First Class degrees for Whitworth High’s assistant business managers

Yvette Ellis and Daniel Crook, assistant business managers at Whitworth Community High School, are among the first in Lancashire to achieve a First Class Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship

Associate business managers at Whitworth Community High School are among the first in the county to achieve a Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA).

Daniel Crook started at the high school in 2008 as an IT technician and has since worked up to become data and IT manager, while Yvette Ellis joined the school nearly four years ago as the headteacher’s personal assistant.

Both staff have completed a foundation degree and their Chartered Manager Degree, attending lectures one day a month at County Hall - while working full time with young families - and then, from March 2020, lectures online.

Both achieved First Class degrees.

Mr Crook said: “It was really intense and hard work, but fun at the same time. When the course went virtual it made it a bit trickier and we could have sympathy with the students who had online lessons, however it meant the tutor could not see so easily if someone were unsure about some aspect of the learning.”

Mrs Ellis said: “It has really helped embed our knowledge and explained more about leadership. It has taught us everything we need to know to help run a successful school.”

As their graduation ceremony for their foundation degree had to be postponed because of the pandemic, both ceremonies are now booked on consecutive days in May 2022.

Headteacher at Whitworth Community High School, Gill Middlemas said: ‘’We are so proud of Yvette and Dan. Anyone who has studied for a university degree whilst working full time will confirm how challenging it can be to juggle the requirements of academic study alongside the demands of your career and family life.

“I am really pleased that the apprenticeship levy has enabled our school to support two such talented and valued colleagues, whose commitment to ongoing academic learning is a powerful example for our students.”

Mr Crook and Mrs Ellis are among the first cohort of 21 Lancashire County Council apprentices to complete the CMDA having enrolled in September 2018.

While completing the degree element of the apprenticeship, the apprentices still have an external endpoint assessment to finalise their studies and gain Chartered Manager status with the Chartered Management Institute.

Lancashire County Council currently has 107 employees, across seven cohorts currently undertaking the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship.