Hello

 I am new to the board :) I am a 2nd year MA Social Work student and I failed my first placement because I did not progress with the cases. But often it was not my fault. ie I was asked to provide a service which wasnt available in the area so I was seen as not 'progressing' or I was given a really big task in helping a young mother with her parenting. and because she had said she does not know what helps she needs with parenting I was at a loss!! so because of this I failed.  I do not feel it was all my fault though because my supervisor and assessor just told me 'it's up to me!' so I was made to feel that I should not have asked for help!!!

In my next placement, I really want to learn from this so has anyone got any tips?? I would really really appreciate any tips or advice at all!

 Thanks 

Rachel 

Hi Racel

Sorry to hear about your placement.

In your next placement, when your work plan is agreed, ask for regular monitoring and reviw meetings built into it and prearrange the dates for these.

 Granted, it's a while since I did my placements (!) but it sounds rather harsh to  me that you were failed in your first placement for 'not progressing'. It sounds more like you are being asked to tick competencies off a list rather than dealing with situations that are constantly fluid as is the case when you are working with people. 

People can't expect to respond in particular ways to meet your learning needs! I'd want to know what your practice teacher and tutor from the university were up to while you were 'at a loss'. They should be guiding you - and never be afraid or ashamed to ask for help at any point because that's the way it's going to be in practice even after *cough* a few years of experience.

Don't take all the responsibility on yourself though, make sure you know what is expected of you and that you have an open forum to ask at any point if you are not sure.  

Hiya Thanks. Yes it was very harsh and I was actually bullied by the supervisor and assessor. I think I might have made the mistake of  maybe taking too much responsibilty. I did ask for guidance, but everytime I asked I got the attitude 'You should already know it' which meant it was a snowball effect asked very little questions. Everytime I asked my co-workers they were just too busy.

In the end it really undermined my confidence and had no chance in passing it. In the end it resulted in them questioning my suitability so I failed.

I really want to learn from all this and make sure I am using supervison more appropriately and make sure I actually do get case supervison.

So I will definitely be on here a lot asking more questions!

Thanks

Thanks will  definitley be doing that! will certainly be in these forums a lot now.

The presumed outcome for any student on Placement is that they will be successful unless there is clear and documented evidence that s/he is not meeting the required competencies. In reality, that the student is not demonstrating an understanding / awareness of Service-Users needs thorugh the Assessment /Planning process and by the application of theory.

There is a clear responsibility of Practice Teachers / Supervisors to provide regular Supervision (at least fortnightly) and on the student to demonstrate also they they have used the skills and knowledge of collegues within the Team.

In your case colleagues would know where Parenting Assessments were available and the processes for accessing them - in some Authorities because of resource implications that may involve a Resource Panel application.

It is a good 'rule of thumb' that where services are indicated that a Core Assessment is carried out and that the Analysis is carried out. A 'Child in Need' meeting should then be held involving parents and other relevant professionals and a Child in Need Plan drawn up - that identifies the areas of concern / need and how those needs will be met. It carries far more weight as it has involved other professionals and 'ownership' is clearly detailed. 

Where children are deemed to be at risk there should also be consideration given to holding a Family Group Conference / Meeting as those frequently result in additional help from other extended family members being available.

Placement failure should only arise through clear Supervision / Guidance / mentoring not having been successful and there should be clear reasons and how that 'failure' camn be addressed. There should also be a clear Appeal procedure as the student is not always 'wrong.'

Hope these few comments help, and good luck.

Hi Rach, you are on 2 different forums and I've read the replies to both.  Just to make you aware, in case you don't know, that although the advice you are being given is sound the child in need process is slightly different from the one you describe as child protection on the other forum.  I am assuming you are talking about the same case in each forum??  L38

Hello

I'm sorry to hear about you failing your placement and understand that you must be upset.  As a practice teacher I have had about 40 students placed with me, some of whom have also failed their placements.  I work with a team of 9 other practice teachers all of whom have had a similar number of studnets or more.  I can honestly say that I would be suprised if your practice teacher has come to the decision to fail you lightly, and in fact it is much harder to fail a student than to pass one because you have to clearly evidence what the student hasn't done rather than what they have.  The practice teacher and superviser also have to demonstrate that they have provided adequate support to a student or a second opinion practice teacher would be requested by the placement panel.

