Northern Ireland Degree in Social Work Partnership

Practice Learning Opportunities

Information for Students

Revised: August 2015

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction3

What is a Practice Learning Opportunity (PLO)?5

Northern Ireland Social Care Council

(NISCC) Requirements 5

Organising PLOs6

Allocation of PLOs6

  • Regional Allocation
  • Individual Circumstances
  • Caring Responsibilities
  • Notification of PLO
  • Requesting a review of PLO allocation.
  • Travel
  • Refusal of a PLO Offer

Conditions Applying to PLOs12

  • Student responsibilities
  • Conflict of interest
  • Hours of work
  • Declarations
  • POCVA Check
  • Pre –PLO visit
  • Undertaking work of PLO – Travel Requirements
  • NISCC Registration

NISCC Code of Practice for Social Care Workers14

  • Using Social Networks

References16

Frequently asked questions17

Appendices20

  • Notification of Refusal of PLO Offer

Introduction

This guidance has been developed to give you an overall picture of the organisation of Practice Learning Opportunities (PLO) and your responsibilities as a student undertaking professional Social Work education and training.

Please read the information carefully so that you fully understand the process and so that you can make maximum use of the Practice Learning experience.

Work based practice learning is an integral part of the Northern Ireland Degree in Social Work. Throughout your time on the Degree in Social Work Programme you will be required to undertake a total of 225 days of practice learning, of which:

  • 25 days must be spent in preparation for direct work with service users
  • 185 days must be in direct supervised practice; 85 days at level 2 and 100 days at level 3; and
  • 15 days to be used for individual practice development.

(NISCC: August 2010)

This guidance primarily relates to the two periods of direct supervised practice.

During these periods you will be required to meet the learning requirements as set out by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) and achieve competence in each of the six key roles and 21 practice foci or 20 social work standards. Appropriate staff will be available to ensure that suitable learning opportunities are available to enable you to meet the requirements. These staff will also support you to achieve the level of confidence and competence required.

You will be assigned a Practice Teacher who has responsibility for assessing your learning and competence.

In circumstances where your Practice Teacher is not based at the practice learning site you will also be assigned an On-Site Facilitator /Supervisor who will provide you with support and guidance on an on-going basis.

We hope this guidance will help you to understand the process for allocating practice learning opportunities and answer many of the questions you may have before PLO commences.

We wish you well in your studies and hope that you have successful and enjoyable practice learning experiences.

Evelyn Magee

Professional Officer

Northern Ireland Degree in Social Work Partnership

What is a Practice Learning Opportunity (PLO)?

A practice learning opportunity (PLO) refers to the period of time a student spends in a practice setting. The practice learning experience aims to provide you with the opportunities to develop understanding, knowledge, skills, values, ethics and professionalism in social work practice. In each PLO you are required to demonstrate progress commensurate with the level of the programme. Each PLO will also provide opportunities to develop anti-oppressive practice.

As an adult learner you have a responsibility to use the PLO tomaximise learning and to use the support provided to promote your personal and professional development.

Northern Ireland Social Care Council Requirements.

The Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC), the regulatory body for social work/social care requires all students to spend 185 days in direct supervised practice.

Over the course of the Degree students should have opportunities to gain experience of:

  • Carrying out statutory social work tasks;
  • At least two different settings;
  • Providing services to at least two service user groups;
  • Group care;
  • Working with at least two other professions;
  • The contested nature, scope and purpose of social work in a diverse society;
  • Participating in formal decision – making forums;
  • Participating in and presenting evidence in courts or tribunals or other formal hearings; and
  • Applying community development approaches in social work.

(NISCC: August 2010)

The Northern Ireland Framework Specification for the Degree in Social Work details the six key roles and 21practice foci (NISCC 2003) / six key roles and 20 social work standards(NISCC 2014) in which you must demonstrate competence and confidence as a qualifying social worker.

As a social work student registered with NISCC you must also demonstrate that you are able to adhere to the NISCC Code of Practice for Social Care Workers (2002). Course Providers including Further/Higher Education Institutions (F/HEIs) and employer organisations all share responsibility for enabling the NISCC requirements to be met. You also have responsibility for your own learning, practice and professional development throughout the social work course.

Organising Practice Learning Opportunities

Across Northern Ireland five Health and Social Care Trusts, Voluntary Agencies, Department of Justice, (including Probation Board NI and Youth Justice) and EducationAuthority NI provide PLOs across all settings and programmes of care. Northern Ireland has a tradition of providing high quality PLOs and while it is undoubtedly a challenge to meet the level of demand, course providers work in partnership to ensure that the number required is attained. It must however be appreciated that due to a range of factors the preferences of students cannot always be accommodated.

There is close collaboration between Practice Learning Coordinators from those Agencies providing PLOs and the University/College Coordinators.

