Conference Programme

OPENING ADDRESS: Priscilla Kurewa, BASW UK CHAIR

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Terry Galloway 

From Surviving the Care System to Changing It: A Mission to Transform Lives, Tackle the NEET Crisis and Build Enduring Relationships 

Speaker Biography – Terry Galloway 

Terry Galloway is a care-experienced campaigner, social entrepreneur and founder of Hazel Card, on a mission to transform the lives and opportunities of children in care and care leavers. 

Having experienced more than 100 moves before the age of 16, Terry knows first-hand the instability, trauma and isolation that can follow children through the care system and into adulthood. 

Rather than allowing those experiences to define his future, Terry has dedicated his life to challenging the systems that failed him and campaigning for meaningful, lasting change. 

A nationally recognised advocate for care-experienced people, Terry has worked with government ministers, parliamentarians, local authorities and organisations to influence policy, strengthen corporate parenting and improve outcomes for care leavers. 

His latest mission is Hazel Card, an ambitious national initiative designed to connect care-experienced people with employment, training, opportunities and enduring relationships. By bringing together employers, local authorities, communities and trusted individuals, Hazel aims to tackle the NEET crisis while ensuring young people have the relationships and support they need to thrive. 

In this powerful and personal keynote, Terry will share his journey from childhood adversity to national advocacy, challenge the audience to rethink how we support care-experienced people, and demonstrate how systemic change can turn surviving into thriving. 

His message is simple: care experience should never determine someone's future. 

Area: BASW/careers

Dr Rosanne Palmer, BASW

The session aims to improve the confidence of participants in their own use of GenAI to ensure GenAI is being used in a safe, ethical and appropriate way.

Rosanne is the BASW Policy and Research Lead Officer where, amongst other things, she has led BASW’s work on the UK Covid-19 Inquiry and is the lead on the use of Generative AI in social work practice, being the principal author of BASW’s position statement and its initial guidance on ethics and practice in the use of Generative AI.

Area: BASW/careers

An opportunity to learn more about BASW UK activities, membership benefits, advice and representation and how you can access CPD, be involved in our campaigns, consultations, networks and special interest groups. 

Denise Monks & Christian Beech, Professional Practice Leads, BASW

Area: Academic/research focus

Join the conversation on the future of continuing professional development (CPD) for social work.

This workshop is an opportunity to help shape Social Work England's proposals on CPD and ensure that any future changes reflect the experiences, needs and priorities of the social work profession.

Ahead of a consultation on the future of CPD launching in early 2027, the regulator wants to hear directly from you on 3 areas that will shape the future of CPD.

It will be an opportunity to explore views on:

• how often CPD evidence should be provided
• what evidence best demonstrates learning and practice impact
• how to strengthen public confidence and trust in the CPD process

Sarah Blackmore, Executive Director for Professional Practice and External Engagement

Sarah is a registered social worker and the executive director of professional practice and external engagement at Social Work England.

Sarah qualified as a social worker from Trinity College Dublin in 1997. Since then, she has worked in a variety of national and international contexts, across statutory, voluntary and regulatory services.

Sarah is also a trustee of a charity supporting care experienced people in Scotland.

Area: BASW/careers

An interactive session focusing on the laws and policies that are designed to protect your employment rights, promote your welfare at work, and advice on how to navigate through the complex world of social work employment. We will also touch on how the BASW advice and representation service can assist members in employment and regulatory procedures. 

Lyse Hurd is a Trade Union Official in the Advice & Representation Service in BASW.  She started her career working with children and families in group home settings and psychiatric hospitals in the United States. She arrived in the UK in 2002 as a child protection social worker, subsequently moving to Cafcass where she provided court assessments in both public and private law proceedings alongside providing national training to colleagues. She has been at BASW for over a decade representing and advising members experiencing employment concerns and/or regulatory body fitness to practice proceedings in all four countries and the Islands.  Lyse earned a Bachelor of Arts (1993) from Indiana University in Indiana, USA and earned her Master of Science in Social Work (2001) at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, USA where she was awarded the Whitney M Young Award for ‘demonstrating a commitment to justice and equality of opportunity for all’. 

