I started working in Adult Care in a residential home at the age of 15 years as a Saturday job while still at school. I quickly realised this was the career for me but was unsure if I wanted to work with older people or children. After leaving college I trained in early years but soon realised I wanted to return to working in adult care.

I started working within the Learning Disability sector working with children, young people and adults who had complex physical, social and emotional needs. I started as a support worker and worked my way up to management during my 9 years of employment.

After leaving my fulltime adult care career I moved into teaching and assessing which I have now done for over 20 years, supporting people who are now working in adult care and wishing to update their knowledge and skills.

I have always been keen to keep my CPD up to date and have completed many short courses to ensure my knowledge remains current,  and in line with current legislation and the use of best practice.

In addition, I continue to work on a voluntary basis in a number of adult care settings supporting people who have a range of age-related conditions as well as physical, social and emotional conditions.

I have worked in Adult Care since I was 18 years old, around 16 years. My background in care work started with me working in the homecare sector, delivering care to individuals own homes. I specialised in caring and supporting the elderly during my initial start into the care sector and then progressed further, into caring for vulnerable young adults who have left the care system from childhood and then onto vulnerable adults with learning disabilities.

I progressed up to the role of manager where I was responsible for running the home care service and overseeing the staff team. I was responsible for completing referrals from the local council and completing individual care plans and agreeing care packages to meet individual's needs.

I have gained the knowledge, competence and skills within this time and this has enabled me to become a tutor and diverse into the background of teaching individuals who are working in adult care and looking to progress in their career.

I began my career in adult care, following a short time spent supporting children with additional needs in mainstream schools some 30 years ago. My passion had always been learning disabilities and therefore when the opportunity came to work with adults in supported living, I jumped at the chance and developed my knowledge and skills in this sector. I progressed up the career ladder taking on the role of senior support worker, followed by service manager for three services and an outreach service, it was here that I gained the management skills which mapped out my future career.

Several years later when the opportunity arose, I changed sector and worked in a domiciliary service, supporting the elderly in their own homes, starting as a co-ordinator and progressing to branch manager. Again, I learnt a new skill set and the knowledge related to this sector.

In 2017 an opportunity arose to train as a health and social care assessor, delivering NVQ’s under the old framework, it was at this time I gained my assessor and teaching qualifications and the knowledge, skills and competence to be able to assess and support learners to achieve their diploma. Once standards replaced the old framework my assessor role moved more towards a tutor role, teaching learners to a set of standards and to achieve their apprenticeships.

I ensure my knowledge and skills are kept up to date by completing training, attending meetings and spending time back in industry.