we help to improve social work practice learning

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1 we help to improve social work practice learning quality assurance for practice learning: quality assurance benchmark statement and guidance on the monitoring of social work practice placements (QAPL) 2nd edition - january 2010 QAPL.indd 2 03/04/ :50:32

2 quality assurance for practice learning: quality assurance benchmark statement and guidance on the monitoring of social work practice learning opportunities (QAPL) 2 nd edition - january 2010

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4 preface to the second edition We hope that you will find this finalised version of the quality assurance of practice learning (QAPL) benchmark statement and associated evaluation tools of help to you. It has built on the pilots and first stages of implementation and many thanks to those of you who have been involved and given us feedback which has led us to have the confidence to promote the use of this statement and these tools by everybody involved in social work education. This version of QAPL has been endorsed by the Children s Workforce Development Council (CWDC), General Social Care Council (GSCC) and Skills for Care (SfC) social work development partnership board. In September 2009, the GSCC confirmed that HEIs will be formally required to report on how practice placements meet the quality assurance benchmark statement as part of the annual monitoring process from September All HEIs have been given due notice in order to begin planning with their partner agencies. Already many HEIs and partners are engaging with QAPL and the remainder are encouraged to begin to do so in readiness for submission of the annual report to the GSCC. The audit function has been incorporated within the practice learning endorsement process in the LeaRNs system and the quality evaluation questionnaires can also be completed and collated using LeaRNS. If you have further enquiries please contact us at [email protected] Bridget Robb Chair of the National Social Work Development Partnership Board

5 Quality assurance for practice learning: quality assurance benchmark statement and guidance on the monitoring of social work practice learning opportunities (QAPL) - 2 nd edition Published by Skills for Care, Albion Court, 5 Albion Place, Leeds LS1 6JL Skills for Care 2010 Published on Skills for Care s own behalf and that of the Children s Workforce Development Council and the General Social Care Council. All three bodies are parts of Skills for Care and Development, the sector skills council for social care and development. This publication and its electronic versions may be freely copied for the purposes of social care workforce development. Extracts used in other publications should be referenced as below. Short reference: Skills for Care [or SfC] 2010 Long reference: Skills for Care, Quality assurance for practice learning (QAPL) 2nd edition, (Leeds, 2010)

6 contents Glossary of roles and definitions How to use this document The regulatory criteria Part 1 Practice learning quality assurance benchmark statement A. A system for assured quality and suitability of the practice placement B. Allocation of the practice placement C. Commencement of the practice placement D. Support arrangements, accountability and role clarity E. The learning and assessment programme F. Evaluation and feedback Part 2 HEI audit form Part 3 Practice educator questionnaire Student questionnaire Available to download from 1. Pilot QAPL data collection tool (Access database file) 2. HEI audit form (Word file) for electronic completion 3. Practice educator questionnaire (Word file) for electronic completion 4. Student questionnaire (Word file) for electronic completion 5. Instructions for transferring the data from the Word questionnaires to the Access tool 6. Electronic copy of this booklet (.pdf file) from which the audit form and questionnaires can be printed for manual completion

7 glossary of roles and definitions Agency. An organisation delivering social care or comparable services, and providing practice learning opportunities at one or more of its establishments. (NB. As distinct from employment or staffing agencies that supply workers to employers.) Carers. Family members or friends who participate in the provision of an individual s social care, as distinct from employed care workers. Establishment or placement site. The actual location for an assessed practice learning opportunity in which the student is to be based. A placement site so described might be part of a parent organisation that covers many other sites. HEI. Higher Education Institution. Practice educator. This person takes overall responsibility for the student s learning and assessment, utilising information from their own assessment and other sources. The practice educator is the person who makes the recommendation to the course examination board about the student s competence in relation to national occupational standards. Off-site practice educator. A person employed through the agency or university social work degree course to undertake the role of practice educator who is not located in the same work site as the student. They normally partner a designated individual who is the on-site practice supervisor. On-site practice educator. A person located in the same work site as the student who can therefore also provide day-to-day supervision. On-site practice supervisor. A person in the same work site as the student who is designated to manage the day-to-day activity of the student and who contributes to the student s learning and assessment. Practice placement. This replaces the term practice learning opportunity in line with the Social Work Task Force s final report. Practice setting. This refers to the type of site within the agency or its delivery mode or function, for example day care services or fieldwork. A practice placement may involve a network of settings across several sites Sector. This refers to the location of a practice setting according to its broader social welfare designation and its legal status as an agency, for example, whether it is a statutory (public) or a not-for-profit (voluntary or third sector) or a commercial (private sector) business. Service user/carer groups. This refers to the focus of the work that an agency delivers in respect of the particular needs of the people who use its services, or of their carers. Examples include services for vulnerable older people, people with mental health problems or children at risk. An agency may have a main or sole focus, or work with many types of service user or carer groups. 2

