LMP Education supports a wide range of settings within the education sectors through our educational based apprenticeships. City Academy Norwich has benefitted from our education specific apprenticeships as they took on a Level 3 School Administrator apprentice with LMP in April 2025. Katie Bloomfield, AP to Head of School has shared the schools experience with the apprenticeship path:
“There became an increasing need for more support within our administration team and it was felt that the nature of the work required was best suited to an apprentice level role due to the potential for it to provide a varied and solid foundation for someone looking to undertake business administration within an education setting.
We identified areas of administration, communication and customer service that would really benefit from this type of support and due to the flexibility required when working in a school the apprenticeship has offered great development opportunities.
As an employer the apprenticeship meets our organisational needs and the commitment to undertaking the apprenticeship on both sides makes it attractive to employers and employees alike via this ‘earning while learning’ route.
The apprenticeship pathway has allowed us to add capacity within our team of support staff in a cost effective and manageable way. Bringing in a new member of the team who is keen to learn and seek out opportunities to develop has had a very positive impact on the working environment for all.
As an educational setting we aim to achieve the best outcomes for every pupil to be the best they can be and so the learning and development opportunities the apprenticeship provides is very much in line with our values. It has allowed us to recruit at a time when support staff are stretched in a cost-effective manner to add capacity. The apprenticeship is structured in such a way that the individual can complete this through their daily activities whilst also providing opportunities for further development in their role e.g via the project proposal.
The apprenticeship is very comprehensive and well-rounded so that not just technical skills are assessed but inter-personal qualities are integrated within it. It feels a nice mix of evidence that the employee can gather during their work and then evidence and skills that will challenge them to succeed further in their role. Our apprentice has monthly meetings with the tutor, and we join together as apprentice, tutor and employer every 2 months to update each other on progress. The LMP portal is very clearly laid out and accessible.
Our apprentice Kimberly has made a phenomenal start. She has picked up tasks quickly, asks pertinent questions, has a lovely manner with staff, students and parents and has grown in confidence in her reception role over a very short space of time.
Kimberly willingly rose to the challenge of taking on some First Aid responsibilities by completing the necessary training and has familiarised herself with running the vaccination programme and also running the school breakfast club when we were short staffed. She took on these duties in an extremely mature way and we were all so impressed and thankful for the way she dealt with this increase in significant responsibility, this really was a standout moment. Kimberly has excellent IT skills and has changed ways of working within the team through her suggestions, such as showing us how to redact a pdf document. I am really enjoying seeing Kimberly develop and grow further into her role, she is flying, and it is lovely to see.
My advice for other employers considering apprenticeships is to just do it! From an employer perspective it is a very worthwhile investment, the time commitment of working with the apprenticeship provider is very well managed and not onerous. The documentation required such as completing the observation pro-forma and the feedback on the portal is clear and the tutor is always available to answer any queries. It has shown us the highly positive contribution an apprentice can have.
We have easily been able to accommodate the on and off the job training as part of the role and the assignments have been applicable to the role. The online meetings and the online portal have allowed flexibility in fitting in the regular meetings and accessing and working on documentation when required for apprentice and employer alike.
It’s incredible valuable to have apprenticeships in the education sector. The breadth of the role that comes with working in administration within the education sector means that the apprentice has a rich and varied experience due to the many areas the role comes into contact with such as HR, Finance, Customer Service, administration and the many stakeholders they also come into contact with; staff, pupils, parents / carers / trustees, external visitors, statutory organisations.
This provides many opportunities for evidence to be collected in a number of ways which is great for the portfolio of the apprentice and great for the employer!”
Are you interested in hiring an apprentice for your organisation? Book a discovery call with the LMP team today!
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