Lynne Gargiulo is an Advice and Representation Officer/Trade Union Official for BASW and the Social Workers Union and a qualified social worker. Prior to joining the BASW Team in 2023, Lynne spent 21 years working in Local Authority Adult Services, initially as a Social Worker in both Community and Hospital settings, then in the latter years as a Locality Team Manager. Lynne describes as having an absolute determination to promote rights and challenge discrimination, inequality, and injustice in any form. She holds a deep respect for the Social Work profession and an acute awareness of the inherent challenges and feels privileged to be able to advise and represent Social Workers faced with employment issues in the workplace.  

Journalism Awards 2026 and free drinks reception for all delegates!

Area: Practice focus

Social work skills have a valuable role beyond local authority services. This workshop explores how practitioners can use their safeguarding knowledge, professional judgement and relationship-building skills to strengthen practice within charities and voluntary organisations. Drawing on Janet’s experience in safeguarding consultancy and governance, the session considers how social workers can contribute through strategic safeguarding, training, independent reviews and board assurance. Participants will reflect on their transferable skills and explore how these can help organisations develop safeguarding approaches that are proportionate, inclusive and centred on the people they serve.

Janet Ayoola is a qualified social worker and safeguarding consultant with over 15 years’ experience in children’s services, including a decade chairing child protection conferences. Her work spans strategic safeguarding, training, independent reviews and governance across charitable and faith organisations. She chairs the Diocese of Southwark’s Safeguarding Advisory Panel and KIDS’ Services and Safeguarding Committee, and is a trustee of SignHealth. Through her consultancy and governance roles, Janet applies her social work expertise to strengthening safeguarding beyond traditional statutory services.

Area: Practice focus

In the wake of the 2025 changes to the Mental Health Act, this session will introduce participants to Solution Focused Practice – its origins and research base – and to its relevance for the time alone recommended by the current Mental Health Act Code of Practice (14.54).  We will also explore its very good fit with s13 Consideration and interviewing. The workshop - based on a newly published book - is aimed at AMHPs, but will also be relevant for social workers who are supporting people in environments of mental health crisis, or people who are, or have been, detained.  The workshop will show how SFP has a strengths-based and trauma-informed mindset; has co-production at its heart; and is well-placed as an active ally of anti-racism.

Nick Perry is a registered social worker and has been qualified since 2002.  He undertook his Approved Social Worker training and then has practised as an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) continuously since 2007.  He has been in a dedicated AMHP Service for his employing local authority since 2016 and this has included a period as practice manager and AMHP Lead.  Nick has been a visiting lecturer to the Brighton University AMHP training programme since 2020; an Education Quality Assurance inspector for Social Work England since 2024; and over 2025-6 has been a Co-Chair for the AMHP Leads Network.

Area: Practice focus

Crispin Evans, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust

Area: Practice focus

This workshop will share our experience of establishing and supporting a Community of Practice for the implementation of Self-directed Support in Scotland, from the early days in 2019 to the multi-layered peer opportunities we offer in 2026.  Today, we offer Scotland’s SDS lead officers multiple opportunities to support one another and draw in valuable learning from national SDS projects and lived experience experts. Learn how we coproduced the Community of Practice through feedback and discussion, and how we tested our ideas with members. Find out how participants have  benefited and the impact this has had on local implementation. 

Dr Jane Kellock joined Social Work Scotland in 2018 as Head of Strategy, and now project manages the Self-directed Support project. Jane is a former Chief Social Work Officer, and has worked in a variety of senior management posts in adults, and children and families social work services in local government. Prior to qualifying as a social worker in 1996, Jane worked in the third sector in supported accommodation services designed for people discharged from long stay mental health hospitals. Jane has had a long and varied career, and her previous work includes establishing a life stages approach to tackling health inequalities, designing an early personalisation and Direct Payments scheme, mental health community development, and managing homeless accommodation services.