8 how to use this document Part 1 of this document is the quality assurance benchmark statement for practice learning. This identifies what needs to occur in the planning and provision of a high quality practice placement. Parts 2 and 3 are monitoring tools one audit form and two questionnaires. The audit form can be completed by an HEI or an agency to assess or review the suitability of a practice learning setting. The two questionnaires, one for practice educators and one for students, assist the HEI and agencies in monitoring and evaluating the quality of the practice placement. HEIs and agencies may need to take other factors into account as well as the questionnaire responses. A named individual from the HEI needs to endorse the questionnaires received back from practice educators and students. These forms are available in a choice of formats: this booklet s pages that can be photocopied or printed for posting out, and Word documents that are available to download from uk/socialwork. The Word documents are imported from a database, so the questions are not editable. and practice educators Word questionnaires and forms electronically. The database file is available to download from org.uk/socialwork. Some IT networks firewalls will prevent the Access file from opening, so network administrator support might be required. There is a detailed set of instructions on how to get your Word and Access to transfer and collate the respondents data into the Access database tool. These instructions are also available to download from www. skillsforcare.org.uk/socialwork. The data retrieval tool is an interim aid to collating information from the audits and the questionnaires, and has now been incorporated within the LeaRNS system. Protocols for using the tools The HEI needs to clarify arrangements, following discussion with stakeholders, for distributing and collecting the questionnaires with agencies, practice educators and students. It also needs to be made absolutely clear how individuals information gathered by means of these tools will be shared with the practice learning agency and between practice educators and students. In addition to these forms, there is an electronic database which can collate the information from the audits and the students 3

9 the regulatory criteria The university or college has the responsibility to ensure that its students can expect high quality practice placements. This requires an extensive and close level of partnership with its local employers. Higher education institutions accredited to offer social work degree courses are committed to: appointing enough academic staff and practice assessors with appropriate values, academic and professional qualifications and experience providing for an assessment by an experienced and qualified social worker of the competence and safety of a student to become a social worker making sure those who are responsible for the final assessment (that a student is qualified to practice) include qualified and experienced social workers and professional educators. The view of those who use services must be taken into account in the assessment process securing, approving and auditing appropriate practice placements in line with the curriculum allocating and auditing practice placements in line with the Quality Assurance Agency s code of practice on placement learning and the Department of Health s Requirements for Social Work Training ensuring that all social work students spend at least 200 days gaining experience and learning in practice settings. Each student must have experience in at least two practice settings; of statutory social work tasks involving legal interventions, and of providing services to at least two groups of people who use services. The General Social Care Council sets out very clear criteria for the approval and continuing accreditation of higher education institutions to ensure properly resourced high quality practice placements. This responsibility should always be undertaken in collaboration with contributing stakeholders who may well have dedicated systems to manage practice placements. The benchmark statement and the audit form and questionnaires are not intended to undermine or disrupt existing local working arrangements that already successfully address the regulatory criteria outlined above. 4

10 part 1: practice placement quality assurance benchmark statement A. A system for assured quality and suitability of the practice placement Before a practice placement is used the higher education institution (HEI) has in place a system in order to check, be satisfied with and record the following. 1. The range and type of placements which are likely to be available in the immediate setting and any other placements linked to the workplace. 2. The specified number of national occupational standards for social work degree training which will be covered by the available range of work opportunities. 3. Confirmation that the agency is committed to the General Social Care Council s codes of practice for employers and workers. 4. The complexity and type of work and what level of student attainment is necessary to participate in it. 5. The experience, training and qualifications of designated practice educators involved in the student s learning, and information about anyone else who will normally contribute to a student s learning, assessment and support. 6. The capacity of other workplace team members to contribute to student learning. 7. Information about access and facilities to meet a range of student needs, including scope for reasonable adjustment. 8. Health and safety policy and procedures. 9. Any arrangements for financial resourcing of the provision, including students travel costs while on agency business. 10. Any other key policies and procedures and any other information impacting on potential students and their suitability. 11. Any updating that is necessary to ensure currency of information and confidence in the continuing suitability of the setting. B. Allocation of the practice placement Before a student is allocated to an audited practice placement the HEI ensures that a practice placement allocation policy is made known to all parties, and that: 1. Published priorities in the allocation process are adhered to. 2. The responsibilities of the student are properly followed through. 3. A full account of each student s learning needs and any other relevant needs are taken into consideration and matched with the placement. 4. All relevant information is shared with the prospective practice placement provider. 5. The student liaises with the prospective provider to enable the latter to confirm the appropriateness of the allocation. 6. The suitability of the practice placement for the student in question is confirmed. 7. Every endeavour is made to ensure that the practice placement will commence on time and, if this is not met, that the affected student will be kept informed of progress. 5

