Social Work (Step Up) PgDip

30 credits

This module runs before your first practice placement. It focuses on skills, knowledge and reflection to prepare you for social work practice. It is an interactive module with skills workshops enabling you to work with People with Lived Experience, practice educators, and practitioners. You will learn about the roles and tasks of social workers and develop professional skills in verbal and written communication, and in reflection. You will have the opportunity to receive formative feedback on your developing skills, knowledge, and reflection. People with Lived Experience provide simulated social work interviews with you.

This module also introduces you to Kingston University's Future Skills through engagement with Navigate. It also  adopts United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education) and 10 (Reduced Inequalities), in line with the School of Education, Midwifery and Social Work sustainability priorities. You will be supported to recognise the links between each other as developing professionals, identifying your responsibilities in the context of sustainability.

30 credits

This module is a practice placement of seventy days, undertaken in an agency within the statutory or voluntary sector. We organise this placement for you, with the help of our Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership. You will be working alongside qualified social workers and social care staff and provided with learning opportunities. You will be supported and supervised by practice learning staff in your placement setting. You will be expected to evidence your developing practice throughout your placement, which will be assessed against the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF).

30 credits

This module is designed to provide a general introduction to social work theory, law and policy. The module will enable students to develop theoretical foundational knowledge of social work assessment and intervention, legislation and policy which underpin social work practice. Students will be introduced to key children and adult legislation alongside an introduction to safeguarding and assessing risk which will equip students with knowledge for their first placement.

30 credits

This module will enable you to gain an understanding of human development that is underpinned by the value of difference and diversity. A life course perspective will inform the content of the module, incorporating key theoretical frameworks and research findings. There will be a critical focus on the interaction of social, political, cultural, economic and environmental influences on people's lives. Ideas of normative development, including key milestones in childhood and adolescence, will therefore be underpinned by a critical understanding of structural inequalities, which may affect individual development and perpetuate the difficulties experienced by some groups and communities. Relevance to social work will be highlighted through case studies, targeted reading, and facilitated discussions. Experiential and reflective learning will be promoted through a structured child observation task and reflective seminars.

30 credits

This module is a final practice placement of one hundred days, undertaken in an agency within the statutory or voluntary sector. We organise this placement for you, with the help of our Developing Together Social Work Teaching Partnership. You will be working alongside qualified social workers and social care staff and provided with learning opportunities to develop your autonomous practice. You will be supported and supervised by practice learning staff in your placement setting. You will build on your previous placement experience and knowledge and continue to evidence your practice to meet the requirements of the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the final placement level.

30 credits

This module builds on the learning from SW7047 (Becoming a Social Worker) and further develops critical understanding of law and social policy relevant to child and family social work, together with theories and methods to inform social work interventions. Students will gain an understanding of the thread between law and social policy and how decision making occurs within complex systems where social workers often face competing imperatives. Students will develop a robust awareness and nuanced understanding of theories and methods to navigate this practice terrain. This module will draw on both practice learning experiences (from students' first practice placement) and module material to develop the knowledge and skills required to work collaboratively while ensuring risk assessment, decision making, and interventions are informed by evidence.

30 credits

This module is undertaken alongside the final practice placement of 100 days enabling the integration of research and academic learning with placement learning and experiences. Drawing on students' current practice, this module enables students to further develop their ability to critically analyse how social work models, research, and theories inform planning, assessment, and interventions for ethical social work practice.

The assignments will assist students to evidence Social Work England Professional Standards (SWEPS) and the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) at the standard required for students at the end of their final placement.