Ashleigh Connelly - Murphy Group
NAW Case Study
A little about me
My name is Ashleigh Connelly, and I am a Social Value apprentice currently working towards my Level 3 Business Administration qualification.
I am 17 years old and started my apprenticeship in September 2024 after completing my GCSE’s earlier that year.
I work on a construction project based across Kent and Essex, I am usually working within the community, schools in the local area, or in our office based in West Thurrock.
My experience with LSP
I have only been with Learning Skills Partnership for 4 months so far, and in this time, I have received so much support from my tutor. We have regular (monthly) meetings, and he is always available to talk if I need support or if I’m struggling with my work. I am always receiving feedback on the work I complete to ensure everything is completed to the best of my abilities.
Each month, my tutor goes through the assignments I have completed and explains how this has helped my apprenticeship, any objectives I may have achieved or have progressed with, and what else I can do to reach targets. I always feel as though I am on track with my apprenticeship learning and know how to achieve my goals due to the level of explanation and support during my monthly meeting.
Why I chose the apprenticeship route
During Primary school, I loved attending school and would go in every day, but as I reached my last few years of secondary school, my attendance dropped and began to suffer. I would hate going into school and would avoid it if possible. I never knew what I wanted to do with my future, but I did know that I no longer wanted to be in the classroom environment with a teacher for multiple hours a day. This led me on to an apprenticeship, I knew with an apprenticeship that I would be able to work and gain real life experience whilst gaining a qualification. I felt that this was more suited to me as I wanted to do something that felt more ‘real’ and still taught me the things I needed to progress within my career. Like most, earning my own money also influenced my decision of an apprenticeship over any other route. Starting an apprenticeship has given me a sense of maturity and independence that I did not receive during school.
Why I would recommend an apprenticeship – The benefits
I believe that an apprenticeship is the best route for those leaving school because they allow you to learn on the job, gain experience for your CV, and earn money whilst doing so. Due to it being a learning role, nobody expects you to know everything when you begin your role, the company is there to support and teach you, which for me personally lifted off the pressure and nerves I felt before joining my team. In my personal experience, the support I receive from my team every day is unmatched compared to school or college.
My day-to-day role
I work on the Lower Thames Crossing, a proposed tunnel to create another connection between Kent and Essex to ease congestion in Dartford. I work as a social value apprenticeship, shadowing my line manager and slowly progressing to become more independent within social value. My role as a social value apprenticeship began towards the beginning of September and has not disappointed. Every day is slightly different due to the flexibility of the role and the targets we are working towards. A ‘typical’ day for me is hard to pin-point, but I have regular responsibilities to engage with teachers and local community, keep track of events, ensure our trackers and calendars are up to date, present to my team with volunteering opportunities and updates across social value, attend events within schools, community, etc. , and produce new ideas and resources for engagements. I have the flexibility to work from home, in office, or out and about in the local areas. I work from 8am – 4pm and enjoy every moment.
Some things I have achieved
Volunteering, career fair in my previous school, lakeside event on my third week, organised my own donation collection for a charity and delivered the donations
My future goals – How my apprenticeship will get me there
I am still unsure of what I want to do following the completion of my apprenticeship but whilst I am still completing it, I have set myself the goal of staying in the social value field and slowly progressing within my role and personally through my confidence and level of independence.
I am going to continue learning social value and see what opportunities present themselves in the future. I am enjoying my role and the team that I am apart of, they are very caring and look after me as if I have been there since the beginning.
I want to work on my confidence and soon would like to deliver my own school engagement with little to no support. I believe that my apprenticeship will allow me to achieve this as I am pushed out of my comfort zone to achieve my goals and deliver things the best I can.