The Student Room Group

Failing my final year placement?!

Hey guys,

I’m a speech and language therapy student but we don’t have a forum and thought you guys may know a lot about placements.

So I’m a 4th year and in all my second and third year placements, I’ve comfortably passed all my paediatric placements (some of them with very high marks) and enjoyed every single one of them. I even comfortably passed my Adult placement which is not what I want to go into.
However, my first 4th year placement has been the most horrific experience. My placement educator came across a bit intimidating from the beginning. I get set 3 session plans a week to do - all of which she sends back at least twice with comments and I have to re-do them. I’ve barely done any uni work since the beginning of term because I’ve been set so much. Some of her comments are very helpful but some are very very picky, and at placement I get bombarded with questions about what I will do in every situation that may happen eg if a child starts throwing a chair?! Which I would usually wing if that happened - I’ve never really been interrogated like this before. She also asks me a lot of questions in front of the office which makes me flustered and I end up saying I don’t know to everything because I don’t want to get the answer wrong.
I have had mental health issues throughout all of uni but it hasn’t seemed to affect any of my placements up until now, so I don’t want to place the blame on that.
On my session last week I got in a fluster because she had been asking me questions non stop all day and testing me all day, and ripping apart my session plan that I’d spent literally all week doing. I had a breakdown in the end of day meeting and burst into tears in front Of her.
Since that time some adjustments have been made- she removed one student from my workload but she still does the whole sending back my session plan 3 times thing (even though my tutor has said they’re not bad).
At my mid placement review this week, I was told I am failing placement which was a massive shock. Some reasons were ridiculous, such as ‘wearing a skirt in a secondary school’ and ‘not asking about the trust policies’. Fair enough I should maybe do that, but to me it doesn’t warrant a fail.
She invited in a uni tutor for my mid placement review which was horrendous considering this never happens, and I barely knew this lady. It made it extra intimidating and I had a TWO HOUR meeting which consisted of the educator reading out every single reason why I failed and this uni lady just staring at me. I got emotional and told them I wasn’t sure this course was for me, and my uni tutor just said ‘well that’s up to you’. It made me feel worthless and like the uni wouldn’t care if they lost a student. My placement educator also suggested I don’t have what it takes by saying I’d be a good SLT assistant (they don’t need a degree - feel like I’ve wasted 4 years!)
Now I have 3 weeks left and I’ve lost all heart and all motivation. I feel sick from dread all weekend and I’ve lost all willingness to even try.

Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks!
Original post by midnightt13
Hey guys,

I’m a speech and language therapy student but we don’t have a forum and thought you guys may know a lot about placements.

So I’m a 4th year and in all my second and third year placements, I’ve comfortably passed all my paediatric placements (some of them with very high marks) and enjoyed every single one of them. I even comfortably passed my Adult placement which is not what I want to go into.
However, my first 4th year placement has been the most horrific experience. My placement educator came across a bit intimidating from the beginning. I get set 3 session plans a week to do - all of which she sends back at least twice with comments and I have to re-do them. I’ve barely done any uni work since the beginning of term because I’ve been set so much. Some of her comments are very helpful but some are very very picky, and at placement I get bombarded with questions about what I will do in every situation that may happen eg if a child starts throwing a chair?! Which I would usually wing if that happened - I’ve never really been interrogated like this before. She also asks me a lot of questions in front of the office which makes me flustered and I end up saying I don’t know to everything because I don’t want to get the answer wrong.
I have had mental health issues throughout all of uni but it hasn’t seemed to affect any of my placements up until now, so I don’t want to place the blame on that.
On my session last week I got in a fluster because she had been asking me questions non stop all day and testing me all day, and ripping apart my session plan that I’d spent literally all week doing. I had a breakdown in the end of day meeting and burst into tears in front Of her.
Since that time some adjustments have been made- she removed one student from my workload but she still does the whole sending back my session plan 3 times thing (even though my tutor has said they’re not bad).
At my mid placement review this week, I was told I am failing placement which was a massive shock. Some reasons were ridiculous, such as ‘wearing a skirt in a secondary school’ and ‘not asking about the trust policies’. Fair enough I should maybe do that, but to me it doesn’t warrant a fail.
She invited in a uni tutor for my mid placement review which was horrendous considering this never happens, and I barely knew this lady. It made it extra intimidating and I had a TWO HOUR meeting which consisted of the educator reading out every single reason why I failed and this uni lady just staring at me. I got emotional and told them I wasn’t sure this course was for me, and my uni tutor just said ‘well that’s up to you’. It made me feel worthless and like the uni wouldn’t care if they lost a student. My placement educator also suggested I don’t have what it takes by saying I’d be a good SLT assistant (they don’t need a degree - feel like I’ve wasted 4 years!)
Now I have 3 weeks left and I’ve lost all heart and all motivation. I feel sick from dread all weekend and I’ve lost all willingness to even try.

Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks!


How is wearing a skirt a problem.

The educator sounds horrendous - have you gone above these people.

You have good marks up until now - I think you need to see a student counsellor to get support before you wade back in.

Take some of these comments and ignore them. ( I was told I would never make a nurse when I was a student - it really upset me but I put it behind me and 30 years later I am still in it)

Don't give up - the end is in sight.
Are you in a union? As a student nurse we where.
I would make an appointment asap with your personal tutor highlighting your concerns.
I guess with the skirt the length is the main consideration.
It could be that she was trying to challenge you to be the best you can?
Your tutor saying your plans are nt bad is my very encouraging.
I would go back with the original plan and ask your tutor to look at it.
What are the options for resitting?
Try and keep calm look at all her feedback and get what you can from it.

You've worked so hard don't be put down but you may be in for a fight x

Good luck x
Reply 3
Hey guys,
Thanks so much for your replies, they made me feel a lot better :smile:
Something else has happened this week and I’m wondering whether this is another thing i should raise to uni?

So last week I had a session plan due for Monday and she ripped into it being wrong and requested another 2 copies (one due for Wednesday, one Friday). Turns out I had been focusing on the wrong targets because she’d sent an old report for this child rather than the most recent one!
So she sent the new report to me on Friday evening. I read the report and thought about ways I could incorporate his new targets into the session I’d already planned - I sent an email to explain that I had spent loads of hours on the session plan this week and that I haven’t got time over the weekend to make a new session plan from scratch as I’ve put lots of hours in already, but I’ll take it into consideration.
She didn’t reply and today on placement she told me she was annoyed, and it felt like I was prioritising my social life and that I was throwing their extra work to help me back in their face. Bearing in mind the report issue was completely out of my hands and was her mistake.

Am I being out of line? It’s really upset me and I feel it’s quite unfair but I just wanted another opinion.
Reply 4
Hey! I’m a speech therapy student in a similar situation to your previous post. I’d love to get in touch because I’m having a meltdown and would like to hear about what you went through and if you have any advice? Is there any way we can get in touch? Thanks!

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