A day in the life of a Henshaws College Student Enabler

Hi My name is Matt – I am a Student Enabler at Henshaws College. I have been doing this role for nearly 3 years now and this is my first role in care. Recently I have passed my NVQ level 2 in Care whilst at the college and now receive an additional payment on my hourly rate. I am hoping to be interviewed soon for the role of Senior Care Officer which is the next step on the ladder and would put me in charge of a team of other Enablers working in the house with me.

 

I enjoy working at Henshaws as although there are some routine tasks, each day is different because of the great people I work with. Students are aged between 16 and 24 and during term time they live in houses on the college campus. For some it is their first experience of living away from home so my role is very important in helping them to settle in and to learn to do for themselves what their parents may have always done for them. The aim is to help them to become as self sufficient as possible so they can move on to more independent living once they leave college. There are lots of ex-students from the college living in our community houses where they still receive support but have the opportunity to live as adults out in the community.

 

The students I look after face a number of challenges, some have physical disabilities, with or without visual impairments, and others have learning difficulties. Often the things we all take for granted, for example making a cup of tea, walking to the bus stop and keeping your room tidy are a big deal to them and I get a lot of satisfaction helping someone to learn to acquire new skills and confidence.  I work alongside other staff including specialist education teachers to help the students reinforce what they have learnt in college. The student may have learnt to prepare and cook a meal in the special training kitchens we have on campus with equipment such as talking scales and microwaves and recipes on CDs. Often I am with them in the classroom and then accompany them back to their house and help them prepare and cook their meal in the way they learnt it.

 

Early shifts start at 7.30 in the morning when I help the students I am assigned to get up and ready for college. This may involve anything from encouraging those with full mobility, to assisting others with washing, teeth-cleaning and toileting. Some of our students need hoists to help them in and out of bed and to their bathroom – we are given full training on how to do this safely. These students tend to be wheelchair users, so pushing wheelchairs is also part of our training, as is VIAT (which stands for Visual Impairment Awareness Training). VIAT teaches us about eye conditions and most importantly how to safely guide a student who may have partial or no sight at all.

 

Outside college teaching hours the students can take part in a huge range of activities including Karaokes, discos and IT club, or they might wish to visit friends in other houses. At weekends I assist the students with going out to the shops or on trips or sometimes accompany the older students to the pub. On these trips we try to use public transport to help the students learn more independence. When the weather is bad I have to be creative and help students with art and craft projects or baking. We have a swimming pool and gym on the campus and many of our students get involved with the Special Olympics and swimming competitions. It is great when a student wins a medal as they and their families are so proud of their achievements.

 

I work a variety of shifts normally including one at the weekend for which I am paid an additional £1.50 an hour. I work during term time plus an additional few days for training so it means I am off during most of the holidays. My salary is calculated in such a way that the earnings from the weeks I work are added to the 5 weeks paid holiday and Bank Holidays and then the total is divided by 12 so I receive a regular monthly salary which makes budgeting easier. There are sometimes opportunities to work additional shifts for which I am paid a bonus.

 

There are around 250 staff who work on the campus at College so there are plenty of other people around, a variety of ages and from different backgrounds, we do work hard but we also have fun.

 

Why not come and find out more about what we do and possibly join our team?

 

If you would like more information, or to see our current vacancies, please click here