Thomas Swallow Email & Phone Number

I have been a full time member of staff at the Penarth group school since September 2014.During my time here I have been given the opportunity to be a school form tutor and to also take charge of theschool petty cash allocation and administration. This was of course inclusive with the assisting of the deliveryof the KS3/4 curriculum to young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.AccomplishmentsIt was extremely rewarding to see one of our young people go on to a very successful college placement aftertheir time at the school. The young person had been with us for several years and had made unbelievablestrides in her education and personal development with us at the school. It was a career highlight to have seenand been told that I played a role in this development and it is something I professionally cherish.Skills UsedI found that my leadership skills have been greatly improved whilst working in this job. After having severalnew members take post I was one of the more experienced within the team. This enabled me to prove myability in assisting in the training and advisement of the newer staff members and leading by example whenfaced with challenging situations.

I was fortunate enough to attain another job within this company within the same capacity as the one I previouslyheld.My role was once again assisting in the delivery of core KS3/4 subjects from the national curriculum in a EDBschool that dealt with young people with a varying degree of complex needs.I was constantly on hand to provide support to the teachers within the school and to a number of students.Constant planning with the input of your fellow team mates is critical in the short term success of the day, thelong term success of the young peoples education and the containment and recovery of stressful episodes.AccomplishmentsEach day is a small victory when you are working with young people in this sector. It certainly has its challengingdays but in the long term you are helping to effect a great change over their lives. I have been faced withvarying difficult situations in this job and it required me to be sensitive and confident in all aspects and as aresult I gelled well with my team.Skills UsedEmpathy, patience, structure, persistence and a great deal of organizational planning were all skills that wereessential to this job. Once more my self awareness became vital as did my ability to detect behaviour changesand triggers in the young people I worked with as this assisted in the removal of stressful situations.

As this job was agency based I had a varying degree of roles during the course of my time there. I found this tobe a massive benefit to me as it gave me the opportunity to try my hand at several jobs across the sector thatis construction. I learned several new skills and found that as each job was different I was constantly workinghard to keep my outstanding work ethic high as this feedback would get back to the agency which would inturn be fed back to me in the form of praise and other opportunities for work.AccomplishmentsOne of the most outstanding moments for me during my time at Hays was when I was given the opportunityto assist in the interior construction of a new cancer research laboratory; As this was a very high end job that had the involvement of very high business I wanted to represent mycompany in the best possible way I could with my standard and commitment to my work. I felt very proud toplay a part in the construction of a building that eventually would lead the fight against a disease that couldhelp change peoples lives.The standard of work that I always upheld was evidenced by the praise that my agent received at the end ofeach contract and the continuation of work that I received in a highly competitive market when working for acompany such as Hays.Skills UsedMy teamwork skills were continuously developed in this role as was my adaptability to ever shiftingcircumstances. Once again my work safe practices had to be flawless and I was often offered inductions intothe safe running of each work site and to each I was in attendance.A solid awareness of the people that are working around is also a skill of paramount importance when workingin an area filled with great potential danger.Scaffold Labourer

Assisting in the safe construction and dismantling of constructiion grade scaffolding in accordance withAustralian federal law under the lead ticketed scaffolder.AccomplishmentsThe tempo of this role was quite fast paced as the scaffold we were erecting was always on a deadline. Thismeant that I had to adapt to working under pressure by developing safe working practices alongside goodworking relations with my team.Skills UsedOrganisation, patience and clear and safe communication skills were essential when working in this role. Thisjob gave me insight into becoming more self aware on how my actions and role in a team have an effecton the safety and success of the team, therefore you refine your methods and practices to limit risk and topromote success.

In this role I worked on both a one-to-one and teacher led basis with children with emotional and behaviouraldifficulties (EBD). My duties included assisting in the delivery of KS3/4 English, Mathematics and Science alongwith other core components of the national curriculum. I was also heavily involved in the outdoor education thatthe school provided. This included the planning and conducting of excursions and activities that were deemedsuitable after risk assessments with the support of my colleagues. Examples of these successful activitiesinclude orienteering, indoor climbing. 5-a-side football and kayaking.