Kate Ferguson

Background

About Kate Ferguson

I am currently studying for a MSc Children’s Rights having returned to education later in life and receiving a first Class Honours in my Early Childhood Studies degree. My degree dissertation was on the barriers to implementation of Article 12, UNCRC, in mainstream primary schools in England and led me to the Lundy Model and, naturally, QUB. In addition to my studies I work as a part time sessional worker at Investing in Children and continue to consider freelance contracts. Please see “Recommendations” and “Featured” for information about previous work. ADDITIONAL PROFILE INFORMATION: I am a highly experienced, self-reliant, committed individual with a strong, inclusive, work ethic. I have a dynamic, positive attitude to innovation and change in delivery of services and I communicate with clarity, conviction and enthusiasm to establish effective relationships with professional colleagues, clients, members of the public, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. My professional links with representatives of government and non-governmental organisations, community bodies and business owners have enabled me to build relationships to the benefit of the organisations I have represented and the wider local community. The links I built with business owners, local politicians and large companies were invaluable, both from a partnership perspective but also in generating new and exciting directions. I have a proven track record as an engaging and confident communicator nurturing relationships and prioritising a win:win for all parties in the professional relationships that I develop. I am comfortable relating to others. I believe that I have a matured and justified self-belief in my ability to relate to others. I provide opinion or advice when appropriate, express beliefs with conviction and, I believe, convey confidence in my own knowledge and decisions. Sourcing funding to underpin a delivery timetable has been a key area of previous work, writing funding applications, developing contingency plans in case funding was not forthcoming, building resilience into plans to ensure continuity and quality of provision and reporting regularly on activity status and actual spend against budget allocation. I have worked with and encouraged a child-rights approach when delivering projects, particularly in Wonderful Things, both with primary school attendees (aged 5-11) and the youth volunteer team (aged 10-18) and am passionate about encouraging children and young people to have a voice and participate in decision making in matters affecting their lives.