"Caviar does not count as consultation". Another great podcast from Sarah Anderson and Louise Allen for Foster Care Uncovered, covering a lot, including Childrens Minister Josh MacAlister's attendance at The Spectator summer party. open.spotify.com/episode/2F6L...

Who’s Been on the Blinis? Politics, PR and Exploitation

Foster Care Uncovered · Episode

open.spotify.com

Interesting to see a proposal to expand Frontline, the social work qualification scheme to New Zealand in Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Journal, from a former Frontline employee. At a time when the model seems to be in decline in UK. What do NZ colleagues think? anzswjournal.nz/anzsw/articl...

Early Career Development Programme (formerly the Early Career Framework) looks set to widen the divide between adult and children social work. Deepening that split has defined Josh MacAlister's career, why would it be any different as Children's Minister? www.communitycare.co.uk/content/news...

DHSC should make 'clearer commitment to social work' to strengthen adults' services, says review of professional regulation - Community Care

Review finds little policy on social work professional development from the Department of Health and Social Care beyond the ASYE and highlights concerns abou...

communitycare.co.uk

Helpful diagram from Social Work England's recent external review shows the confusing maze of social work standards and frameworks. A principal social worker even said they felt 'embarrassed' introducing it to students/NQSWs. For years the answer has always just been to add more.

A pretty shocking graph (amongst many shocking graphs) from the new review of Social Work England showing just how much they have failed in their fitness to practice function, while instead choosing to get involved in a range of other areas that are outside their regulatory role.

Social Work England told to 'stay in its lane' in fairly damning review, criticising involvement in events and campaigns like World Social Work week. Also highlights failures in Fitness to Practise, CPD (calls for a 3-year cycle & external audit) & more. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Independent review of social work professional regulation

The independent report on the review of social work professional regulation in England.

gov.uk

Children's Minister Josh MacAlister attends The Spectator 2026 summer party alongside Michael Gove, Paul Marshall, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson, Piers Morgan, Kemi Badenoch, Morgan McSweeney, Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Lowe, and others. Company is character. spectator.com/article/spec...

Spectator summer party 2026, in pictures

The weather is glorious, England have soared through to the World Cup round of 16 and one Sir Keir Starmer has just weeks left as Prime Minister. So where better to celebrate – or commiserate, if you ...

spectator.com

Another really worthwhile listen from Vicki Shevlin (Social Work Sorted Podcast). Important points about the need to move beyond simplified campaigns of just 'please represent us nicely in the media'. And lots more. open.spotify.com/episode/2J2v...

Naming Social Workers in the Media and Taking Care of Yourself

Social Work Sorted with Vicki Shevlin · Episode

open.spotify.com

The new name for the Teach First programme 'Teach Lead Change' sounds like three words in a trench coat pretending to be a phrase.

Encouraging results from the latest @basw-uk.bsky.social survey: social workers' belief in public support is at its highest since this question was introduced, reversing a three-year decline. Still unfortunately quite low, but a good start. basw.co.uk/articles/bas...

BASW unveils 2025 annual State of Social Work survey report

Over 1000 social workers, educators and students tell us their biggest challenges and what needs to change in social work

basw.co.uk

"The Public Perception Myth in Social Work" - A clip from my recent discussion with Revolutionary Social Work. www.youtube.com/shorts/XkTgL...

The Public Perception Myth in Social Work | Dr. Joe Hanley

YouTube video by Revolutionary Social Work

youtube.com

"Social work is a dangerous profession" - A clip from my recent discussion with Revolutionary Social Work. www.youtube.com/watch?v=84lr...

Social Work Is a Dangerous Profession | Dr. Joe Hanley

YouTube video by Revolutionary Social Work

youtube.com

Have you ever been interviewing social workers for research and found out that they... weren't social workers? We did, and discuss the ethical and methodological implications in our new article (open access). w/ Jermaine Ravalier, Ciaran Murphy, Nazm Berry et al. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

When a ‘Social Worker’ is NOT a Social Worker: Reflections of the Ethical Tensions that Emerge When Imposter Participants Present as Social Workers

This ethics in practice article reflects on the ethical dilemmas and tensions that emerged from a research study employing online interviews with social workers in the context of (i) how to respond...

tandfonline.com

"I worked for Teach First, whose mission is to get great teachers where they’re most needed. I’ve been a trustee of numerous education charities all targeting the same goal. None of it worked"- Blog by former Executive Director of Teach First @Samfr samf.substack.com/p/the-gap-th...

The gap that never closes

Why we're thinking about inequality the wrong way

samf.substack.com

Leaked government workforce policy reveals plans for a 'Teach First' programme for GPs. This model has never worked in delivering signficant improvements to any sector, yet certain policy networks remain obsessed. www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/ex...

Exclusive: Government plans US-style ‘hospitalist’ doctors

The government will introduce a new class of generalist hospital doctors - inspired by the American "hospitalist" role - by the end of the decade, according to leaked details of its upcoming workforce...

hsj.co.uk

In 2021, the DfE asked Teach First ambassador Josh MacAlister to lead a national review. Now, as a DfE minister himself, MacAlister appoints another Teach First ambassador to lead a national review. Theres arguable conflicts of interest in both cases too. www.communitycare.co.uk/content/news...

