HR apprenticeships with Sheffield College
Mindful Education and The Sheffield College have worked in partnership since 2020 – starting with HR apprenticeships and more recently, adding management apprenticeships.
Angela Capewell, Apprentice Team Leader, Academy of Business and Enterprise, at The Sheffield College, shares what led The Sheffield College to make the decision to work with Mindful Education and the benefits that the partnership delivers for tutors, learners and for her as the manager.
What led you to start working with Mindful Education for your HR apprenticeships?
I wanted something to support the team while maintaining a high standard of quality; to ease workload pressures and support delivery, and Mindful Education successfully achieves that.
Did you have any initial concerns?
I was initially a little nervous! Thankfully, the Mindful Education team is always supportive, responsive and quick to answer questions. The Operations team from Mindful Education supported us with the setup and the implementation. I meet with them every 10 weeks to review progress and catch up. Learners are enjoying the blended Online and On Campus delivery model and are submitting all their assignments on time.
What would you say are the benefits for your tutors?
It enables the team to work with their learners and not feel the pressure of having to deliver large amounts of theory and knowledge. With the flipped approach, students are coming to class with a good understanding, which significantly reduces pressure on tutors.
“It’s structured, it’s timetabled, it’s clear. It’s all there, all in one place. It’s easy and simple.”
Tutors can then concentrate on filling in any gaps or spending time on stretch and challenge activities. We’re using all of the Mindful Education resources from the VLE, which makes it straightforward and efficient for tutors to use. Overall, it’s saving a lot of time, and it makes delivery more enjoyable.
“It’s saving a lot of time, and it makes delivery more enjoyable.”
What have the benefits been for you as the manager of the area?
Working with Mindful gives me peace of mind and I know that the depth in terms of learning is there. For me and the tutors, having Mindful Education is a comfort blanket.
“For me and the tutors, having Mindful Education is a comfort blanket.”
Through the analytics, I can see the activities and the lessons that learners are opening. That information is taken on board differently by each learner, but I know ultimately that they’ve read the information. So again, it gives peace of mind to know that Mindful Education has addressed and covered it.
What about the benefits for your learners?
The Mindful Education VLE is a great platform for learners, there’s a lot of material that they can use, read and watch that gives them the knowledge and understanding to achieve their qualification. It’s flexible, and they can access it anywhere and anytime. The resources are brilliant, they all find the blended learning approach really useful as still allows them to have plenty of face-to-face contact, which I think is important.
What led you to move your management apprenticeships over to Mindful Education as well?
You could clearly see how much the learners were enjoying the platform. They were able to work independently, stay engaged with the tasks, and genuinely learn from the content. Everything also progressed at a good pace, with online lessons released weekly, and learners seemed to move through both the qualification and the apprenticeship much more efficiently.
I went back to Mindful and asked whether the same approach could work for management. The Mindful team were incredibly supportive, particularly in developing the content and helping our team understand how everything worked. Although it was something completely new at first, it quickly came together and felt like the right fit and so far, it’s been working really well.
The Mindful Education marketing team works closely with our partners to help them promote Online and On Campus courses and apprenticeships.
