Stefanie Placement Report

What is your name?
My name is Stefanie.

What is the name of the company you are working at?
I have to two placements. Two days a week I’m working for Embrace Coop. Ltd./Northern Branch. And my second placement for the other two days a week is in a Children’s Centre.

What is your role in the organisation?
I have a placement as Social Pedagogy (Social Work) there.

What are your daily tasks?
First I’ll speak about my tasks for Embrace. I support the Embrace team in different tasks. It begins with the preparation for new groups who arrive in Burnley (Welcome folders, translating CV’s), welcome new groups (introduction, translating, health and safety, show Burnley) over to support them with their placements and life here in UK (answer questions about shopping, excursions etc, visit them at their placements) and finally to say “good bye” (including to prepare and give references together with my colleagues). Furthermore I do the filing. And as well as you can see we have the blog about our experiences in the UK and this is coordinated by me.
Next I’ll explain my tasks in the Children’s Centre. There I work in two teams, Mondays for the Family Intervention Project and Thursdays with the Prevention Early Intervention team. When I work in these teams I assist on the one hand my colleagues at different activities and on the other hand I work on my own. This means I have sessions with the children which I prepare, carry out and evaluate.

What are your achievements so far?
I achieved already a lot. When I came to the UK my English was okay, but I haven’t understood everything because of the accent and it was also a barrier to speak. But this is getting really better. I can follow conversations and contribute to them. So I really improved my English skills. Furthermore I achieved a lot concerning my tasks at my placements. I’m able to prepare, practice and evaluate sessions in English. During my placement at Embrace my achievement is to organise and coordinate a lot of things (blog, documentations etc.).




What were the challenges and how did you manage them?
My biggest challenge was the language. Speaking and understanding was sometimes very difficult. One problem was the accent (it’s not as easy as it is in school) and another the correct pronunciation. So I watched TV, listened to the radio and read books to improve my English skills and of course having conversations. I have the courage to speak not thinking about the correct grammar – just speak.

What are your plans for the rest of the placement to get the most out of it?
My plan for the rest of my placement is to use every single day and every chance I get to take part at sessions, meetings or events. Also to inform myself about the topics which are an issue at my placements and discuss it with my colleagues.

How is your cooperation with colleagues and management in your placement organisation?
The cooperation with my colleagues and management is at both placements very good, we come along with each other very well and they support me during my work (show and explain things). They also ask for my opinion, so I’m involved as much as possible.

How do you experience to speak another language at work?
It’s a very good feeling to speak another language, now. Honestly the first time was hard because I always thought about the correct words and grammar. But now I speak without thinking about if I say it correctly. And everybody supports me in the way they explain words I don’t know.



What have you learnt so far?
I’ve learnt a lot so far. Life skills like how to come along in another country, it means different traffic, a different language and daily life. Furthermore I learnt about the English culture (celebrations, meal and way of living). At my placement in the children’s centre I’ve learnt new techniques concerning the work with children and they also have a little bit different material they use than the once I know from Germany. Furthermore I’ve learnt about the family support system in the UK. Working for Embrace gives me the opportunities to receive more information about exchanging programs and how they work, to work with groups and get to know different facilities and organisations in the area around Burnley and to write reports about the life and work here. And of course I learnt about the organisations I work for.