Spring is finally here; the cold, dark and wintry days are thankfully behind us, and January feels like a dim and distant memory! As everybody at Moxi Recruitment prepares to drive forward into the summer term, I thought now would be a good time to reflect upon the past three months, and take a quick look ahead at what’s to come.

Best foot forward

Talk about hitting the ground running! January began with a real jolt to the system, following two weeks of relative hibernation on my part… a 5k “fun” run around Salford Quays with the The Body Coach and TV personality, Joe Wicks, bright and early on Tuesday 2nd January.

Admittedly, it was a bit of a wrench getting out of the bed on a typically cold and wet winter’s morning; especially as I wasn’t due back in work until the following week. Once I had met with some of my fellow runners, and went through my routine preliminary stretches however, I soon found myself getting into the swing of things; so much so that I ended up achieving my personal best for a 5k… a shade under 28 minutes!

A welcome New Year Bonus

Early January also saw Moxi Recruitment launch our ‘Refer a Friend’ Bonus Scheme. This gives clients and candidates alike the chance to earn themselves £100 in gift vouchers, simply by recommending our Introductory Teaching Assistant Programme to a friend or colleague. Since its roll-out, this has proved to be a very popular scheme, with our three-week TA course being fully booked from January to March. That said, April’s programme is currently open for applications. See https://www.moxi-recruitment.co.uk/job/moxi-training-course-now-open-to-applications-1055/ for more details.

Meeting and greeting

January also saw me pay regular visits to Jobcentre Plus sites across the North West, helping to promote our range of pre-employment and professional training courses, and speaking with many different candidates about our local community focus, and what makes Moxi Recruitment so unique in the field of education.

Of course, this year I am combining my day-to-day duties as Talent Acquisition Partner at Moxi, with my role as a National Careers Week 2024 Ambassador. This has been a fabulous experience for me so far, with so many networking opportunities and events taking place, both online and in person. All of which have helped Moxi build its profile as a leading professional skills developer in the North West of England.

I also paid my very first visit to the Wirral in January, to get a sneak preview of our newest partner school in Wallasey. We are proud to work in close conjunction with EdStart Schools across its nine centres in Greater Manchester and the Wirral (Bolton, Bury, Horwich, Oldham, Salford, South Manchester, Wallasey and Wigan), and are focused on promoting and training the next generation of teaching talent from within these local communities. We will be looking to run our Introductory Teaching Assistant programme in the Wirral later this year. Call me now on 0300 303 4414 for further information.

Throughout January, I also went on a journey of exploration with Moxi and the wider Grolife group of companies of which we are a part (Edstart Schools and Next Level Learning), to discover new areas where we can support and assist our partners with different models across SEN and alternative provision.

Strengthening our partnerships across the sector

Moving into February, and I was fortunate enough to play my part in the delivery of tailored candidate training sessions, in collaboration with Total People – one of the largest apprenticeship providers in the North West of England –  and other providers, to support those looking to start a career within education straight from school or college.

Our partnerships are important to us here at Moxi Recruitment, and we invest a good deal of our time into building strategic relationships with like-minded suppliers to our region’s education sector. February was a period of real consolidation for us in this vital regard, and we will continue to seek out collaborative opportunities to benefit candidates, schools and, of course, their students throughout 2024 and beyond.

A busy February for the team here at Moxi culminated in interview days with the newly qualified Level 1 trainees from our Introductory Teaching Assistant course. It gives me great pleasure in confirming that the majority of our most recent cohort has secured suitable full and part-time employment opportunities locally within the sector, either with our partner, EdStart Schools, or external mainstream and alternative provisions throughout the region. What’s more, every candidate that comes through this intensive three-week course receives up-to-the-minute advice and support regarding their next career steps.

Marching on

The month of March began with more job interviews for our successful Level 1 candidates, and we were delighted to place them in permanent and part-time positions in Bolton, Bury and Wigan. As I said earlier, our Teaching Assistant Programme is focused on providing classroom-ready and resourced TAs in school catchment areas across Greater Manchester and the Wirral.

On a personal level, I broke new ground by taking part in a Year 11 Assembly at St. Monica’s RC High School in Prestwich, near Bury. This gave me the opportunity to talk about my role as a Recruitment Consultant (and the positions I’ve recruited for over the years), both in my capacity as Talent Acquisition Partner here at Moxi, and my ambassadorial role for National Careers Week 2024.

It was a brilliant experience for personally and professionally and, although it was a little daunting and totally out of my comfort zone, to say the least, to find myself in front so many inquisitive Year 11s, the welcome I received there from pupils and staff alike was very warm, and I can’t wait to get into more schools this year and, hopefully, ignite the interest of young people in a potential career in education.

During March, the Moxi team were also able to celebrate successes with our candidates who had completed their first full school year in the classroom as teaching assistants; some of whom are now looking forward to promotions in Academic Year 2024/25, from this September onwards.

Looking ahead

As we move into the summer term, I can’t wait to continue rolling out our TA training programme locally, and helping people living in those communities enter the world of education and work with children from a range of backgrounds and across all different abilities. This strong community focus is what makes us so unique here at Moxi, and it’s definitely something we’ll be homing in on throughout the second half of 2024 and beyond.

Recognising and celebrating success stories is so important to us all as a team, and we’ll be making introductions to recommended schools locally and regionally for our trainees who’ve come through our programme during the winter term. This is always particularly rewarding for me; seeing a candidate grow and develop through training, before taking their first, fledgling steps in their chosen career.

2024 will also see us supporting schools throughout the summer term and beyond. Whether that’s with general recruitment, temporary staff supply, training and CPD or even helping with exam invigilation, in preparation for September and the commencement of the new academic year.

Lastly, this year’s DBS Conference is taking place online on Tuesday 30th April, and I will be attending on behalf of Moxi Recruitment. I can’t wait to continue building on my knowledge of the education sector, and discovering changes to legislation regarding child safeguarding, to ensure I’m always well placed to support our growing list of clients.

For more information about Moxi and our extensive range of recruitment and training services, call me today on 0300 303 4414, send an email to info@moxi-recruitment.co.uk or visit https://www.moxi-recruitment.co.uk/contact/ and leave us a message, detailing the nature of your enquiry. Many thanks!