What our students say

Dear diary: two days on placement

Jane Woods, 40, is in her third year of the BA (Hons) Social Work degree, sponsored by her employer. Here she describes two days working with a 'Looked after Children' team as part of a practice placement.

Day one
“I arrive at the office at 8am as I have an appointment with my practice teacher today and want to make sure all my notes are in order. I've been allocated six cases and this is a good time to discuss the difficulties and challenges I may experience. My practice teacher keeps asking me to relate each case to social work theory. I impress her (and myself) with my answers and realise all my hard work in the last couple of years was really worth it. After a coffee break, my practice teacher and I get to work on my portfolio. We discuss what I've been doing in the last two weeks and match this up with the key roles set out by the National Occupational Standards. This is not as boring as it sounds and I realise that I've met most of the key roles through the variety of work I've been doing.

“After our meeting I buy a sandwich and have lunch at my desk. I let my supervisor know that I'm out this afternoon and fill in the ‘in-out’ book so that if anyone telephones for me or needs me urgently they know where I can be contacted. I then have a review for a young boy who's living with foster carers due to his mother’s drug addiction. Arriving at the foster carer’s house, I'm greeted by a very enthusiastic ten year old boy who jumps into my arms and asks me to swing him around. I've been working with this young person for about five months and have built up a good relationship with him, his foster carers and his mother.

“After the review he begs me to play with his new PlayStation game. He systematically thrashes me and I leave promising him next time I'll beat him. It's 5pm and although I'm tired I feel very satisfied that I've achieved such a great deal and had an opportunity to spend some time with one of my clients.”

Day two

“I go straight to visit a young mother today who's being assessed on her parenting skills in a mother and baby unit. I've been working with this young mum for a couple of weeks and feel confident about what I'm trying to achieve with her. I spend time helping her to wash and dress her baby. I also show her how to cook a fresh meal. She recently told me she's never been shown how to cook a meal. I leave after two hours and spend half an hour in my car writing up the observation notes from my visit.

“I arrive back in the office at 12.30pm and grab some lunch. I eat this while transferring the notes I made earlier into the child’s file and have a brief discussion with my line manager about the visit. I find this helps me to understand what I'm doing and clarifies any concerns. Working in the children’s team can be challenging at times, and my line manager always makes sure I've had a chance to talk to her before moving on to the next visit.

“This afternoon we have a team meeting to discuss more positive ways of working as a team and our manager ensures we're all up to date with new legislation. A speaker gives a talk on domestic violence. This is fascinating and I take notes that may come in handy for my next essay. The meeting lasts for about two hours. After a cup of coffee with my colleagues I return to type up yesterday’s review.

“My last call of the day is to pick up a little baby from his foster carer and take him to visit his parents in a contact centre. The visit is being facilitated by a contact supervisor but the foster carer’s car has broken down. My line manager asks if I will help out so the parents can see their baby. I spend half an hour trying to attach the baby seat to my car (nearly as hard as the PlayStation game yesterday). I pick the little boy up and sing lots of songs to him in the car hoping he won’t realise he doesn’t know me and burst into tears. He's fine and I'm greeted by his parents and contact supervisor at the other end. Another struggle to detach the baby seat before I set off home to revise for my law exam next month.”

 

 

What our students say:

• Why choose a social work degree?
• Learning it, living it
• Dear diary: two days on placement
• An international perspective: sharing ideas in Uganda
• Continuing your professional development

Our strong links with local agencies enable us to offer a wide and creative range of student placements in the public, voluntary and private sectors.