Jack Mann and Neve Small, current Level 3 Health and Social Care Extended Diploma students, spoke to us about their success doing work placements and plans to go to university. We loved hearing about how college has really helped with the placements and the knowledge gained gave them a ‘one-up’ in interviews.
Neve: “Nursing was always something I thought about doing as a job. College seemed like the best option for me to be able to do that at university.”
Jack: “I chose Health and Social Care because I was unsure about what aspect of care to go into. Originally I wanted to do social care but after our first year, I was inspired to do nursing.”
You meet people with the same interests.
Neve: “Going out on placement has been really interesting and I’ve enjoyed that aspect of the course. Also, everybody that works in the Health and Social Care team at college is amazing, especially our LEAP mentor. You meet people with the same interests as you on the course, and it has been really nice to meet people who are wanting to do similar things to me. Its also been really interesting learning about the different sides of Health and Social Care and how there is such a broad range of jobs.”
Jack: “I really enjoy the course because it’s not just exam based, we’ve got practical with the placements that we do 100+ hours of each year. We’ve got assignments and exams too so it’s a wide spectrum of teaching styles and ways in which you are assessed.”
Neve: “I worked in a care home and a nursery setting. It’s been interesting to see both sides of the spectrum. I’m currently working with 3 to 5-year-olds until summer and then after that, I will be moving away for university.”
The course gave me great knowledge for the job.
Jack: “In my first year I worked at a nursery and this year I’m currently working at Chesterfield Royal Hospital. I use that as my placement hours as I work in the operating theatres, in the sanitising team, and cleaning all the areas up before surgery. The course gave me great knowledge for the job as I understood infection control and confidentiality. It really boosted my chances of getting the job. I’m going to carry on my job until I go to university and then go part-time.”
Neve: “I am going to be studying adult nursing at university for 3 years. The course is split, 50% in university and 50% on placement. At the end of the course, there’s a really amazing opportunity to go work abroad for 4-6 weeks in places such as Australia and Finland.”
Jack: “I am going on to study adult nursing too. It’s a 3-year course too and also a 50/50 split between practical and studies.”
Neve: “In both cases, they will find our placements for us. We get to pick the area and they try and find us a placement as close to our postcode as possible to save on commute times. We will do blocks of different placements.”
Jack: “We won’t just get sent to hospitals, they’ll send us to a wide array of placements from care homes or district nursing.”
The college has been great with support.
Jack: “At Sixth Form you can do Health and Social care but it is only exam based. Chesterfield College saying we did placements was a selling point for me. I wanted to be out in a work setting to make sure I liked it. The college has been great with support in getting our placements as well.”
You get work experience which is always going to benefit you when you go to university.
Neve: “I was the same, I have to get the train to get to college so I came here for the environment. You get work experience which is always going to benefit you when you go to university.”
Jack: “We have two exams a year, this year it’s been anatomy and physiology and also research into current health enquiries. The rest are assignment based.”
Neve: “You can take your knowledge from class and use it on your placements and visa versa.”