Interview held on Wednesday 4 March 2026
Interview with Gemma Murdoch on completing her 2 month social work placement at Newton Dee Camphill Community in Bieldside, Aberdeen.
The purpose of this short interview was to find out more about Gemma’s experience here.
- Details of your course
I am now in my second year, studying for a BA Honours Degree in Social Work at Robert Gordons University in Aberdeen. It is a 4 year course. As part of the course there are 3 placements. The first is a two month placement and the remaining two are each of four months. This is my first placement.
- What led you to take up a placement at Newton Dee?
Initially my intention was to specialize in alcohol and substance abuse but I decided to widen my horizons further by learning more about supporting people with learning support needs and mental health issues. I have relevant family connections to people with learning disabilities and thought that it would be interesting to take this opportunity to explore this type of support further. I have lived in Aberdeen all of my life but was not aware of the work carried out in Camphill in any detail. This seemed to be a good opportunity to explore this further.
- What were you expecting to find /experience in your placement here?
Although I had read through Newton Dee’s website, it did not prepare me for the breadth of what Newton Dee is able to offer the residents and day placements who live and/or work here, and are supported by the community. I came here with an open mind, but at the same time with quite a traditional simple “care home” model in mind.
I knew that Newton Dee is many people’s main home, but was pleasantly surprised to find that it really felt like a “real home” with many “positive vibes”, wherever I was involved with people in my two months here.
I expected to be involved in more physical care and was not expecting people to be as mobile and as active as they are in their daily life here.
- What have you experienced/learnt in your 2 months here?
Although the community supports 80 people with special needs in a mixture of shared houses and apartments as well as 27 people on day placement arrangements for work experience and support, the houses and work places that I had contact with, carried and strengthened this sense of home with a vitality of “normal” life. This sense of “normality” and vitality, was created and enhanced by the fact that there are 50 long term coworkers and their children that live in shared homes with those that they support. In addition there are 30 short term international volunteers that join the community for a year who also live in as part of the community.
I have noticed that these factors form a stability that helps to create a real sense of home, breaking down the sense of staff and client roles and creating a sense of a community of people helping and supporting one another.
For example, I was helping in the metal workshop and it quickly became clear to me that some of the villagers were quite skilled in some tasks and I found myself asking them if the quality of what I was doing, was on a particular task, was up to standard. I genuinely needed that advice in that moment and quickly realised how valuable that was for that person giving me the advice.
In the metal workshop I learnt more about how to manage the health and safety issues in a workshop with what could be considered potentially dangerous machinery if not managed properly. But at the same time recognising the importance risk management that allows people to develop their skills.
I also helped in the Phoenix Studio where I was involved in one to one support with residents in an artistic setting, where my eyes were opened to what people can achieve, with the right support.
I was also asked to carry out life story work with two villagers, meeting with them individually on a weekly basis. I quickly realised that I needed to have two quite different approaches, suited to the different abilities, needs, and levels of understanding of each of them. As part of this work I was asked to read through their files, as appropriate, to help me to understand something of their biographies and how difficulties and challenges had been overcome in the past. I found this very helpful in understanding them as well as opening my eyes to different ways of resolving situations and challenges in this community setting.
In working through some personal and general files, I was able to gain a greater insight into how Newton Dee supports people through care and support plans, risk assessments, medical issues, official correspondence, policies and procedures, etc.
- Was it useful? And if so why?
After two months in Newton Dee, I have come to recognise the level of confidence and independence that this community setting creates for those that live here. In Newton Dee they have the opportunity to be engaged in a real working life where they can help others as well as receiving help. This seems to strengthen a sense of personal identity and value to society. Here they have the opportunity to have a vocation, to say “I am a baker” instead of “I work in the bakery”.
This experience here has opened my eyes to what is possible for people with a learning disability.
I was able to make some proposals for one of the villagers that I supported which I hope will be followed up by the community.
(Editor’s Note – Newton Dee’s Welfare Group have confirmed that they do intend to present Gemma’s proposals to the relevant social work department)
- Did you notice any less positive elements of Newton Dee that you think could be improved by Newton Dee.
There was an instance where I was only informed at the last minute of a dental appointment of one of the people who I was supporting on their life history. It was their final session with me. I suspect that in a community of this size, good communication may be an issue at times.
(Alan did apologise on behalf of Newton Dee for this lapse and agreed that despite all of the arrangements and communications in place, this can happen, unfortunately)
There were no crises during the time that I have spent in Newton Dee. That was of course good for Newton Dee but would have been useful for me to understand how the community deals with the unexpected.
- Will your time in Newton Dee affect your approach to your chosen career in social work?
It has become clear to me that Newton Dee is not a care home but a real community with values that I recognise as important. This is an aspect that I would hope to take into my professional life in social work. I have recognised that the integration of the residents and day placements into a community with families, children, volunteers from across the world and employes who come in each day, has created a special environment in which individuals are supported to reach their potential on many levels.
- Was there anything that you noticed in the way that Newton Dee lives and works with people with special needs that you found particularly special or different from what you have learnt or experienced previously?
From what I have described above, I have found many elements of life and approaches that I believe are transferable skills that will be useful to me in whichever branch of social work I decide to specialise. I now have a greater understanding of residential care and support and of what it can be. I begin to recognise with more clarity the consequences of an individual’s actions and how effective those actions can be. I have also come to see how relationships can be developed and their importance in residential settings. I see that you can become friends with people but at the same time recognising the importance of professional boundaries.
In conclusion I would say that my time in Newton Dee was well spent, I enjoyed being here, I have learnt a lot about how Newton Dee works and I hope to visit again in the future.
