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If you're passionate about working with children and would love a career working in a nursery or even a primary school, our vocational Childcare course here at Stockton Riverside College could be the perfect step for you once you leave school. Our hands-on course gives you the chance to work with local employers as part of your placement, plus you'll get to cover subjects including development, safeguarding, health and safety and activity planning during your time here.
We got the opportunity to chat with 18-year-old Sahira Hanif, previously of Egglescliffe School who is now studying on a Level 2 Childcare course here at the college, to discover more about what she gets up to on both her Childcare course and placement, plus find out about her plans for her future career in caring for children.
Why did you choose to study at SRC?
After visiting a few colleges and attending some other open events in the area, I knew straight away that SRC was my first choice out of all of them. I knew I really wanted to go somewhere completely new and different to make some new friends and get a fresh start. When I first started I wasn’t sure I would settle in, but it didn’t take me long to get used to college life; it’s a big place but it felt small because everyone was so nice and friendly and really made me feel welcome!
Are you enjoying it? If so, why?
Yes! I’m absolutely loving college, I’m doing really well in all my work and my teachers are so helpful and supportive and are really thorough when they explain things and if I don’t understand something they work with me until I do. I also get great feedback for all my work which pushes me to keep doing well. I really enjoy both my course and my placement as I love working with children – they’re so cute and always pleased to see me and that makes me happy!
What’s the best part about your course?
For me it’s the people I get to see and work with every day, I love making new friends and spending time with them in class. My teachers are also really easy to get along with, and I feel like I can always be myself here and I’ll always be accepted because everyone here is passionate about the same thing.
Would you recommend the college and your course to other people? If so, why?
I would definitely recommend the college to others as it is such a nice place to be, the staff are lovely and helpful and you’re able to make new friends in no time at all. The course is worth all the hard work - I’m getting some really great experience on my placement that you can’t teach in the classroom, gaining the skills I need to help me find my dream job once I finish my studies.
Tell me more about your placement? How did SRC help you get it?
On a typical day I arrive, help set up for the day then straight away get to work playing with the children and keeping them entertained. I also get the chance to create and run activities and games to play with them, plus I’m able to help them if they’re struggling. I also help with general day-to-day tasks to help out the staff at the nursery. SRC helped me get my placement by firstly giving me a list of recommended nurseries that were local to me (they have a lot of connections with local organisations) and I then chose the place I liked the most. They then contacted the nursery for me to confirm my place, but once that was done it was up to me to take it from there and sort out my start date. It was a really simple process but it was great experience that will help me in the future.
What’s your ultimate aim for the future and where do you hope your placement to lead?
In the future I would love to work in a primary school and be a teaching assistant as I really enjoy working with children and young people. I would also love to work with older children, so I’m currently deciding whether to progress onto the Level 3 Childcare course or study on the STL course (Supporting Teaching and Learning). Luckily both courses are offered at the college so whichever path I choose I’ll get to stick around for a bit longer! Once I finish here I hope to go on to Teesside University to study on a teaching assistant degree to hopefully achieve my dream of working in a school.
If you're interested in joining our Childcare course ready for September 2018, just head to our website at www.stockton.ac.uk/apply and get your application ready for the new term!
We got the opportunity to chat with 18-year-old Sahira Hanif, previously of Egglescliffe School who is now studying on a Level 2 Childcare course here at the college, to discover more about what she gets up to on both her Childcare course and placement, plus find out about her plans for her future career in caring for children.
Why did you choose to study at SRC?
After visiting a few colleges and attending some other open events in the area, I knew straight away that SRC was my first choice out of all of them. I knew I really wanted to go somewhere completely new and different to make some new friends and get a fresh start. When I first started I wasn’t sure I would settle in, but it didn’t take me long to get used to college life; it’s a big place but it felt small because everyone was so nice and friendly and really made me feel welcome!
Are you enjoying it? If so, why?
Yes! I’m absolutely loving college, I’m doing really well in all my work and my teachers are so helpful and supportive and are really thorough when they explain things and if I don’t understand something they work with me until I do. I also get great feedback for all my work which pushes me to keep doing well. I really enjoy both my course and my placement as I love working with children – they’re so cute and always pleased to see me and that makes me happy!
What’s the best part about your course?
For me it’s the people I get to see and work with every day, I love making new friends and spending time with them in class. My teachers are also really easy to get along with, and I feel like I can always be myself here and I’ll always be accepted because everyone here is passionate about the same thing.
Would you recommend the college and your course to other people? If so, why?
I would definitely recommend the college to others as it is such a nice place to be, the staff are lovely and helpful and you’re able to make new friends in no time at all. The course is worth all the hard work - I’m getting some really great experience on my placement that you can’t teach in the classroom, gaining the skills I need to help me find my dream job once I finish my studies.
Tell me more about your placement? How did SRC help you get it?
On a typical day I arrive, help set up for the day then straight away get to work playing with the children and keeping them entertained. I also get the chance to create and run activities and games to play with them, plus I’m able to help them if they’re struggling. I also help with general day-to-day tasks to help out the staff at the nursery. SRC helped me get my placement by firstly giving me a list of recommended nurseries that were local to me (they have a lot of connections with local organisations) and I then chose the place I liked the most. They then contacted the nursery for me to confirm my place, but once that was done it was up to me to take it from there and sort out my start date. It was a really simple process but it was great experience that will help me in the future.
What’s your ultimate aim for the future and where do you hope your placement to lead?
In the future I would love to work in a primary school and be a teaching assistant as I really enjoy working with children and young people. I would also love to work with older children, so I’m currently deciding whether to progress onto the Level 3 Childcare course or study on the STL course (Supporting Teaching and Learning). Luckily both courses are offered at the college so whichever path I choose I’ll get to stick around for a bit longer! Once I finish here I hope to go on to Teesside University to study on a teaching assistant degree to hopefully achieve my dream of working in a school.
If you're interested in joining our Childcare course ready for September 2018, just head to our website at www.stockton.ac.uk/apply and get your application ready for the new term!