Fourth group of talented graduates join social work Frontline

Another group of talented graduates have joined the City of Wolverhampton Council and are embarking on a career in children’s social work as part of the Frontline training and development programme.

This is the fourth year that the council has teamed up with the charity Frontline to give people a unique route into the profession, through which they will benefit from intensive practical and academic training tailored to their needs.

Dozens of people applied to take part with the successful candidates taking part in a summer institute before arriving in Wolverhampton in September.

Over the next two years they will work with service users and their families while qualifying as a social worker in their first year and working towards a full Masters qualification in their second year, also their Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE), under the guidance of Consultant Social Worker Claire Beckerleg.

Although the focus of their work will be within children’s social care services, the group will also be given experience of adult social care, disability services and fostering.

Councillor John Reynolds, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: “This is the fourth year that we have offered the Frontline programme here in Wolverhampton, giving people a unique introduction to social work, learning through practice whilst they are also supported in their academic studies.

"The programme has so far provided the council with 16 qualified social workers, all of whom have completed an intense programme of both academic and practical studies working with some of our most vulnerable families in Wolverhampton. We are delighted that they have all now taken permanent positions within the council.

"I would like to welcome our latest cohort to Wolverhampton and wish them the very best as they embark on their social work careers with the council.”

The participants include Jazz Johal who said: "The summer institute was intense but extremely insightful and has set the foundations of the core elements of social work practice. The placement gives me the chance to visualise social work in practice and build on the theoretical concepts of social work."

Fellow participant Alex Bailey added: "No two days have been the same since starting the Frontline programme. It has encouraged my personal development and reflection skills and has taught me a lot about myself. Frontline has encouraged me to develop my own style of being a social worker, and although it is challenging it is also very rewarding."

For more information about the Frontline programme, please visit https://thefrontline.org.uk/.