Shaistah

I embarked on the BA in Social Work course at Goldsmiths in 2006. I had unfinished business with education as I had been busy bringing up a family and being a homemaker. I always knew I would go back to education one day. I had completed an access to social work course and secured an offer of a place at Middlesex University. It was my college tutor who advised me to go for Goldsmiths and his pearls of wisdom have paid off as I remember his words, “The Goldsmiths degree holds weight and is recognised by employers with great importance.”

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the course. I had a hunger for learning and the different modules empowered me with active listening skills, counselling skills and organisational skills. I enjoyed learning about child development and how explanations were offered by different theories such as psychodynamic, attachment and Erikson. My favourite has been attachment theory and I have utilised this immensely in my work.

On the first year of the course I had to complete 50 hours work experience. I completed this with Age Concern and my weekly visits to a partially sighted elderly person were full of warmth, fun, laughter and gaining wisdom.

My first placement in a statutory adult setting in a hospital taught me so much about working together in multi-disciplinary teams, assessments and social work values, building on my own values of trust, openness and honesty.

My second placement was with the Royal Borough of Greenwich in the Permanence Team. I thoroughly enjoyed the placement and was offered a permanent position as a social worker in the same team upon graduating. The main attraction of the post was the variety of work from Child Protection Conferences to work with looked after children and Court Work. This provided invaluable experience of the wider field.

I love my work and through dedication and commitment I became a Senior Practitioner and then a Practice Educator supervising social work students on placement. I am a strong advocate for children and although the work has been very challenging in the court arena, it has been very rewarding too.

My career progression was nurtured with my commitment to MA Practice Education at Goldsmiths (I completed level 6 working with groups) and becoming a Teaching Consultant with the South East London Teaching Partnership. Being a Teaching Consultant has been an invaluable experience of sharing my practice experience of care planning with children in care with social work students at Goldsmiths. After eight years at Greenwich I wanted to do something else. I cannot believe my luck – I have now been offered a new job in another local authority as a Supervisor involving mentoring and coaching of ASYE (newly qualified social work) staff.