As an Internal Quality Assurer at Educationwise, I’ve always been passionate about supporting our learners. So when the opportunity came up to experience the journey for myself, I jumped at it. Starting the Level 5 Operations Manager Apprenticeship has already had a huge impact on both my personal and professional development. It’s given me a fresh perspective on what we do well and where we can improve, and I’m excited to share how the first two months have gone.

Month 1 Reflection

Starting the apprenticeship was an exciting step, and the enrolment process made it easy to get going. It was clear, smooth and stress-free, which really helped set a positive tone from the start.

Learning Platforms and Tools

I’ve been using a few different platforms to support my learning, and so far they’ve been brilliant.

Maytas

Maytas has been really easy to navigate. It helps me track progress, manage my tasks and log my off-the-job hours in real time. It even works well on mobile, which makes it easy to update things on the go. There were a couple of glitches early on, but they were resolved quickly.

Blossom

This platform is really user-friendly and lets me jump in and out of the content at my own pace, which is perfect when you’re balancing study with work.

Cognassist

Cognassist has helped me better understand my thinking and learning style, which has given me a real confidence boost. I’d love to see it offer some linked software recommendations too, to help action the strategies it suggests.

Embracing New Tools

OneNote has been a complete game-changer for me. It’s helped me keep everything neat, organised and easy to update. I can copy and paste evidence straight into it and add to my notes over time. I’ve already started recommending it to learners who find written organisation tricky, because it’s helped me massively.

Looking Through the Learner Lens

Experiencing the learner journey myself has given me a completely new perspective. I’ve already started identifying ways we could streamline processes and improve our delivery. Best of all, I’m really enjoying being a learner again. It’s making me better at my job and giving me fresh ideas along the way.

Month 2 Reflection

As month two comes to a close, I’m still loving the experience. My only frustration is that I haven’t had more time to really get ahead (yes, I am that person!).

OneNote is Still My Go-To!!!

As someone who works remotely, OneNote continues to be an absolute winner. I’ve ditched the pens and post-it notes in favour of keeping everything in one place. It’s better for the environment, better for my wrist, and it’s simplified my entire workflow. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve scribbled something down, only to type it up again later. Now I don’t have to.

Learning About Myself with Cognassist

Following my Cognassist insights, I’ve started embracing AI tools too. For example, I now use AI to summarise long documents so I can quickly grab the key points. It’s been a total time-saver, especially when reading big reports where I’d usually forget the start by the time I reach the end.

Listening, Not Just Reading

During Neurodiversity Week, I made an effort to use read-aloud tools and engage more with my professional network. Hearing other people’s neurodiverse journeys was incredibly moving and reminded me that we all navigate things differently. I’m proud to be part of a workplace that celebrates that.

Looking Ahead

This apprenticeship is already changing how I work, learn and support others. I’m excited to keep building on what I’ve learned and to see how month three unfolds. Bring it on!