Tracey – Team Leader Apprenticeship

Tracey is working towards her level 3 in Management at Supportive in Ferryhill. Her Assessor is Chris Humble who has worked closely with Tracey to help her get to a level 2 in functional Maths, English, and ICT, so that she can pass her tests.

Tracey began as a carer working in adult care, however when she began working in the office she realised she wanted to go further in her career and take up a management role, her only concern was having to complete level 2 functional skills in Maths, English, and ICT. Tracey thought she wouldn’t be able to achieve her apprenticeship as she suffers with dyslexia and thought that she would struggle with her level 2 English and Maths functional skills which are needed to achieve the apprenticeship. Since Tracey was in school she had been put down about her dyslexia and the fact that she did struggle with English because of this, no one had given her the chance to prove herself or spent time with her to help her develop the skills she needed.

She had been told she wouldn’t go very far in life because of her dyslexia and she felt like this about going into management. Tracey had even been refused training for a management apprenticeship previously by another training provider, because of her dyslexia. She was worried that without these skills she wouldn’t be able to progress in her career and fulfil her desire to become a manager. Optimum Skills were able to provide Tracey with the assistance and guidance she needed to undertake an apprenticeship in management. Michael Arnold initially came in to teach Tracey basic English such as phonics and punctuation. Our assessor Chris Humble then came in to teach Tracey her functional skills using an approach that was easy for Tracy to understand and gave Tracey the confidence that she could pass them.

Chris has helped Tracey build her confidence in her capabilities regarding functional skills. He had watched Tracey in her day to day tasks of writing reports, emailing people and knew that she would be able to pass because she was already building her skills in her job role. Tracey went in for her functional skills test, passing her Maths and ICT, but initially failing her English by only 10%. Tracey didn’t let this knock her confidence and requested to be put back in for her English as soon as possible. Chris was confident enough in Tracey to know that she had the skills to pass her English and Tracey successfully passed on her second attempt. Tracey feels Optimum skills have been fantastic as a training provider and have helped her succeed in an apprenticeship she never thought she would achieve.

Tracey says “Chris has been a big help, a really big help.”

Once Tracey has completed her level 3 in management she hopes to go on to do a level 5 in management and is already in the process of being promoted at work. Tracey has now been promoted to Deputy Manager of home care.