Donna Murray joined Social Work Scotland in 2019 bringing 30 years’ experience of working in social care and a passion for implementing Self-directed Support. Donna has worked in the statutory sector, voluntary sector and in higher education enjoying development roles in Equalities Team, Community Mental Health teams and Access Programmes. She spent 4 years in Zambia supporting parents living with HIV who had children with learning disabilities, and has worked with micro enterprises to test out new models of care and support in remote rural areas of Scotland.  

Area: Practice focus

Ben’s Story: One of Hope and Harmony is a practice-focused workshop that explores how people with learning disabilities and high levels of risk and restriction can be successfully supported to live meaningful lives in the community. Using a real case study, the session examines Ben’s journey from long-term inpatient care to community living, highlighting the role of person-centred practice, multidisciplinary working, Positive Behaviour Support, legal frameworks, and shared accountability. Participants will reflect on balancing risk and enablement, overcoming barriers to discharge, and applying practical learning to their own work to support better outcomes. 

Stef Smith is an Advanced Social Work Practitioner in the Adult Learning Disabilities Service at Salford Adult Social Care. A qualified social worker for 20 years, Stef has consistently worked with and alongside adults with learning disabilities, both professionally and through voluntary roles. Her practice is deeply shaped by personal experience, having been a parent to a son with learning disabilities who sadly died. Stef brings a compassionate, rights-based approach to complex work, specialising in Court of Protection and high-risk cases. She is passionate about enabling people to live meaningful, “gloriously ordinary lives” in their communities.

Area: Academic/research focus

This workshop aims to inspire and encourage practitioners to explore research opportunities at work. Thinking about ideas, the process, the challenges and the benefits, the session will follow Claire’s research journey as a social worker undertaking research at work and provide opportunity to think about the value of practitioner research for social work practice today. 

Claire Yates, Canterbury Christ Church University: My practice background is in front line work statutory child protection, having worked in children's services for over 20 years. I am currently Senior Lecturer at CCCU and module lead for Safeguarding for the BA and MA modules. I am also lead for our Skills for Social Work delivery. I also work as Practice Development Lead for Medway Safeguarding Children Partnership and as an Independent Social Worker, undertaking parenting assessments. My research interests are in workforce wellbeing, and my PhD thesis explored the co-design of an intervention to support wellbeing at work.

Area: Academic/research focus

This workshop will explore how social work leadership can support wellbeing of staff and the quality of practice. Following a brief overview of current research evidence, and insights from practice and lived experience, there will be discussion of three key topics - managing tensions between organisational and professional values, collaborating with leaders with lived experience and their communities, and leading in a digital age. The session will finish with plenary discussion of the main issues raised and outlining of future opportunities to contribute to debate and development on social work leadership. 

Professor Robin Miller and Sharanya Mahesh, University of Birmingham; Kemyn Whervin, ADASS; and Gavin Butler, Cheshire West and Chester Councils

Professor Robin Miller is an applied academic with an international reputation in relation to implementation, integration and leadership. He has developed numerous development programmes for senior leaders and practitioner leaders and also researched the role of citizen leadership in health and care. Robin is the UK Demonstrator Lead for the IMPACT (IMProving Adult Care Together) Centre. He is the lead editor of the first international research handbook in leadership in social work and social care and lead guest editor of the BJSW Special Issue on Leadership published in late 2025.

Keymn Whervin is a WM ADASS Associate specialising in co-production and lived experience leadership. She co-chairs the WM ADASS Regional Co-production Advisory Network and works to strengthen the role of lived experience within service design, research, and improvement activity across adult social care. Her work focuses on participation, accessibility, inclusion, and ensuring that people who draw on care and support help shape conversations about technology, innovation, and the future of care.

Sharanya Mahesh has a background in social work and is an early career academic with research interests in strengths-based practice and service improvement. Her research explores how strengths-based approaches are implemented and embedded in complex care systems with particular interests in organisational culture, leadership, relational practice and improving outcomes for people who draw on care and support.

