Early June signals three months for me at Moxi Recruitment; and what a three months it’s been! In some ways, the time has literally flown by, in others, it all still feels brand new, with so many more opportunities to explore, learn and grow.
Firstly, a big thank you to the Grolife family for making me feel so welcome. Staff and students alike have really embraced me, helped me learn the ropes and been a wealth of knowledge, inspiration and support, as I get to know the sector in which I now work.
I’ve been able to visit the EdStart schools to really understand the people, the staff and, of course, the young people who study there. It’s also important for me to understand both the environment and the culture; you can only ever really appreciate these by being there. I’m looking forward to more visits to our partner schools to really get to know them; meaning I can really identify what kind of people we’re looking for, and make sure I’m able to share information about the schools for which I recruit!
I’ve been lucky enough to meet (and interview!) our Moxi Trainees across our two most recent programmes, who graduated the 2-week course; the first of which had started just as I arrived. Hearing about people’s experiences of the course – which comprises online learning and classroom-based experience with our partner schools – gave me a genuine insight into the benefits of the programme.
Perceptions were challenged; one trainee told us that, initially, she had wanted to focus on primary school but, after attending the course, was now much more open to looking at secondary school. We also received some great feedback for the specific SEN training; shining a spotlight onto a range of areas within Special Education Needs. As part of the training programme, I was able to understand the real impact our school partners have; grasp the daily challenges they face with regard to recruitment and retention; and make informed suggestions and recommendations of how Moxi can help and support, to remove those barriers. Likewise, I’ve loved getting to know our trainees, to understand what motivates and drives them to want to work in education.
Throughout the past few months I’ve learnt so much more about the market in which we work. (See my blogs on continual professional development, the DBS and Teacher Recruitment & Retention Conferences ). Here at Moxi, we’re up for the challenge! By listening to leaders within our networks, I’ve really understood the impact of vacancies and, by working with them to offer solutions, we’ve seen some notable successes.
You’ll find me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Anne_Moxi) where the teaching community has been very supportive, engaging and open about the realities of working within education. I look forward to further building my network and continuing my own development, whilst supporting others on there too. You’ll find me providing suggestions and answers to questions on teacher-based threads in and around recruitment and retention. Feel free to message me direct if you have a question!
