Speaker: Charlotte Hughes, Director of Curriculum, Debut Training Academy
How has the Bud platform helped your organisation?
Charlotte Hughes: So hi, I'm Charlotte from Debut Academy, and I am the Curriculum Lead here. So, I create everything on Bud, um, and I've done all the qualifications and stuff, but also, what I do is I train all the tutors. So, Bud has really helped streamline that information for me. Uh, what it's allowed me to do is, instead of having all these spreadsheets that we had before, we've been able to use Bud to get timely, um, information and data that I wasn't getting, which has ultimately helped the performance of, um, my team. It's also helped the performance with the learners as well. So it's really triangulated that information, um, and performance that we required. I mean, our learners are now producing so much more nice work. They're now completing the work on time because they have that bar. Um, and we're able to monitor, um, everything more accurately than we were before.
Why did you choose Bud over the other platforms on the market?
Charlotte Hughes: So after shopping around, we looked at many systems and, um had lots of like, phone calls with people. But Bud really stood out for us, cause we really liked the holistic approach that it took. It acted like an umbrella that allowed all parties to have really good communication with each other. Um so obviously, like the employers, the learners, our administration staff, I really like their reporting. It's easy, simple. Um, it's a very easy platform to use as well. It isn't too confusing for the employers. It's not too confusing for the learners, and it isn't too confusing for those that need to use it from an administration part. Um, also one thing that I really liked about Bud was the compliance, um, and how streamlined everything is. So it goes into each section really nicely, and without one, it has a domino effect. And that's really good to make sure as a business that we're meeting all the requirements and we are not missing anything out. Um, and human error is like reduced.
What part of the Bud's functionality has had the most impact on your organisation?
Charlotte Hughes: So, it isn't actually just one thing. There's quite a few things, but the few things that have come to my head straight away when reading this question was, firstly, our reporting. I love the reporting. It's really helped me manage my team so much better, uh, which has, um, helped highlight the performance, um, of the team and how quickly they are then jumping on things. as, like, learners work, BMA, reviews. Um, even the signatures that were trying to be captured from the employers, this was sometimes a little bit late. So now we're getting that a lot quicker. Um, so this has been really good. Um, I like the way that it's set out for the learners on their plan. So you've got the different things, like a waiting confirmation, if it's overdue. This really helps like a visualisation for the learners to keep them on track with their work. Uh, but there is quite a lot, actually that, um I do really like about buds, so it's really hard to pinpoint one thing, but they're the two that have come up to, um, come up to me. Uh, quite quickly.
What would you say to someone who's undecided about implementing the Bud platform?
Charlotte Hughes: I would definitely say do it. I think if you're in that transition stage where you're finding it hard in any areas such as learners work, progress, tutors, performance or data collection, Bud brings out all in one place for you, which makes it super easy. And I do believe that this was one of the factors that helped us get [Ofsted] Outstanding. I mean, we're all striving for that Outstanding grade, and we're all out, like striving to make sure that we've got what we need for Ofsted. And it was nice because everything was able to get really quickly, really timely. It was there, um it was also nice because they [Ofsted] could pop on to a learner's profile. They could see their progress. They could see the feedback, the learner's work, the reviews that took place, Um, so everything was in just one place for you. But not only that. It's really helped with my staff performance and them, um, elevating their work. It helps with their administration duties, um, and being the person that makes the curriculum, it's also helped me to be a bit more creative for the learners. I'm able to add resources up. I'm able to add video links. I'm able to create different, um, activities. That's gonna draw, um, out higher level work. um, and pushing the learners further as well. And as a result, they're able to then want to produce more work and motivate them to do that. Um, I have to say as well, if you're looking for a company for support, Bud is the one from my initial call to my discovery call to my implementation stage to now the stage that I'm at, the whole team has been brilliant. Craig was fantastic in the beginning stages, really breaking down, um, the information into segments and for you to really understand and how it works and the functionality of it. And then since I moved away from Craig, we've had Jamie and Jamie's been an absolute star. I mean, the questions that I have for him, the amount of questions that I do have for him, too. He's always got time. He's always very efficient, and he always, um, explains things in so much detail. And sometimes I think when you go into a company, they don't always have that support that Bud has given. Um, and it's just really nice and reassuring that any stage of my journey with them, um, Jamie has always been there for me. Um, so I can't, uh, thank Bud enough for that.
