Getting to Know Senior Management

Getting to know… senior management "It probably sounds really corny, but I’m really proud of the team that I work with – each one

"of them does such a cracking job. 10

Who are you and what’s your role? I’m Becky Morris and I am the Head of Continuous Improvement

What are you responsible for? I’m the strategic lead for Quality and Continuous Improvement of provision across the ACT Network and am lucky to work with such an experienced team within Quality. We have a ‘finger in every pie’ (so to speak) as we work to continuously improve the experience that is being delivered to learners across the ACT Network. Because we work with a variety of teams, we’re incredibly lucky to see first-hand all of the good practice that is going on, and the positive feedback that comes to us from our stakeholders.

How have you and your team adapted to Covid-19? As I think can be said about all of the teams in ACT, I’m really proud of how well my team adjusted to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone has adapted their working practices to continue as best as they can working remotely - there was no disruption to our services at all. The main focus for us has been to review our processes to adjust for the pandemic and also looking at how we could support our colleagues in delivery. We’ve tried to be as supportive as possible, within ACT and across the wider network of subcontractors, particularly in relation to Awarding Organisation mitigation advice and with the capturing of stakeholder voice.

What are your plans for the future of ACT? I’m so excited for the coming contract year, we’ve got a number of changes and tweaks up our sleeves that we’re looking forward to sharing with colleagues. One of the major things for us is a shift in our ethos as a team. Whilst we are always working to Quality Assure, we’ve been working to develop, and are still working to develop a ‘Continuous Improvement’ approach, working with colleagues across ACT to make incremental improvements. We have worked over the recent months to plan what we hope will be some impactful changes that we’re implementing in this contract year. Watch this space!

What’s the biggest challenge your team faces? I think the biggest uncertainty for us at the moment, like a lot of teams in ACT, is the ever-changing situation around the current pandemic. Whilst we have a lot of plans in place, we are all incredibly aware that they may change as a result of any changes associated with COVID-19. My team have been trying to cover all avenues in our planning for the coming months, particularly in taking a digital approach to what we do. We are also tackling what comes our way and doing the best we can.

What is your proudest moment at ACT? It probably sounds really corny, but I’m really proud of the team that I work with – each one of them does such a cracking job. In terms of my proudest moment at ACT, the one that stands out for me is still the way that everyone in my team, and across the ACT Network, pulled together during our Estyn inspection last year. It was an intense and challenging month in preparing for, and throughout the inspection, and the way that everyone rolled up their sleeves and showed just how good ACT are at what we do was amazing. I think the grades really reflected this.

Tell us something we wouldn’t know about you? One thing people might not know about me is that I was born in Germany. My dad was in the Royal Air Force, so we moved regularly when I was growing up. I was lucky enough to live in Germany (three times), Italy, Cyprus, the Falklands, and 12 different places in the UK. We eventually settled in Wales - final count was that I attended 26 different schools!