Community Care would like to wish everyone in the profession a very happy World Social Work Day 2025!

While we know that it’s in the nature of social workers not to blow their own trumpets, we salute each and every one of you for the critical work that you do, and hope you feel today is a day when  you – and the profession across the globe – are truly celebrated.

To mark the day, we held a free webinar on restorative and relational practice, delivered by Paul Nixon, formerly New Zealand’s chief social worker.

An expert on family group conferences (FGCs), he explored how these approaches bring families and communities into decision making about children and adults, to create lasting change.

Here’s some of the feedback from practitioners who attended the webinar:

“I enjoyed hearing about the use of FGCs in other countries and how this is used positively.”

“Lots of really excellent informed knowledge provided which I will take forward in my learning journey.”

“I liked the way Paul showed compassion for the subject matter and explained information/theories thoroughly.”

A recording of the webinar is now available for Community Care Inform subscribers on the Inform Adults and Inform Children’s sites.

by Sophie Baker

This is the third installment in Sophie Baker’s ‘What I wish I had known…’ series, where she reflects on her approach to practice when she started out – and what she would tell her younger self now.

As a newly qualified social worker, I was taught that building trust sat at the heart of social work.

During my studies, I heard that children were more likely to share their thoughts, feelings and worries with professionals they trusted. I understood that secure, consistent relationships were vital for children to feel safe enough to open up about their experiences and hopes for the future.

What I hadn’t fully grasped was just how difficult a task building the foundations of a trusting relationship was going to be.

Creating true connections with children who are going through difficult experiences is an exceptional skill. It takes patience, warmth and sincerity.

Here are some lessons I learned when trying to form impactful relationships.

Being clear about my role

Sophie Baker has over 20 years’ experience in social work

I remember how difficult it was to explain my role to children in a way that felt honest and comforting.

In the early days, I often used vague phrases like, ‘My job is to keep children safe’. While this wasn’t wrong, it didn’t give a full picture of what that actually meant for them.

I wish I had taken the time to explain more. I could have said, ‘I talk to your family, teachers, and other people who care about you to see how we can make things better’; or,  ‘Sometimes families go through difficult times and I help find ways to make things better’, or, ‘I will listen to you  and make sure your voice is heard when decisions are made about you’.

Children want to understand why we are there and how we can help. We need to be as clear and transparent in our answer as we can.

Keeping promises

Not long after qualifying, I remember my supervisor telling me, ‘If you say it, do it!’.  What a great piece of advice!

Many of the children I was working with had been let down by adults and, consequently, they needed to see the actions behind my words.

Children need to know they can rely on us. I learned that it’s not just about saying I would do something, it was also about following through with my promise.

Showing up when we say we will and doing what we promised is how we can demonstrate we are trustworthy. Children sometimes need deeds more than words.

Being present during visits

I knew that building a connection would be much easier when offering the child my undivided attention during our time together.

Yet the anxiety I felt during the first few months of practice hugely impacted on my ability to be truly in the moment at times.

In the rush to manage my workload, I sometimes found myself distracted. I would grab a few minutes here and there during home visits to speak to children, but I struggled to give them the uninterrupted, meaningful time they deserved.

I felt deeply ashamed. It took me some time to confess these issues to my manager, but it was ultimately supervision that helped reframe my way of thinking.

Techniques to prepare for sessions

I came to understand that relationship-building with children wasn’t an ‘extra’ part of the job, but the heart of effective social work.

I developed simple techniques to get mentally prepared before one-to-one sessions.

During car journeys, I created space in my mind by slowing my breathing and using affirmations such as ‘I am here, and I am ready to listen with my full attention’.

I also practised techniques like the 5-4-3-2-1 method, where you name things you can see, hear, touch, smell and taste to ground yourself in the present.

These small steps made a real difference, helping me to be fully engaged with each child and leave the ‘to do’ list aside.

Using creative tools for communication

Children often have a hard time expressing their feelings with words.

