London Calling: Messages from Newly Qualified Social Workers Alix Walton, Royal Holloway, University of London

Context  Specific 3 year programme launched in 2008 by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC)  For children and families social workers in England (a similar programme for NQSW’s in Adult services – not part of this study)  Designed to ensure NQSW’s receive consistent, high quality support in their 1 st year in employment. Retention of the social workers a key driver.

The Study  Questionnaires and 2 focus groups  55 NQSW’s from statutory Children & Families Services working in 14 London local authorities.  1 – 12 months after completion of the programme (for majority of NQSW’s).  Majority female (45F, 10M)  Just over half from black and minority ethnic groups

The Study cont.  Age range mainly 31-40yrs (26) & 22-30yrs (18)  All working full-time and all except 1 with some experience of children & families work prior to NQSW.  Post-graduate SW qual. (31), Graduate qual. (23), 1 didn’t specify.  49 UK qualified  29 confirmed involvement in the national evaluation (initial stage) but only 12 confirmed involvement by the end stage (see Carpenter et al, 2011 for national evaluation report).

Messages: Doing new things well  Group mentoring for NQSW’s: provided by employers although not a specified part of the scheme. Overall carried out consistently & valued by NQSW’s. ‘Very important’, ‘An excellent space’  Emotional support and reflection were important aspects of the mentoring groups (elements identified as important to NQSW’s in a study pre-scheme by Jack & Donnellan, 2009).

Messages: Improve ‘established’ practices  Induction: over 1/3 rd reported not receiving a structured induction or any induction at all. “What induction? It was a case of - here’s your allocated caseload - get on with it” “No structured induction, expectations or responsibilities provided” “Induction was segmented, not very clear” “It would have been beneficial, but I did not receive it”

Messages: Improve ‘established’ practices  Supervision: quality and quantity is inconsistent But identified as the most important aspect of support (in theory) alongside a stable team with experienced colleagues.  34/55 at least one change of supervisor during their NQ year (1 x 6 changes, 2 x 5 changes, 3 x 4 changes) “Supervision didn’t happen because of manager changes” “Whilst I have generally felt very supported by all 3 of my supervisors, the change … has without question affected my development. … Each time a change occurred I experienced an impact on my confidence”

Messages: Improve ‘established’ practices  Terms most often used by those dissatisfied with supervision: ‘unsupportive’, ‘irregular’, ‘unreflective’.  Not being able to discuss the emotional impact of work: “We get on well but it is difficult to get her to acknowledge & reassure me if I am finding things hard or am stressed” “My manager does not demonstrate any regard for my personal wellbeing”

Messages: The Forgotten  The value of experienced and available team colleagues. Colleagues identified as the most accessible for support. “I’ve got most of my support from my team” “Without the support of my colleagues.. I do not know how I would have coped”  See also Burnett (2006) & Maben et al (2006) re: importance of colleagues but overall limited literature in this area (Moriaty et al, 2011)  Important area particularly in view of changes in working practices & increased use of ‘hot-desking’ & remote working.

Messages: Conclusion  Address the organisational as well as the individual  Attend to the personal as well as the professional A work in progress….

References  Burnett, C (2006) Construction of professional knowledge among student and practising primary teachers: Paradigmatic and narrative orientations’. Research Papers in Education, 21 (3) pp  Carpenter, J., Patsios, D., Wood, M., Shardlow, S. et al (2011) Newly Qualified Social Worker Programme. Evaluation Report on the Second Year (2009 to 2010). Available from: (Accessed )  Jack, G & Donnellan, H (2009) Recognising the person within the developing professional: Tracking the early careers of newly qualified child care social workers in three local authorities in England. Social Work Education: 29:3,  Maben, J., Latter, S. & Mcleod Clark, J. (2007) ‘The sustainability of ideals, values and the nursing mandate: Evidence from a longitudinal qualitative study’, Nursing Inquiry, 14(2) pp  Moriarty, J., Manthorpe, J., Stevens, M., & Hussein, S (2011) Making the transition: Comparing research on newly qualified social workers with other professions. British Journal of Social Work, 41 (7):