 I would say from what you've written I would also have some concerns.  Social workers often have situations were there isn't a service available - but what did you do about this?  How did you improvise?  What alternatives did you look at?  Did you raise this in supervision/with your practice teacher/superviser/manager?  You could have raised this in discussion or in writing (eg email?).  In the case of the young mother - we often work with parents who don't know what is 'wrong' with their parenting - it is our job to help them understand what the concerns are and support them to address these.  What assessment of parenting capacity did you do?  What were the identified needs?  How did you help the mother to understand these?  What parenting work did you do to address this?    It does sound a bit like you wanted someone to tell you what to do word for word, but actually social workers have to use their judgement, knowledge and skills to identify needs and risks, then devise plans of work to address the concerns.  You should have theoretical knowledge from university and your own reading; you should have some sort of experience to have got on the course.  You need to demonstrate an understanding of your role including empowerment/accountability/assessment/reflection.

 I hope this is useful - it is not meant to be a criticism but clearly identifying what the concerns are so that you can learn from them.  From this little bit of information I would have concerns in terms of Key Role 6 - Professional competence/using supervision/using knowledge from other workers/applying theory to practice/managing dilemmas; I would have concerns in terms of Key Role 5 - accountability for your own work/contributing to the management of resources and services/networking; concerned about Key Role4 - assessment; Key Role 2 - support the development of networks to meet assessed needs/interacting with individuals to achieve change; Key Role 1 - working with individuals and families to help them make informed decisions/assessing needs to recommend a course of action.   This may seem harsh but your information actually evidences what you haven't done rather than what you have! 

 Try to use this time until your next placement to think about what YOU could have done rather than what you feel others didn't do - you can't change that now.  I have worked with several students who failed first placement and the ones that excelled in their repeat placements were those who had reflected on what they could have done differently and who 'got over' their feelings towards their previous superviser and practice teacher. 

 Good luck with your next placement and the rest of your course.  If you really want this career you will do it - but its hard work to get there - and hard work once you qualify too!

Hi rachel, I think thats really useful what's been written from the placement supervisor/tutor point of view.  I will certainly be utilising some of the info.  good luck.

I had a problem with my final year placement (had to leave a few weeks before the end, with no warning, over a year ago now) - I can't really go into detail because it still hasn't been sorted out properly yet and I'm awaiting a response to my complaint.

My advice for your next placement would be to make sure you get the supervision you are supposed to.  If you have any concerns about that, speak to your university.  The earlier problems are detected, the earlier they can be dealt with so make sure you keep aware, and keep everyone else aware, of your progress and experiences during the placement.

 Hi Mandy 

Sorry to hear that. I will certainly make sure I use supervison more appropriately next time and nip any bad experiences in the bud. I want to make sure I get the support I deserve. I also had to leave earlier than expected, although I did complete 3 months and only had 25 days left.

Are you still waiting to start your repeat placement?

Rachel 

Hi Rach,

I felt I had to put a comment on here as I know exactly where you are coming from. I was also 'bullied' by my placement supervisor/ assessor (during my 3rd yr placement). It completely destroyed my confidence and in the end i was on the verge of quitting the whole course!! She tried to fail me for what sounds like similar things, but luckily I had an excellent tutor at uni who was a great support and ended up really challenging the assessor at the final meeting, so she passed me.

I made a formal complaint after I finished my dissertaion etc and the assessor is no longer able to have students. In my case, she had got away with it because the 'team' was all outreach workers based all over the county so we never saw each other. This left me really isolated and vulnerable to her mind games. Luckily I was still in touch with my assessors from my previous placements (who were excellent) and have an extremely supportive fiance or I would not have got through it.

It raises the question in my mind of whether practice assessors have too much power and influence over students, and whether they pass or fail the placement.

Hi there minimin

Thanks for your reply. It is comforting to know that I am not the only that has gone through it. I also have lost my confidence and fear that just the fact that I am human I will have difficulties on the next one.

Even though I felt 'bullied' the university did not 'believe' me. I just had to say it was all my fault and tell them what I had learned. So this supervisor is still doing her job!

Yes I think you are absolutely right. In my case, my assessor had too much power in this and was too influenced by the supervisor, in my opinon. Oh well all I can do is turn it around.

Rach