I started working at Suffolk County Council in January 2003. Previously I had worked in the finance sector in the world of stockbroking. However, being a trader on the London Stock Exchange during 9/11 I was horrified by the lack of empathy towards the people of New York, and I could not comprehend the clients who were more interested in shouting at me to sell their portfolios than recognising the devastating situation that was unfolding before our eyes. After 9/11 I started to look for a different employment route away from finance, and in late 2002 saw a job advertised with Suffolk County Council working in the Admissions to School team. I applied and was successful. Once I began working in the Admissions team I became aware of various other departments within the council and swiftly changed role to become an Education Welfare Officer (EWO). It was this role that exposed me more to the social care team. As an EWO, I often became part of a wider team around a child, regularly attending Child Protection Case Conferences, or Child in Need meetings, whilst supporting children in their return to education. However, I felt that my role as an EWO was limited in what I could do to support children and their families, especially when seeing the role of the Social Worker in the child’s life.
As an EWO, I was fortunate to work with a social worker called Carol Blyth, who was based in the Lowestoft area. Working with Carol I was exposed to the difference a social worker can make when they are truly passionate about effecting change within a family. I observed how Carol was dedicated to making things better for the children we were supporting. I observed the power the role of social worker gave her in supporting families and making a positive difference to the lives of these young people and considered how I could do the same. Unfortunately, I was not in a position to leave paid employment to train to be a social worker, therefore I remained in my role as EWO.
In 2018 my line manager informed me Suffolk County Council would be offering an apprenticeship route into social work. This meant I could be employed by Suffolk to train to become a social worker. In 2019 the application went live for the first cohort of 12 apprentices, and I was lucky enough to progress through the application process and to be offered a position to start my training with University of Suffolk in September 2019.
The training process was definitely not easy due to the COVID situation which interrupted our training six months in and meant that we had to work in a whole new way both with the university for our learning and studying, as well as in actually completing our role as apprentice social workers. Nevertheless, the biggest learning curve for me was in my second year when I was required to spend my rotation year in Adult and Community Services (ACS). Having spent all my time in Suffolk within Children and Young People’s Services (CYPS) I was terrified of moving to ACS and being a complete ‘newbie’, not knowing the support services for adults, or the computer system or even the job roles within the teams. However, my concerns were short lived and I was able to fully embrace the world of ACS, being afforded many new experiences despite the COVID restrictions in place. My third year saw me back in CYPS and placed within a Child in Need (CiN) team. Having worked with the CiN teams before I thought I knew what to expect, however I was very wrong, nothing can prepare you for the fast paced world of children’s social care. I had never anticipated what is thrown at children’s social workers on a daily basis, from babies being born unexpectedly to emergency visits to the hospital to supporting children during an interview with the police, no two days are the same.
Currently I am eight months into my Assisted and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) having been offered a job with Suffolk County Council in the team where I spent my third year rotation – a team I did not want to leave. At this time my case load is well managed, and I feel supported by my manager and team as a whole. I receive regular supervision and opportunity to discuss how I am feeling and how I feel I am managing my caseload, as well as the chance to have peer discussions within the team. The most challenging part of my role is definitely thinking about how to work effectively with involuntary clients, those who have not chosen to work with our service. However, the most rewarding part is seeing the difference my involvement has made to the life of a young person. I was recently called a traitor by a young person where my involvement with them had come to an end, and I consider it the best compliment I have ever received as it made me recognise how I had managed to build a relationship with a young person who had barely spoken to me when we first met.
To anyone wanting to start working in children’s social care, I would suggest accessing some work experience in a similar sector first to get an understanding of what it is like to work with young people prior to taking the leap into the world of working and studying. I consider my experience in CYPS prior to social work invaluable, and it really made the transition a lot smoother as I arrived as an apprentice social worker with a multitude of transferrable skills which support me daily. To anyone currently working within CYPS I would absolutely consider the apprenticeship scheme, it was a difficult route to follow, nonetheless I felt that it helped me to broaden my opportunities as a trainee, due to spending an entire year within a social care team rather than merely a 70 or 100 day placement.
Nina, Social Worker
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