The author is a senior lecturer in applied social work at the University of Derby in the UK. She is the programme lead for the BA Hons and is placement lead for all social work programmes, being responsible for the relationships with the wider workforce and creating practical learning opportunities for pre-registration students.

With the changing landscape and widening wealth gap in the UK, she has seen a significant impact of poverty, social barriers and displacement on children and young people. The reduction in early help under the guise of ‘austerity’ has created further pressure on schools and other education provision to provide safeguarding, mental health, and pastoral support in larger quantities than ever before. The author has worked with local school leaders to create social work students being placed in schools, to assist in addressing some of these issues. She has created a project that provides space for education staff and students to learn together and from the children and young people and look at opportunities to grown in provision and capacity. The placements also have created an opportunity to develop models of practice of working as a social worker in an education setting.

The presentation will look at the impact of compulsory education settings working with social work education programmes to improve systemic provision. It will offer information from education and children’s feedback on the impact and challenges of the programme. The approach and integrative methods will be explained in relation to specific outcome focuses, there will be opportunity for discussion and exploration of the project’s underpinnings and transferability.