We are celebrating World Social Work Day which takes place on Tuesday 17 March.

World Social Work Day, led by the International Federation of Social Workers, puts the spotlight on important role played by both Children’s Social Care and Adult Social Care.

The theme for World Social Work Day this year is ‘Co-Building Hope and Harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society’, highlighting the vital role of social work in bringing people together across communities, cultures, and systems to shape a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow.

Recently Torbay Council has had Good ratings for both the Council run Children’s Services (from Ofsted) and Adult Social Care (from the Care Quality Commission or CQC) which is provided by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. So there is much to celebrate in all the hard work being done by social workers and alternatively qualified colleagues across the Bay, whilst recognising that continuing improvement remains a commitment.

The Ofsted report states: “Social workers demonstrate good skills and professional curiosity in trying to understand and evidence what children and their parents or carers are telling them. Social workers do well at engaging and assessing the parenting strengths and weaknesses of fathers and male partners as well as mothers. Stronger assessments, often carried out using Torbay’s restorative model of social work practice'  followed by this speaks to the passion and commitment that social workers and family help lead professionals have towards making a real, felt, positive difference within families and communities.”

David Thomas, Leader of Torbay Council, said: “We were particularly proud of the CQC inspection team’s comments on the approach and attitude of our social work staff in Adult Social Care – they said “Recruitment and retention was reported as positive by staff and there was energy and optimism for the future in the staff teams. Integration had allowed rotational posts between hospital and community work, and they had a good team culture between multidisciplinary teams.”

Councillor Nick Bye, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services for Torbay Council, said: “World Social Work Day is a great opportunity to put the spotlight on the vital role our Children’s Social Work team play in safeguarding local children and young people.

“We would also like to extend an invitation to experienced social workers, or those newly qualified, to join us here in Torbay – so check out our Jobs website to find out more.”

Torbay’s Children’s Services Social Care team are holding an event for staff as well as sharing a series of blogs and vlogs about their work, to celebrate the important role they play.

Leanne Morgan, who is the Council’s new Principal Social Worker, has written a blog around the main theme for World Social Work Day.

In Leanne’s blog, she applies her learning, comparing what children need to that of plants in a garden: “children do not thrive because of a single professional’s effort. They flourish when the ecosystem around them works in harmony.”

Leanne adds: “When we truly examine the “conditions” children need, we see clearly that social work cannot stand alone. We cannot safeguard, support, or transform family life without trust, shared values, shared accountability — and humility.”

Positive feedback from families who access Children’s social care include:

• “I can't say thank you enough - our social worker worked with us and I have no doubt that she has helped us stay together as a family.”
• “We get very good support from Torbay Council. We’ve got a very good, social worker that we have a really good relationship with. That enables us to be open, if we experience any difficulties.”

You can read all the blogs and view the vlogs on our website here. 

Don't forget if you didn't get a chance to view our Adult Social Care story videos that we published alongside the CQC report you can also watch those via our YouTube channel.

Join our Children’s Services team!

We are currently recruiting new staff to our Children’s Services so if you are a qualified social worker and want to join the team, take a look at our opportunities today and come join us at Team Torbay.

Visit the Torbay Jobs website. 

Jobs in Adult Social Care can be found in the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust website.

Find out more about World Social Work Day

Find out more about World Social Work Day on the International Federation of Social Workers website here.