Where it is deemed that a PLO can appropriately provide a student with learning opportunities to demonstrate competence and is appropriate to their stage of education and training it is expected that the student will accept that PLO.

Allocation of PLOs.

Regional Allocation

The Northern Ireland Degree in Social Work Partnership (NIDSWP) is responsible for the allocation of PLOs via the Practice Learning and Degree Delivery Committee (PLADD).

Practice Learning Opportunities are allocated through a regional process and allocation meetings take place twice a year:

-In May for allocation of PLOs commencing the following August, predominantly Level 2 undergraduate route (UGR) students and all part-time route students

-In October for PLOs commencing the following January;

predominantly relevant graduate route (RGR) Level 2 and all UGR and RGR level 3 students.

F/HEIs and all those Designated Practice Learning Providers (DPLPs) involved in the delivery of the Degree in Social Work are represented on the regional allocations group by a practice learning coordinator.

Prior to the allocations meetings students are required to complete a student profile and where appropriate the section pertaining to individual circumstances. This must be done in consultation with your personal tutor. This will be used by the university/college practice learning coordinator to assist the allocations group to match students to PLOs. In making an application for consideration of individual circumstances you are consenting to the information being shared with the pre-allocations paneland with the practice learning provider. This is stated on the form and in signing it you are giving your consent. Students can be assured that information will only be shared in circumstances where they have given explicit permission and you will be consulted in terms of whom it will be shared with.

You need to state clearly on your profile whether or not you hold a fulldriving licence and have the use of a car, as the majority of PLOs require car drivers. You will also need business insurance cover. This should be checked with your insurance company in advance of the PLO allocations meetings.

Requests from students to be allocated to a specific PLO will not be accepted. Students must never approach an agency or an individual practice teacher personally or via third parties to request a PLO or to canvass a PLO. Such practice will be viewed as inappropriate and will be dealt with as a serious matter.

Individual Circumstances

The Allocations Group is chaired by a Trust Senior Manager. There is a clear protocol for the sequencing of allocations and clear criteria for the consideration of specific individual circumstances. Guidance on the criteria is available within the student profile form and any specific needs should be discussed with your personal tutor who will provide direction on the level of detail required. Students are encouraged to discuss their specific requirements at the earliest opportunity; ideally this should be at the beginning of the course.

Individual circumstances will only be considered in the allocations process when a student has either:

(a)declared a disability/significant health condition as defined within the

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

or

(b) student is the main carer for:

  • a disabled child/children or child/children with a serious health condition(s);
  • for a child/adult who has a terminal illness;
  • for an adult who due to serious illness, disability, mental health condition, or an addiction requires substantial care and support on a long term basis;

andmakes a substantial contribution to caring,i.e a minimum of 15 hours per week undertaking direct caring tasks.

It is acknowledged however that students may have a disability/significant health condition at point of entry and others may acquire a disability/significant health condition after the programme has commenced. Other students may have variable health conditions and require supports at particular times during the course including the periods of work based practice learning (PLO).

Some students may be carers at point of entry and others may become carers during the course of the Degree programme.

A student has the right to not disclose a disability or that he/she is a main carer, however in such circumstances he/she must understand that it is probable that supports will not be substantially different to those for all students. Neither the academic institution nor DPLP can be accused of disability related discrimination if they do not know and could not be reasonably expected to know that an individual is disabled.

As already stated a student has the right to not disclose. PLO providers however have ‘a duty of care’ to ensure the safety and wellbeing of service users, carers and colleagues including students. It is therefore essential that all students are fully aware of their responsibilities in terms of professional practice. The NISCC Code of Practice for Social Care Workers (2002:6) states that as a social care worker you must be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills. This includes:

‘informing your employer or the appropriate authority about any personal difficulties that might affect your ability to do your job competently and safely.’ (6.3)

Registration with NISCC also requires individuals to make a declaration about their health. Non-disclosure where there might be a risk to the safety/welfare of service users, other staff or self could have serious implications.

Caring responsibilities other than those meeting individual circumstances criteria.

Only students who have been accepted as having individual circumstances,in line with the criteria, may, if deemed necessary, have adjustments made to the working pattern of the PLO.

Organisations have ‘Family Friendly’ policies and may be prepared to accommodate a degree of flexibility. Students, as is the case with employees do not have an automatic right to flexibility under ‘family friendly policies’. The needs of service users and the requirements of the agency are key factors when such requests are being considered. Students are also expected to meet the practice learning requirements in terms of the number of days of attendance and 37.5 hours per week (full-time students), 37.5 per fortnight (part-time students) work based practice learning.

