Ok, I’ll say it. This year has been pants as we’ve continued to cross the days off in our calendars!

It’s been scary as we’ve tried to stay COVID free & minimize the spread of the disease.

It’s been heart breaking to hear about so many deaths caused by this virus.

It’s been lonely as we’ve avoided loved ones to minimise risk, & it’s been economically challenging as we’ve worked within various restrictions & uncertainty.

But, as with any change and challenge, this period of uncertainty has forced us to think & behave differently.

Here at Springfield Training we’d been planning a move to a blended, digital approach to our teaching delivery for over two years, procrastinating the necessary change, but within a week of the first national lockdown our teachers were delivering webinars to apprentices from home.

Throughout the first lockdown we continued our delivery & support with our whole team working remotely, often at their kitchen table, & I continued to work from the office to provide support.

As details continued to emerge, we got stuck in to implementing COVID safety measures here at our centre as well as safety procedures to protect our teams & learners when attending employer premises.

We returned as a team to our offices in May having increased our individual & collective office space, organising additional facilities & resources, including decorating offices, rewires & additional data access, hardware, software & underwear (just checking to see if you’re still with me)

It’s been hard work but it’s great to be part of a team that has effectively adapted to the challenges we’ve faced. A team who are focused on ensuring that they provide support & challenge to their learners helping maintain continuity of learning & achievement through the pandemic so far.

As we’ve continued to enrol new apprentices, we’re supporting those on-programme & those achieving, often with outstanding results.

We’re now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel in the form of a vaccine although we still have some way to go, but we’re here, we’re working & we’re supporting our employer partners through continued staff training & development helping people adapt to their own changing environments.

We close on the 18th of December for our Christmas break, returning on January 4th but for the next three weeks we will continue to provide continuity of teaching & assessment playing our role in supporting individuals & employers through this period of uncertainty.

I hope you have a great week

Cheers

Noel