Alois Kurewa shares his experience of completing his social work student placement with us.
Welcare is key voluntary sector partner with Developing Together – Kingston University’s Social Work Teaching Partnership covering South West London and Surrey www.developingtogetherswtp.org.uk. We offer social work placement opportunities to 2-3 students each year. This year we welcomed Alois Kurewa to the Inner London Team where he was managed by Hannah and supported colleagues, Ola and Ayesha.
I completed my first placement with Hestia Housing Association which was focused on working with adults and I needed more experience working with children and families so chose Welcare after some as I had a very good feeling about this organisation and I thought it would meet my requirements for what I wanted in a placement and I read more to prepare for my interview in December. I had a slight reservation about working in South London as I have never worked there before. My interview was with two service managers, Hannah and Fay and they spoke with me about assessment theories with children and families, safeguarding and the Welcare monitoring system. I was very excited about the opportunity to gain more experience in group work and felt reassured about the work environment and location.
Alois’s highlight
Alois said that he felt very welcome and he loved that he was fully involved in every aspect of work from the very beginning.
“I was helping with the MySpace group and supporting a mother and her young son. I enjoyed the opportunity to work with them and implement the practice and theories I’d learnt at university, especially human growth and development.
I have also been part of the With Respect Group which worked with boys in year 7 at Trinity Academy. This is a challenging group to deliver as most of the boys are at risk of exclusion from school and I had to learn quickly how to communicate and engage with them”
“A week after I started I was able to attend a Welcare wide training day on 30th January 2020 and I was able to meet staff from all the other Welcare centres. This was a real highlight as I enjoyed getting to know the whole charity and the training was very helpful. Besides, one of the facilitators was from my university so I was able to talk to her as well.”
Alois was also given an opportunity to network and meet other professionals at a training programme where he was fortunate to meet someone who was able to provide musical training for a child he was supporting and also refer someone to another organisation he met at that training. He was also able to attend other local partnership meetings to share experiences and look for ways of working together.
“Welcare has exposed me to being able to work with so many organisations and given me a chance to meet many professionals.”
He also helped with a youth programme delivered in partnership with St John the Divine Kennington http://www.sjdk.org
Words for Welcare
“I hope that Welcare will continue to provide placements to students from my university and continue to make a difference in the lives of many families and children. Everyone has been so welcoming and supportive and I have enjoyed getting to know the other staff and some of the trustees as well. I can safely say that my original hunch about the organisation has been right and continues to be so.”