In my early days, I sometimes relied too heavily on traditional methods of talking and using worksheets.

However, I knew I needed to change that when Freddie, a young boy I was supporting, told me he had completed the same ‘Who Am I?’ worksheet multiple times with other workers. He was fed up, and rightfully so. It didn’t feel special to him.

He taught me the importance of diversifying my approach.

I started exploring more creative tools like sand trays art materials, and role play with him. A simple ice cream tub filled with sand and miniature figures allowed us to explore Freddie’s relationships, dreams, and strengths in a meaningful and playful way. It worked wonders in helping him open up!

Were I to have been developing this knowledge now, I think I would have also explored digital tools, such as apps and online games, which can engage children in new ways and make it easier to connect.

Being honest with children, even when it is painful

Throughout my career, I’ve had many painful conversations with children.

It’s an inevitable part of being a social worker. I sometimes needed to explore deeply distressing topics with children: grief after the death of a sibling, allegations of sexual abuse by a parent, the repeated disappointment of a parent failing to attend family time, the serious illness of a foster carer.

I always dreaded these discussions, and the emotional weight of them lingered long after with the memory of some of these still bringing a lump to my throat.

An important lesson for me during those interactions was always coming from a place of honesty and transparency.

It was so tempting to protect the children from stress and worry by softening the truth, being a bit vague or moving on quickly after I had delivered the news or asked a difficult question.

However, I came to understand that, when lacking accurate information, children will often make up their own versions of what is happening. The real danger lies in their imagination making things feel scarier than they really are.

I wish I had known that providing clear, age-appropriate information helps children make sense of the situation and gives them a greater sense of control.

Being honest during the most painful moments is one of the most valuable ways we can build trust with the children we work with.

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

To mark World Social Work Day 2025, Community Care is offering free learning to social care practitioners on relational and restorative practice.

Consultant social worker Paul Nixon – formerly New Zealand’s chief social worker – will explore how these approaches bring families and communities into decision making about children and adults, to create lasting change, in a one-hour webinar.

Paul Nixon

Paul, who worked as a social worker and leader in England for 20 years before taking up his post in New Zealand, is an expert on family group conferences (FGCs), which empower family networks to make decisions where there are safeguarding concerns in relation to children or adults.

His presentation will combine theory, evidence, storytelling and practical tips to explore how practitioners can move power and responsibility back to families and communities, building on cultural strengths and relationships.

It will also look at how FGCs can be used innovatively, at different stages of safeguarding concerns with children, families and adults.

The free webinar takes place from 12noon – 1pm on 18 March 2025, this year’s World Social Work Day.

Book your place now.

Community Care Inform subscribers will have access to the recorded version of the webinar, plus a written transcript and additional resources mapped to the theme of this year’s World Social Work Day – strengthening intergenerational solidarity for enduring wellbeing.

In a lilac-painted room, a social worker named Louisa sits on a couch opposite me as she explains the purpose of her visit to Fiona and John Harris.

The Harris family, which also includes a two-year-old, a nine-month-old and an 11-year-old girl from Fiona’s previous relationship, has been referred to social services due to domestic abuse witnessed by the children.

But while Fiona sits nervously next to Louisa, her leg bouncing, John paces around the room. Visibly agitated, he dominates the conversation with objections and accusations aimed at both the practitioner and his partner.

I am struck by how little I can concentrate on what Louisa is saying with John towering over me.

Only on my second watch do I notice Louisa’s calm yet firm approach and how her polite demeanour encourages the parents’ co-operation, despite John’s reluctance.

Because this wasn’t a typical visit, nor was I shadowing a social worker. In reality, I was seated in a conference room in a stadium in Birmingham, wearing a pair of virtual reality (VR) goggles.

‘Being a fly on the wall’

The video is part of the research-informed virtual relationship-based practice training (RIVRT) package, developed by the University of Birmingham and Sandwell Children’s Trust, and launched earlier this year.

