Katie’s course switch pays off for new school role
A former Newport school pupil is reaping the benefits of taking two college courses in her new job.
Katie Benton studied two courses during her time at Telford College – and they are both coming in useful for her latest role.
The 19-year-old, a former Newport Burton Borough School student, is currently working as a clerical assistant at Southall School.
The placement, which is part of the Kickstart programme, is allowing her to combine the skills she learned on the level three childcare, and level two business administration courses at Telford College.
Katie, from Donnington, said: “My first year at Telford College was spent studying level three childcare, but I switched to level two business administration after one year because I wanted to explore both routes.
“I really enjoyed both courses. Childcare was very useful because of the placements and working with children. Business admin was very exciting because no two days were the same, we were learning something different every day.”
Katie said she owed a big thanks to the ‘really supportive’ staff at Telford College who had helped her to progress, and to her tutor Jemma Harrison for being ‘very friendly, approachable and easy to talk to’
She said she was thoroughly enjoying her six-month placement at Southall School, where she is now working on the front desk.
“I feel very responsible and that I am actually helping the running of the school," she said.
“My day consists of many tasks such as phone calls, attendance, logging calls for IT, preparing PPE packets for classrooms, photocopying, printing, laminating, scanning documents for computer storage, and of course signing in visitors.
“The Microsoft Excel skills we gained on the college administration course have been vital for me to complete my work efficiently.”
Katie said the role was teaching her the importance of clear and confident communication, and staying calm in pressurised situations.
“I changed from childcare to business administration as I felt there were more pathways into different career sectors," she added.
“However, with this job, I get the best of both worlds from both courses as I am able to utilise all knowledge gained from my time at Telford College.”
Tracey Roberts, administration manager at Southall School, said: “Katie has settled in really well. It is a very busy office with constant interruptions - a very difficult job. But Katie handles it really well.
“Katie is very thorough in her work. We were very impressed with her at interview stages.”
