Living the Dream
Today I was lucky enough to catch up with Francis to have a chat about his apprenticeship with FLM Training and Everybody Health and Leisure. I met Francis at his new place of employment, Macclesfield Leisure Centre. I asked Francis why he opted to take on the challenge of the Leisure Team Member Apprenticeship (LTM). Francis said, “It appealed to me that it was a practical based programme, especially the Swim Teacher element of the course as I was really interested in teaching people to swim”.
Francis was at college prior to attending his apprenticeship doing coaching qualifications and liked the link to the apprenticeship being practical and was aware that Everybody offered a good programme with the opportunity for employment. This was a key feature in Francis applying for the role of LTM as he really wanted to be Swim Teacher.
I asked Francis how he found the training delivered by Mike (his tutor) and other FLM staff. Francis explained that he had joined the group several months into his apprenticeship, but it was the best thing that had happened. He explained that Mike had operational experience and had started as a Leisure Member himself and was a General Manager. “Nothing was too much for Mike and he was able to relate everything we have done to the operational situations in the workplace.”
Francis went on to say that he enjoyed every part of the apprenticeship both with FLM Training and Everybody Health & Leisure. He especially like the delivery of the courses where Marcus was brilliant delivering the gym course and Shelly was excellent on the swim teacher course. He said, “They gave me so much knowledge that I am now using in my job and can see how the course linked to real life work”. He went on to say that whilst there was some really challenging parts of the course it was always enjoyable with tons of support in training and the workplace. He went onto say, “It was crazy, I learnt about Safeguarding that I use in swimming lessons and with older customers! Prevent and Diversity all of which helps in my job, and I never thought it would. Even the Maths I was taught was put across in a way that I enjoyed it”.
I asked Francis how the apprenticeship had benefited him. “Definitely”. Was his response, he highlighted that his confidence had grown massively explaining that on the gym course when they had to do inductions, he was a bag of nerves. Now he was confident, and his managers trust him to do a good job. “I am loving my job with the variety of doing gym work, swim teaching from level 1 to 7, reception and I am learning more every day and a different challenge each day. “ He states that he had learnt so much and can now teach all different level.
“Francis now has the willingness to improve his continued professional development and feels he can pass this onto his colleagues and peers. I feel that he will be a good mentor for the next group of apprentices and wish him luck with his career ahead”.
To round off our discussion I asked Francis if his apprenticeship met his expectations. “The course passed my expectations in every way. Both FLM Training and Everybody Health and Leisure gave me an amazing experience with tons of support. I achieved a distinction and that was down to the patience of everyone who taught me.”