The VR headsets and immersive 3D and 2D videos allow trainees to follow two versions of Louisa’s 11-month journey with the Harris family.

In one, the family remains on a child protection plan, with Louisa left frustrated by the outcome, while in the second, the plan is removed and the Harrises are enabled to deal with their circumstances, with support.

The ‘barrier’ and ‘enabler’ versions illustrate how social workers’ actions, tone, body language and approaches can either facilitate or prevent relationship-based practice

Developed by Dr Tarsem Singh Cooner, associate professor of social work at the University of Birmingham, the VR training translated his research into an immersive experience, enabling trainees to observe practice situations as if they were a “fly on the wall”.

Translating research findings into 3D

Between 2016 and 2018, Cooner spent 15 months shadowing social workers in two child protection teams, exploring what facilitated or prevented long-term relationships with families.

However, upon publishing his findings, he found that practitioners had little time to read research papers. So, he decided to find a more creative way of sharing his findings and embedding them in practice.

Cooner is known for developing innovative digital learning approaches to help social work students navigate ethical issues, including using film and social media platforms like Facebook as learning tools.

“One day I just happened to be watching a television programme and they were using a 360-degree video and showing how it impacted people’s feelings and helped them reduce their anxiety and so on,” he says. “And I thought, ‘why don’t we try that?’.

“The research team thought it was a bit mad at first, but we bought a cheap 360-degree camera, re-enacted some of the scenes [of social workers’ experiences with families] and… it was amazing. It really got across the messages that we wanted to get across.”

To bring the research findings to life, the team behind RIVRT created the Harris family, adding authenticity by casting experienced social workers as the parents.

“We took great care to ensure authenticity in the scripts by also involving young people who had experience of social work involvement, to ensure the voices of the service users were present,” adds Cooner.

The videos show Louisa facing hostility and dealing with resistance and conflict from the parents, allowing students to experience challenging situations in a safe environment.

Prompting social workers to reflect

In the training’s first trial, in April 2021, participants, ranging from newly qualified staff to those with six years’ experience, noted seeing themselves and some of their behaviours in the barrier version, prompting self-reflection.

“I literally felt myself clenching my fists and having a physical reaction at points during the barrier videos, how the family were being spoken to,” said one.

Feedback indicated that practitioners became more mindful of being on time, thoroughly reviewing family files and recognising how “a good relationship with people is more likely to bring a change of behaviour”, says Aman Basi, practice development manager at Sandwell Children’s Trust.

The training was later tested on a group of 24 social work students, in the period between their first and second placements.

Cooner notes that, within the two-day training programme, students became more aware of the meaning of relationship-based practice and “the responsibilities and expectations” of their role.

Basi says a key value of virtual reality training is the focus practitioners can bring to the scenario they are viewing.

“You don’t know what’s going on around you in the room, other than being fully immersed into what you see on the screen,” she adds. [You] notice things that you may not necessarily have noticed if you were watching specific content on a basic screen.”

‘I now make a conscious effort to put families at ease’

Paul Wareham, a senior practitioner at the trust’s fostering service, who was part of the 2021 cohort, says it would have been “amazing” to have had the training at the start of his career.

Even with years of experience under his belt, the videos made him more conscious of putting families at ease.

“Sometimes it can be as simple as sitting next to them, clarifying questions or helping them understand what is being talked about,” he adds. “I’ve always been supportive, but I’m now more aware of the support in place and the emotions it evokes.

“I’m also aware that if they perceive you to be pushing or aggressive, they will echo that back. It helps me think about dialling it down again.”

According to Wareham, the best way to maximise the training is by “being honest with yourself”.

“You can see your practice in both sides – the good and the bad stuff – and it’s just about making sure that you’re learning from the bad. We’ve all done it; nobody’s perfect. Recognise that in yourself, take a step back and reflect.”

‘More evaluation needed’

Vijay Patel, head of safeguarding at Social Care Institute for Excellence, calls the videos “invaluable” for newly qualified social workers and students, particularly those new to “dealing with challenging behaviours [and] language”.

