Practice Educator of the Year

           RECOGNISE INSPIRING SOCIAL WORK

Daniel Hope

ORGANISATION: Cafcass

AWARD(S): Practice Educator of the Year

 

A practice educator for almost a decade, and with Cafcass since 2010, Dan’s personal commitment to sharing knowledge, via the opportunities he offers his students, was evident in his nomination.

 

Within Cafcass, he has sought to improve the breadth and depth of students’ experiences by a number of methods. These have included recruiting other practitioners to co-work cases with them, and setting up an exchange programme with Leeds council managers so that students can gain knowledge both of the local authority setting and court proceedings.

 

Beyond this, colleagues point to his consideration and skill when it comes to tailoring placements to individuals’ needs, ensuring their practice gets the maximum benefit. Several of Dan’s former students credit him as forming the main practical foundation of their social work knowledge – something that didn’t escape the judges’ attention.

 

As well his extensive child protection experience, Dan has long been involved in extra-curricular voluntary work promoting family-based care with the charity SFAC (Substitute Families for Abandoned Children), which has taken him all over the world. He has created a pathway for York University social work students to undertake placements in Uganda, to gain some understanding of how social work practice differs outside of England.

WHAT THEY SAID:

His pedagogy is sound and he is developing his own methods to help students learn. He ensures that in our diverse and multi-cultural society, students can have international experience which they can use to inform their practice.

Jane Lindsay, Associate Dean, Kingston University

Daniel shows solid creative work. His students obviously see something special.

Allison Coleman, Co-Chair National Association of Practice Teaching

Dan challenged me to the extent that when I became a social worker in a busy child protection team I felt confident in my decisions, knew why I was making the decisions and how to engage with families even when there was huge resistance.

Former Student Social Worker

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Dan. I feel that I have learnt an enormous amount about my practice, my personal values and social work in general. He supported me, made me understand what I did well and I now feel ready to be a social worker.

Student Social Worker

THE FINALISTS

Ann Munroe, Luton Borough Council

Alison Barnes, Oxleas NHS Trust

Jayne Hulbert, The Sweet Project

Joanna Armstrong, Devon County Council

SILVER AWARD WINNER

Louise Purser, Central Bedfordshire Council

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