What Training Do Our Carers Get? A Simple Guide for New Starters in Abingdon, Didcot & Wantage
Getting Started: What Training Means for You
Thinking about starting a career as a support worker (often called a carer) is a big step. It’s a job that’s really important and makes you feel good, but it also means looking after people properly. As a carer, you’ll be giving vital support to people who need help with different things – sometimes physical, sometimes emotional, and often just being there for a chat.
In a hurry? Skip to the summary to know what training you get as support worker.
To make sure you can do this important job well and feel good doing it, good training is key. But what does “carer training” actually mean? If you’re thinking about joining Care With Dignity Partnerships – we’re based in Drayton village, near Abingdon, and help people across Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage – this guide will tell you all about the training we give to get you ready.
Why Good Training is a Must-Have for Carers
Being a great support worker is about more than just being kind and wanting to help (though that’s super important too!). It’s also about having the right skills, knowing the best ways to do things, and always learning. Good training helps you:
Handle all sorts of situations with confidence.
Feel sure of yourself in your role.
Make sure the care you give is safe and respects the person you’re supporting.
In the UK, there are rules and guidelines for care, like those from the
Care Quality Commission (CQC). These say that carers need to be well-trained when they start and keep learning new things as they go.
“Training is not just about knowing what to do — it’s about building confidence and trust in every interaction.”
At Care With Dignity Partnerships, we really believe in helping our support workers feel ready and able to make a real, positive difference in the lives of the service users (the people we support).
What Kind of Training Will You Get?
When you train to be a support worker with us, it usually falls into three main areas: the “must-knows,” “special skills for certain situations,” and “skills for working well with people.”
1. The Must-Knows (Mandatory Training)
This is all the really important stuff every support worker needs to know to keep themselves and the service users safe. It usually includes:
- Health & Safety: Learning the best ways to keep everyone safe. This covers things like how to help someone move safely (manual handling), stopping infections from spreading, and good hygiene.
- Basic Life Support & First Aid: Simple but vital skills like CPR and what to do in a medical emergency, so you can act quickly if needed.
- Keeping People Safe (Safeguarding): Knowing how to spot if someone might be at risk of harm or neglect, and what to do about it.
- Helping with Medication: Learning the right and safe way to help service users with their medication. This is a big responsibility in home care.
- Keeping Information Private: Understanding how to look after people’s personal details properly.
2. Special Skills for Different Needs (Specialist Training)
Every service user is different, so sometimes you’ll need extra training to help with specific needs. This means you can support people in Abingdon, Didcot, or Wantage even better. This might include:
- Dementia Care: Understanding dementia and learning kind and effective ways to support people living with it.
- End-of-Life Care (Palliative Care): Learning how to give comforting and respectful care to someone nearing the end of their life.
- Mental Health Support: Training to help you understand and support people who might be feeling anxious, depressed, or have other mental health needs.
- Helping People with Learning Disabilities: Learning how to give the right kind of support and communicate well with people who have learning disabilities.
- Support for Physical Disabilities/Long-Term Conditions: Learning about specific conditions like Parkinson’s or how to support someone after a stroke.
3. Skills for Connecting with People (Soft Skills)
Knowing how to do things is only half the story. Being a great support worker also means being good with people. We help you develop:
- Good Communication: Learning how to really listen, show you understand, and build trust with service users and their families.
- Being Organised (Time Management): Juggling your visits and tasks so that everyone gets the support they need without you feeling rushed.
- Looking After Yourself (Emotional Resilience): This job can be emotional, so we help you find ways to manage these feelings and look after your own wellbeing.
“In care, small skills make a big difference. From a safe lift to a warm smile, your training sets the tone for dignity and respect.”
The Care Certificate: Your First Step in Care
What is the Care Certificate?
If you’re new to working in care in England, the Care Certificate is a set of 15 standards that everyone learns. Think of it as the first important step to make sure all new carers have the basic skills and knowledge they need before they start working on their own. It was created by experts like Skills for Care to make sure care is always good quality.
