DA6092 - Complex Social Work and Safeguarding Practice

The module will be delivered using a combination of interactive lectures, seminars and work-based and self-directed learning designed to help the apprentice make the transition to practice with its requirement for life-long learning and continual professional development. Classroom-based group discussion and guidance tutorials will be used to support academic learning. Lectures and seminars will be delivered by the module team and will focus on key frameworks about safeguarding and complex practice. Individual and group work will facilitate academic learning. The module team will provide academic support throughout the course of the module, to build on their existing practice-based learning coupled with classroom-based learning to inform and promote critical analysis of statutory social work roles and relationships with service users and carers. Lead lectures, seminars and group learning activities will provide opportunities for critical reflection on contemporary social work practice in statutory contexts. Seminar activities will be staff and student-led using the following methods: Directed reading and critical analysis of international and national research, integrating the perspective of service users and carers into professional practice, supporting the involvement of frontline practitioners on relevant topics and extensive use of the module e-learning portal. Safeguarding Practice Reviews (SPR) will be drawn upon to identify and analyse the complex issues encountered in practice and SPR recommendations for practice will be examined.

The module team will provide academic support throughout the course of the module. Teaching and learning strategies provided by the module team will include lecturer and facilitated focused seminar groups to support knowledge and academic development. The apprentice will have access to lecturers at specifically designated times via email and one-to-one meetings. Formative work will include teaching staff, Educators by Experience, and peer group feedback in preparation for the summative assignment. Feedback will identify aspects of strengths and aspects of learning that require development. The feedback received from staff and peers on the formative task will be verbal and will support the development of the wider review for the summative task. Contact details for all tutors for this module are available in the module handbook and via the eLearning portal. Personal tutors will also meet with the apprentice to provide both academic and pastoral support where required throughout enrolment on the apprentice programme.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding (K&U):  



1. Develop a critical understanding of intersectionality and its implications for social work practice, with a focus on centring the experiences of adults and children with marginalised and stigmatised identities.

2. Demonstrate how knowledge of service users’ personal circumstances, the legal and policy context, theory and research, supervision, and critical reflection combined with value-informed decision-making is used to address risk and resilience.

3. Articulate and justify the decision-making and problem-solving processes associated with managing effective social work service delivery 



 

Intellectual/Professional skills & abilities (IPSA): 

 

4. Cultivate leadership qualities specific to safeguarding contexts, including crisis response, interdisciplinary collaboration, and ethical decision-making, to lead and inspire change in complex social work environments.

5. Ensure that social work interventions are tailored to acknowledge and uphold each client's unique challenges and rights in safeguarding and other contexts.

7. Effectively assess a person’s capacity to make decisions about their own care and to give or withhold consent.

8. Excel in problem-solving in complex social work scenarios involving high levels of risk and resilience. 

 

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA): 



8. Gain a comprehensive understanding of the principles of a rights-based approach in social work and apply these principles to analyse and address complex social work situations, ensuring the promotion of inherent individual rights and empowerment.

9. Examine international social work standards and practices to enhance work across different cultural and regulatory environments to address global social issues such as migration, poverty, and human rights.

10. Apply ethical decision-making with nuance and complexity, consistently upholding integrity in

professional relationships and practices. 

11. Demonstrate rigorous critical reflection and analysis to continuously evaluate practice effectiveness and make informed decisions. 

Formative task:

The formative task will require you to identify a journal article relevant to developing knowledge for safeguarding or other complex practice situations with children or adults on a chosen issue and prepare a summary of its relevance and application in practice. Through presenting a critical analysis and review of the article, within a small group setting with peers, module staff and Educators by Experience, module learning outcomes allied to knowledge and understanding, and professional skills and abilities will be demonstrated.

The summative assignment consists of a 3,000-word assignment focused on a chosen area of complex social work and safeguarding practice. The summative task is concerned with a critical analysis of the available evidence based on a topic and apprentices’ assessment of the implications of this evidence for social work and safeguarding practice. MLO 2 ,3, 5, 6,7, 8, 10,11

Marked out of 80%

Presentation with a focus on rights-based practice 20% MLO 1,4,9,10

How will feedback be provided?

Formative assessment feedback will be provided by peers, staff, and Educators by Experience.

Written summative assessment feedback will be provided by the module team via the e-Learning portal.

DA4088, DA4089, DA4091, DA4092, DA4093, DA5108, DA5109, D5111, DA5112

DA6093, DA6094

This module Complex Social Work and Safeguarding Practice will focus on your professional development as you make the transition from apprentice to qualified social work practitioner as you prepare for and demonstrate practice within Social Work England’s (SWE) Professional Standards. You will develop relevant knowledge enabling you to achieve the best outcomes as a practitioner across a range of organisational contexts. The module will assist you in developing the knowledge you need to inform practice in complex social work scenarios and specific family-based, community and wider contextual safeguarding interventions and enhanceyour ethical practice by developing your ability to identify and analyse the impact of professional knowledge, power and decision-making on individuals and families. It will also provide you with the skills to undertake critically analysis in and on practice and demonstrate professional authority in fulfilling statutory social work roles and responsibilities. You will also develop the ability to critically apply strategies that seek to promote an individual’s right to self-determination andthe module will consolidate your skills in identifying and categorising risk indicators of different forms of harm and abuse experienced by adults and children. It will also synthesise your knowledge as an apprentice of needs and risk assessments, outcome-based interventions, person-centred approaches and professional ethics and leadership. Developing knowledge in these areas will be achieved by enhancing apprentces’ ability to recognise facilitators and constraints to effective judgement and decision-making.