Ross Paterson

I am a hard working and compassionate person who has a real drive on caring for a range of people. I have experience in nursing settings along with support with adults and children with a range of disabilities. I am realiable and work well in teams or individually.  

I am currently in my 3rd year of my Data Engineer apprenticeship. My job role entails different aspects of data installation along with terminating/splicing fibre optic.

I work in a small team comprising of a team leader and senior engineers. I have learned key aspects quickly and feel I am efficient at these aspects. This involves reading detailed CAD drawings and following instructions involved in this. Dressing and terminating data cabinets and splicing fibre optic internet cables.

My job role involves interacting with customers and other members of the public and ensuring the work carried out is to the correct spec. This includes maintaining day to day maintenance on site and also maintaining a high standard of health and safety at all times.

August 2020 – March 2021​​Fife Council, Social Work Assistant

This was a role in Fife Council’s Belonging to Fife Team. This team was set up with both strategic and individual aims. I worked alongside many other agencies to bring children who were born and raised in Fife but moved out-with their local area due to adverse family circumstance, back to the community they were from safely. This involved a great deal of multi-agency working as each child had to have an intensive support package on return including accommodation, education, and any extra support needs such as counselling. I was also instrumental in contributing to strategic change here, working in a manner that made the best use of finance and resources in order to provide proportionate support to more children, in the most cost-effective way.

January 2020 – August 2020 ​​Fife Council, Social Work Assistant

This role was as a Learning Mentor in Fife Council’s Learning with Care team. This was a brand-new team, funded by the Government through the SAF. The team was designed to support care experienced pupils across primary and secondary schools in Fife increase their engagement with education, to achieve higher attainment outcomes and to reach a positive destination after school years. We worked closely alongside the Supporting Learners Service for those who had additional learning or support needs.

I held my own caseload and organised my own timetable and diary for the week including meetings, writing up notes etc. This included frequent lone working.

Worked alongside other professionals such as MST, Clued-Up, Includem etc to address problems that were affecting school attendance/performance.

Experience attending Hearings, LAC Reviews, Planning meetings and Education meetings supporting and providing advocacy for the young people I worked with. This also included limited report writing, providing recommendations for the young people I was working with.

Promoted person-centred practice in this unique role that allowed me to challenge the education and social work systems in order to gain better outcomes for young people across Fife. This team was disbanded due to the COVID restrictions that meant we could no longer access schools.

January 2016 – January 2020​​Fife Council, Social Work Assistant

The Children and Families Disability Social Work Team is a specialised team that works with children and families across Fife. I held a busy caseload, providing support for children and families who were affected by physical, mental and life limiting conditions. I would undertake in depth assessment of needs, whilst working alongside other services to support the families achieve their goals. I would recommend support relevant to the established need and collate a report to present to the resource panel to advocate for a robust support package for the family. I would then monitor the use of this support budget and quality assure it regularly.

January 2013 – January 2016 ​​Hillside Residential School

Providing 24-hour residential care to young people who are accommodated by Fife Council and assess the young people’s needs using a child-centred approach.

Developing and implementing strategies to assist the young people to develop positive relationships along with the promotion of a child centred approach.

Providing positive and nurturing experiences for young people enabling them to develop their skills and achieve their potential. Taking time to really listen, care and provide nurturing one to one meaningful individual work.

Conducting risk assessments in order to provide the most appropriate care that still enhances life opportunities.

De-escalating and managing young people’s challenging behaviour.

Addressing and educating about online conduct that makes the individual vulnerable online.

Liaising with parents, professionals, statutory and voluntary agencies, including health, to develop positive outcomes.

Ensuring individuals are treated in a respectful and dignified manner, upholding confidentiality at all times and understanding boundaries.

Using trauma-informed practice to analyse and understand children’s behaviour and support them with this.

Planning and supporting young people with independent living skills such as CV building and getting a job, cooking, opening a bank, gaining a provisional licence, bill paying etc.

I have completed an HNC in Social Care and I have certain units of my SVQ3