This month we would like to congratulate Miranda Homer, a Library, Information & Archive Assistant at Ark Kings Academy for winning September’s apprentice of the month.
Miranda was nominated by her tutor Leslie Dallison, commending her for her hard work.
We sat down with Miranda to discuss her experience:
“I had been working at my school as a teaching assistant specialising in reading interventions for two years when an opportunity came up to become our school librarian. Books are a massive passion for me, so it was the obvious next step. It gave me the chance to work on reading for pleasure alongside my work on phonics and reading comprehension/ fluency.
I was eager to start studying and build my skills as a librarian as soon as possible. My school already had a strong relationship with LMP, and I appreciated the range of their course which has given me a fantastic introduction to information management and archiving as well as the fundamentals of the library sector.
Completing an apprenticeship alongside your day-to-day job gives an apprentice a fantastic opportunity to gain a full picture of their role. It gives you all the context you need to fully understand the work you do as well as giving you fresh ideas that you can implement to improve things.
My favourite thing about my role is working with my students and encouraging their love of reading. It is an amazing feeling to see a student who may have previously struggled with phonics finally start to experience reading as a hobby they can really enjoy. Furthermore, literacy level plays a major role in a student’s future prospects and has even been demonstrated to correlate to how long a person will live. It is incredibly fulfilling to know that my work will not only give my students a love of reading, but will also give them greater freedom in their future and may even increase their lifespan- it is quite a motivator!
My tutor Leslie has been a wonderful support. Her background as an academic librarian means that she really understands the sector. I love discussing my challenges with her and gaining insight into how to improve my library. My school has also been very supportive of the programme. They gave me time off for volunteering roles and job shadowing related to my course. There are several LMP apprentices at my school (all on different courses) so I always have a network to turn to.
More than anything else my course has taught me how to network. Being the only librarian in a school can sometimes feel quite lonely as you don’t have peers in the same role to turn to for advice. Though this course, not only have I had Leslie as a fellow librarian to work with, but I have also gained confidence in myself as a librarian to reach out to other librarians in the local area and my academy chain. Inspired by my apprenticeship, I shadowed in the Birmingham Archives Team and became a Librarian volunteer at the Black Country Living Museum. I now have an enormous network of peers to work with.
One of the things I love most about my course is its breadth. I could go on to work in a public, private sector, or academic library in the future or even in an archive. Over the last year though I have fallen in love with my own library and my current role. I plan to stay on in my school long-term and continue to bring all the skills and knowledge I have gained from the programme to keep improving our library and making it a fantastic resource to build our students’ love of reading.”
Miranda’s tutor Leslie said: “Miranda has taken on the lead role for reader intervention programmes in the school and is the main point of contact with those suppliers, with really positive results.
She has helped with the induction and integration of two Teaching Assistant Apprentices based in the library and has secured a grant of £6,000 from the Foyle Foundation Scheme to improve the resources in the library.
She has spent time during the summer break to volunteer in a museum and an archive to gain valuable hands-on experience to enhance her skills and understanding and is planning other visits. She was observed twice during a recent OFSTED inspection including running a reading intervention session and the reader intervention programme was mentioned in the final report and you can see the impact she is having with the pupils in the school.
Miranda is always organised and on time, she has a calm manner and has worked hard to improve and develop the library in her school.”
Well done Miranda!
To become an apprentice or to find out more about apprenticeships please email apprenticeships@lmpeducation.org
