Courtney Gill Grace
SYDNEY
Summary
An ambitious and reliable team worker with various work experience in many different areas, I have 8 years' experience in total in working in both hospitality and retail sectors, administrative work, support services, volunteering and working with children and young people. I am an efficient worker who enjoys working with the public and handling tasks in a busy environment. In my last role as a childline connect practitioner I have been improving on my skills in a creative and innovative way. I am highly motivated to experience new things, challenge myself and show that I would be a great addition to any team. I am currently based in Sydney on a working holiday visa until 2029, I am keen to develop my skills during this time as both a person and professional. I enjoy meeting new people and putting myself out of my comfort zone.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Childline Connect practitioner
NSPCC
Derry
10.2024 - Current
- Reviewed regular contact users to the service and provided recommendations on how to use our counselling model to tailor the service to them and ensure they were receiving consistent/ helpful support
- Created plans for young people that would be apart of the connect service, using smart goals in order to support them and move them forward
- Spoke to young people on shift and safeguarded them in crisis situations including contacting emergency services for them/ on their behalf, collaborated with them on making safety plans or using techniques to support them to regulate or used emotional support skills to create a safe space to talk and build rapport
- Worked alongside other professionals in young people’s lives such as social workers, parents, therapists or schools in order to make sure the support provided was consistent
- Reviewed my own plans that I held for young people every 6 weeks to review their progress, changes that needed to be made, changes in circumstances and if objectives had been achieved
- Continued to attend trainings and workshops to keep up to date with trauma informed practice, common issues within the service such as sextortion and how we were tackling this within the service
- Attended outside body’s such as colleges and schools to provide talks on Childline, raise awareness and promote volunteering
- Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to assess and address client needs.
- Documented case notes accurately to maintain comprehensive client records.
- Implemented strategies to improve service delivery and client engagement.
- Participated in regular supervision meetings to discuss case management progress.
- Participated in multi-disciplinary team meetings to discuss patient care plans and strategies for improvement.
- Monitored patient progress over time utilizing standardized scales and assessments tools.
- Encouraged clients to utilize positive coping mechanisms such as mindfulness exercises, relaxation techniques or physical activity.
- Assisted clients in developing life skills, such as problem solving, communication, decision making, self-care and social interaction.
Childline counsellor
NSPCC
12.2022 - 10.2024
- Through my role as a childline counsellor I am able to effectively engage and communicate with many different children and young people, with different backgrounds, experiences and hopes for support from childline.
- The counselling model within my role allows me to support them in the best way possible and build that rapport between the young person and Childline.
- I am passionate about making a difference and providing that safe space for young people.
- This role has also allowed me to develop my knowledge on child protection systems and legislations.
- I have experience of mentoring staff and volunteers at the beginning of their journey which has also given me experience of how to support others on contacts with young people, and work alongside them to explore the young persons world.
- I often work with risk in my role and apply safeguarding support, I handle this with the support of my supervisors if needed, I let them know what risk I do have to make a holistic risk assessment.
- I have experience of different situations of risk and how this can manifest into a young persons presentation and the impact it would have.
- Childline has shown me how to put the young person first at the front of everything, support them with their best interests at hand and provide that focus on them while working at a child centred approach.
- I attend many trainings through my role such as my mental health first aid training, suicide training and professional decision making.
Volunteering
Foyle Down syndrome Trust
09.2022 - 08.2023
- My experience of volunteering with foyle Down syndrome trust gave me the opportunity to work with young people with down syndrome and sometimes dual diagnosis's in order to support them appropriately when in our care, engage with them in activities and help manage their emotions when things are overwhelming.
- I want to be inclusive in any way that I can, this is one of the reasons I volunteered at foyle down syndrome as their main aim is to make down syndrome more inclusive within society, educate others and break the stigma.
- I got to experience many different outings such as taking the group out for trips to different places, attending weekly rugby sessions and encouraging them to be involved.
- This experience taught me many skills on how to work with children and also adults that have Down syndrome, it taught me that each person was different and had different capabilities.
- I was able to empower those in the group to do things themselves and help with their learning which I was grateful for.
- Since I stopped volunteering with the group I have worked with the adults in Foyle Down syndrome trust facilitating drama workshops, working on expression and building confidence.
