Accelerate Training Academy

Babington has launched their new Accelerate Training Academy, giving current and new employees a structured training programme that encompasses the following courses: Level 3 Award in Education and Training, Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training, and Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement (CAVA). This is one of the many people initiatives being introduced to support the ongoing development of Babington employees.

Jonathan Gallie – People & Talent Director had this to say about the programme. “Our Accelerate Training Academy will give our people access to a structured training programme culminating in a recognised teaching qualification, but also one that is modelled around our culture, our focus on the learner, their experience and competence, and the quality of teaching and learning”.

What is the Accelerate Programme?

The Accelerate programme is an exciting suite of professional development courses specifically designed for Babington practitioners, but which also provides them with a recognised teaching or assessing qualification.

These highly-regarded qualifications are nationally recognised, the training that has been designed at Babington provides colleagues with the opportunity to develop their reflective practice, deepen their understanding of how people learn and advance their creative and innovative skills further, helping them to grow as practitioners and support the business to ‘develop better futures’.

This programme is a perfect example of Babington’s commitment to excellence and dedication to its people. It provides a fantastic opportunity for industry specialists who are new to the education and training sector to build on their subject expertise and develop their pedagogical skills. Now, with the launch of the Level 4 Certificate in Education and Training programme, it also offers further development for more experienced practitioners who benefit from deeper exploration of fundamental elements of the learner journey as well as providing an opportunity to develop their academic and research skills by undertaking a project.

Spotlight on the Accelerate Course Tutor – Natalie Gregory

The Accelerate Programme has been developed internally by Babington’s Learning and Development Partner, Natalie Gregory who specialises in Professional Development.

Natalie has worked in the education and training sector for fifteen years, having spent her early teaching career as an English teacher in Adult Education before moving into management and Quality Improvement roles. She became a Learning and Development Partner at Babington, 2 years ago and has since, dedicated herself to developing a training and development programme for practitioners to support their professionalism and career aspirations.

She is passionate about teaching, learning and continuous professional development. She has been an active member of the Society of Education and Training (and its predecessor) since joining the sector. To further her own growth, she is currently undertaking post-graduate study in workplace learning.

“I think it is vitally important for practitioners to have the space and time to reflect on their own skills and the work they do with learners. Spending time investing in your own development is vital to professional fulfilment and I thoroughly enjoy being able to support others to do this”.

What current learners who are on the Accelerate programme have said about the programme:

“The course has prompted a lot of thought and reflection, in particular about how people learn, and I have a better appreciation for the importance of using a variety of teaching approaches to make learning more effective”

“I have learned a lot from the course so far, as it has covered much of the underpinning knowledge and fundamentals of teaching, and I am better able to understand the theory and ‘why’ behind actions that are taken”

“As someone brand new to the teaching role I have found this course very helpful in giving me the basics and helping me to understand the fundamental principles. In particular, I have enjoyed learning about individual differences and about some of the common additional learning needs. I now feel much more confident when discussing strategies to support these, with learners”

“This course is helping me become a better trainer”.

This is a very exciting time for Babington and the continuous development of their internal stakeholders, and we look forward to sharing how the Accelerate Programme has supported these practitioners in their roles and in Developing Better Futures for our learners.