“I also think it’s a really good tool for experienced people, because we can always learn. It can be helpful for any practitioner at any point in their career,” he says.

However, Patel emphasises the need for long-term evaluation of the training’s impact on practice that includes feedback from parents and children.

With RIVRT now launched, the team is looking to generate enough funding through working with local authorities and other organisations to expand the range of training it provides using the approach, says Cooner.

“We’ve got a large amount of research data and so to work together with Sandwell again to produce those would be amazing.”

You can register your interest to find out more about the training here.

In a recent interview with Community Care, renowned social work researcher June Thoburn called attention to the power imbalance between practitioners and the children, families and adults they support.

While researching her 1980 book ‘Captive Clients’, which examined children in care returning home ‘on trial’, Thoburn saw many examples of the influence practitioners’ involvement had on parents’ behaviour.

In one, a prospective adoptive parent had told her, “If the social worker says jump, I jump”.

However, according to Thoburn, social workers’ power extends beyond the ability to remove children from their families. It also encompasses the authority to provide or deny services.

“When you get a referral and a decision is taken on whether this is or isn’t a child in need, that’s huge power,” she said.

“If you say, ‘I’m not going to accommodate this child’, that child and its family lose access [to a whole range of services]. I see social work basically as a very benign and important service. But with access to a social worker comes this intervention in your life. So, it’s so central to understand the social work relationship.”

But how aware are social workers of the power imbalance inherent in their role?

A recent Community Care poll, which received 429 votes, found that 70% of respondents recognised the power they held was “an immense responsibility” they always kept in mind.

A further 4% felt overwhelmed by the dynamic, while 9% were more sanguine, describing it “just part of the job”.

However, 17% disagreed with Thoburn’s view, saying that they did not believe they held power over people.

Do you believe social workers hold power over those they support? If so, how do you think practitioners should navigate this power imbalance?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
As a newly qualified social worker, I was wracked with guilt and shame when I found myself disliking a child I was working with.

These feelings snuck up on me, a slow burner perhaps, but however hard I tried to suppress them, they were real.

Charlie* was a pre-teen living in a residential setting. During our meetings, he would interrupt me, call me a liar and other names and tell me that he didn’t want me there. I felt thoroughly disliked by him. It was painful.

How could I live with myself? A social worker who doesn’t like a child? That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

I was so full of good intentions but dreaded my time with him. Initially, I couldn’t bring myself to tell my supervisor – I was sure she would judge me and question my professional competence.

But I soon realised I needed help. My feelings towards Charlie were starting to affect my decision making.

Understanding the dynamics of our relationship

The first hurdle was admitting my feelings to my supervisor.

Once I had overcome my fear and talked to her, she handled my admission sensitively and professionally.

Exploratory supervision helped me understand that, just because I wanted to build a partnership with Charlie, it didn’t mean that he wanted the same.

He didn’t want a social worker in his life and my efforts to relate and care for him were adding to his feelings of ambivalence and hostility towards me.

My resilience was certainly being tested.

I was leaving every visit feeling hurt, offended and angry.”

And so my supervisor and I started to unpick the power presence in our relationship. I had been left feeling like Charlie held all the power, but in reality, he held very little.

As a child in the care system, he had no choice but to have me involved in his life and had little say in where he was living or in how often he was able to see his family.

Polishing my trauma-sensitive lens

By thinking out loud with my supervisor, I reflected on the importance of understanding the reasons behind his behaviours towards me within the context of the trauma he had experienced.

I came to understand that Charlie’s history of neglect and abuse was a critical factor influencing his actions and I was helped to see him through a trauma-sensitive lens, rather than a lens that was muddied by my own feelings.

He had suffered multiple adverse events in his life which had no doubt impacted his ability to self-regulate and make trusting relationships. This was compounded by the several changes in social workers he had experienced.

