Chloe’s destiny: Graduate powers forward with early years emotional support
Two accidental meetings created new turns on the career road for one graduate, helping her even further on the way to fulfil a professional mission. Chloe Wenham-Sanders graduated from her degree in Early Childhood Studies in 2017. Within weeks she was employed, back at a nursery she had completed an earlier course placement with.
She quickly settled in and enjoyed the role, allowing her to put into practice something she is eager to deliver — placing educational and emotional support at the heart of her work with children and young people, to give them the best foundation for their later life.
Even so, Chloe felt a professional pang to seek a role that allowed her to have even more impact for the children she works with.
Verbal Behaviour Therapy
That feeling was put into focus when she bumped into a friend whilst out for a walk, a chance meeting that introduced a potential new career path.
Chloe explains: “While we were catching up and talking about what I was doing at the nursery, they mentioned something I’d never heard of before they thought I’d be interested in — Verbal Behavioural Therapy (VBT).
“VBT practitioners work with children who have developmental conditions — such as autism — or problems with their language skills — such as children whose second first language is not English — and their families.
“It sounded right up my street, so my friend put me in touch with a local expert for me to see if it as the right fit or, more importantly, if I was the right fit for it.
The VBT post proved to be another that Chloe felt instantly at home with. She adds: “Needless to say, we were both perfect for each other and I started to work part-time for them. Lots of the children I work with here are autistic and I take a very hands-on approach to understanding how they behave and finding ways to make their behaviours more appropriate.
“It’s really good fun and not in the least bit tiring, no matter what you might think! It is said that people who work in our field are a different breed and you must bring bags of energy to a working day and be on the ball all the time. But for me, this is the relaxing part of the job!”
Student life coaching
Chloe spent the first part of the pandemic getting used to online teaching and support session and tailoring her face-to-face approach. But in the summer, she had her second chance encounter of the year that introduced her to another opportunity to add to her to toolbelt of skills.
She says: “I was put I touch with the man who for runs an organisation called Student Breakthrough whose aim was to revolutionise the emotional support offered to teenagers and young people. He also turned out to be none other than the son of the parents who owned the nursery I had previously been working for — talk about serendipity!
“We worked together on a podcast and he suggested I have a go at being a student life coach for his company. I never thought I had confidence to do something like this, especially working with older children. But me being me, I went for it and am very glad I did.
“I work with young people — again on a very 121 basis — to see where they are in life, the problems they are experiencing, where they want to be and how to help them to get there.
I absolutely loved being a coach. I discovered a lot about myself while doing this, thinking back to when I was a teenager — which wasn’t that long ago! — so there was an emotional relevance for me.
“But what really impressed me was seeing that this coaching role could help the generation we are teaching, something that is so important for young people journeying through the COVID era.”
Chloe’s future vision
It wasn’t a huge leap for Chloe to realise that if a student life coach can help older children, those methods could be transplanted elsewhere and maximise the results she was seeing.
She continues: “I thought that if young people had this sort of emotional support earlier in their lives it could be massively beneficial. Right now, we have a whole generation of children who have spent a significant part of their lives in some form of restricted living. There are babies born during lockdown who might never have been held by anyone other than their parents.
“So, without meaning to get on my soap box, I feel the time is now to really drive forward with this kind of emotional support. Not when children are teenagers but way, way before then, during their earliest years.
“And that brings my professional mission story up to date. I’m now developing an age-appropriate, bite-sized version of the student life coach mode but tailored toward young children and toddlers. I feel it’s my duty to be a part of this and — that word again! — is a serendipitous outcome. The planets have aligned almost perfectly.”
Chloe’s final words on her time at UON
“One of my lecturers said to me before I graduated “What do you want to be?” I answered, “I want to hug everyone”! Not physically — especially not at this point in time! — but in a way where I give children the sort of support where I know I’ve left a fingerprint and made an impact.
“Now, after a year of random encounters that have led to such fabulous opportunities, I know I am on my way to achieving that. This is what I was destined to do.”
