Professionally Competent and Confident - Level 10
Students need to demonstrate they are confident and competent practitioners and can exercise initiative and autonomy.
A comment in the Child Protection Audit, 'It's Everyone's job to make sure I'm Alright' (2002) was that "some social workers had become inured" to the circumstances of particular children. Similarly, the Laming Report commented that, "the principal failure to protect her (Victoria) was the result of widespread organisational malaise" (2003, 1.21). One of the striking comments of a representative of a service user's group was that young people felt social workers made a difference when they were committed to the job. By this stage students need to demonstrate that they believe that they can make a difference to children, young people, their parents and carers and see themselves as "agents of change".
Students should be able to demonstrate to practice teachers and HEIs that they are clear about their professional role and responsibilities and are also clear as to the limits of their knowledge and responsibilities and when they need to share information with other professionals to protect a child.
Students should be confident in exercising their professional powers and responsibilities with reference to child care and protection. During their practice learning opportunity all students should have had the chance to present their assessment of a child/ young person or parent to an appropriate forum. (This may be formal or informal, some examples would be a Children's Hearing, Case conference, LAC review, team meeting, core group).
Students need to demonstrate that they can exercise initiative and work autonomously. However they also need to demonstrate that they will seek appropriate support and guidance through supervision.
Students need to be competent and confident at translating their knowledge of risk assessment in to practice in child care and protection. This is reflected in the 21st Century Review Interim Report (2005) which states that social workers "need to be able to make complex decisions about the level of risk. This requires a high level of skill and personal autonomy and accountability"