About this case study
The SWiS qualification allowed Steve to gain a qualification that was directly related to his job. It also gave him the confidence to expand his role and embrace opportunities to develop his skills.
Steve says:
“The best thing about my job is the variety. I drive the minibus, I supervise the children at lunch and break times, and I help plan and organise school trips – and often go on them, too. Plus I’m about to start running a cycle safety programme. SWiS has given me the confidence to embrace the opportunities that come my way and really make the most of them.
“I was a cowman for 25 years before I came to work at the school, initially as a caretaker. That was about seven years ago. Then I developed a heart problem and was off for a few months. When I came back, the headteacher suggested I should stop doing heavy work. He pretty much said, here are the things that need doing, now make the job your own. So that’s what I’ve done. I love it — the variety, and the opportunity to work with the children.
“The idea of getting a qualification that directly related to the work I was doing really appealed to me. I wanted to show that I was capable and good at my job. That’s why I decided to go for the SWiS level 2 certificate. When I first read through the course, I thought I might have trouble matching my experiences to the criteria. Then Val from the assessment centre came out to talk to us and explained how the things I was already doing would count as evidence.
“I did most of my work in school as I went along. I work on my own a lot so I had to be ready to grab opportunities to record things and get people to act as expert witnesses whenever I could. One day the head happened to be there when I was dealing with an incident so I asked him to witness it. The course is flexible enough to let you do that.
“I kept in touch with Val from the assessment centre by e-mail and phone and I worked a lot with Emma Davies, the school’s resource assistant, who was doing the certificate at the same time. Sometimes we’d sit down in the library and tackle something together. If we couldn’t get it sorted between us, we’d get Val to come out and see us. Those visits also gave us something to aim at and focus on. If you knew Val was coming on a certain day, you’d plan ahead for then. I’d never worked to deadlines before but I found it a useful discipline. I’ve really got into the habit of it now.
“SWiS has definitely made me more confident. I feel much happier now about helping the staff and getting involved in things like helping to arrange school trips. I think it’s also helped raise awareness of what I can do; it’s certainly made me more aware of what other people in the school are up to. I’m hoping level 3 will take my skills and understanding another step further on and help build up my confidence even more.”