Gavin Butler: Principal Social Worker, Cheshire West and Chester Councils and previous Co-Vice Chair, National Adult PSW Network 

Area: Academic/research focus

This workshop will give an overview of a recent research project that sought to understand social workers’ experiences of staying in the profession for longer than the career average (8 years in the UK), before inviting attendees to engage with the themes from the research and consider which, if any, resonate with their own experiences. Attendees will work in small groups, reflecting on whether the themes resonate with their experiences and adding their own ideas and reflections. Attendees will have the opportunity to feed back from their discussions, considering ideas they could take back to support their own social work practice."

Dr Lindsay Giddings is the Associate Head of School for Curriculum and Innovation in the School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care at The Open University, where she is also a Senior Lecturer in Social Work. Lindsay’s doctoral research explored children and families social workers’ experiences of staying in the profession for longer than the career average in the UK. Her research interests primarily focus on social work practitioners including consideration of retention, wellbeing, learning, and how social work intersects with sustainability. In practice, Lindsay predominantly worked with children with disabilities and their families. 

Area: Academic/research focus

This interactive workshop explores the underrepresentation of Black women in social work management and leadership in the UK, focusing on what this means for practitioners, managers and organisations. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, participants will explore how race and gender can influence career progression. Through a facilitated discussion and a practical group activity, attendees will identify barriers and challenges to advancement and develop their own recommendations for creating justice and equity in the recruitment, selection and progression processes. This workshop provides an opportunity to share professional perspectives and collaboratively develop practical recommendations for meaningful and sustained change. 

Christina Channer, MA, University of Bedfordshire

Christina Channer, MA is a PhD candidate whose work explores the underrepresentation of Black women in social work management and leadership in the United Kingdom. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, her research examines how structural racism and gendered inequalities, shape career progression and professional experiences. Alongside her doctoral studies, she is an experienced social work practitioner, community activist, international keynote speaker and guest lecturer. She consults social work organisations and institutions to consider how to implement her ongoing research study early findings into developing justice and equity in social work. 

Area: BASW/careers

14:45 - 15:20 ‘An introduction to the Social Work Online Training Tool (SWOTT) and how it can support your independent practice’ with Claire Cunnington, Research Associate with the SWOTT CPD Project, The University of Sheffield

15:20 - 15:55 The BASW Independents’ Toolkit one year on: what works, what’s missing and what can be improved with Jo Fox, BASW UK treasurer and lead author of the Toolkit

15:55 - 16:30 Plenary Discussion: ‘Does AI have a role to play in Independent Social Work’ chaired by Vince Peart, Editor of Social Work News and independent social worker

Area: Academic/research focus

In England, the number of people sleeping rough and wider number experiencing homelessness have risen over the last decade, despite policy targets and service initiatives.  This session reports key findings from the first English study that has explored social care and health practitioner attitudes and approaches to mental capacity assessments with people experiencing homelessness and multiple disadvantage. This session links directly to social work practice and will showcase the Mental Capacity Guidance & Tool created and piloted as part of the study. The session will provide the opportunity to consider the role of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in rights-based practice and how we understand decision making and ‘choice’ in the context of trauma, substance use, risk and service refusal. 

Mx Ezra Furber is a social worker, Approved Mental Health Professional and Practice Educator with over a decade’s experience working to support people experiencing multiple disadvantage and homelessness in London. Ezra is a collaborator on the research project as part of the group writing a mental capacity assessment toolkit for use in practice. 

Area: Activism and rights-based practice

What happens when a practitioner sees something that matters, but it feels too risky to say aloud? This workshop explores the organisational conditions that make psychological and cultural safety possible in social work, particularly where practice involves equality and inclusion. Drawing on Iriss's approach to learning, participants will examine the gap between what organisations say they value and what people experience. Through small group work and shared reflection, participants will identify a practice challenge they have struggled to surface and leave with one practical step for their own organisation.

Davie Donaldson and Emily Whyte, The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (Iriss)

Davie is a Development lead at iriss, with over a decade of experience in equity and anti-oppressive practice, supporting decision-makers at a national and international level to make policy and practice more inclusive.

