Learner story: Sam
Sam attended Brightsparks’ Essential Skills for Working with Children and Young People course in late 2017. Following on from that, she booked on our Developing Emotional Resilience in Children and Young People course to further her knowledge.
We caught up with Sam after the Emotional Resilience course to find out more about her experience.
Sam first heard about BrightSparks’ Essential skills for Working with Children and Young People course on the York Mumbler website, and decided to book:
“I’ve been out of work a long time now. It’s coming up to three years now that I lost my job after I had my Son. I was at a loose end and had struggled with some mental health issues postnatally so I thought the course would be a positive direction to push myself in.”
And was it positive?
“I’ve found the courses really, really good. It’s been a great first step back into the world of learning and education because it’s friendly, informal, and a lot of people that have come on the Essential Skills for Working with Children and Young People course have similar experiences to me. You know, being a stay at home Mum and having lost a bit of confidence. The tutors are brilliant too - so friendly, so informative. They’re really approachable.”
We asked Sam what she found most interesting or useful about the courses:
“Ooh, that’s difficult! A lot of it! On the Essential Skills for Working with Children and Young People course I think the careers support is really helpful. But also finding out about the education system now and how it has changed.”
“On today’s Emotional Resilience course we talked about the restorative schemes in schools and that was really useful as I’d never encountered that before. I’m quite keen to research that and see what I make of it.”
Sam also feels that the courses will benefit her going forward.
“Katie (course tutor) has already agreed to have a look at my CV, and I know the BrightSparks Facebook page has jobs and opportunities on it so I think that will be really beneficial to me in the future. Katie and Chris (course tutor) also helped me to write a really lovely personal statement that I feel proud of using along with my CV.”
And would Sam consider booking on another BrightSparks course?
“Well, this is already the second BrightSparks course I’ve done so definitely! Personally, I’ve got an interest in working with teenagers and young adults so I’d quite like to do a course focused on that age group. I love small children (and I’ve got one of my own!) but I envisage myself working with teenagers really. It’s nice not to be in Peppa Pig land all the time!”
Good luck Sam!