Hawick Prepares to Care!
On Monday 29th March at the Hawick Learning Campus, Borders College Jayne Gracie, Head of Department for Care and General Education, and Bill Sim, Workforce Planning and Development Manager for Social Work Services at Scottish Borders Council, presented ten students with College Certificates to celebrate their completion of the thirteenth Prepare to Care course.
This innovative course is run in partnership between Access to Industry, Borders College, Careers Scotland and Scottish Borders Council Social Work Services and Community Learning and Development on behalf of the South East Forum for Wider Access. The aim of the course is to prepare those people in the Scottish Borders who are currently unemployed or have few qualifications, for a new career in the expanding care sector. The course is delivered 3 times a year across the Scottish Borders – Duns, Hawick and Galashiels.
The Prepare to Care course, which is delivered by Borders College, provides students with an understanding of the core values and principles which underpin the National Standards in care practice. The students also learn about the basic needs of service users and the importance of treating them as individual and avoiding stereotyping.
The successful students have gained an SQA module at Intermediate Level 1 and will have the opportunity to undertake a work placement with Care Home employers within the local community.
The students of the Prepare to Care course in Hawick
Some of the students from the Hawick course are aiming to move on to further study at Borders College. Others are planning to undertake the ‘We Care’ pre-employment course, delivered in Selkirk by Access to Industry in partnership with NHS Borders, BC Consultants, and Scottish Borders Council. Two of the students have already secured jobs, one of which is a direct result of undertaking the course.
One student who has successfully completed the course in Hawick said “This was a great course and the team spirit from all my fellow students and our course tutor motivated and encouraged us all to pass our exam with flying colours.”
There are places left for the next Prepare to Care due to start in April in Galashiels. For more information about the Prepare to Care course or how to start a new career in the Health or Care sector, please contact:
Kirsty Summers on 0131 260 9721