His practice is grounded in building creative ways to engage with lived experience and enhance accessibility, particularly with marginalised communities. He specialises in building “relational soil”, especially where there has been conflict or a breakdown in relationships. Davie holds an MA in Anthropology and International Relations from the University of Aberdeen and is qualified in restorative practice.

Having extensive experience designing multi-agency training programmes his focus is anti-racism, trauma-informed approaches and Gypsy/Traveller inclusion.

Emily is a Development Lead at Iriss, and is passionate about leveraging creative arts and interdisciplinary methodologies to address complex social issues. Emily's work philosophy centres on empowerment, collaboration, innovation, and equity, always striving to amplify the voices of those with lived and living experiences, to co-create meaningful and sustainable change. Prior to her work with Iriss, Emily worked extensively in the third sector, focusing on social research, community development, domestic violence prevention, youth homelessness, and widening participation.

Area: Activism and rights-based practice

What is the role and value of social work at the intersection of immigration control and the right to family life? Drawing on the Raising Children report and Social Workers Without Borders’ experience of providing expert social work evidence in immigration cases, this interactive workshop explores how practitioners can help ensure children’s needs, relationships and best interests are better understood in immigration decision-making. We will reflect on how these insights apply across frontline practice settings within an increasingly hostile policy environment for migrant communities, considering how practitioners can recognise and respond when immigration agendas are prioritised over welfare. 

Ben Feder, Naomi Jackson and Naomi Appleby, Social Workers Without Borders

Ben is Head of the Expert Witness Service at Social Workers Without Borders, a charity working for migration justice through the provision of independent social work evidence, alongside education and campaigning at the intersection of social work and immigration policy. He is a registered social worker with 15 years' experience working alongside marginalised children and young people, including in statutory services, children's rights advocacy and specialist services for young migrants. Alongside his SWWB role, Ben works as the asylum and immigration practice lead within a local authority leaving care service and delivers training nationally as a Research in Practice Associate.

Naomi Jackson is a registered social worker and postgraduate researcher at the University of Liverpool, where her work focuses on children's rights in the context of parental deportation. She is a co-author of the Raising Children report, a former Managing Director of Social Workers Without Borders, and has a background in statutory child protection practice. Naomi also works as an independent social worker, preparing expert reports for asylum and immigration proceedings.

Naomi Appleby is a registered social worker with experience in statutory children's services and currently works as Clinical Lead for an NHS CAMHS Crisis Service. She is passionate about developing the social work workforce within mental health settings and regularly guest lectures on social work education, with a focus on strengths-based practice. Naomi is committed to anti-oppressive, rights-based practice and volunteers with Social Workers Without Borders, completing independent social work assessments for families affected by immigration control.

Area: Activism and rights-based practice

This workshop draws on doctoral research summarising some of the structural, epistemic, and psychological barriers that exclude South Asian women social workers from leadership in social work. You will be introduced to the "Quadripartite Spatial Supervision Framework" (QSSF), a new supervision architecture that challenges institutional whiteness and the enduring legacy of colonial practices across micro, meso, and macro levels. Through film and a creative activity, you will be invited to challenge and liberate your own thinking about social work supervision and be introduced to the concept of the "Third Space".

Dr Shabnam Ahmed MBE FRSA is a social worker, educator, and founder of School of Shabs, delivering workshops on Anti-racism, Cultural intelligence, leadership, and supervision nationally. An MBE recipient, she is the lead author and developed an anti-racist supervision template for Health and Social Care, alongside members from the Black and Ethnic Minority Professional Symposium. Her Professional Doctorate explores career progression barriers for South Asian women in social work, recommending a decolonial supervision architecture and the concept of  "Third Spaces" to advance systemic equity and strengthen agency for those experiencing internalised oppression.

