine Young, Nicole Sandford
- Team Leader/Supervisor: Lauren Lorraine
- Healthcare Support Worker Level 2: Akemma Paul, Pat Pascall, Eti Omeregie, Isatu Kanu
- Senior Healthcare Support Worker Level 3: Rita Ukoko, Sarah Sammy, Aida Popescu, Florence Sam, Jacqui Ochmann
- Pharmacy Services Level 2: Jennifer MacCallum, Dean Fleming, Carla Carter
- Early Learning and Childcare Level 3 Diploma : Holly Vickery, Sonia Stewart
Our apprentices were given amazing support and encouragement by their line managers – thank you to: Liz Bell, Cherrie Hinds, Sarah Chisholm, Shevone Edwards, Ranjan Pattni, Hannah Kelly, Irene Gould, Geraldine McNamara, Pauline Okhamesan, Sonya Brown, Emma Kingman, Linda Johnstone, Ajay Dookhit, Sue Jordan, Melissa Barnes, Sonya Brown, Sue Jordan.
See below for pictures of the two cohorts:
