Becoming a Social Worker can be challenging, but incredibly rewarding. We spoke to Sadie, a student who is currently undertaking a degree to become a Children’s Social Worker.
Sadie talks about the breadth of opportunity, skills and development available within Children’s Social Services and her experience of studying.
When I began my social work degree, I made the assumption that adults services would be the choice for me as this was my previous background experience. I had little experience working with children and young people, other than my own. Since beginning my placement in children’s services, I have been delightfully swayed and have found much enjoyment in working with children. I feel my previous experiences of working with older people have been transferrable skills I have been able to apply to my day-to-day work now.
I chose to work in Suffolk as this is where I live, where my children are cared for and that I attend the University of Suffolk. Although I have not always lived in Suffolk, I am originally from Colchester, Essex.
Before beginning my social work degree, I always wanted to become a nurse. I spent 6 years working as a care assistant in a nursing home in Colchester. I gained my level 3 qualification in adult care and then I began my nursing degree during the covid-19 lockdown, however I found I was not on the right career path. I moved to Suffolk in 2021 and decided to try a different path, so I began supporting adults with learning disabilities. I felt I really wanted to be at the center of making positive changes and empowering people I worked with so I felt social work would be the ideal role for me.
I began my degree in social work in September 2021 with the University of Suffolk and I shall be qualifying in 2025. My first placement that I am currently undertaking is 70 days in the child in care team. I feel I have developed good working relationships with colleagues and many young people, which is extremely rewarding.
I feel very fortunate to have my placement within the child-in-care team due to the continuous learning opportunities available. I have had the chance to observe experienced social workers in the office, in professional meetings and in court. The training provided by Suffolk County Council has also been valuable, my most recent being the SOS+ trauma informed lens which I have been able to reflect on and apply this to my practice. I recently attended a fostering and adoption day which was great for my development and understanding but also to explore options for future careers.
Typically, a day working in the child in care team evolves around providing support for children and young people to remain in their placement. This is ensured through ongoing child in care review meetings and regular statutory visits to the child in their home. We work with children up to the age of 16 years old until they transition over to the leaving care team. Most children are subject to an interim care order if care proceedings are still ongoing in court until a full care order is made. Sometimes a placement order is also granted with a care order, which is when adoption is anticipated, and an adoption order will then be applied for at a later date. So, as a student social worker in the team, I have had the opportunity to support these children and young people long-term to ensure they remain in healthy and safe environments and all their needs are met.
It is important for the children that are adopted grow up to understand their birth history and what brought them into care, and this is by no means kept a secret by the Local Authority. Children are provided with later life letters and life story books which can be given to them at a later date, this includes their birth family, photos and how they met their adoptive mummy and daddy. I am lucky to have been able to create a few of these recently for the children I am currently working with.
As many cases are in care proceedings a lot of court work is undertaken daily within the team. I have recently had the opportunity to write Rule 14, which is an application for an adoption order. As well as a child’s permanence report which will head to court to request a placement order. Therefore, precision and pride when writing reports, statements or assessments for court is key.
On a day-to-day basis there are many meetings taking place to ensure stability in placements. As a team we also support children in their education provision by attending meetings such as Personal Education Plan (PEP) and Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) meetings with schools and usually their main carer and the child if they wish to attend. This allows us to use the signs of the safety model to determine what is working well, what is not working so well and what needs to happen to make those changes. This is a good opportunity for the carers of the child to feel supported with ensuring all the child’s needs are met and for the child to be a part of decision making and share their personal views. Of course, like many job roles, emergencies can crop up, we always have a social worker on duty that will be responsible for any incoming tasks such as a missing child or a placement breakdown as a example.
As a team it is also a priority to promote contact with birth families so they can maintain relationships and fulfill their identity needs. Where possible the team always look at possibilities of reunification to reduce the need for our involvement within families, of course only if this is safe to do so. Some families will need supervised contact, and this is something we can also facilitate on a day-to-day basis which are usually held in contact or children’s centers.
I do not believe it to always have been this way however, every social worker will spend different days working from home depending on their schedule for the day. Flexibility is very useful if you have lots of reports or assessments to write up and sometimes the office can be busy and distracting so working from home allows that quiet space to concentrate when needed. For me personally, it is very useful when needing to be home on time for childcare reasons, so I am very grateful for the flexibility in that sense also.
I came into social work with the idea I would want to work in the adult sector, however I am now open-minded since working in CYPS. I have taken an interest in the fostering and adoption team, and these are both teams I hope to shadow in the future. I have also found the unaccompanied asylum-seeking children team interesting when speaking with a social worker currently on the team. All teams are very welcoming of students and always enjoy having students shadow so I am hoping more opportunities will arise.
I think the biggest challenge faced by all those working within social services is the media stigma attached to this line of work. I believe there is little understanding of how hard everyone works to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. It is common to see wrong doings advertised on the media however very rare to see the achievements that have been made such as children being reunified with their families, the support provided to parents to make the necessary changes and the multi-agency working.
Of course, the decisions made in the best interest of all children in care usually have huge implications and this can be a huge pressure on social workers to not only make the right decision but support the young person through these changes which can be distressing, especially when it is a change in living arrangements. However, working with the child in care team has highlighted the importance of colleague support and having a safe space to be able to offload.
I remember on my first day being reminded that it is likely your to do list will continuously grow and likely will never be empty, which is certainly true. Unexpected challenges can arise on a day-to-day basis and as a team, everyone must be prepared to solve those challenges which can be time-consuming and often stop you from completing anything that was in your calendar for that day.
Working directly with children and young people and their carers allows the opportunity to build trusting relationships and provide them with individualized support to ensure they can achieve their full potential. It feels like such an achievement when you can watch a young person thriving in aspects of their lives that they were once not engaging in, such as education for example. Building relationships and recognizing that young people are trusting you with their thoughts and feelings can also feel such a privilege.
I am yet to be a part of reunification with a child and their birth family; however, I know this is something the team have achieved many times and that this is an overall aim where it is safe and possible. I think this would be such a rewarding and memorable moment for everyone involved.
Take it day by day as no day is the same. I thought before starting my placement I knew what social work entailed, however there is so much I was unaware of. I think even the most experienced social workers have their “off” days and this career path can be emotionally draining and stressful. This also highlights the importance of supervision and using the time wisely if you do have concerns or worries then raise them. I have always gone by, “a problem shared is a problem halved”.
The best part about social work are the many different roles/teams that integrate to ensure a child/young person has high-quality support and care throughout a crucial time in their lives. The opportunities within social care are limitless.
Find out more about starting a career in social work or contact your authority for more information.