Area: Activism and rights-based practice

Far-right narratives do not just affect individual workers. They shape workplace cultures, influence policy, impact communities, and threaten the social justice values at the heart of social work. The answer is not simply resilience. It is collective action. This session will highlight campaigns that social workers, NQSWs, and social work students can get involved with, and how trade unionism intersects with social work and activism. During the session, we will also explore some of the BASW resources available to support you, if you or your colleagues are experiencing difficulties in your work place as a result of discrimination, oppression or racism.

Dave Callow, Social Workers Union, and Denise Monks, BASW

Dave Callow is the Social Workers Union (SWU) General Secretary and a qualified social worker. Prior to becoming SWU General Secretary in 2026, he was a senior lecturer and programme lead for the MSc Social Work degree at the University of Lincoln and worked as a social worker within child protection teams across Lincolnshire. 

Area: Practice focus

This session shares my personal journey from growing up in care to becoming a social worker supporting care experienced and separated asylum young people. I will speak openly about the realities of navigating the care system as a child - the instability, the resilience, and the moments that shaped who I am today.

The training reflects how those early experiences became the foundation of my professional purpose. I will explore the turning points: finding my voice, entering education, and choosing a career where I could be the person I once needed.

Participants will gain insight into how lived experience can transform practice — helping professionals connect more deeply, understand the emotional world of young people, and build relationships rooted in trust, safety, and cultural sensitivity.

This session is not just about my story; it is about how our narratives can strengthen the work we do, and how compassion, reflection, and humanity can change outcomes for the young people leaving the care system.

Veronica Thomas, Are U Prepared Ltd - I was a child in care in the 80s and have over 15 years practicing as a social worker. I am very passionate about ensuring that young people who are about to leave the care system are appropriately supported and that all professionals involved have the tools or aware of the tools to help improve the transition to independence- moving on from care.

Area: Practice focus

This workshop explores Walsall Council’s co-produced, relationship-based approach to social work with older people, developed through its partnership with IMPACT and informed by NIHR-funded research and the BASW 80:20 Campaign. Through practical examples and shared learning, session participants will hear how lived experience, practitioner expertise and research can improve outcomes for older people and carers, while supporting a confident, skilled and sustainable social work workforce.

Tina James, Head of Service – Pathway to Independence, Provider Services and Localities. Adults Social Care and Health, Walsall Council 

Joyce Emanuel

Reshma Patel : I am a passionate co-production leader and lifelong advocate for people with lived experience of disability and health and social care. I’m driven by my commitment to ensuring people receive equitable, person-centred support. As Co-Chair of the Experts by Experience Coproduction Strategy Group for Walsall Council and an active contributor to Walsall Council, the British Association of Social Workers’ initiatives, and WMADASS, I champion inclusive language, safe spaces, and systemic change so that overlooked voices genuinely shape the future of adult social care. I have received Health and Social Care services all my life.

Heather Gillion is a Social Worker within Walsall Adult Social Care. She first joined Walsall Council in 2020 as a student social worker and has remained within Adult Social Care ever since, driven by her genuine passion for supporting adults in the community. Over the years, she has continued to grow within the service, learning from the people she supports and developing her practice alongside a team that shares her commitment to making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

Area: Practice focus

This practical workshop introduces The Five Approaches to Life Story Work, helping social workers understand the different ways Life Story Work can be delivered. From supporting carers to undertake aspects of the work, to setting clear goals, delivering direct work themselves, and recognising when therapy may be needed. 

Using practice-based examples, we will explore how to identify what a child needs, select the appropriate approach, collaborate with those around the child and recognise when specialist therapeutic intervention may be required. 

Participants will leave able to plan and evaluate meaningful Life Story Work with greater clarity and confidence.

Kim Matthews is a qualified Therapeutic Life Story Work Specialist and Clinical Social Worker with over 15 years experience in the social care field. She is active in the Life Story Work field guiding the way with innovative practice which includes her work on developing a model of varied approaches to Life Story Work. Kim has a wealth of experience of supporting fostered and adopted children to understand and process trauma histories and successfully transition to permanent placements. Kim is co-author of the British Journal of Social Work article, ‘What is Life Story Work? How Defining approaches Can Bring Clarity to Training, Research and Practice’, and is actively developing practical models that help embed Life Story Work into everyday practice.

