About us

The South Yorkshire Teaching Partnership for social work education was formed in April 2015, and is a partnership between:

  • Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
  • Sheffield City Council
  • The University of Sheffield
  • Lincolnshire County Council (Children’s Services) – members since 1st April 2017.
  • Sheffield Hallam University – members since April 2018
  • Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust – members since April 2023
  • Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust – members since April 2023

Working together, we deliver high quality training for social work students and qualified social workers in order to help them to develop the skills they need to work effectively in front line statutory services.

Teaching partnerships are part of the government’s broader strategy to strengthen the quality of practice learning and continuing professional development (CPD) among trainee and practising social workers.

How will it help social work students?

The Teaching Partnership’s BA in Social Work is delivered by Hallam University and the MA in Social Work by the University of Sheffield.

Students within the partnership will benefit from a curriculum which is developed and delivered jointly by the Teaching Partnership, thereby ensuring that it is relevant to and informed by social work practice. BA and MA students will benefit from 2 x placements which are:

  • guaranteed to be in statutory services
  • supported by fully trained Practice Educators who are working to a set of common agreed standards
  • audited to ensure that each placement is of a similarly high quality.

For more information about our BA in Social work please see

https://www.shu.ac.uk/courses/social-work/ba-honours-social-work/full-time/2018

For more information about our MA in Social Work, please see

http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/socstudies/prospt/ppt/masocialwork/index

 What will the partnership do for social workers?

We are committed to offering a career pathway and lifelong continuous professional development for our social workers. This includes:

  • A robust, regional Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) framework for newly qualified social workers, which includes the option for academic accreditation as part of our Advanced Practitioner Framework (see http://www.southyorkshireteachingpartnership.co.uk/advanced-practitioner-framework/ for more details).
  • Access to high quality CPD opportunities via our Advanced Practitioner Framework, which allows social workers to undertake accredited modules designed to support key areas of practice.
  • Opportunities to share learning and good practice across the region via regional Teaching Partnership structures, and joint training and Masterclasses.
  • Supported career pathways in areas such as practice education and leadership and management.

We are also working together as a partnership to respond to new Government initiatives such as the approved statuses for child and family practitioner and practice supervisor/leader, and to support our social workers through the new assessment and accreditation processes.