The focus of this project is to explore student social work placements in third sector organisations to better understand how third sector experience contributes to preparing students to enter the profession confident and ready. There will be a focus on the learning relationships involved in student placements, and understanding the processes and structures that support high quality student practice and experiences in third sector placements. The lead sector partner is People Know How – a charity based in Edinburgh and the Lothians that aims to improve wellbeing across communities by supporting people to overcome barriers and thrive.
Collaborate with us, using the TSO resource to build and improve social work student practise learning opportunities
We’re looking for third sector learning partners in using a new Iriss resource developed to support third sector organisations with hosting student placements.
Our resource to support social work student placements in TSOs is now live!
After working on it for a year, our resource to support social work placements in third sector organisations is here! We are delighted to have reached this stage, and want to thank all of those who contributed their time, insights and perspectives to help us make the final resource. A particular thanks to People Know How for bringing the original idea to Iriss.
How we drew boundaries around the Voices and Visions project output, and sharing some of what didn't make the final resource.
Project planning is full of decisions to make. What partners do you need? What will success look like? How responsive can your plan be to new information? The list goes on; and it’s something we are really familiar with in our Iriss work. Despite familiarity, drawing a boundary around a project, and a project output, is not always easy - particularly in a piece of work like Voices and Visions, where participants have routinely shared detailed perspectives with us.
“I wanted that first placement to be something that I would be like ‘okay is social work the right career for me, is this the right job for me?" - Reflection from an early career social worker on their third sector placement.
‘I learned a lot, but it wasn’t what I expected it to be’ is the message we’ve heard loudest from the students and recently workers we’ve been speaking with recently about their placement experiences.
Exploring what goes into preparing to host a student on placement
There’s a lot of work that goes into preparing to host a social work student on placement in a third sector organisation, from communicating with universities, meeting with students and their tutors, to ensuring students have access to the IT systems they need when they start. Third Sector Organisations (TSOs) are busy preparing before a student arrives.
Getting clear on the value of third sector placements for social work students
Having been working on Voice and Visions for nearly six months, it is safe to say we have heard a lot about the third sector social work student placement world; from third sector representatives, link workers, practice educators and people in the university world. Thank you so much to those who have lent their experiences to this project so far.
But, we still have time for more! We are next meeting online on 23rd September, and we’d love to see you there. You can sign up here https://forms.office.com/e/8nnahMV4Q0.
Perspectives shared from third sector organisations at our first Voices and Visions session
And we are off! Earlier this week, we had our first Voices and Visions online session. We were delighted to welcome so many representatives from third sector organisations who are currently, or who are planning to host social work student placements. We wanted to listen, and to hear broadly about different experiences, and to begin to unpick what’s involved for third sector organisations when they host a social work student placement.
Collaborating for improved third sector social work student placements
Along with our project partner, People Know How, we are beginning to look at social work student placements in the third sector; how they are now, and building a vision for the future.
