Meet Nisreen

Nisreen began her career with no qualifications in this country, now she’s made her way to a management role but loves that she can continue to work with children and young people every day.

How did you start working in children’s homes?

I started off part time, then got a full time job and it took me a few years to become a Shift Leader. From a Shift Leader I became a Senior Residential Childcare Practitioner, and from that senior role I progressed to become Safeguarding Lead as well.

When I came here and I saw staff playing with the children and the fun that was going on, it was quite exciting. Since I joined, I’ve never looked back.

I didn’t have much qualifications at the time, so I thought I was really limited with what I could do. I felt like my own language was a little bit of a barrier, but we’ve overcome that bit…

What does a day in a home for you look like?

A normal day in our care is like a normal day at home, just with extra input. There are more staff, and there are different staff, but we treat it like a normal home, just as it would be in a house with a family and children.

The children get up in the morning, they prepare themselves. We are just here to support them. We will try to encourage them to choose their own clothes, tidy their rooms a little bit, make their beds. They brush their teeth, they come down for breakfast. We sit at the table and we all have breakfast together.

We ask the children what they would like to do. We ask for their input of what they like, and that’s how we plan the day. If it’s a normal school day, some children go to school. Some go into a learning lab which we provide here as part of our service. Once they’ve been at school, we support them through the rest of the day. We plan activities after school and what we’re going to do for the evening, such as what kind of games. Some of these games can be according to what the children’s needs are, so it could be that certain children need listening games. Some children have sensory delays, so we keep that in mind and plan our day around the children’s needs – games, TV, film, going out on trips, planning a day to the park, or if it’s a weekend taking a picnic to the park, going to the beach. It could be ice skating or trampoline, cinema – every day’s a different day!

And then each child has their bedtime routine. We usually read a story, give them a hug goodnight and there’s someone around overnight to attend to their night needs, staff who sleep in to provide that care.

What do you think the children and young people need that children’s homes provide?

Children in residential care have often not had the life that we’ve had. They’ve not had a normal life like other children have, and it can be basic needs that haven’t been met for them, so they struggle. They can think this is ‘normal’ because of what they’ve suffered. But when they come into a children’s home, these basic needs get met. The children get all this positive input and see what normal should be – it can be as simple as meeting the basic needs of food, a nurturing environment, positive people and positive relationships around you. The children then realise all this and start to see that this is what normal is – unlike what they’ve been through themselves.

These children do crave time and attention, and that is what we give. They like to have one-to-one time, to play games and they like coming and helping in the kitchen. They do like helping, even the little domestic things like folding the clothes away or tidying up. They enjoy every single thing that you do in a normal home. That’s all they want. They want you time, so you give them that time and you show them that you care. And what you say you’re going to do, you stick to. That is so they can trust you. It’s about building positive relationships.

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

When the children leave the home and you hear that they’ve done so well. When they’ve left and they’ve gone to a home and they’re in a family and they’re doing so well, and they’ve achieved those goals that they wanted to achieve, and they’ve gone and they’ve gone and pursued those goals. That’s rewarding to hear.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Recently I had a challenge that I struggled with a little bit and it felt quite sad. Recently we’ve had children in hospital and when they came back after going through certain surgeries in the hospital, that’s a time when you would want your parents around you. You would want your family around you. For them to come back and not know how they feel when they’ve come back because of what they’ve gone through, that can be upsetting to see. Sometimes because of difficulties such as sensory delays, these children can’t understand the pain that they’ve had. And then, not having the people that they want around them, that can be quite upsetting to see as well. As much as we can do everything that we can do for these children, them not having their family, and to see how hard that is for them, I think that was quite challenging for me.

But these children have got us. We give them 100%.

Lockdown was hard, but again it was hard for everybody. We did the best we could do with the time we had.  We did have a lockdown team in.  We locked down and the children played games and watched TV. We’ve got a garden, so we made use of the garden and did whatever we could. We could go out for walks, bike rides. There’s a wood around the corner, so the children could walk in the woods. We’ve got a big garden and we’ve got a lot of play equipment for children. Plus, our boss is great, so we feel we can always say, “Can we get this stuff?” and he’s quite good in that. He always listens.

We always put the children’s needs first, and we always listen to the children’s wishes and feelings, what they like, what they would like to do. If that’s in the summer holidays, it means activities planned around the children, providing what they need on a daily basis. We evaluate and see what’s happened the days before, what child needs what, and that’s what we do.

What are you career plans for the future?

I want to stay here. I’ve learnt a lot being here. I started off as someone who had no qualifications. I’ve worked myself up to being a Senior, a Safeguarding Lead, and I do want to see myself in a Deputy Manager’s role. I’m completing my Level 5 NVQ Diploma at the moment, just got a couple of months left to finish that. As an example – I started off with nothing, no qualification in this country and I’m doing a Level 5, and I want to see myself in a Deputy Manager’s job. But I still want to work with the children because I don’t feel I would be able to do that role without being around the children. I still want to be in the lives of the children – and do what I do best.

What would you like to say to someone watching this who is thinking about working in a children’s home?

I would say give it a try. Once you work with the children, you will see the reward straightaway, how happy they can be. That you can make a difference in their life.

If you listen to our stories you’ll know how brilliant and rewarding this job is. Everyone can do it. You can do it.