Social Work in the London / South East area
Skills for Care is supporting the work of the Social Work Reform Board and is involved in many of the initiatives affecting social work education.
This section includes information and resources for all those involved in practice learning (placements), practice education and the continuing professional development of social workers from newly qualified social workers to post qualifying (PQ) programmes.
For more information about all of the work Skills for Care does for social work visit the main social work pages.
Forums in London
London is divided into 5 local areas and each holds a regular practice learning / PQ meeting (these are usually quarterly, or more frequent if needed). These meetings bring together employers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) (the ones linked to that local area) and enable collaborative working and strategic planning to take place on a local basis.
The Social Work Education Group (SWEG) has representation from each of the 5 areas, from the HEIs and independent employers. It meets biannually and agrees priorities for activities, determines the use of any available funding for London and plans the content of the SWENs.
The Social Work Education Network (SWEN) is open to everyone involved in social work education - including practice learning, PQ and Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW). The forum meets quarterly for a whole day, consisting of a morning session with presentations on important topics such as updates on the changes, followed by an Information Exchange. Following a networking lunch, the HEIs and the employers (practice learning coordinators) both hold their own group sessions. At the end of the day there is an opportunity for further information sharing between the two groups. See below for forthcoming dates. If you would like more information about membership and dates for the London forums please contact londonsocialwork@skillsforcare.org.uk
Forums in the South East
The South East is divided into 6 local areas, across these 6 areas there are 4 SWEG/Ns (Social Work Education Groups / Networks):
- Sussex and Surrey
- Kent and Medway
- Hampshire and the Isle of Wight
- Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire
These meetings bring together local employers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and enable collaborative working and strategic planning to take place at a local delivery level. If you would like more information about membership and dates for these groups please contact rachel.reid@skillsforcare.org.uk
Forums across London and the South East - NQSW
The NQSW Best Practice Forum meets quarterly and is an opportunity for all those involved in running NQSW schemes to meet together and share best practice information. See below for forthcoming dates.
Monthly social work briefings
In addition to the forums a monthly social work briefing is sent to all of the social work education network mailing list. This aims to ensure that everyone involved in social work education has access to up-to-date information and resources. Where possible all resources are made available to download from these pages.
Social work briefing downloads:
London Briefings
- London Social Work briefing - January 2012
- London Social Work briefing - December 2011
- London Social Work briefing - November 2011
- London Social Work briefing - October 2011
- London Social Work briefing - September 2011
- London Social Work briefing - July and August 2011
- London Social Work briefing -June 2011
- London Social Work briefing - May 2011
- London Social Work briefing - April 2011
- London Social Work briefing - March 2011
- London Social Work briefing - February 2011
- London Social Work briefing - January 2011
South East Briefings
- South East Social Work briefing - January 2012
- South East Social Work briefing - December 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - November 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - October 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - September 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - July and August 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - June 2011
- South East Social Work briefing - April 2011
Please note the Skills for Care social work pages in London were moved in July 2011 so some Skills for Care website links in earlier briefings may no longer work.
Social Work Education Network (in London only)
The quarterly Social Work Education Network (SWEN) sessions are open to everyone involved in social work education in London. Each session focuses on different topics of information.
The next meeting dates are:
Date |
Time |
Venue |
|---|---|---|
Weds, 21 March 2012 |
10am-3.15pm |
|
The morning sessions are from 10am-12.45pm and are followed by a networking lunch.
In the afternoon separate meetings of the Local Authority practice learning coordinator group and the HEI group run from 1.45pm-3.15pm.
If you wish to attend please e-mail londonsocialwork@skillsforcare.org.uk
Download:
- SWEN meeting - December 14th, 2011
SWEN meeting summary - 14 December 2011
Effective Partnership working 14.12.11
Notes from the employers network 14.12.11
- SWEN meeting - October 5th, 2011
SWEN Meeting - Summary - October 5th 2011
Deployment of social workers in adult services
- SWEN meeting - May 11th, 2011
- SWEN meeting - Summary - 11th_May_2011
- First_Line_Managers_programme
- SWRB_Education_Working_Group_Update_110511
- SWEN meeting - December 15th, 2010
- One year on report - Helen Wenman
- OYO brief and Q&A explanation - this is a useful summary of the key proposals in the one year on report
- SWEN meeting - Summary - 15th December 2010 - a detailed summary of the SWEN meeting on December 15th, 2010
- SWEN minutes - PLC meeting - 15th December 2010 - notes from the afternoon meeting of Practice Learning Coordinators on December 15th, 2010
The following two documents explain the proposal for a professional capabilities framework:
- PCF Fan (presentation)
NQSW - London and the South East Best Practice Forum
The Best Practice Forum meets quarterly. It is a forum for lead co-ordinators of the NQSW schemes pan London and the South East to share emerging best practice, problem solve, share collective experiences, enable information dissemination and develop common practice / standards / expectations across London and the South East. It also develops the London strategy / programme of training and agrees funding for all of the local areas.
It is open to co-ordinators of Adults and Children NQSW schemes of all London and the South East Local Authorities. It focuses on Adults schemes (as Children's pilots are more developed).
Partner HEIs are welcome to attend, particularly to enable linking of the NQSW portfolio and consider progression to PQ consolidation and to help develop the programmes.