What You’ll Learn in the Care Certificate: It covers lots of important topics like:
- Understanding your job
- Your own learning and development
- Doing your job properly and safely (duty of care)
- Treating everyone fairly (equality and diversity)
- Focusing on the person you’re caring for
- Communicating well
- Respecting privacy and dignity
- Helping with food and drink
- Understanding mental health, dementia, and learning disabilities
- Keeping adults safe
- Keeping children safe (if your role involves this)
- Basic first aid and life support
- Health and safety at work
- Handling information correctly
- Stopping infections
When you finish your Care Certificate, it shows that you’ve got these important basics covered. This helps service users and their families feel confident in the care you give.
Learning on the Job: Shadowing and Mentors at Care With Dignity Partnerships
Learning the theory is great, but actually doing the job for real is how you truly get the hang of things. When you join us at Care With Dignity Partnerships in Abingdon, Didcot, or Wantage, you won’t be thrown in at the deep end!
- Shadowing: You’ll start by “shadowing” one of our experienced support workers. This means you’ll go with them on their visits, see how they do things, and learn firsthand.
- Mentors and Support: You’ll have experienced colleagues and supervisors to guide you, answer your questions, and help you build your confidence as you start working more independently.
Always Learning: Keeping Your Skills Fresh (CPD)
The world of care is always learning new things, so it’s important that our support workers do too. We call this “Continuous Professional Development” or CPD. It just means we help you:
- Keep up-to-date with the best ways of doing things.
- Learn new skills or get better at the ones you have.
- Grow in your career.
This might mean going to workshops, doing online courses, or even getting formal qualifications like Diplomas (what used to be NVQs) in Health and Social Care.
Our Way of Training at Care With Dignity Partnerships
Here at Care With Dignity Partnerships, we really care about our support workers feeling ready, skilled, and happy in their jobs. Our training for our teams in Abingdon, Didcot, and Wantage includes:
- A Good Start (Induction): When you join us, we’ll take you through all the “must-knows” and help you understand our caring values.
- Special Skills Training: We’ll make sure you get any extra training needed for the service users you’ll be supporting.
- Help to Keep Learning: We encourage you to keep developing your skills and can support you with further qualifications.
- Always Someone to Talk To: You’ll always have supervisors, mentors, and colleagues to support you. You’re never on your own.
Good Training: Great for You, Great for Service Users
When support workers are well-trained, everyone benefits:
- You (Our Support Workers): You’ll feel more confident, happier in your job, safer, and see more chances to grow in your career.
- The People We Support (Our Service Users in Abingdon, Didcot & Wantage): They get safe, kind, and top-quality care that helps them live better and keep their independence.
- Their Families: They get peace of mind knowing their loved ones are being looked after by skilled and caring people.
Our main goal with all our training is to help everyone live with dignity and feel good – that includes you and the wonderful people you’ll be caring for.
Ready to Start Your Caring Journey with Us in Abingdon, Didcot, or Wantage?
If you feel inspired to start a career as a support worker, or if you’re an experienced carer looking for a team that really looks after you, Care With Dignity Partnerships is a great place to be. Join us, and you’ll get excellent training from day one, and become part of a friendly, supportive team that truly values what you do.
You can check out the Careers page on our website or just give us a call to find out about jobs helping people in your local area.
To Sum It Up: Training is Key to Great Care
Good training is what makes a good carer great. It gives you the skills and confidence to really make a difference. At Care With Dignity Partnerships, our training is all about setting you up for success and making sure our service users get the best possible support.
If you’re ready for a job that really matters, with the right training and support, get in touch with Care With Dignity Partnerships today. We’d love to help you make a difference.
TL;DR:
Thinking of Being a Support Worker in Abingdon, Didcot, or Wantage? Here’s What Training You Get!
If you join Care With Dignity Partnerships, we’ll train you up to be a fantastic support worker (carer) helping people in their own homes.
- The Basics First: You’ll learn all the important stuff like Health & Safety, First Aid, Keeping People Safe, and Helping with Medication. This includes the Care Certificate (15 key things all new carers learn).
- Extra Skills: We also offer training for special situations, like supporting people with Dementia or other specific health needs.
- Being Good with People: We help you become great at listening, communicating, and being organised.
- Learning on the Job: You’ll start by “shadowing” experienced carers and have mentors to help you as you go, right here in Abingdon, Didcot, or Wantage.
- Keep Growing: There are always chances to learn new things and get more qualifications.
Basically: Care With Dignity Partnerships makes sure all our support workers get great training, so you feel confident and supported, and our service users get the best possible care right in their local community.
