We recently caught up with apprentice graduate Stacey James who has completed her Level 4 Professional Practice Health and Social Care qualification. Stacey tells us how completing the qualification helped progress her career within the care sector.
Supporting young adults with learning disabilities
I started working at Riverwood Housing when I was 18 years old. We’re a private residential care home that looks after a small group of adults with a range of needs including learning disabilities, mental health and autism. At Riverwood, we’re more than just a care facility; we’re a family, providing support to our residents who have lived there for 24 years.
Our team provide all aspects of care for the residents as well as arranging activities like swimming, walking, trips out and attending appointments.
Support Worker to Deputy Manager
Initially I started as a support worker and progressed to senior support worker after a year. I held that role for a number of years before I began to think about progressing my career. The natural step for me would be to progress into a management role and to do that I knew I would need a higher level qualification.
I was qualified to Level 3 but due to a change in requirements I needed to obtain my Level 4 qualification and that’s when I started studying the Level 4 Professional Practice in Health and Social Care apprenticeship with Educ8 Training. I wanted to complete the qualification to give me the best chance at securing a management role.
A deputy manager role later came up at Riverwood and fortunately I was successful. Being able to complete my Level 4 qualification played a huge part in me progressing my career.
A growth in confidence
Although my employer arranges for staff to attend training courses I hadn’t undertaken any formal study since I completed my Level 3 qualification. I left school with my GCSE’s and then studied in college for two years.
I didn’t feel very confident starting the qualification as it had been so many years since I was in education and the thought of writing essays was daunting. However, my Trainer Coach Emily Simmons at Educ8 Training was fantastic.
When I met Emily we just clicked. If I didn’t understand something she had a different way of explaining things to me. Emily had confidence in both me and my abilities. By her being confident in me it made me confident in myself.
A flexible approach to study
The support provided by Educ8 Training has been invaluable. At the time I was working full time, 12 hour shifts and a caring for my mum. It was only on my days off that I was able to work on my qualification. The trainer coaches are supportive and studying the qualification is very flexible. It’s such a good way to study as everything is spaced out and tailored towards the individual.
Study health and social care with us: Health and Social Care – Educ8 (educ8training.co.uk)
