Team: Student Social Work Support
Student social work support
Do you ever wonder what it’s like for a Social work Student on placement with Arc?
They play a vital role in support us to run our arts for wellbeing service, and we are very lucky to have had some particularly passionate and involved students during one of our more difficult years! We asked 4 of them who have recently completed their placements what they thought about their time with us and if this year was a challenge for them or their roles.
“The best part of having a placement at Arc is that you aren’t treated like a student but a valued member of the team. I felt like I was given a lot of responsibility and a trusted team member, this is not to say you are given more than you can handle. There is always someone in the team to help if needed. I felt by being trusted I had the opportunity to get the most out of my placement and learn as much as possible. Even if you forget about all of this and think about the role we do at Arc as a SSW, what we do with participants is incredibly powerful and to see the journeys they go on from their referral meetings to the end of their 12 week programme is fantastic and very rewarding work.” -Luke
“Being on placement at Arc has been amazing for a lot of reasons. I have really learned a lot and had lots of responsibilities which I feel are going to prepare me well for my future career. I have got to meet so many great people and provide support to them when they’ve needed it. On receiving feedback it’s great to know that you have had a positive impact on people, even if it’s just being a listening ear. I have found participants want to let me know not only when they aren’t feeling great but also when something positive has happened and we are able to celebrate that together.“ -Thomas
“Working online seemed like a challenge and a boundary at first, but I feel I have actually made much better 1-to-1 connections with participants than may have been possible in Arc when it’s busy. So that’s a silver lining to the current restrictions we are in. The care and support that the staff at Arc provide is living in each and every action of every volunteer, staff member, artist, and social work student and I think that Stockport is a much better place with Arc at its centre.” -Lucy
“The placement at Arc has been life changing – just having the past few months here has increased my confidence as a person and a social worker so much.” -Heather
Good luck to you all!