The forums meet between 10am-1.30pm with lunch provided. The dates for the forthcoming forums are:
Date |
Time |
Venue |
|---|---|---|
|
Thursday 1st March 2012 |
10.30 - 1.30pm |
Skills for Care office in London |
|
Thursday 24th May 2012 |
10.30 - 1.30pm | Skills for Care office in London |
NQSW Downloads
- NQSW Best Practice Forum - 17 November 2011
- NQSW Best Practice Forum - 23 June 2011
- NQSW Best Practice Forum - 16 March 2011
- NQSW Best Practice Forum - 11 January 2011
Report of a study which explored the possibility of introducing the concept and practice of beginning to enable others' learning at Newly Qualified Social Work (NQSW) stage of professional development.
Professional Seminar on practice education and workforce development in London
March 9th 2011 - morning interactive session
The following files are compilations of the feedback to the Social Work Reform Board coming from the morning discussions and opinions captured through electronic voting pads.
March 9th 2011 - afternoon presentations
- Moira Gibb's presentation on the work of the Reform Board one year on.
- David Ward's presentation on the work of the West London Social Work Project (previously known as the West London Alliance)
- Graham Woodham's presentation on the work Skills for Care is going to develop the assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE)
Post Qualifying Social Work (PQ)
Badging of PQ modules
GSCC letter - badging of PQ modules - this letter gives guidance on new arrangements for badging of stand alone PQ modules.
PQ resources to download:
This guide explains the PQ framework and answers some of the most frequently asked questions about the PQ awards.
This gives details of the PQ courses run by each London HEI.
This series of 8 case studies explain why social workers decided to do PQ courses and their potential value and impact.
This report summarises research which evaluated the impact of PQ awards in six London local authorities May 2010.
PQ/PL Bulletins
2010
Practice Learning
The Practice Learning Resource (PLR): developing and supporting statutory placements for social work students
This PLR was created as a resource for practitioners involved in developing and supporting practice learning (placements) for social work students - particularly in statutory settings. It aims to be a 'one stop shop' for practice learning resources where most relevant documents can be found in one place. It was written in 20009 and updated in 2010, so some of the materials are now out of date. However, there are still a great number of useful resources.
The PLR consists of a mixture of documents that discuss the issues involved and make suggestions for action; alongside templates, checklists and examples of materials that you can amend for your own use.
The intention is that the materials included will be useful for managers, practice learning coordinators, team leaders and practice educators. The aim of the PLR is to address the shared objectives of improving the quantity, quality and range of practice learning opportunities; ensuring more practitioners are able to become practice educators and enabling the learning of the new generation of social workers.
The overriding perspective of this PLR is that finding placements should not just be left to a local authority practice learning coordinator (PLC). Each borough needs to adopt a strategic approach to developing more practice learning opportunities. Social work line managers are encouraged to play a greater role and have more responsibility for identifying, planning and enabling placements to happen, so that all statutory teams have a practice learning strategy in place.
Instructions to download and run the resource:
1. Click the link above to download the zip file to your computer
2. Extract the files from the zip file
In Windows XP you can extract the files by right-clicking the relevant zip file and choosing "Extract All...", then follow the wizard.
3. Open the folder where you extracted the files (it maybe opened for you by the wizard) and double-click on start.exe - this will launch the PLR.
If your ICT department prevents you from downloading and running software from the internet we can supply a Microsoft Installer version (MSI) of the PLR on a CDRom. If you give this to your ICT department they can check it and install it for you as appropriate.
This practice learning resource contains the e-mail addresses of Local Authority and Higher Education Practice Learning and PQ leads. Contact details can change so if you find that an e-mail address is incorrect, please e-mail londonsocialwork@skillsforcare.co.uk to ask for the updated contact.
Other Practice Learning Resources to download:
The Practice Learning Handbook is a guide to the placement dates for the Social Work degree and masters courses in the greater London region. It gives information on dates and number of days at each level, supervisor / assessor requirements, practice assessor / enabling others training and HEI practice learning co-ordinator contact details.
This guide aims to answer questions that schools may have about taking on a social work student. It explains the possible practice learning opportunities available to students and explores how students can contribute to the school's work.
This guide complements the initial guide for schools by detailing the lessons learned from placements in schools and suggesting how they can be strengthened to meet the demands of the current context.
This is an introductory guide aimed at Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) organisations that may be interested in hosting a social work student placement.
A resource pack for the practice educators of students based in voluntary sector agencies, providing ideas and activities to help students make connections between the theory and practice of the key social work roles. It is also a useful resource for workers wanting to understand more about the voluntary sector.
- Understanding and enhancing social work placement experience - third sector practice educators guide
This guide has been designed to complement and add to 'Practice learning in the voluntary sector'. It summarises the legal framework underpinning social work practice, gives a breakdown of the legal system and suggests ways of maximising the student statutory practice placement experience through local networks and collaboration with statutory teams.
This guide aims to encourage team leaders to understand the importance of practice learning and the valuable impact a student can have on a team.
The Surrey & Sussex Social Work Education group (which includes colleagues from higher education, and organisations involved in the education and employment of social workers in the area) was led by Caroline Skinner (Practice Placements Advisor, Surrey County Council) to develop a guide aimed at those involved in commissioning Independent Practice Educators. This guide is intended to enhance and inform practice rather than be prescriptive.
