Hi! I am Sue and I consider it a great privilege to work with Kool Carers as Rachel’s Practice
Supervisor.
Supervisor.
I have lived in Essex all my life and I am a mother of two sons Anthony and Tom and
grandmother of two grandson’s Harrison and Fraser. I enjoy being active; biking and
walking and travelling when I get the opportunity.
Moving to a rural location from an outer London Borough as a child brought mixed blessings, more freedom and fresh air but also isolation at leaving friends and existing support networks. I also struggled at school and could not read a write properly until I was 10. (I
suspect I had dyslexia but was never diagnosed). I recall doing a spelling test at school and my spelling of sausages was so poor that the teacher thought I had written strawberries! As you can imagine this knocked my confidence, so I am passionate about the importance of
helping children and young people access education and build their self-esteem and confidence.
I have worked in social care on and off since I left school at 18 (just a few years ago!). I have worked in residential children’s homes and spent many years working in the voluntary sector with children and adults with additional needs and for the national charity Action for Children supporting children and young people in schools. I initially trained in family therapy and after qualifying later as a social worker I worked in child protection, family intervention and support and parenting support. I have learnt throughout my career that the best way to help people is to support them. Let us face it parenting is a tough job at the best of times and we all need the most support we can possibly get.
In 2012 I changed direction and taught social work for a couple of years and then became an independent social worker in 2015. So, I have a bit of a mish mash of qualifications including social work, family therapy and teaching but now realise the more I know the more a realise I do not know. I currently have a variety of roles that mainly involves me supporting student social workers and newly qualified social workers, for universities, local authorities, and the voluntary sector. It was in this role that I had the pleasure of meeting and supporting Rachel when she was a student social worker. I was equally delighted when she asked me if I was interested in becoming her practice supervisor and said yes please.
The contributions made by charitable organisations such as Kool Carers is essential and often provides grass root support where it is most needed and in a way that meets the needs of local communities which is creative and responsive to local need. I am looking forward to supporting and helping you develop this much needed service.