Kim is The Behaviour Clinic's expert in Life Story Work and Therapeutic Placement Transitions. She supports work with children with complex emotional and attachment needs.

Laura Neal is the founder of The Behaviour Clinic. She specialises in Trauma Informed Care, Attachment Difficulties, Therapeutic Life Story Work, and working with children who have experienced Sexual Trauma and Complex Trauma.  

Laura has worked in the field of trauma for over 25 years, first as a social worker before developing her career as a therapist and Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. She is the creator of the TRIBE Trauma Recovery Framework and the Life Story PPF Programme. She has spoken internationally at conferences on supporting children who have experienced complex trauma and is active in trauma informed research with her team at The Behaviour Clinic.

Laura leads the team at The Behaviour Clinic in their pursuit of effective care for children with trauma histories. 

Area: Practice focus

How do safeguarding systems shape the way parents are seen and understood? This interactive workshop uses a 'House of Mirrors' activity to explore how parents can become positioned as social and systemic scapegoats when harm occurs outside the family. Drawing on contextual safeguarding research and Risk Outside The Home (ROTH) pathway development, participants will critically reflect on blame, responsibility and guardianship. The session explores new ways of thinking about how safeguarding systems can partner with parents and create safety through families, communities and services. 

Dr Lynne Cairns, Molly Manister and Rachael Owens, Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding, Durham University

Lynne is a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Contextual Safeguarding team, working on projects including ‘From Capacity to Context’, which centres parents experiences of safeguarding and welfare systems. She completed an ESRC-funded PhD exploring everyday life with teenage boys who have displayed harmful sexual behaviour, highlighting social, spatial and rights-based dimensions of safety and risk. A registered and qualified social worker of over 26 years, Lynne is particularly interested in interdisciplinary, rights-based approaches to preventing harm and creating safer, more inclusive environments for children, young people and families.

Molly is a post doctoral research associate in for the Global Centre for Contextual Safeguarding since July 2020. Her current focus within the team is on the Risk Outside The Home (ROTH) pathway project. Alongside being a member of the Contextual Safeguarding team, Molly has undertaken an ESRC-funded PhD in Sociology and Social Policy, exploring whether the values of social work align with the values underpinning current policies around preventing the radicalisation of young people. Her PhD research is system-harm focused, exploring the intersection between safeguarding and counterterrorism and the implications on the social-work profession.

Rachael is Associate Professor and her expertise lies in building meaningful partnerships with practitioners to imagine and create new forms of child welfare, centred around care and humanity.  Rachael’s research integrates psychosocial/ systems theories with the ecological ideas at the heart of Contextual Safeguarding. In doing this she hopes to contribute to social change that takes seriously the messiness of everyday life, paying attention to relationships, emotions and social structures. Rachael’s career spans the creative arts, the voluntary and community sector (VCS) and social work. Rachael sits on BASW’s Children and Families Thematic Group and is a member of GAPS, who support relationship-based approaches and psychodynamic and systemic thinking in social work. 

Area: BASW/careers

This interactive workshop moves beyond a simple pass/fail approach to explore how social work students develop across the placement continuum. Through practice examples and discussion, participants will consider progression from placements experiencing difficulties through to confident and exceptional practice. The session explores Direct Observations 1–3, supervision, feedback, learning opportunities and assessment, considering how Practice Educators can recognise, evidence and support development while maintaining appropriate professional standards and expectations across different placement settings. 

Tonimarie Benaton is a Social Worker, Practice Educator and doctoral researcher with over 20 years’ experience across children’s services, safeguarding, social work education and practice learning. Toni has worked within local authorities, higher education and voluntary sector settings, with particular interests in reflective supervision, practice education, neurodiversity, trauma-informed practice and supporting student professional development. Toni is Chair of the BASW Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Branch and founder of Social Work Education and Training (SWET). Her current doctoral research explores how social workers hear and respond to the voices of care-experienced children and young people.