11 8. A record is kept of all allocations in order to ensure that each student has experience in at least two practice settings: of statutory social work tasks involving legal interventions, and of providing services to at least two groups of people who use services. C. Commencement of the practice placement In order to properly set up and set out the practice placement and in accordance with its published policy and procedures, the HEI ensures that: 1. A learning agreement which covers the key areas itemised below in D F is agreed, and is completed and signed by all parties within published time frames. 2. An induction period is specified and an induction programme is drawn up which introduces the student to the world of the host agency and its work disciplines, including health and safety information, local resources, and familiarisation with the communities who use the services and their carers. D. Support arrangements, accountability and role clarity The roles, expectations, obligations and entitlements of all participants to the learning agreement are discussed, agreed and drawn up to ensure that: 1. Line management responsibility for all operational work undertaken on behalf of the agency by a student is specified and agreed with the relevant manager. 2. Day-to-day supervisory responsibilities for the student s performance and welfare are identified. 3. Health and safety policy and procedures, any employee code of conduct and agency requirements regarding work disciplines are identified and explained. 4. Any variation from the normal work day and normal attendance pattern is agreed. 5. The practice educator ultimately responsible for the student s final assessment is identified and the relationship to, and the contributions from, any other person involved in the assessment process is agreed. 6. Support and back-up arrangements for the practice educator (whether off-site or onsite) and other key contributors are agreed with the responsible manager. 7. The roles and contributions of the HEI tutor or HEI link person in supporting the student, the practice educator and others are agreed. 8. The policies and procedures for the management of disputes, complaints about and by the student, student misconduct, and whistleblowing by the student are agreed. 9. The policy and procedures for reviewing student progress and for managing difficulties, extension, termination or suspension of the practice placement are noted and agreed. 10. All relevant practice learning documentation is made available. 11. There is agreement about completing the assessment report on student achievement according to the guidance given by the HEI, including the required timescale. 6

12 E. The learning and assessment programme A learning and assessment programme is set up between the host agency and the HEI which includes: 1. The range, scope and forms of work available to the student and clarity about how these link to national occupational standards and the GSCC code of practice for social care workers. 2. Arrangements for regular and sufficient supervision of work performance. 3. Regular opportunity for the supervisor to offer feedback, review learning, discuss values, dilemmas and conflicts, professional development, and to identify any additional learning needs. 4. Arrangements for people who use the service, and carers, to offer feedback. 5. Regular opportunity to discuss the application of theory to practice, and practice issues. F. Evaluation and feedback The HEI and host agency have in place a system for the evaluation of the practice placement that ensures: 1. Each student offers honest and safe feedback once the final assessment decision has been made. 2. The practice educator and/or any other key participant offers feedback on their experience of managing the practice placement. 3. A process whereby the HEI may confirm the continuing suitability of the practice placement for future students or identify any necessary development work. 4. A process for collecting and collating feedback data from each particular practice placement in order to provide for an overall evaluation of practice learning provision. 6. Clarity about the assessment process leading to a final decision by the designated practice educator(s). 7. The number and frequency of direct observations of the student s practice. 8. The sort of practice evidence the student is required to collect, articulate and collate in support of claims to competence. 9. The process for identifying and managing any impediments to the student s progression. 10. The arrangements that will be invoked when there is insufficient or disputed evidence of competence. 7

13 part 2: practice placement audit to be verified by HEI This audit can be completed by a HEI or an organisation or practice learning provider on behalf of the HEI. This is a copy of the HEI audit form which is available to download from org.uk/socialwork. For manual completion of the audit these pages can be photocopied or printed from the.pdf edition of this publication, which is also available to download. placement and supervision arrangements (please see glossary) (select one) (select one) 8

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15 placement require an off-site practice educator? placement as 10

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17 placement is confirmed as having placement placement meets HEI quality standards Date 12

18 part 3: practice placement questionnaires for practice educators and for students These are copies of the practice educator and student questionnaires which are available to download from For manual completion, these pages can be photocopied or printed from the.pdf edition of this publication, which is also available to download. 13

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20 placement placement placement. placement. 15

21 part 3 continued: student questionnaire placement placement setting 16

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30 Endorsed by: Social Work Education Committee Skills for Care, the Children s Workforce Development Council, and the General Social Care Council are all parts of the Skills for Care and Development sector skills council. Skills for Care is responsible for adult social care workforce development. CWDC supports children, young people and their families. GSCC is the social care workforce regulator for England. Together we are working to improve social care provision across England. Skills for Care Albion Court 5 Albion Place Leeds LS1 6JL telephone fax [email protected] web Skills for Care 2010 QAPL.indd 1 03/04/ :50:32