Yvonne Kenton, Careers Advisor and Broader Student Learning at The Ferrers School, is a lover of lifelong learning – it’s her true belief that you’re never too old to learn. Yvonne recently completed her QCF Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development, so we caught up with her to find out how she found studying and if she’d recommend it.
What’s your career history?
I started out as a bank official, spending 18 years with NatWest Bank. I really enjoyed this career, but our department was closed in 1998 and I’d just had my youngest daughter, so I took redundancy. I had a lot of transferrable skills in training and computing, so I took these further, studied for a Level 3 in Integrated Business Technology (at Sharnbrook Upper School, as it was then) and worked with Barclays and Age Concern in Northampton to run weekend and evening classes, training people how to use computers. It was in 2006 that I came to work at The Ferrers School as a Work Experience Coordinator before also taking on the role of Educational Visits Coordinator, which I still do today.
Why did you choose to study this diploma?
We’d previously been paying for an external Careers Advisor but given my years of experience in and passion for Careers Education, our senior leaders suggested I complete my Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development so I could take on this role in school. At first, I was a little unsure, and I remember thinking ‘this is probably going to be the hardest thing I’d ever done, but let’s give it a go’ and I’m proud to say I did it.
What support have you had from your colleagues?
I had wonderful support from everyone at The Ferrers School. Our Assistant Principal, Claire Dillon, was absolutely amazing, and I got fantastic support from Helen Prince, our Head of Sixth Form and Angela Smith, our Principal. They were always encouraging me to maximise my study and research time so I was able to submit my best work when I had assignments due. My family were also brilliant at encouraging me and calming me down when things got too much.
What has been the most exciting or useful thing you’ve learnt?
I learnt so much about myself. I learnt that I will never give up and at the end of my training, my assessor thanked me for my good humour because even when things got tough, I would say to her ‘I’m not letting this beat me. I’m going to do this!’ I was apprehensive about how much I’d realistically be able to use the theories I learnt day-to-day but I’ve been really surprised to find myself using the information quite often in conversations. I also think it’s made me calmer when I’m meeting with our students because I now know how to get the best out of them.
What has been the most challenging part?
As part of one of my assignments, I had to record two careers meetings with students but it was so difficult to meet both the needs of the assignment and the needs of our students. I also found the writing quite difficult and found it hard to understand the language they needed from me but once I got the hang of it, my assignments felt slightly easier and I was lucky to have support from my daughters and colleagues.
Would you recommend the diploma?
Yes, I’d have absolutely no hesitation in recommending it. It doesn’t matter what age you are. Yes, you’ll likely get stressed because you’re going to come across things that maybe you’ve not done before but that comes with the territory and all you can do is to try and soak it up. My daughters would always tell me I knew a lot more than I realised and they were right. It took 18 months to get there but I feel really proud of myself now and know that my colleagues and my family are proud of me. Completing my diploma was the best Christmas present and when we came back in January, Angela surprised me on our training day with a shoutout for my achievement. All the staff gave a big whoop and a clap, and it felt amazing! I felt so appreciated and supported. #TeamFerrers