COVID-19 and virtual engagement

Engagement and co-production are at the heart of everything we do at Social Work England. We want to embed our work on the ground and establish long lasting relationships with the social work sector.

That’s why we have a regional engagement team. Our purpose is to raise awareness of Social Work England, the new professional standards and to engage with the sector to learn about their experiences. We will also gather intelligence about the sector to help inform our future approach to regulation.

We are social workers 

Our aim is not to add to social workers’ daily burden of tasks. We are social workers ourselves and we want to help. As regional engagement leads, we build relationships with everyone who has an interest in social work.

We are the link between the regulator and the sector, and we help clarify messages about important subjects, such as continuing professional development (CPD). Being registered social workers gives us insight into the profession and the challenges faced by social workers.

“It’s good to see the regulator making contact with practitioners. In my 11 years of social work, it is my first experience of direct contact with the regulating body. Normally, I wonder why I pay the fee and what for, so it’s nice to have some contact and see that there is a real drive to improve the sector which most importantly involves us.” 

Lucy, Children and Families Social Worker

How COVID-19 made us change our approach

Before COVID-19, we used to always be on the move, travelling to engage with the sector. We would meet people from all over the country and we loved being able to listen to and talk with people in their everyday settings. COVID-19 challenged us to find new ways of meaningfully engaging with the social work sector whilst working online. One way we’re doing this is by hosting virtual sessions, both regionally and nationally.

Introduction to Social Work England and CPD

The team is currently running a series of virtual engagement sessions. Each virtual session (run through Microsoft Teams) includes a demonstration of the Social Work England online account and how to prepare and record CPD. 

We want to reach as many registered social workers as possible this way, especially independent social workers and social workers working in the voluntary sector who we may not have been able to talk to yet. This is to make sure that everyone feels confident about the professional standards, recording their continuing professional development and applying to renew their registration. 

“A very clear and informative presentation. It really has put to bed a lot of anxieties.”

Barbara, Social Worker

We recommend that you book a place as soon as tickets become available because sessions sell out quickly. If you book a place, please make sure you attend or let us know if you are unable to attend in advance so we can fill your place.  

If you have not been able to book a place, please contact the regional engagement lead for your area to discuss the option of a bespoke session.

We are determined to enable positive change 

Since September 2019, we have directly engaged with over 10,500 people, either in person or virtually, and we will continue reaching out to everyone with an interest in social work. We are determined to enable positive change for our profession which we are so incredibly passionate about.