At Abingdon & Witney College we are always on the lookout for apprentices who go above and beyond in their role, surpassing the expectations of either their manager, their assessor, or their training coordinator.
Apprentice of the Month is our monthly opportunity to recognise the high standard to which our apprentices conduct themselves and to celebrate our apprentices who have achieved the extraordinary.
This term, we celebrate Ewan, Ella, and Bardha, three extraordinary apprentices and worthy winners of this award. Their stories and nominations are shared below.
December Winner: Ewan
Ewan is a Level 3 Accountancy apprentice and Junior Management Accountant at Shaw Gibbs. He completed his Level 2 Accountancy Apprenticeship in October 2022, before moving onto his Level 3 and his Level 4 qualification in January 2024.
Ewan was nominated by his Training Coordinator, Adrian who shared the following:
"Ewan Graham is an exceptionally talented and diligent apprentice who has just received a distinction for his AAT Level 3 course. A distinction is itself particularly difficult to receive and demonstrates his exceptional level of understanding but it hides the achievement behind it. For his final exam, the notoriously difficult Level 3 Synoptic he scored an astounding 98%, losing only two marks in the entire exam.
In his professional discussion he scored a similarly impressive 97%. These marks reflect the last 15 months of tireless, diligent work. Even though he started two weeks into the course he had no difficulty keeping up and quickly excelled. The usually taciturn tutor Michael Kahando reflected on Ewan with a warm smile and said "oh, he's *really* good".
January Winner: Ella
Ella is a Level 2 Early Years apprentice with Willow Cottage Nurseries.
She was nominated by her Assessor, Melissa Round, for her growth in confidence, ability to manage behaviour, and to lead activities for groups of children.
"This week I observed Ella plan and lead an activity to promote healthy eating with six children. Ella read a story to the whole group, paused to let the children comment on the book, and then refocused the children's attention to continue reading.
She used descriptive commentary and open questions to support children's learning and thinking and calmly and effectively dealt with incidents of inappropriate behaviour.
Ella has made a significant amount of progress with her apprenticeship in the last six months which deserves to be recognised.”
February Winner: Bardha
Bardha is a Level 2 Accounting apprentice working with The University of Oxford.
She was nominated by her Training Assessor Adrian who shared the following:
"Bardha works tirelessly to achieve in her apprenticeship. She spoke to me early on about what a great opportunity it was to take on this role and how grateful she is to have received it. This is reflected in her academic achievement and in her workplace achievement. Academically she has achieved 94% in both exams so far taken, a distinction grade performance.
In the workplace she has quickly settled in and become an asset to her department. Her manager Laura "could not ask for better" in any feedback areas. Bardha is "reliable, eager to use her own initiative, really polite, friendly to everyone, good at asking questions, a great independent thinker."
She has the kind of attention to detail “that can't be taught”, and an excellent adherence to policy and doing the best for the university. Laura admires how active and invested Bardha is with all the opportunities there are at the university."
Congratulations to Ewan, Ella, and Bardha, worthy winners of the Apprentice of the Month award!
To find out more about our apprenticeship provision, please click here.
