Shadowing social workers

We hope very much that you will be joining us on the BA Social Work or MA Social Work course this October. As soon as you satisfied any conditions and have decided to come on the course we encourage you to complete a shadowing day of a social worker if you don’t live in City of York or North Yorkshire.

Note for students who live in the City of York or North Yorkshire: We have partnership arrangements with both authorities for shadowing days for local students and others who aren’t able to organise a day before joining the course in the autumn term. If you are a local student you should not approach a social worker in one of our partner local authorities (City of York Council and North Yorkshire County Council).

Whilst this information has been written for students attending the University of York, students from other institutions may also find our guidance here helpful.

This guide comprises three sections: this introduction and resource page, preparing for shadowing and practicalities to consider.

Purpose of the shadowing day

Shadowing a qualified social worker in an appropriate work place for a full day is required before you can start your first practice placement which takes place in January of the first year of the course. It will save you time to complete the shadowing day before you arrive. If you are working in a social care organisation it is important to remember that shadowing is not just being at work, it requires that you make guided observations, see particular activities and find out key information.

Arranging your shadowing

Arranging your own shadowing day is possible if:

You know a social worker (for example through current employment or volunteering), and can ask her/him to allow you to shadow them.
The social worker will need to confirm arrangements with their line manager and, where they work for a local authority, with the practice learning co-ordinator.

However:

The social worker must not be a family member or relative (including partner).
The social worker must be GSCC registered (s/he will have to sign a form confirming your experience giving their registration number)

We do not encourage cold calling to busy social work offices looking for a shadowing day but many of you will know or have met social workers in making your career choice. If you have no suitable contacts you should make contact with a local authority practice learning coordinator.

What a shadowing day includes

For your information, the shadowing day must include:

Observation of the social worker working with at least one service user who has given permission for you to be present (this will be required for an assessment exercise which is required before you commence your placement in which you will be asked to describe the needs of a service users and how they are being met).
Finding out the nature and purpose of the agency from the social worker.
Discussion of confidentiality policy and its importance with the social worker.
Discussion of social work values and anti-oppressive practice in relation to the social worker’s work.
To achieve this the day could, for example, be two half-days but should not be made up of an hour here and there.

You will need to record the information that you collect and your experiences to complete a workbook in the first term of the course. This must be done in a way that maintains confidentiality; for example by referring to any service user by a letter of the alphabet that is not their initial and by disguising their age (e.g. use terms like young person or middle aged person).

All the information and forms that you need to arrange your own shadowing day can be downloaded here :

Preparation for shadowing
Practicalities (what you need to do)
Letter to be handed to the social worker you intend to shadow (PDF , 58kb) - To be emailed or handed to the social worker when they are considering offering you a shadowing experience.
Shadowing: statement of confidentiality (MS Word , 32kb) - Must be completed before you start your shadowing day and shown to the social worker who may wish to make a copy.
Shadowing: confirmation statement (MS Word , 34kb) - Must be completed and signed by the social worker at the end of your shadowing day.

Ian Buchanan

Social Work Lecturer

Social Policy and Social Work

Shadowing social workers

Purpose of the shadowing day

Arranging your shadowing

What a shadowing day includes

Degree programmes

Contact details