With the best intentions, I had attempted – and expected – to get close to him and become a mentor, when he actually needed time to trust me.”

Recognising what my job was

Making sense of how trauma was affecting Charlie helped me take a more strengths-based approach to my work with him.

Instead of concentrating on his deficits and difficulties, I changed my use of language to help him develop his sense of hope and optimism around areas of challenge, like building relationships with other people.

I focused my time with him on praising his strengths, abilities and talents, and less on areas he could improve on.  This immediately seemed to relieve the pressure between us.

I moved from an adult ‘finger wagger’ to his loudest cheerleader.”

Up until then, I had thought that his ‘uncooperativeness’ had been getting in the way of me doing my job.  However, some soul searching on my part reminded me that working with his ‘uncooperativeness’ was my job!

Leaving my professional ego at the door

I continued to use supervision regularly to ensure my work with Charlie was focused on enhancing his development of a positive sense of self.

I continued being strengths-based; using an approach which came from true belief that he already possessed the skills and strength to build relationships and manage his anger.

As a practitioner, I learnt to leave my professional ego at the door. I learnt that people will not always be thankful for my efforts and good intentions and it was naïve and self-serving to think that they would.

Accepting the complexity of relationship-based work

Admitting that I didn’t like Charlie was an important step in building my professional confidence and sense of self.

I learnt that relationship-based social work is not about immediately getting others onside; it is far more complex.

My relationship with Charlie needed to be built with an understanding of his past trauma and the organisational context at play.

As a practitioner, I also needed to work on understanding and managing the emotions and feelings he evoked in me.

As my relationship with Charlie improved, I gained the confidence to view my feelings as signals that needed attention and reflection rather than as failings.

Accepting each other

Supervision became a driving force behind learning and growing in my understanding of both of our responses to each other.

By focusing on the cause of the behaviour, rather than the behaviour itself, Charlie and I built our relationship. He began to accept my involvement more easily.

I don’t think I can go as far as to say he ever looked forward to me visiting or that he liked having a social worker.

But, over time, we came to an unspoken agreement. He was the expert on his own life and experiences. It was my role to facilitate, not fix.

Charlie had just needed help in building the confidence to believe that he was capable of his own personal growth and change.

In this episode of the Workforce Insights podcast (formerly Employer Zone Insights), we find out how Norfolk County Council has embedded a relational approach to practice in children’s services.

Our guests, Kate Dexter, assistant director of family help and high needs in children’s services at Norfolk, and Sarah Hewitt, team manager for the Life Beyond Care team, explain how the foundation of relational practice is the trust between practitioners and young people.

This is supported, in Norfolk, by a multidisciplinary approach that provides the young person with the support of a range of professionals, on the understanding that they may find it easier to build relationships with some than others.

As well as have ‘a team around the child’, the council and partners also build a ‘team around the practitioner’, giving the lead professional working with the young person a network of support they can draw upon.

“The team around the practitioner model and that multidisciplinary approach is making sure we’ve got the right services and the right professionals not just working around that family but that practitioners can call upon for advice, guidance, support, and at times to offer direct interventions to the family,” says Kate.

Norfolk’s relational approach is also a feature of the New Roads service, which provides a combination of short-term placements and outreach work for young people in, or on the edge of, care.

Kate and Sarah discuss how the residential practitioners in the service use creative methods to forge strong bonds with young people, helping improve their self-esteem and manage risks, such as exploitation. At the same time, they work with families to help them rebuild their relationships to prevent young people from going into care.

They also discuss the importance of life story work, and the relational approach they take to it, in Norfolk, based on helping young people build their self-esteem and self-identity.

Listen to “Benefits of a relational approach in social work” on Spreaker.

You can listen to the podcast using the player above, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Spreaker or wherever you normally listen to podcasts.

Here is the transcript of the benefits of a relational approach to social work.

Did you know podcasts can count towards your CPD?

Learn more about Norfolk County Council and see what opportunities are available.