Children's home workforce review launched by DfE - Community Care

Review of children's home workforce to define knowledge required of staff and recommend improvements to qualifications

communitycare.co.uk

As ‘value for money’ debates in higher education resurface, its worth remembering that students usually link 'value for money' concerns to rising fees, debt & living costs they have been saddled with, not the quality of teaching or their institution. See: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Discursive framings of market-based education policy and their negotiation by students: the case of ‘value for money’ in English universities

Measures that economise education are typically accompanied by discourses that prime society for change by framing the policy in individualistic and consumeristic terms. This article explores the e...

tandfonline.com

"NQSWs risk being left jobless by seven-month gap before ASYE replacement". Yet more unecessary disruption from the MacAlister Review reforms (now Minister MacAlister's reforms). The problem with the ASYE was never that it needed to be twice as long! www.communitycare.co.uk/content/news...

NQSWs risk being left jobless by seven-month gap before ASYE replacement programme, say practitioners - Community Care

Social workers say the seven-month gap before the ASYE replacement launches puts NQSWs at serious risk of unemployment

communitycare.co.uk

Important new survey for colleagues in social work education and academia being run by @SWU_UK on the current conditions and challenges facing the sector and students. Encourage everyone eligible to respond (closes June 14th): www.surveymonkey.com/r/9Y2L85W

SWU Solidarity with Social Work Academics and University-Based Programmes Campaign survey questions

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

surveymonkey.com

To nobody’s surprise, Teach First secured their contract renewal, though at a drastically reduced rate after years of missing recruitment targets. Apparently the National Institute of Teaching was part of the winning bid too. www.tes.com/magazine/new...

Teach First to be awarded flagship teacher training contract

The High Potential Initial Teacher Training programme will be a key part of the government’s plans to recruit 6,500 more teachers by the end of the current Parliament

tes.com

"as of today, the sector is not a success story for the government. That is Wes Streeting's legacy" - Good overview from @community-care.bsky.social of Wes Streeting's 22 month tenure as health and social care secretary, and impact on the social care sector. www.communitycare.co.uk/content/news...

Wes Streeting's adult social care legacy - Community Care

We look at the impact on adult social care of Wes Streeting's 22-month tenure as health and social care secretary

communitycare.co.uk

New survey from Social Work England launched. I understand many may feel reluctant to engage given past consultations, but I imagine this will shape the national review into the regulators performance & future role. Nows the time to make your views clear. www.smartsurvey.co.uk/t/SWsurvey20...

Social Work England: Social Worker Survey 2026

Please take the time to complete our survey. Your feedback is important.

smartsurvey.co.uk

'It's the same idiots with the same tripe' - Missed this important publication from a few months ago from @vivellis.bsky.social, @iancushing.bsky.social, examining the impact of DfE reforms on teacher educators & anger towards 'expert advisors' bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

<em>British Educational Research Journal</em> | BERA Journal | Wiley Online Library

The affective dimensions of education policy enactment have often received less attention in the research literature, especially regarding teacher education policy. This article reports on a study of....

bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

After a couple of years off, and being reprimanded by the Public Standards Authority, an email today confirming that Social Work England will be back to auditing 3% of social worker CPD records. At least for this year... Happy Tuesday 🤠🤠

📣📣 Registered social workers in England wanted for PhD research at the University of Liverpool examining frontline discretion, ethical tensions and pressures in practice under austerity. Please share and consider taking part. Contact: T.Leeks@liverpool.ac.uk

"Some of the purported solutions to these interlinked problems, like the introduction of the fast-track Teach First model, would simply make matters worse" - good to see journalists making this point clear when reporting on teacher workforce challenges. www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/2608...

Here are some ideas to improve teacher recruitment and retention in Scotland

As the country goes to the polls, education specialist James McEnaney reckons no matter what lies ahead, teacher numbers will continue to be an…

heraldscotland.com

Another really valuable podcast from Sarah Anderson and Louise Allen on Foster Care Uncovered - This time with Rebekah Pierre. Huge respect for all three, can't reccomend this episode, or the podast in general, enough. open.spotify.com/episode/0ZO8...

In Conversation with Rebekah Pierre: Recruitment ads, marginalisation and the illegal Homes Scandal

open.spotify.com

Fascinating bank holiday read: a deep dive into the history of the school choice movement (whose legacy in England lives on in academies) - including origins in efforts to sidestep anti-segregation laws and rulings in 50s and 60s America. #didnotknow

"It is also helpful to consider historic examples where the segregation of social work education has been taken to its extreme, such as in apartheid South Africa... social work qualification in England is now more clearly moving in this direction... should set off alarm bells"

Joe Hanley@joehanley.bsky.social · 3mo ago

In this 2022 article I argued that instead of segregating social work students into different routes, we should champion a social justice approach where SW students from different experiences and backgrounds learn side by side. Remains firmly my view bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...

In this 2022 article I argued that instead of segregating social work students into different routes, we should champion a social justice approach where SW students from different experiences and backgrounds learn side by side. Remains firmly my view bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...