Colin J Dinnie

@RichardDevineSW I have been thinking a lot about how we measure 'quality' in social work. This offers some very useful direction.

The FIRST blog I’ve written this year!! 4 Essential Questions Every Frontline Social Worker Must Ask Let me know what you think… richarddevinesocialwork.com/2023/02/26/4-e…

Can we go on? Child protection in a broken place in: Families, Relationships and Societies Volume 12 Issue 1 (2023) bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/…

@JoeEHanley Zero evidence presented for this. In the review they cite surveys where SWs said they felt less confident in some areas but if you ask a SW 'Do you need more training in specialist areas?' they are always going to say yes.

While the language may be tempered compared to other recent government policy in this area, when it comes to social workers the government response to the #MacAlisterReview still starts from the place of deficit- SWs are the problem, not systems, poverty, austerity... Examples:

@JoeEHanley @BASW_UK I find SWs almost bizarrely fearful of losing their jobs and students of not being able to find a job. They find it difficult to believe they could walk into a new job tomorrow if they wanted to.

Interesting to see social work listed as lowest level of redundancies amongst any industry (via mention in @BASW_UK PSW). Does this suggest that SWs have a lot of power in their relationships with employers, contrary to fear often experienced/expressed? reassured.co.uk/best-industrie…

This is a first as far as i know. An energy company hiring a social worker to support their customers. jobs.lever.co/octoenergy/ffd…

@Mitchel16932062 What a fantastic placement! Is there a SW on site in the school you are placed in?

I have had an amazing first week on placement as a Social Work student in a primary school carrying out a range of tasks such as attendance, ringing parents, updating systems attending CIN and CP meetings to have an insight of what multiagency social work is like in schools

@RichardDevineSW Shame the focus had to be on agency rather than retention in general. I know you will have said a lot more. Good to see the realities of social work on the national news separate from the tragedy narratives. Well done.

1/7 A 🧵 on an interview I did with the BBC, aired today. I thought it was important to do because I think front-line social workers should represent themselves in the public media, and where possible, advocate for the profession.

Spot on from Joe Hanley here.

@butwhydanielle If you can't get a stat placement and you want to do an ASYE in an LA then be very clear at interview about 1. How the skills you used transfer to stat work, 2 how you have managed risk, 3 where your learning needs are and the support you will need.

In your opinion, should a statutory placement be required during qualifying? If you don’t have one, what are the potential impacts on your social work suitability?

Today Social Work England (SWE) launched a consultation on new readiness for practice Knowledge, Skills and Bahaviours (KSBs) for SWs. While the KSBs themselves are not necessarily disagreeable, there are a many issues here related to process, evidence and prioritisation a🧵1/9

All of this. All of it.

@RichardDevineSW To be fair Richard I think we've all witnessed, or been part of, practice like this from time to time and we don't shout about it enough.

I know there is a risk that sharing positive stories on social media of social work creates a slightly idealised, romantic (and distorted) representation.. BUT, it was so lovely to read this excerpt from Ferguson's (2014) paper I just read, I couldn't resist

@myswnews @VincePeartSW @JoshMacAlister @reviewCSC I think there is a lot to be said for joining up early help and children's services but seperating out child protection at the other end is counter productive. Have you read Munro's response?

#CareReview "The care review will improve the lives of social workers and those we support" says child protection expert @VincePeartSW mysocialworknews.com/article/the-ca… @JoshMacAlister @reviewCSC

Multiple experienced workers leaving or being off sick at the same time is creating what i call a 'sink hole effect'. LAs need to get in front of this. When managers go off wrap the team up tight!

@Hannah_CEPSW The critical professional connections for any social worker are with their manager and their team. You can have outstanding teams in inadequate authorities and vice versa. Team cultures vary a lot within authorities.

I do wonder how the experience compares between working in a local authority rated inadequate and a local authority rated good or outstanding 🤔 anyone worked in both? How much of an impact does this truly have on the job? 🤔 any insight would be welcomed 😄

@PastoralPolly Such a contrast between the response of 'we can't make that decision' and being on the ground using relationships to effect change. The difference good social work can make.

Perfect example of how going into care creates instability for children, the simplest things become very complex. Even social work teams are confused about what they can and can't do.

Research project studying whether and how social workers use social prescribing in their practice. Online survey at hull.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/social-work-an… Please share your experiences of social prescribing - whether or not you have used this to date

@sociallecturnal Ice breakers are the work of those extroverts who think everyone secretly wants to be an extrovert to. The truth is most people don't.

Whenever I see a programme for a training day that starts with ice breaker of unknown type, it makes me involuntarily start hoping that I get sick and can’t go. Anxiety is such fun!

@Hannah_CEPSW @mental_activist Never feel that saying you are struggling will be seen as criteria to fail. In my experience as a PE the students and NQSWs who 'fail' are generally the ones who didn't say they were in trouble until far too late. Your LA has invested a lot into your ASYE. We WANT you to pass!

@mental_activist I’m always quite reluctant to talk about it because I then fear I’ll be failed! However I did talk to my ASYE assessor in the end, going to explore my options further to make sure I can I push through and complete the ASYE 🙂

How common is it to feel burnt out 8.5 months into ASYE? Asking for a friend 👀 In all seriousness tho not sure how much more I can push through… this is really not where I’d thought I’d be almost a year after completing degree 😔