Nicola Peace

Level 2 Adult Care Worker

I deliver personal care and emotional care within a care home setting; I have worked in care for many years now after having a break to have children. Before I left to go on maternity leave, I held a senior position with no formal qualifications. This time around, it was important to me to gain those qualifications.

I am now fifty years old and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it and I now feel great that I have achieved this. I feel this has opened up more opportunities for me for my career, this has given me the confidence to look for jobs outside of a care home, I always wanted to go into nursing so, this is something that can look to work towards.

It is always great to update your learning and knowledge, things have changed within care so, it has been great to reflect on this and gain more updated knowledge. As part of my apprenticeship, I completed End Point Assessment, the thought of this was a bit daunting but I used the mindset of, it was just like an interview. I feel elated that I have achieved this and very proud of myself, I feel like this is an achievement at my age after finishing school nearly thirty-five years ago.

I completed functional skills as part of my apprenticeship, which was an obstacle at first after not visiting ant of this stuff for years, Clare my assessor was absolutely brilliant and she was so patient with me, I couldn’t even help do my children’s work at home. Clare would sit with me and go through everything; I cannot thank her enough for what she has helped me achieve.

I enjoyed completing the apprenticeship, especially researching and seeking information to help me complete work that was set by Clare, it was a great confidence booster within my ability to complete a qualification and my functional skills.

I definitely do want to further my knowledge even more and look to complete the Level 3 Lead Adult Care Worker apprenticeship standard.