Practice learning for social work students

Practice learning is a compulsory element of the social work degree. In the past year Skills for Care North West has built on previous developments by continuing to support practice learning for social work students across the region.

A number of areas of work are underway in the North West:

practice educator framework

Skills for Care together with the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) have devised a framework of common standards for Practice Educators. It is anticipated that this will eventually become the required standards from 2013. Pilot schemes are taking place nationally to ascertain how best these standards might be achieved. Pilots in the North West are taking place in Cumbria and Greater Manchester. The pilots are being evaluated and the results will be fed into the Social Work Reform Board's working groups.

availability of statutory practice learning placements

A recent survey was undertaken across all North West local authority agencies to ascertain their views on a new definition of "statutory" placement. The results from this survey indicated that there is still much work to be done before all social work students will be able to undertake at least one placement in a statutory agency. The figures received from the survey enabled placement numbers to be listed as a percentage of the registered work force in each agency. It is hoped from this that a regional benchmark might be devised in relation to the percentage of registered social workers in a local authority agency who could be expected to take a student on placement .

useful documents:

• Practice learning - case studies from the North West
• Practice learning 1- sustaining social work practice learning with local authorities
• Practice learning 2 - revisiting 'new approaches to practice learning'
• Practice learning 3 - how new projects and initiatives in social work practice learning successfully mature
• Practice learning 4 - practice learning in national organisations
• Quality assurance in practice learning
• LeaRNS briefing 6
• Lancashire remote working and practice learning project report

Contact catherine.wilson@skillsforcare.org.uk for hard copies.

For more information on practice learning contact:

Hilary Kenny
Mobile: 07974 255 803 (preferred)
Tel: 01772864171
hilary.kenny@skillsforcare.org.uk