Rizwana Lone completed her BA (Hons) Childhood Studies (SEN Specialism) last year and is now studying a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work with the Step up to Social Work programme to become a qualified social worker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I needed to study a degree that could fit around my full-time career, and the twilight degree offered by CCCU was ideal. The location of the campus was also a huge advantage as it was not far from where I lived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most important point I took away from studying this course was the importance of seeing the whole child. This includes understanding how additional needs, families, education and wider societal factors influence a child\u2019s development. This understanding reinforced using a child-centred approach which has been very relevant to me as I am currently doing my placement in the Children in Care department in Medway Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most surprising aspect about the course was about how enjoyable it was. The assessments were not all essay based, there was a variety of methods used such as presentations and creating leaflets and posters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My advice to a prospective student would be to make sure you manage your time effectively. Due to the entry requirements you need to be in a paid or voluntary role in working with children as assignments are based on professional practice. It is therefore important to plan ahead and avoid leaving assignments until the last minute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I am currently studying a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work with the Step up to Social Work programme. This is an intense 14-month course which leads to qualified social worker status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Childhood Studies Degree provided the perfect foundation to build upon in my current role. Studying the degree embedded critical thinking which is a core value of social work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving forward I will continue to use the critical thinking skills I developed whilst studying at CCCU. I will continue to look at multiple sources to back up arguments and strengthen my points in my further studies. Being a mature student at CCCU has made me grow in confidence and given me a hunger to constantly increase my knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my line of work the most rewarding experience is being able to make a positive change to a child\u2019s or young person\u2019s life. I find building relationships and listening to lived experiences of children particularly fulfilling. I am truly passionate about advocating for the vulnerable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My proudest moment so far has been graduating and I do not intend on stopping studying any time soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rizwana Lone completed her BA (Hons) Childhood Studies (SEN Specialism) last year and is now studying a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work with the Step up to Social Work programme to become a qualified social worker.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":352486,"featured_media":40062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,38,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-updates","category-feature","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"authorName":"Celia Pearce","featuredImage":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/750\/2026\/07\/image2.jpeg","postExcerpt":"Rizwana Lone completed her BA (Hons) Childhood Studies (SEN Specialism) last year and is now studying a Post Graduate Diploma in Social Work with the Step up to Social Work programme to become a qualified social worker.\u00a0\u00a0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/352486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40058"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40074,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40058\/revisions\/40074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.canterbury.ac.uk\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}