Suffolk and Norfolk Social Work Teaching Partnership (SNSWTP) is delighted to announce it is leading a project to place social workers in schools.

The Partnership is committed to expanding placements for students to study social work in different settings and this is an exciting opportunity for students to be in schools across Suffolk and Norfolk, where they will gain experience in community social work.

Building on an initial school placement in Suffolk, the Partnership has commissioned Jenny Rafter, Deputy Head of School of Social Work at Anglia Ruskin University, to devise the next phase. Jenny is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Education and the focus is the role of social workers in schools.

The Partnership project aims to involve twenty schools in Suffolk and Norfolk, placing social workers in schools to work alongside teaching staff. Recruitment of schools is underway and more than forty schools have expressed an interest in this project.

Research from the What Works Centre for Social Care, which ran pilots in 2019 -2020 to place social workers in schools in Lambeth, Southampton and Stockport, provides some evidence that embedding social workers in schools enables them to build relationships with children, young people and families and undertake work that would otherwise not be possible.

The Partnership anticipates that the school-based placements will benefit the pupils and the schools and give social work students the opportunity to broaden their skills.

Contact details DM @jennyrafter @snswtp

Judith.hanlon@suffolk.gov.uk