The Suffolk and Norfolk Teaching Partnership

The Suffolk and Norfolk Teaching Partnership is responsible for the development of new and improved relationships and systems for working together between students, service users and carers, social work practitioners and teams and the Universities of Suffolk and East Anglia. 

The Teaching Partnership has positively impacted the nature and experience of teaching and learning for students on the social work course and it has strengthened relationships with the overall aim to be more effective in practice working with children, adults and families.  

Some of the key developments and achievements are:

• Greater collaboration, partnership working and quality of relationships between Universities and the statutory sector (i.e. Local Authorities) 
• Refining student admissions processes, increasing service user, carer and practitioner involvement in admissions interviews and improving applicant experiences
• Developing a pioneering model to create more meaningful involvement of service users and carers
• An increased number of practice educators supporting students on practice placements
• Increasing the number and quality of statutory learning opportunities, thereby increasing practice-readiness and engagement with Local Authorities as a future employer for University of Suffolk students
• Establishing student hubs (including in Essex) to support students while on placement
• Establishing practice education leads, a role to support practice educators and students, leading to increased placement stability 
• An increased number of graduates are being recruited into the Local Authorities
• An increased number of continuing professional development opportunities for practitioners are available 

Local Authorities are supporting more research informed practitioners who can link theory, practice and relate to professional values and ethics, standards, capabilities and statements for children's social work and adult's social work.

View Suffolk County Council's website for more information about the Teaching Partnership.  

View the partnership's Twitter feed for more information, updates and resources.