The way that Callum has made himself so accessible – despite being Director of the organisation and being a very busy person – mirrors the ethos, good will and forward thinking of bOunceT as a whole.
Through tutorials, interactions with team members, training and other learning opportunities we have developed skills and knowledge that will be invaluable as we now progress to working as occupational therapists. Despite doing our placement remotely, we were treated and supported as if we were in the office with the team.
“I have been lucky enough to spend the last 9 weeks as part of the team at bOunceT. This organisation provides a wonderful service to people with additional support needs, their families’ and carers. I both did my placement remotely, which was a challenging yet rewarding experience.”
I didn’t get to visit the placement site or see the therapy rooms, which I would have loved, but the service bOunceT provides to their community is amazing and I am pleased to have been a part of it!
Callum (Lead OT) is very knowledgeable in his area of work, and he is very keen for students to get the most out of their placements, he is very supportive and provides you with the necessary information and resources to promote a worthwhile learning experience and assist students in meeting their learning outcomes.
I enjoyed working on a new project with the OT team…the creation of their new Meaningful Moments activity cards! This experience allowed me to be creative and use my core occupational therapy skills in practice.
Overall, the placement site was very supportive and there were many opportunities to learn about occupational therapy theory & practical skills. I worked alongside a placement partner online which was useful. We were able to work with other students from other Universities who were on placement at the same time as us too!
I had a lot of opportunities to learn about bOunceT’s service pathways and OT process. I was able to independently plan interventions and evaluate the effeciveness of them.
The whole OT team at bOunceT are very supportive – I couldn’t have achieved the learning outcomes and my personal success’ without their encourgament and help!
In my previous placements, a challenge I had was being more proactive instead of being reactive – this being a virtual placement it greatly encouraged me to take more of a proactive role in my learning, and I felt I was truly able to flourish.
Coming to bOunceT as a final Occupational Therapy student has been a fantastic learning opportunity. The team were so friendly! From day 1, I was made to feel welcomed and supported. I got to meet so many wonderful service users and families. The best part about being on placement at bOunceT is the opportunity to really be creative about the different projects going on within the organisation. There are a few so you’ll never be stuck for work! The team really value input and feedback from students, so it’s a brilliant place to be!
My overall experience at bOunceT has now made me feel more prepared and confident within myself to transition from student to qualified OT practitioner!
Having been involved in the occupational therapy process with a range of service users, it has enabled to develop my own interpersonal and professional skills. I have been able to enhance my communication skills, both verbal and non verbal communication, which allowed me to successfully build positive therapeutic relationships with service users and families.
“I felt very welcome by everybody in the team. All the staff were willing and happy to answer any questions and give guidance. I felt my contributions were valued and acted upon and it was made clear at the start that the level of interactions with Service Users was however much I was comfortable with. I was given access to the online resources that all staff have access to which included the Team Knowhow cloud with a vast range of relevant information.”
“I have really enjoyed my time here at bOunceT due to having the responsibility to enhance service delivery and quality of my future practice through implementing a new and upcoming intervention (OPC) throughout the duration of my placement. As part of the OPC sessions and overall process, I have also had the ability to encourage each service user/parent/caregiver to modify, adapt and reflect up their OPC goals and for them, and myself to identify different strategies to implement in order to achieve their OPC goals.
Overall, this placement has given me the opportunity to understand the importance of play as an essential occupation in order for children and young people to understand, grow and learn about the world around them.”
I had very clear expectations from start to finish. My practice educator was willing to answer any questions I had either face-to-face or via email. I always felt valued and respected by all members of the team. I also felt like parents, carers, teachers and support workers appreciated my contribution to the service.
