At The Learning Foundry I felt worthy and important – Shirley's story
Shirley has worked in housing for almost three years and made the switch to social housing 18 months ago. When Shirley started looking into investing in her learning and development, her organisation introduced her to The Learning Foundry.
Shirley started her Level 3 Housing and Property Management apprenticeship, including a Chartered Institute of Housing certificate with the aim of levelling up her skills within her organisation. We caught up with Shirley about her experience at The Learning Foundry:
“The content I’ve learnt on the course has been relevant to my current role and given me confidence and enthusiasm to be the best I can be and get the best results in resolving issues I face on the estates.
“I really enjoyed the monthly training workshops at The Learning Foundry. The programme has always focussed on real life experiences and used these as examples within learning and assignments.
“My tutor always supported us with developing necessary behaviours, too, like building respect and trust with the customers.
“I already had a good knowledge of the private housing sector from previous role, and I learnt a lot more about social housing that I can put into practice in my current role.
“My tutor, Emily has been supportive and encouraging every step of the way. She made me feel worthy and important. To feel like your tutor is giving you their full attention and appear to be enjoying listening to me really meant a lot.
“Emily was always there to give praise and encouragement and always had a smile on her face. It was easy to see she had a genuine interest in making sure her learners weren’t stressing unnecessarily and that they are clear in what they need to do. Emily picked me up when I had a few wobbles and got me back on track in no time just by helping me to relax and plan my schedule better.
“I started this qualification with the goal of progressing further within the organisation. Because of my training at The Learning Foundry, I have gained further experience accompanying Neighbourhood Officers on more complex visits such as Anti-Social Behaviour cases and shadowing my organisations income department.
“Taking on this training has given me lots of opportunities to learn and possibly move up into a range of roles when they become available.
“I have worked hard (especially at the finish line with the preparation of exam interview and preparing and practicing my first ever presentation!) I was delighted to not just pass but to be awarded Distinction in my apprenticeship. It felt amazing and made me very happy.”
Well done, Shirley. 🥳