Name: Laura Newton

Age: 20

Qualification: Apprenticeship Level 2

Workplace: Hawthorne Court

My mum has always done care work and I used to think it wasn’t a very nice job to do, but now I love it and couldn’t see my self doing anything else.

I started caring when I was at school with work experience and decided to go down this career path. When I left school I went to college to do a GNVQ in Health & Social Care and got more work experience. I started working at Hawthorn Court in January 2005. I love it, I get real job satisfaction knowing the residents are treated well and we are doing everything possible to make them happy.

I really enjoy doing my Apprenticeship and feel very comfortable working with my Assessor. Because of my Assessor back ground and experience in care, she understands my problems and where I am coming from and she helps me resolve any concerns I may have in or out of work. She has helped me personally with changing jobs as well as supporting me with my qualification. I don’t think of my Assessor as a teacher she is great and doesn’t treat any of us like school children. We don’t have to do course work every week like college; the qualification is split up to fit in with our work schedule. My employers are flexible and very encouraging; they offer time off and study time to do the Apprenticeship.

I would like to go on to university to do my nurse training and my Apprenticeship qualification will help me get there and achieve my goal, which is to end up working in the accident and emergency department at a hospital.

I really enjoy the course and have made some good friends. I would thoroughly recommend it!