On Tuesday 7th June 2011, graduates of the Certificate of School Administration and guests gathered for a two-fold celebration – to celebrate their achievement in passing the qualification and to celebrate reaching the 1000th school support staff member completing the programme, nationally.
The East Midlands event was held at The Long Eaton School in Nottingham with graduates and their families travelling from as far away as Grimsby in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire to receive their awards. Also attending were tutors of the programme and from EMLC, the provider of the programme in the East Midlands.
The Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) Certificate of School Administration qualification, which was launched in 2009, has achieved global and national success through the driving force of Ray Moorcroft, Director of the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Enterprise at MMU. Ray presented the certificates and was the guest speaker focusing on how the CSA demonstrates the professional development that has occurred over recent years for school support staff.
Val Andrew, a tutor on the CSA programme stated that “what I really like about CSA is that the framework supports participants at different levels of experience – the flexibility of the structure allows the candidates to assess their own unique learning needs and help them to develop better ways of working not only for themselves individually but also for their schools to improve their administrative practices”.
EMLC also launched the exciting new Professional Pathway for schools support staff in the region, which comprises of a set of courses to enable the individual to focus on different specialisms (finance, for example) to enhance their personal skills and competencies and give them increased employability while adding further value to their educational organisation. All those who have completed the CSA are now entitled to book onto these courses to enhance their career prospects, not only in the public sector but also in the private.
Jane Thomas, Director of Business Development at EMLC explained that “as a provider of leadership and development opportunities for all staff, EMLC are passionate about any new provision that will develop the support that schools get from their non teaching colleagues. It is important that they are acknowledged for the work that they do and for their drive to continually develop and better themselves”.
The new Professional Pathway was launched on 10 June 2011 by EMLC and the Manchester Metropolitan University Alliance – please contact EMLC for further details.
Please click here to access the photos from the evening.
