Congratulations to Selina Vernon, Assessor and Review Co-ordinator at our homes for adults with learning difficulties, who has completed her Level 4 Diploma in Adult Care. This is a new qualification and Selina is the first person to pass it in the UK with training and qualifications body ARC (Association for Real Change).

It was recognised that there was a need for senior people in the residential care sector who were not registered managers but wanted to gain a management qualification. This Level 4 Diploma in Adult Care fills the gap below the new Level 5 Leadership qualification and covers areas such as:

• Advanced communication skills
• Implementing equality and diversity policies
• Facilitating support planning to ensure positive outcomes for individuals and to support well-being

Selina achieved her qualification by assessment in the workplace with support and quality assurance/verification from ARC. Selina commented: “After completing my assessors’ award, I wanted to develop my knowledge further to be able to better support the individuals in my care and also my candidates. The level 4 was a natural progression with a good range of units to cater for different care environments. The units were relevant and required me to push myself in order to develop my knowledge to achieve the diploma. The support I received from ARC was fantastic.”

Congratulations also go to Joanna Okoro, Mike Femi Ayenitaju and Ranga Gorejena who have achieved Level 3 Diplomas in Health and Social Care.

At The Richardson Partnership for Care our aim to enable people to realise their potential, applies to our staff as well as our service users. Staff are given the opportunity, encouragement and support to build their knowledge and confidence and to better meet the diverse needs of all of the individuals that we care for. As well as the opportunity to take a range of qualifications, all support staff complete a comprehensive training schedule which involves them attending training every three weeks as part of their working rota. This includes statutory training such as health and safety and food hygiene as well as crisis prevention, epilepsy, dementia and working with people with learning disabilities. More information on our training schedule can be found here:

For more information about the qualification, go to the ARC website.