The Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance MSP, speaking at the recent NQSW conference in Dundee highlighted the overall aim of the supported year, which is to ‘nurture and retain our next generation of social workers and above all, to ensure an increasingly confident workforce for people, families and carers’.
Welcoming the introduction of the NQSW Supported Year, SSSC Chief Executive, Maree Allison, said:
‘This is an exciting time to be a NQSW starting your career with this new approach which will help you move from studying into the workplace.
‘The Supported Year will help make sure you receive the right levels of support for your professional development and learning from your employer and fellow social workers.
‘I look forward to seeing the benefits this brings for the workforce.’
What’s involved
The introduction of the NQSW Supported Year means that all social work employers must use and meet the Definitions of employer support for NQSWs. This includes supporting:
- professional development
- professional supervision
- continuous professional learning (CPL)
- protected caseload
- protected learning time
- peer support and mentoring.
NQSW employers are committed to supporting their employees at this early career stage and value the contribution of NQSWs.
Core learning elements
NQSWs must meet the NQSW core learning elements during their Supported Year including mandatory learning activities as part of their CPL for registrants.
There's lots of guidance for NQSWs, their supervisors and employers on our NQSW website.
We’re also holding regular online forums for NQSWs, their supervisors and employers to share their experience and learning. NQSWs can also attend our monthly CPL sessions. Find details on our Eventbrite page.
Background
The Supported Year is part of the ambition to have an overarching framework from social work education, qualification, through to advanced practice, that sets out a clear career pathway for all social workers and employers in Scotland.
The NQSW Supported Year implementation and delivery has the full commitment of the Social Work Education Partnership (SWEP) who recognise that embedding the Supported Year will be incremental and developmental.