More from Norfolk County Council:

At last year’s Social Worker of the Year Awards, Omaid Badar won both the children’s practitioner and overall winner’s prizes, with one judge describing him as “everything the profession is about when it’s at its best”.

The 29-year-old Kirklees Council social worker has overcome more than most on route to those accolades.

Omaid was born in Afghanistan, then ravaged by civil war, became a refugee and, aged 14, made a perilous journey to England, enduring extreme hardship in pursuit of a safe haven.

In an interview with Community Care, he opened up about his journey from being a young boy in Afghanistan to a social worker in England, his approach to working with children and how he handles those difficult days.

You made a very daunting journey at age 14 from Pakistan to England. What was your experience like of being a refugee?

You first need to understand that I was born in 1994 in Afghanistan, a war-torn country. I was a month old when we lost our dad. I don’t even know if he held me because, as a one-month-old, what could you possibly remember?

That situation forces you to leave your homeland, become a refugee. We travelled to Pakistan, where we lived in refugee camps and areas that were so dangerous the police were not allowed in.

It got to a point where my mum was really worried for my safety [and decided to send me away]. At the time, I had lost many people and I didn’t want to lose her too. I was going out, seeking a safe haven, but was I going to see my mum again? Was I going to be able to hug her again?

And it wasn’t a pleasant journey. Most of the time we weren’t told where we were going. We would be stuffed in cars, inflatable boats and vans, sometimes 80 people, squeezed in together, one on top of the other. There was no room to breathe.

At times, we would be walking at night so the border police wouldn’t see us, because they would shoot at us. It’s not an easy journey, you have to accept that you might not make it to the next day.

There were days when we had no food and survived just on water. And when they did bring food for us, it would be stale bread that would be so hard to crack we would dip it in yoghurt to break it.

I travelled that way to Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy and France, and eventually reached Bradford, England.

I had been told to seek a police officer the moment I arrived, but I can’t say my first encounter was a good one. They did speak to an interpreter and understood why I was here, but then they put me in a cell.

It was so cold. My shoes and clothes were all ripped and the only thing they gave me was a blanket full of holes that didn’t keep me warm. But in the morning, a social worker came in.

I still remember her name, Lucy. As soon as she saw me, she hugged me. I think that was the first time I felt emotional warmth and I just cried.

She took me to social services and then shopping at ASDA for clothes. She quickly found a temporary placement for me and then I moved to a children’s home and my schooling was arranged.

What was your time in care like? How has it informed your practice?

My experience in care had its ups and downs. I faced bullying and discrimination but also received support and care from some staff members. These experiences shaped my approach to social work – respecting cultures and being honest and committed to the children I work with.

Lucy wasn’t my social worker for long. After her, there were a few temporary ones for a few months and then I didn’t have a social worker for a long time, probably because I wasn’t creating problems.

But, at the same time, I realise now that you’re supposed to see your children once every six weeks.

I do that for the children that I work with. And if they need to see me more, I will make time and go visit them again because they need that.

I never got the answer why a social worker never came to see me. I am grateful to Bradford, but I would advise social workers to be committed to their children, to be open and honest with them.

Tell them if there’s something you can’t do, tell them that you’ll go and see if you can find alternative ways, but don’t promise them because children hold you to those promises. And then if you can’t fulfil that promise, they won’t trust you.

What inspired you to become a social worker?

My key worker, Jerry Phillips. He’d always find me and speak to me when he was on a shift, bring me books to read, come to my school meetings and review meetings.

He was patient with me, made me understand that nothing should be taken for granted. ‘Today you have support, tomorrow you won’t, so make sure you learn how to be independent,’ he’d say.

He taught me how to cook and was my go-to person. He always used to talk about school, education, standing up for your rights. But if you do anything wrong, put your hand up and say that. There’s always a way out.

When he asked me why I wanted to be a social worker I said, ‘What you did for me, I want to do for every kid out there, because you changed my life’.

