Continuation on the journey to becoming a CEA – Sarah Dalrymple

Sarah Dalrymple is among the November 2017 cohort who are progressing towards gaining Chartered Educational Assessor status. We shared Sarah’s experiences in the March 2018 CIEA newsletter On the Mark, at which point she had completed the on-line introduction and the face to face sessions. Following this, delegates were asked to complete some written tasks, submit a proposal for their assignment and then carry out the audit and action plan for their portfolio. Here is an update on how Sarah is getting on.

“I really enjoyed the class interaction which was good preparation for the written tasks. The written tasks offered me the opportunity to demonstrate what I had learnt, what I was doing with this information and how I was going to use it to assist and develop training centres

I found some of the written work quite difficult as it needed to be put in a specific format with sufficient information in it to meet the quality requirements of the CIEA. Once I started reflecting on the work I had done and collecting all the evidence from the audits carried out, it was really satisfying to fill in the required information and reflect on the success of the audit and the centre outcome

Assignment

I had worked with a centre which had been rated really highly by their Awarding Body. They were active in their community and were proud of the success of their candidates and centre and I chose to concentrate on them as the topic for my assignment. After a really disappointing audit carried out by their Awarding Body, I was asked to assist them in working through the problem areas, and identify development tasks which would ensure their next audit would be successful.

I discussed the requirements of the centre with the head of the department, I worked through the audit report and identified areas of strengths and weaknesses so that we could address these in a development session with the team. In this session I worked with the head of the department to ensure the day met his and his team’s requirements, while also meeting the criteria I had identified as needing attention to meet the Awarding Body audit requirements.

It was an intense but productive day and there were a lot of questions which the team had, qualification delivery areas which had to be addressed and the centre internal verification procedures which had to be improved.

Feedback

The feedback from the entire team was very positive, the head of department was particularly grateful for what they had learnt and taken on board. There were a few more emails which I received on the success of the implementation of the improvements suggested. The team felt that they were more prepared for the next audit, and areas which they had become complacent on were looked at and addressed. In the next audit session, their Awarding Body report resulted in a super improvement and a ‘High Confidence’ rating was issued.

Opportunities

I have found the CEA course really interesting and it has enabled me to offer my expertise in my line of work, in an organised and professional manner. It has offered me the opportunity to develop my skills, strengthen my knowledge of a standardised approach to carrying out audits and has enabled me to re-look at the way I deliver courses in my own centre.

I have encouraged my team to register with CIEA to enhance their own professional development and look forward to my team further developing their knowledge and skills as a result.”

I have encouraged my team to register with CIEA to enhance their own professional development and look forward to my team further developing their knowledge and skills as a result.”