Katie Coward

In June 2021, I completed my third and final year at Bath College where I gained a level 3 national extended diploma in childcare. Subsequent, to this; I was awarded a place at the university of Greenwich as a nursing associate.  I’ve since come to realize my particular skills and strengths are with children and have decided this would best be pursed in a more child focused environment where I am able to gain practical experience and recognised qualifications. 

During the summer holidays of 2018 I took part in NCS (National Citizen Service) which involved physical and team building activities in a residential setting over a period of four weeks.  This gave me a taste of independent living and taught me a variety of skills for the future. 

 At NCS I worked with a team that organised a charity event. The goal was to raise awareness and money for our chosen charity. This required us to plan, organise, and contact venues and businesses.  To execute our event, we raised £250.00 which was spent on the refurbishment of ‘Off the Record’ (a mental health Centre.)

I also carried out some volunteering as a waitress/café assistant at a charity café in my hometown and gained experience for my childcare award by babysitting for the children of friends and family 

I have many strengths, one being flexible with time. This is demonstrated positively as in my role as relief childcare officer someone phoned in sick, and I stayed on longer than my shift to cover their shift. This was crucial for my work as we had no other staff members who could cover the shift at this time of short notice. Being a good team player is another one of strengths, but I am also able to work on my own independently . I thrive on working in a partnership, this could include being part of a multi- disciplinary team. I also can work on my own when needed and carry out my own research. I also have a positive outlook ensuring I see a solution when something becomes too hard or difficult by coming up with a new idea. Communicating is another strength I feel I thrive in. I am easy to talk too and always feel I am someone who can be approached by someone if they need to talk to me in private, but also remaining professional. I am good listener; I listen to feedback and adapt my learning to it, ensuring I can change what I did wrong. When working on care plans, I ensure that I get the lead on shift to check my information is correct and to add any more detail where needed. I work well under pressure; I was calm during looking after a child as they were having a seizure. I was able to assure them calmly dealing with the situation without upsetting the child and get the relevant healthcare professional to assist her. I am interested in marketing as I have seen the power marketing has through social media, promoting awareness on charities including and having a creative platform for small business to promote their products. Through the pandemic social media has been a massive influence on both me and others using Tiktok, Instagram and Depop has been a way too socialise. Through the past decade it has helped charities reach wider audiences meaning that GoFundMe pages and individual cases are heard and helped much more than they would without. During the pandemic, for those who lost their jobs and ventured onto creating their own business can as well reach a wider audience. Helping them progress the growth exceptionally more than without.      

July/August 2018

Waitress/Café Assistant

I volunteered at The Art House Café in Melksham to gain valuable experience and meet new people. 

I learnt front of house skills, money management and kitchen hygiene.  This helped my communication skills and gave me the ability to deal with customers who can sometimes be difficult.

June 2019 – April 2020 

I worked as a Sales Advisor at Superdrug in Chippenham for ten months.

I worked weekends in Superdrug, a busy and popular health and beauty retailer located in Chippenham. I gained experience in all areas and became proficient as a cashier and at stocktaking. The summer period 2019 I worked throughout the week.

I loved working as part of a team, and I enjoyed interacting with customers gaining confidence working as ‘front of house’ which was known in-store as ‘first aisle.’  Here I would offer assistance and help if required. 

September 2019- April 2020

I have completed work experience at various nurseries and primary schools two days a week for 3 years. This was part of both my level 2 childcare course and level 3 childcare course. I have completed over 600 hours of work experience from aged 0-5 years during my placements. 

I spent five months at rocking horse nursery in Atworth two days a week, five months at forest & Sandrige primary school and seven months at Snapdragons Atworth. Through all the placements, I was able to both gain valuable experience working with children I was also able to gain experience in working with others as part of the team. For example, at all the placements I had to listen to all the staff members instructions and as well as that work with them when carrying out routines such as going outside and mealtimes. As well as working with the staff members I was also tasked with interacting with the parents and any visitors, and I had to do this in a professional friendly manner both in person and on the phone.

November 2020- present

I joined Canon’s House Respite home for children and young people with additional needs and complex health and care needs. I work as a relief childcare officer while I was still studying and did it full time during the summer months. During my summer I spent many months working with both the children and working as part of team with my colleagues in all aspects of care. Handover allowed me to find out needed information both about each child and any requirements to their rooms.  Reading the child’s file before every shift gave me the opportunity to see their routine and implement that in their stay at Canon’s. I was able to create activities with resources I know they enjoy with also giving them the opportunity to ask for new activities. For example, when working with Canons during summer we asked all the children what type of trips they would like to go on and they told us places they liked, and we planned those trips for the summer period.

• St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School
• St Augustine’s Catholic College, Trowbridge
• GCSE’s grades - English Language 5, English Literature 4, Maths 4, Science 4, RE 5, 
• Studied national extended diploma in children’s play, learning and development level 2 at Bath College gained a pass/merit
• Level 3 national extended diploma in children’s play, learning and development at Bath College gained a Pass/pass/pass