He made me believe in myself, had faith in me, was committed to me. He was open and honest with me. I want to be that role model for the children out there. To this day, I still see him. He came to my graduation and he was proud.

What is your approach to social work?

I have just completed my fifth year as a children’s social worker and I’m loving it. I come to work and I’m always in a good mood because I know I’m here to help change families’ lives.

My approach is to always explain what my role is – because there are misconceptions about what a social worker does – and have an open mind.

On paper, a person can look like a monster, but when you visit them, you realise they might have never been given a chance. And change doesn’t happen overnight, it takes us [social workers] being committed.

As a social worker, my values are to be committed to the people I’m working with, to be honest and open with them and to create an environment where they feel comfortable talking to me, they feel listened to and not judged.

I think clarifying that you are not here to take the children helps; [I] explain which plan they’re going to be on and whether it’s consent-based.

I say to them: ‘There’s nothing we cannot work on. But we need to communicate and work around it. If I can’t do anything in my power, there will be other services that can come on board and help you. I’m here to support you and help you get to where you need to be because you don’t want social workers to be involved in your life all the time.’

They’ll naturally be worrying about what’s going to happen. You need to reassure them so they feel that you’re working together – involve them in decision-making and ensure you’re doing things with their consent, not without.

I think because I’ve been through it, I can also relate to the children more. I can understand what is happening to them, provide them with what they need from me and work with them using a restorative approach.

How do you handle difficult days?

After a difficult day, I always take a step back and reflect.

If I’ve tried everything and it didn’t work, let’s get another fresh pair of eyes to see if there are other ways to deal with the situation.

For me, supervision is like therapy. Whenever we miss a [meeting], I will put on another date straight away. You have to be accountable, you can’t just leave everything to your manager.

There, you can challenge your hypotheses, make informed decisions, identify other forms of support. There are things that you might not know that your manager might know and give you advice. Peer supervision with your peers, formulation meetings and multi-agency meetings [also] help.

What also helps me is that when I go home, I’ll start cooking. Cooking is therapy for me. I’ll cook my favourite dish or go to the gym and just try to switch off because, even when I’m going on holiday, sometimes I keep thinking, ‘Oh will that child be safe?’.

My team also helps a lot. If someone is struggling with a case, we share responsibilities to take some pressure off.

Working this way means we don’t have many people going on sick leave or stressing over caseloads. I’ve been in practice for five years and haven’t taken a sick day.

I even come in on Eid, choosing to give that time to my children rather than celebrating.

What is your ambition as a social worker?

I plan to go into the United Nations and be an ambassador for children. A lot is happening in the world and, as a social worker, I cannot just stay quiet, because my job is safeguarding. It hurts me to see children in the world at risk. It hurts me because I’ve been through it.

I’ve been blessed to have an opportunity to grow and I want to be a voice for the children and families that I work with because their lived experience is all that matters.

All the children out there deserve to live peacefully, to have an opportunity to live in an environment that is free from emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, criminal abuse. Such traumatic events stay with you for a lifetime.

My traumatic events have stayed with me, but I’m fortunate enough to have found resilience in that and have people that I can speak to. But children out there are going through hardship and difficulties without shelter, education, food or financial stability. It’s hard.

I want to be able to do something so they can be where I am.

Traci Taylor, the principal social worker at Bradford Children and Families Trust, and Andy Lloyd, practice lead for strengthening families supporting children, give an insight into how you can make your social work practice more relational and restorative.

In this webinar, Andy explains the importance of relationships.

“I talk about restorative relational practice, not as a model but as a way of being,” he says.

Traci shares tips on how to practically use language when speaking to children and writing case notes.

They both talk about how they have consciously made meetings with colleagues more welcoming and useful for all that attend. Being open and honest are key to developing a more relationship-based approach to practice, not just with children and families but with peers too.

Andy also talks about three important ideas to tie in together – values, permissions and courage – as sometimes, “it is easy to forget why we do what we do”.

Watch the session: