Battle cry of the newly qualified!

September blog by Allison Hulmes, Professional Officer, BASW Cymru.

At the beginning of the month I was privileged to attend an event put on by Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly’s workforce development team. The event marked the end of the consolidation programme for one cohort of social workers and the beginning for another cohort.

The social workers I met are beginning their careers at a particularly difficult time and are all too aware of the impact of continued austerity on the population that they serve, as well as the impact on social work – doing more with less as a default position. Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly Local Authority areas top the latest (2014) Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation.

The event was attended by senior managers across three local authority areas, demonstrating their commitment to supporting their newly qualified social workers via the continuous professional education and development (CPEL) programme. The consistent theme in all the talks was the commitment to, and the value of, supervision.

The emphasis must be on good supervision and knowing what this looks like is essential for all social workers if they are to remain resilient and accountable practitioners. Good supervision is characterised by a strong ethical and value base, is reflective, inclusive and promotes professional development. Social workers at the start of their career must have the time and space to slow down, review their decision-making and plan what happens next in a setting which values them, nurtures them and allows them to be curious.

At the end of the morning, the social workers undertook a group exercise to capture visually and with words, what good social work looks like. We were honoured that Peter Unwin (Bardd Austeriate who composed the daily poems for the Boot-out-Austerity walk) agreed to take the words and compose a poem. This poem is a gift of respect, inspiration and hope for all newly qualified social workers, to carry throughout their social work careers.

Battle Cry of the Newly Qualified

We are the Newly Qualified

Heads and hopes held high

Fired up, geared up, seeking change

Justice our battle cry

We’re people persons

Through and through

But realistic too

We know we have to scan the forms

But this is not the job

Self-aware, good listeners

With confident smiles gleaming

We have to look after ourselves

And not go home a-screaming

We will ignore the media hype

And strive to make lives better

We’ll return telephone calls

All in professional fashion

We’ll fight for rights like Glyndŵr did

Cos’ Social Work’s our Passion

Peter Unwin,

Bardd Austeriate

Sept. 2017