| Unit name | Knowledge and Skills for Social Work Practice 1 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | SPOLM0080 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Symonds |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School for Policy Studies |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This Unit introduces you to the world of social work practice across a variety of settings. It will give you the knowledge and skills to undertake your first-year placement (70 days) which will contribute to you meeting the professional regulatory requirements to qualify as a social worker. By completing this unit, you will learn about social work and the situations faced by communities and the people who live in them, such as children and families, adults needing care and support, and people experiencing mental health difficulties.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This Unit is in the first year of the programme. It comprises of four components (detailed below) and a programme of practice development group sessions that will be both student-led and lecturer-led. The Unit encompasses your 70-day practice placement learning and you will be expected to draw on your own and your peers’ placement experiences in the classroom to inform your learning and skill development. Throughout the Unit your learning will be supported by your Personal Tutor, your placement learning team (which comprises your Personal Tutor, Placement Supervisor and Practice Educator), and your practice development group facilitators (Lecturers). This Unit connects with the other Year 1 Units on the programme so that in combination, upon completion of the Unit you are ready to take on statutory tasks in your final placement (of 100-days) in Year 2.
An overview of content
This Unit will advance your understanding of the different fields of practice across child and family settings, adult social care, mental health, and community-based practice. It will provide an opportunity for you to obtain a beginning understanding of social workers’ statutory responsibilities, duties and powers in key areas of practice and how these are applied in the field when supporting people. You will be given input on organisational demands and restraints which can impact on everyday social work practice. Alongside your first-year placement (70 days), this Unit will provide you with knowledge on different social work contexts for practice. [Note in line with professional regulatory requirements, you must demonstrate you are ready to begin professional practice by passing their Readiness for Direct Practice (RfDP) portfolio, before they are able to embark upon your first-year placement].
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
This Unit will provide you with the necessary knowledge, skills and practice opportunities to feel confident in your role as a student social worker. On completion of this Unit, you will have gained a broad base of knowledge about different contexts where social workers come to work with people. You will also have demonstrated they have the necessary communication skills to go out on placement and work with people. Finally, you will have shown how you have combined your knowledge and skills over 70 days of assessed practice in your first-year (70-day) practice placement within an organisation.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:
The Unit will consist of three components: lectures, seminars, and practice placement learning. This will be a weekly mix of lectures, small-group seminars and workshops, and practice placement learning. Lectures will cover topics of substance misuse, domestic violence, housing and homelessness, mental health, children and families and adult social care, be interactive and encourage students to apply knowledge to scenarios.
Seminars (Practice Development Groups and Communication and Listening Skills Groups) will be interactive and be both student-led and Lecturer-led. Seminars will include reflective tasks, inquiry-based, and problem-based learning to foster engagement with real-life social work scenarios and ethical dilemmas. Seminar learning will enable you to reflect on, and learn from, your own experiences (and those of your peers), whilst on placement.
Practice placement learning will consist of a 70-day practice placement (TB2) working in a local organisation in the community.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks:
Verbal formative feedback will be provided to students within the group exercises within every taught session/ seminar, through the office hour or through a discussion thread on Blackboard. Formative feedback is also provided to students on a daily basis within their placement agency.
A (community profile) group Presentation - This task is designed to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of social problems and social exclusion from the perspective of individuals living in an identified community. This formative task is undertaken in small, assigned groups which each produce a presentation.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark:
There are three summative tasks, all of which are must pass:
Filmed Roleplay (conducting a brief interview, 12 minutes maximum) + Critical Reflection (20% 1000 words)
This assessment is a regulatory requirement for you to demonstrate readiness for direct practice.
This assessment covers ILOs 1 and 2.
Practice Learning Portfolio (0%)
This is completed as an outcome of the 70-day practice placement and includes a range of documentary evidence and assessments compiled by you and your Practice Learning Teams whilst on placement within an organisation.
This is a regulatory requirement for students to demonstrate ‘readiness for direct practice’.
This assessment covers all of the intended learning outcomes.
Practice Analysis (80%, 3000 words)
Focused on a piece of practice that the student has completed whilst on placement)
This assessment covers all of the intended learning outcomes.
When assessment does not go to plan:
Subject to the university regulations for taught programmes, and the regulatory requirements of Social Work England, you may be offered an opportunity for reassessment in the failed element(s). If you are eligible to resubmit and where appropriate, you may submit a revised version of your previous assignment or complete an alternative assessment in the same format as the original assessment.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. SPOLM0080).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
