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As part of National Apprenticeship Week, we want to highlight our Multiply programme, as it can provide many transferable skills for starting an apprenticeship.
Rachael Sellors, our Contracts Manager for Multiply and SENDco, has been teaching for 12 years after originally working as a graphic designer.
‘’I began volunteering in a primary school and enjoyed it so much that I trained to become full-time. I worked all over Derby in different schools.’’
After working in primary schools, Rachel desired a new challenge and went into supply teaching for secondary schools. Here, she helped students achieve great results in their GCSEs.
From here, she worked at a college in Nottingham, teaching long-term functional skills. It was here that she found her preference for the type of teaching she wanted to pursue.
‘’I found a passion for teaching people who thought learning functional skills was too late for them. So many people discovered a new love for learning and went on to study a course they were interested in, which was highly rewarding.’’
Rachael left the college and started at Workpays as a Functional Skills Tutor and SEND lead. She then progressed to Curriculum Development in Functional Skills and SENco. The opportunity came up to lead Multiply for Derby in Nottingham, which Rachael was successful in applying for.
‘’Becoming Multiply and SENco lead has been fantastic. My school teaching days have helped with teaching SEND, as I have experience working with learners with lots of needs and different abilities. I often refer back to my school curriculum to help my learners.’’
Rachael teaches Multiply, Multiply Digital Skills, Multiply Food Safety, and Multiply Fire Safety. She also oversees ‘Messy Maths’, where people in the community can bring their children to fun and interactive sessions while still learning mathematical skills.
‘’Messy Maths is a brilliant place to start for anyone anxious about returning to the classroom, as it is very relaxed and you can bring your children along. It also works for parents who can’t find childcare be able to still have access to free learning.’’
‘’Multiply is not just necessarily about maths. Digital skills have been a massive help for people in the community, as it has helped them use their mobile phones, which for many is essential. We also help with teaching people how to manage their finances, understand universal credit, and send photos to their job coach.
‘’The maths side of Multiply includes understanding how to budget, how to use a spreadsheet, and ways in which people can save money. Our safety classes show people how much maths is required without even realising it. For example, for food safety, timings, weights of food, and ratios of cleaning products are all very important.’’
Rachael continues to help people in the community through her Multiply scheme, and would encourage anyone to join, no matter their age or where they are at in their career journey.
‘’It is great to see someone come to a class with little knowledge of a particular subject and leave feeling full of confidence. Multiply sets you up for life with day-to-day skills, proving it benefits individuals long after leaving the classroom.
‘’I would encourage anyone to pop down to their local class and give it a go.’’
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