Andrew McNee (left) was a high school science teacher working on NSW’s Central Coast when he decided he wanted a career change.
“I left (teaching) because it was becoming less and less attractive as a career. I enjoyed the kids, but the work expectations were increasing and limits were being placed on what we could and couldn’t do. I moved to Queensland to have a think about what I wanted to do,” Andrew said.
That decision saw him return to university to complete a Masters in Counselling.
“I started doing support work (with Endeavour Foundation) as a way of earning a bit of money while I was studying for my Masters. But I decided to stay doing it because it covered all the bases and really uses what I loved about teaching with what I learned during my Masters,” he said.
“Support work covers the very aspect of teaching I loved the most – the relationships with the people you want to grow and support. In teaching it was the kids. In support work it’s the client.”
To advance his career, early this year Andrew enrolled in a Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability). The qualification is nationally recognised and focuses on developing the skills needed to support and empower people living with disability.
One of the biggest take-aways for Andrew was learning how to support the people he cares for to develop independence and wellbeing.
“It (the certificate) has made a huge difference with respect to understanding the difference between providing actual choice to tokenistic choice,” he said.
“For example, it’s tempting to go up to the person in the house who is most decisive and ask them, ‘do you want chicken or fish tonight?’. They might say chicken and then it’s easy to think we’ve provided choice to the customer … that we’ve ticked the box.”
Endeavour Foundation is committed to growing the careers of its employees. There is no cost to our employees to complete the Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability).
“Employees are also entitled to study leave,” Chief People Officer, Shannon Richards said.
We want to invest in our people’s career development. By recognising and supporting the development of much-needed skills and experience, we can provide an impactful, positive experience for everyone in our services.
Shannon encourages all frontline employees and their leaders to enrol in the Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) in Term 2, or to book a place for a start date later in the year.
When I started support work, I had to rely on my experience and transferrable skills from teaching. The certificate supports me to understand person-centred care,
“I had a fairly good idea just from teaching what my role was and certain ways to go about it, but it was not set in stone. Now the ambiguity has gone away – I’m not second guessing myself.”
Andrew also encourages interested colleagues to talk to their leaders.
“My supervisor is very supportive. She understands there are parts of the course I can complete on the job. I also need to work with her to complete sections of it and she has always been very accessible. She was the one who notified and encouraged me to do it (the certificate).”
Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability)
To find out more about the enrolment process, visit the Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability) page or you can fill in an Expression of Interest form and a member of the People and Wellbeing team will get back to you.
“When you sign up to complete the certificate, you are supported every step of the way,” Shannon said.
“So, if you haven’t studied in a long time – or ever – please don’t ever think this is out of your reach. Our training partner has dedicated student support services to help make your learning experience just that little bit easier.
“And when life intervenes and you fall behind that’s okay too. Just talk to your trainer about how they can support you through the difficult time.”
Even Andrew with his academic background had one challenge.
“It was doing more assessments! I thought I had done my time,” he said with a laugh.
But, on a more serious note…
“The course supports person-centred discussions. You (learn to) empower the people you support. There is a big difference between empowering and asking if they want chicken or fish for dinner.”
For more information on how you can sign up to begin a Certificate III in Individual Support (Disability), email Practice Education Lead, Alison Kelly at [email protected]
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