Learning Matters Newly-Qualified Social Workers: A Practice Guide to the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (Post-Qualifying Social Work Practice Series)

The first year of practice can be a particularly daunting and challenging time for newly-qualified social workers (NQSWs). This fully revised and updated book directly addresses the crucial transition period between finishing off the social work degree and managing the first years of practice.  It offers down to earth, practical guidance on applying for your first post and managing your work load in the first few years. From useful sections on the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), supervision, dealing with conflict, court skills, report writing, and team work to what professionalism actually looks like in practice, this book will throw a life belt to not only NQSWs entering the workplace but for students on qualifying programmes who wish to develop their skills beyond graduation.   Review This publication gives a fuller introduction to the ASYE, brings together some of the best current thinking about how we can support NQSWs and also offers practical support to new graduates coming into the social work profession, setting them on a course of continuing professional development that we trust will become an integral aspect of their career progression. -- Dame Moira Gibb, Chair, Skills for Care A distinguishing feature is the range of contributors, including service users, carers, managers, academics and NQSWs. Vignettes that include the voice of service users and carers are poignant, helping to link theory to practice, and serve as reminders of the importance of effective social work. The practice guide has been written in such a way that readers can dip into areas of interest as needed. It covers a broad range of areas, and readers are encouraged to follow further reading suggestions to gain a depth of understanding on specific topics. -- Joanna Appleby, Doctoral candidate, University of Auckland About the Author Dr. Jonathan Parker is Professor of Society and Social Welfare and Director of the Centre for Social Work, Sociology and Social Policy at Bournemouth University. He is Visiting Professor at the Tasik Chini Research Centre Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. He was one of the founders and director of the Family Assessment and Support Unit, a placement agency attached to the University of Hull, and Head of Department of Social Work.  He was Chair of the Association of Teachers in Social Work Education until 2005, Vice Chair of the UK higher education representative body, the Joint University Council for Social Work Education from 2005- 2010, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, Fellow of the Joint University Council, and Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Jonathan has published widely on disadvantage, marginalization and violence, Southeast Asia, religion, social work education, and theory for practice. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Practice Teaching & Learning; joint editor-in-chief of Social Policy & Social Work in Transition, and series editor of the highly successful SAGE series, Transforming Social Work Practice. Keith holds professional qualifications in nursing, social work and teaching; and academic qualifications in nursing, social work and management. He has worked in the education and training field for over 30 years, working for three universities and three local authority social work departments. Currently he is the Director of the National Centre for Post-Qualifying Social Work and Professional Practice at Bournemouth University and the Director of the Centre for Leadership Impact and Management at Bournemouth. In 2005 he was awarded the Linda Ammon Memorial Award, sponsored by the then Department for Education and Skills, a prize awarded to the individual making the greatest contribution to training and education in the UK. His main academic interest lies in the fusion of academia and professional practice to help improve professional thinking and practice. Di Galpi