Sales development representative
Metacompliance
05.2022 - 11.2022
- My experience as an SDR taught me how to handle rejection, how to manage my work load and improve my time management effectively.
- I learned how to prioritise tasks and achieve goals that are set and also how to effectively depict the product metacompliance provide and the benefits of this.
- At metacompliance I learned the importance of cyber awareness within companies and ways to improve this and embed this into a culture.
- My duties as an SDR were the majority of outbound calls and admin work such as sending and responding to emails, keeping up to date with current clients and meetings.
Administrative officer
Premiere People
11.2021 - 05.2022
- Since November 2021 I had been working within Lisahally service centre as an AO.
- My role involved working within the benefit attendance allowance, I processed claims for this benefit that involves many checks before going forward with them.
- Through this role I have learned the importance of team work, time management, communication and punctuality which is something I pride myself with.
- I have learned many new skills within the IT side of things such as using different programmes in order to process the claims, the use of Microsoft excel and advanced ways of using Microsoft word.
Counter Attendant/barista
The Playshed
Altnagelvin industrial estate
07.2016 - 11.2021
- From working within the Play shed I have learned how to present myself in a friendly and professional manner to all customers upon arrival.
- I had key holding responsibilities as well as experience in opening and closing a till, cash handling, clearing tables, barista work and taking food orders.
- It has taught me how to work under pressure in an extremely busy environment and ensure that each customer was happy with their service.
Support Services
MPA recruitment-Foyle Arena Vaccine Centre
01.2021 - 08.2021
- During my time in support services my duties included directing people to their vaccination tables, helping those with additional needs with their forms, moving people along in their rows and keeping the environment around me clean and tidy.
- During this time I would also assist Administrative assistants with anything they would need such as fast tracking those who were clinically vulnerable to vaccination stations.
Retail assistant
Nisa Local
whitehouse
06.2016 - 07.2018
- From working at Nisa I have experience in cash handling, operating tills, stock handling, health and Safety, Pay point, lotto and tobacco sales and assisting customers to the best of my ability.
- I am able to approach any situation in a calm and polite manner.
Education
Pass - ASSIST suicide prevention training
NSPCC
05.2025 - 05.2025
Pass - Mental Health First Aid Kit
Aware NI
05.2024 - 05.2024
GCSE'S - English literature, English Language, Religious Studies, Drama, Double Award Science, Maths, History, French
St Cecilia's College
ALEVELS - Drama, RE, English
St Cecilia's College
HND - Performing Arts
Drama BA HONS -
Magee College
Skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Able to work with customers in pressured and busy environments
- Responsible
- Positive attitude
- Willingness to learn
- Organised
- Able to work individually and within a team
- Barista Skills
- Waitressing skills
- Able to keep areas clean and tidy
- Knowledge of safe, clinical environments
- Child safeguarding
- Multidisciplinary collaboration
- Mental health support
- Needs assessments
Certification
Certified Mental health first aider, Public Health Agency
Telephone Number
0435625530
Personal Information
- Hobbies: Exercise, Performing arts, Animals, Drama, English Literature, Going to the gym, Challenging myself, Learning new things, Working with children, Studying a masters in Drama Therapy
- Date of Birth: 09/21/98
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Pass - ASSIST suicide prevention training
NSPCC
05.2025 - 05.2025
Childline Connect practitioner
NSPCC
10.2024 - Current
Pass - Mental Health First Aid Kit
Aware NI
05.2024 - 05.2024
Childline counsellor
NSPCC
12.2022 - 10.2024
Volunteering
Foyle Down syndrome Trust
09.2022 - 08.2023
Sales development representative
Metacompliance
05.2022 - 11.2022
Administrative officer
Premiere People
11.2021 - 05.2022
Support Services
MPA recruitment-Foyle Arena Vaccine Centre
01.2021 - 08.2021
Counter Attendant/barista
The Playshed
07.2016 - 11.2021
Retail assistant
Nisa Local
06.2016 - 07.2018
GCSE'S - English literature, English Language, Religious Studies, Drama, Double Award Science, Maths, History, French
St Cecilia's College
ALEVELS - Drama, RE, English
St Cecilia's College
HND - Performing Arts
Drama BA HONS -
Magee College