Summer Reflections (3) – Welcoming New Faces Into Our Community.
Ellen and Jenny reflect on their new positions as SVQ assessors.
Since the beginning of August, we have welcomed five new apprentices into our Crannog Community, who will work towards an SVQ in Customer Service. This new project aims to help us in our ambition to become a fully-fledged assessment centre. This is sector-leading, and throughout the next few blogs, we will be sharing some reflections from six members of staff, who are working towards an assessment qualification. This time, we hear from Ellen and Jenny.
Ellen
Hi, I’m Ellen and I’m the Marketing & Engagement Manager at the Scottish Crannog Centre. Some of you may remember me from my blog posts a year or two ago when I was an apprentice! After finishing my yearlong Museums and Galleries Practice apprenticeship with the Centre, I continued to work for the organisation and now 2 years later, I’m supervising a whole new group of young apprentices!
It’s been fantastic to have some fresh enthusiasm onsite, especially after coming back to work after months of lockdown and the uncertainty that it brought with it. Although I’m not directly assessing any of the apprentices, part of my role includes working with them to make sure they’re learning on the job and that they’re getting the most out of their time working with us. This is especially important with our Digital Marketing Apprentice Toby, who is working towards his qualification by learning all about marketing in the museum. Having a fresh perspective to help create new, exciting content for our digital marketing campaigns is going to help not only Toby gain his qualification but will hopefully help us grow our following as well!
I’m excited to see where the next year takes us in terms of an organisation and I’m currently really enjoying having a full-circle moment from where I began a few years ago.
Jenny
My name is Jenny and I work as an Interpreter at the Scottish Crannog Centre.
Over the past 2 months, I’ve been working with our 5 apprentices enjoying watching their confidence grow and interest build as they carry out various aspects of the running of the Centre.
Highlights for me have been the enthusiasm shared by Daisy and Toby when they worked together designing and building a cupholder for the cooking area, Georgia beaming with pride when she completed her handmade knife sheath, listening to Izzie cheerily delivering talks from each area after seeming so shy at first, and listening to Wills Lyre performance/talk which is mesmerising.
Just the general shift in atmosphere that’s the result of having young apprentices around has been beneficial and it makes things more authentic here having a wider age range of people in the ‘community’. I’m looking forward to seeing them progress and shine even more brightly as a direct result of the SVQ apprenticeship scheme.
(Funding for the apprenticeship programme kindly supported by the Gannochy Trust, Museums Galleries Scotland, Perth & Kinross Council and SSE Renewables)
