“It cemented my decision that I can truly make a difference”: My first week as a Parent-Infant Practitioner
Our latest recruit to the Little Minds in Mind team, Parent-Infant Practitioner Halema Khan, shares her experience of joining Children North East in this new blog. It was a special week to join the service, as Infant Mental Health Awareness Week saw celebration and advocacy of supporting babies mental health in during their first 1,001 days across the UK.
What an amazing first week it’s been! Where do I start?! Well, I can truly say my journey started the moment when I saw the job advertised by Children North East for Parent-Infant Practitioner and said to myself… “That’s my kind of job, I would love to do this”. And here I am, fast forward six weeks, sitting in my new office with my new team within Therapeutic Services.
I felt at that moment that with my new role and collaborative working, it cemented my decision that I can truly make a difference!
It was a mixture of nerves and excitement but I observed everyone’s passion for supporting new mothers and babies, which is being delivered through our Little Minds in Mind Programme. Little Minds in Mind focusses on the importance of strengthening crucial parent-infant relationships, bonding and attachment, and baby brain development. With my keen interest already in this area, I thought to myself that I made a good decision to come and work for Children North East.
Day one entailed getting ‘geared up’ with my essentials: laptop, lanyard and a cup of tea, followed by a mass introduction to the wider team at Head Office and our Graingerville site. Then I was whisked off to support the launch of the new Community Family Hub in the Outer West of Newcastle, promoting Little Minds in Mind.
My passion to support families, children and babies has always remained close to my heart.
What can I say? It was a great event, with children, families and professionals all under one roof! It was a perfect opportunity for me to ‘Meet and Network’ with local services for ages ranging from 0-19 (Midwifery and Health Visiting, Healthworks, NAPI, citywide community family Hub teams, breastfeeding support, antenatal services, Mental Health Services, Family Partners and many community and Voluntary agencies). You name it, they were all there! There was a real buzz of excitement and I felt at that moment that with my new role and collaborative working, it cemented my decision that I can truly make a difference!
As an Early Years Professional (and a mother of four children) I’ve worked within the 0-19 service, Castle Nurseries, Voluntary Service and SMART Multi Academy Trusts, but my passion to support families, children and babies has always remained close to my heart. To be able to deliver workshops and groups focussing on Preparing for Baby and Baby’s Here sounded so exciting!
Day two was a blend of getting to know my new colleagues (who are the loveliest bunch of people), as well as going through all essential policies, procedures, training and health and safety. It was also an opportunity for me to understand my role and its delivery within the community.
Day three was exciting. We attended the ‘1001 Critical Days Conference‘. To see so many more different services and professionals all sitting together, who all work with children and families, was great. It was a mix blend of listening to guest speakers and group discussions, and a real opportunity for for partnership working. I visited the Cowgate Centre, the fantastic community family hub in the Inner West of Newcastle, which Children North East run (with its lovely Cafe Hope). I was in awe of all the great activities and opportunities on offer for the local community and loved meeting the dedicated team who work so passionately! Overall, It has been a very busy week both enriching and positive and I cant wait to get started!
