The last week has seen some easing of restrictions of the ‘lockdown’ in England. Students at BU, practice educators, academics and practitioners alike are affected and impacted in their day-to-day work by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here is the latest update from Social Work England for students and education providers – a statement from the Chief Executive, Colum Conway, to social work students and education providers delivering social work courses.
Statement from SWE Chief Executive Colum Conway
At BU, all the teaching is now undertaken online and the academic team has worked hard to get all of the learning content onto the Brightspace platform. Richard Williams and I are continuing to develop the Law and Social Policy module for the BA level 4 students this semester and we are trying to strike the balance of teaching enough but not overwhelming students. It’s a challenging task as everyone is experiencing this situation differently. Many Social Work students have care commits for their family and try to home educate whilst studying themselves. A lot of students are key workers as well and many have been doing extra shifts. And of course even those who don’t have those practical challenges to deal with, all of us are trying to make sense of the current situation – being isolated from family and friends, not able to do our ‘normal stuff’ that helps us to maintain good health and well-being.
As a Teaching Partnership, we aim to support all students and practitioners to reach their full potential, to make a difference and meet the needs of the most vulnerable of society. And for that we need to be kind to ourselves, care for each other and learn to adjust. We are here on that journey with you.
Tilia Lenz, Lecturer Practitioner Consultant – Research Focus
