My daily routine

Part of my role is acting as an off-site Practice Educator to a range of placements across children and families and adult care. For example I could be supporting a student in a generic adult care team in the morning and supporting a student in a Children in Care Team in the afternoon. The variety is great and it enables me to keep up my skills and knowledge across all areas of Social Work.  I have to write the final reports on students and complete most of the direct observations of practice so there is a lot of writing but again this is something I enjoy. In addition to acting as a Practice Educator I also do some direct training on safeguarding, mental capacity and transitions. I also support some NQSW’s in practice and I mentor Social Workers who are presently completing their Practice Educator 1 and Practice Educator 2 status.

What would you say to someone considering this type of social work?

This is not a job for someone fresh from University. It is necessary to get a few years’ experience first in front line work to enable you to develop the skills and knowledge necessary to support others. It is also important that you have completed Practice Educator training and have PE2 status.