BASW England Student Conference round-up

The BASW England Student and Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) Conference in April 2018 welcomed over 200 people, with students comprising the bulk of the attendees.

Entitled Excellence in Social Work: Employment and Theory the day-long event furnished attendees with a wealth of knowledge about current practice and the future of social work through panel discussions and several workshops.

BASW gathered a range of speakers from local authorities, universities and BASW’s various committees, including Rob Kinahan, Pamela Trevithick, Andrew Linton, Elizabeth Njenga and Zoe Stanyard.

Meanwhile, BASW student ambassador Helen Gormley compered the panel discussions and Ian Thomas, a former service user now student social worker, provided inspirational spoken word and musical entertainment.

Fringe meetings to help students plan for the future included one that introduced the BASW Mentoring Scheme, as well as a meeting that presented the newly refreshed Professional Capabilities Framework.

The event saw 165 students sign up for BASW membership, and generally received great feedback, with one visitor saying: “I planned to leave at 2pm but decided to stay till closing. Nothing to dislike, a good buzz and lively spirit at the event with plenty of interesting content.”

BASW Professional Officer, Wayne Reid, said: “We were able to raise the profile of BASW and sign up new members which is always good. The BASW England conference will be taking place later in the year - so I would advise social workers to check our website over the next few months for details.”