An apprenticeship has allowed a teenager who left school with no qualifications and no confidence to fulfil her dream of working with children – and fuel an ambition to eventually be a primary school teacher.
As a child, Carla Healy, from Derry/Londonderry, was diagnosed with two different forms of dyslexia which meant she struggled throughout her school days.
When she moved on to further education, she realised within one week that that was not a good fit for her either and so she turned to Rutledge training – one of several training organisations working with Derry City and Strabane District Council as part of its Apprenticeship Campaign.
Now 19, Carla is just about to complete her level 3 Childcare, having already achieved level 2, as well as qualifications in English, Maths, ICT, Personal Development and Employability. During this time, she has been an apprentice at Wee Bears Day Nursery in Springtown, gaining vital paid experience which means she will be eligible to apply for other jobs straight away if she so wishes.
Carla said: “The apprenticeship is a brilliant experience, you’re not just thrown in at the deep end, you are shown how things are done and it means you get to see what a job is really like, so you know if it’s definitely the thing you want to do for the rest of your life!
“I never would have thought when I was younger that I would have ended up with all these qualifications and this experience, I am proud of myself and how far I’ve come.”
Rutledge Group has 15 offices across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It offers vocational and corporate training and government training initiatives, such as Training for Success, ApprenticeshipsNI and Steps2Success, as well as permanent and temporary recruitment, healthcare recruitment and domiciliary care services.