The scheduling of allocations and subsequent notification of PLO is arranged in such a way as to provide opportunity for individuals to make arrangements appropriate to their circumstances in advance of the PLO commencing. The advice is to begin planning early!

Notification of PLOs

Allocation of PLOs is determined by availability and with due regard to students’ learning needs. All PLOs are allocated to make the best use of the practice learning resources available to students.

Students will be allocated to suitable PLOs throughout the course of the Degree in Social work and will be notified of these at the relevant time.

Students commencing PLO in August will normally be notified by the F/HEI in early June.

Students commencing PLO in January will normally be notified by the F/HEI inlate November.

Request for review of allocation of PLO

Once the information about practice learning opportunities is available a request for a change of PLO will normally only be considered where a significant change in the student’s circumstanceshas arisen in the interim between the allocation meeting and notification of PLO and it meets the specific criteria as defined in the guidance.

Requests for a review which cite dissatisfaction with travel distance, type of setting or caring commitments do not meet the criteria and will not be considered by the panel.

The request for a review of the PLO allocated must be made in writing to the F/HEI practice learning coordinator who will in turn submit it to the Northern Ireland Degree in Social Work Partnership Office (normally within 10 working days of notification of PLO). You must state clearly the reason(s) why a review of PLO is being requested. This must be accompanied by appropriate documentary evidence which verifies the change in circumstances and supports the request.

A Panel consisting of the Chair of the allocations group, the Professional Officer NIDSWP, F/HEI practice learning coordinators and two agency practice learning coordinators will meet to decide, on the basis of the information supplied whether or not grounds exist for a review. When a request for a review of allocation is received a panel is convened as soon as is practicable and the student is normally notified of the outcome within 5 working days.

Where it is found that there are grounds to change a PLO an alternative PLO if available will be allocated as soon as is reasonably practicable. The PLO originally allocated will no longer be on offer.

Availability is a key factor and there is no guarantee that an alternative PLO will be in the same setting, programme of care or geographical area as the one previously allocated. In circumstances where an appropriate PLO is not available the student may have to take time out of their studies.

A request for a review of PLO allocation cannot normally be made after the deadline (two weeks before commencement date of PLO). If a difficulty arises after the deadline the course director must support the request before it will be considered. Late requests to the Degree Partnership must be made via the university practice learning coordinator and supported by the course director.

Requests made to the Partnership via personal Tutors will not be accepted.

The Partnership will only review allocation of a PLO where there is a clear change in circumstances which meets the defined criteria.

It is the responsibility of personal tutors and/or the course director to deal with other PLO issues raised by students, including requests for reviews which would not be considered as falling within the defined individual circumstances.

Requests for a change of PLO will not normally be considered post commencement of PLO. Should unforeseen circumstances arise during PLO the Degree has systems in place to respond to these.

A change of PLO post commencement will only be considered under the ‘Protocol for Dealing with Factors Affecting Progression of Practice Learning’ (Revised June 2013).

Travel

Practice Learning Opportunities cover a wide geographical area and travel is an explicit part of the Degree in Social Work Course.

You will therefore be expected to travel and you will need to be prepared to travel to your PLO destination.

Geographical location of PLOs is a key factor which impacts on the allocation process.

In circumstances where a student refuses an offer of a PLO on the basis of travel she/he will not normally be offered an alternative PLO for that designated period of Practice Learning.

Refusal of a Practice Learning Opportunity Offer

Where a student refuses the offer of a PLO for any reason he/she must complete the ‘Formal Notification of Refusal of PLO offer form’ (Appendix 1) clearly stating the reason(s). This must be verified by the course director and F/HEI coordinator and a copy forwarded to the NIDSWP office.

Note: An alternative PLO will not normally be offered for that designated period of Practice Learning. It should be noted that such circumstances may result in the student having a gap before his/her studies can resume.

Conditions applying to PLOs

Student Responsibilities

(i)Conflict of Interest.

Students must disclose at an early stage previous or current contact with any social work/social care agency, e.g. former/current service user, former /current employee/volunteer, any family member or close personal link to staff. It is important that you do not assume that it is unlikely that a conflict of interest will arise. You do not know where exactly you will be placed! Failure to disclose a potential conflict of interest may have implications for the allocation process, e.g. where a conflict of interest emerges when the student is notified of the PLO and an alternative is not readily available.

If in doubt seek guidance from your personal tutor.

(ii) Vaccinations

Students going to a clinical setting for PLO i.e. hospital or hospice, are required to have up-to date immunisations. Further information is available through the F/HEIs

(iii) Hours of work

Full time students are required to work 37.5 hours weekly, which is the standard working hours for most agencies. Part-time students are required to work 37.5 hours per fortnight. Some agencies may require work outside 9 - 5 office hours e.g. Young Persons Project may require evening work. Education welfare setting may require home visits after school hours.