Matthew crowned as the UK’s best apprentice

A superstar teacher has been crowned the best apprentice in the land after a meteoric rise from Loughborough College apprentice to full-time school staff member.

Matthew Moir, 20, from Market Harborough, won the Apprentice of the Year Award at the Association of Colleges Student of the Year Awards, one of the biggest student awards in the further education calendar.

Two other Loughborough College students were runners up in the awards which were held online on 25th February 2021. Halle Parker was a finalist in the Young Student of the Year category while Daniel Jennings was a runner up in the HE Student of the Year category.

Matt was shortlisted after rocketing through the ranks at Little Bowden Primary School in Leicestershire, where he started last year as an apprentice but quickly found himself leading classes, working with SEND children and becoming a YouTube star during the first national lockdown in March 2020.

He made such an impact during his apprenticeship at Little Bowden that he is now a permanent member of staff and, at the age of 19, was entrusted with helping develop the school’s approach to PE and leading PE lessons and sports clubs.

On his award win, Matt said: “It feels great to have won this award. I was so humbled to just be nominated, let alone to then go on and win it! I never applied for this apprenticeship thinking I was going to end up to being nationally recognised for doing something that I do for the pure enjoyment and pride that I can make a difference in young people’s lives.

“It always feels amazing to be recognised for all of the hard work I put in. To any young people that are considering an apprenticeship at Loughborough College, my advice would be to go for it and never look back! There hasn’t been a time when I haven’t felt supported to be able to achieve my goals and aspirations. I cannot fault the experience I had when I studied at Loughborough College.”

On top of his exceptional work at the school, for which he received glowing appraisals from senior staff, Matt was also chosen as a joint group rep for Loughborough College’s School Sport Health and Wellbeing Apprenticeship.

He has been a role model amongst his peers, always supporting classmates to develop their physical coaching skills, find solutions to challenges in their workplaces, and helping them complete written assignments.

From the start of his course, Matt pushed himself to develop and grow, excelling in all areas to win the College’s own “Apprentice of the Year” award.

Sunny Chavda, Matt’s tutor, said: “To see one of our own be able to gain recognition on such a huge scale makes myself as a programme lead feel a huge amount of satisfaction. He should be proud of what he has achieved as there are so many apprentices who are also doing an incredible job in the workplace. Matt’s award is fully deserved and he has shown that he is a great role model not just for the students he teaches, but for anybody looking to take on an apprenticeship.”

One of Matt’s highlights of 2020 included creating a series of Stay Active at Home video PE lessons for pupils at Little Bowden Primary School and created ‘Active Plans’ for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children which included top tips such as making your own healthy ice cream, researching different types of food and creating a rainbow fruit pizza for the NHS!

To find out more about apprenticeships at Loughborough College, visit: https://www.loucoll.ac.uk/interested-in-studying-an-apprenticeship.