Residential worker Review

In my role as a residential worker I support young people with special needs to strengthen them and encourage them to do the things they can at the best of their ability and support the family to give them a break from 24/7 care work. Providing an opportunity for them to see things with a positive approach. The young people come to us for sleepovers and we take care of their personal and health needs, and we do different activities and days out for the young people.

Working in this role I have learnt more about strength based approach in practice, and I’ve learned numerous different communication skills to work with the young people. I have also communicated multidisciplinary teams and worked together to provide a holistic approach. I have also progressed in my job role to lead others. One of the main skills I’ve utilised is self reflection practice.

The programme is good, I do it side by side with my paid work, at times it can get difficult to get things done by the planned deadlines to get the course done within the two years but the evidence required for the course is suited to my job role.

I have meeting with a tutor every month, I can email/ watsapp and get quick responses if I need any guidance. At first there were a lot of tasks which were time consuming but not adding a lot to my final score. However after discussing this I was able to ask my tutor to send me substantial units which covered more content.

On the job, my supervisor will check in with me on my workload and is always willing to cover any witness statements. I also can discuss tasks with my colleagues who have previously completed the programme. I also get time allocated to complete the work, although this doesn’t always happen as I have other work to do.

I have meetings every month with a tutor, and my tutor sends me links to sources of information directly linked with the subject questions. I also can reach my tutor over the phone or watsapp and get any feedback or advice I need. My tutor has also allowed me to complete tasks using different methods to record the information which has been helpful.

My qualification gives me a chance to read on current policies and practice these in the workplace. I can also refresh my knowledge from training when I go over it to evidence the completion of different training we cover at work. I’ve also carried out a lot of self reflection through journaling.

Action for children have a peoples hub, where we can access communities locally and nationally to get involved in raising money or awareness of the work we do, annually we meet with other local centres and every quarter we have a social team day. There are also opportunities to be a inclusion officer where you’re responsible to promote inclusion and diversity, the requires meeting with other organisations and learning from best practice.

Yes

Working at action for children allows you to work with young people and make better changes that are visible in the child’s life. I do a job that makes me feel like I’m making a difference and supporting these young people to enjoy life and be treated with respect and understanding.

Be willing to see things from the children's perspective at all times. This job is for someone who cares and wants to find the things the young people can do and celebrate them. Think about the things you enjoy and how you aould encourage the young people to find their hobbies.