In 2008, I was a student social worker in my final year and placed into Southend Council's leaving care team.
I had a practice teacher and had an opportunity to meet her before my first day. That helped quite a lot, because at least there was a familiar face I had seen before.
The good thing about her was that she'd already had a student before me from the same university, so she had an idea of what was expected of her and what she had to cover.
Fear of violence
One case I experienced involved a young person who had been through a lot of foster placements. She had to go to a new emergency placement and she was very hostile and adamant that she wanted to go back to her biological family. We had to take her from the old placement to the new one.
I was anxious about how she would react, because she had had some violent outbursts. I was worried about her becoming violent in the car. One social worker was driving and another social worker and I were sitting in the back. They were explaining to her why we were going there.
The placement helped me with my current role in Southend's child protection team. I learned a few things, particularly how to work with young people. I learned how to listen to what they have to say and how to show interest and be patient as well. I also learned how to be assertive and say: these are the rules and restrictions. I learned how to compose myself even if I'm anxious, because people could just take advantage of it. I also learned to assess what the risks are and not to be on my own in that kind of situation.
