Standard 5 is about making sure students and qualified practitioners can reflect critically on their practice through high quality, regular supervision.
Providing a high standard of critically reflective supervision
Employers should:
- ensure that social work supervision is incorporated into the organisation’s social work framework as part of a commitment to continuous improvement and support for the workforce
- assign explicit senior responsibility for the oversight of frequent and high quality supervision. Ensure there is a policy and process in place for responding to issues that arise through supervision
- encourage a critically reflective approach to supervision (rather than managerial)
- actively use the regulator’s professional standards as the basis for supervision, evaluating capability and identifying development needs. Support social workers to meet Social Work England professional standard 3: “be accountable for the quality of my practice and the decisions I make”
- ensure that supervisors are registered and qualified social workers
- ensure that supervisors’ practice and skills adhere to the relevant standards (for adults or children and family social workers). Practice educators supervising student social workers should adhere to the Practice Educator Professional Standards (PEPS).
Ensuring frequent and regular supervision
Employers should:
- ensure that supervision takes place regularly and consistently and lasts for an uninterrupted duration of at least an hour and a half
- make sure that supervision takes place:
- for students on placement - as agreed with students and programme providers
- for newly qualified social workers - at least weekly for the first six weeks of employment of a newly qualified social worker, at least fortnightly for the duration of the first six months, and a minimum of monthly supervision thereafter
- for social workers who have demonstrated capability at ASYE level and above - in line with identified needs, and at least monthly.
Drawing on best practice and reflecting the modern working environment
Employers should:
- where relevant, adapt supervision to reflect the social worker’s hybrid working pattern
- make use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital tools where possible and appropriate in supervision
- draw on resources and best practice from across the sector( e.g. BASW supervision template and Supervision tool for assessing reflexivity (STAR))