Goldsmiths hosts inaugural conference of pioneering social work teaching partnership

The first annual conference of a new partnership scheme designed to strengthen employer- university collaboration in delivering social work education took place at Goldsmiths, University of London on Wednesday 26 April.

The conference was attended by over 120 delegates from across the UK and Europe.

The Government-backed South East London Teaching Partnership, successfully launched at Goldsmiths in 2015, is part of a drive to improve standards in social work in the area.

As part of this scheme, Goldsmiths is working with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the London Borough of Lewisham and the London Borough of Southwark to improve the recruitment, training and retention of social workers.

The partnership, as an emerging centre of excellence for social work, is opening up new opportunities for practitioners and academics to share and learn from each other.

The conference brought together practitioners, educators, managers, service users and students from 15 social work teaching partnerships across the country, to celebrate the way in which the scheme is bringing about improvements in the quality of education, research and practise.

Kevin Jones, Head of Department of Social, Therapeutic and Community Studies at Goldsmiths said: “We are delighted to be at the forefront of the new Social Work Teaching Partnership model of social work education and to have hosted this inaugural conference. This partnership is built on our roots in south-east London, and our strong relationships with local organisations”.

“The ultimate aim is for our students and professionals to provide the best possible service to meet the diverse and changing needs of our local community.”

Claudia Bernard, Professor of Social Work at Goldsmiths, highlighted the work of the partnership in improving research literacy and utilization across all four organisations as well as researching the impact of the teaching partnership programme. This was underlined by Dez Holmes, Director of Research in Practice in her key note address.

Stephen Kitchman, Director of Children’s Social Care at London Borough of Lewisham said: “Some of the conversations that there have been today have been amazing and they do translate into frontline practice. I’ve come away from this feeling really energised and I hope the partnership continues to grow”.

“For newly qualified social workers the teaching partnership has given them a lot of confidence and for more the more experienced it has presented a lot of positive challenges.”

Andrew O’Sullivan, Senior Assistant Director of Safeguarding and Social Care at Royal Borough of Greenwich said: “This teaching partnership has created a unique and positive dialogue between academia and social work practitioners about what our roles are in a way that just hasn’t happened before.”

Nathan Glew, Principal Child and Family Social Worker at London Borough of Southwark said: “One thing I was really struck by was how much the practice of and enthusiasm for social work in Southwark has been developed as a result of staff coming in to Goldsmiths and being involved in teaching, which can only be a good thing.”

The conference ended with a former service user and carer outlining her experience of being a valued and respected member of the South East London Teaching Partnership. She also performed her poem, ‘A World of Difference’, highlighting the difference that social workers make to people’s lives.