Social work educator named at industry awards

It comes as the university’s BA and Degree Apprenticeship programmes in social work were praised by regulator Social Work England in the course re-validation process.

Amazing Social Workers is a campaign championing the exceptional work happening across the UK social work profession. It is run by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), the UK’s largest professional body for social work.

The awards aim to shine a spotlight on the achievements of individuals and teams in the profession, whilst also highlighting the vital importance of social work to our communities.

Dr Denise Turner, Operational Head of Social Work at the University of Chichester, said: “I am delighted to be named as an Amazing Social Worker in the national BASW Awards. What makes the nomination so special is that one of our students took the time and effort to write it.

“As I am the only social work educator to be named in these national awards this is hugely positive for Chichester social work and comes at the same time as our exceptional re-validation result.”

Dr Turner was nominated by student Viola Kabigabwa, who said: “She is a great example of a social worker – hardworking and ensures all students, irrespective of their backgrounds, achieve their goals as social workers.

“Denise always worked hard to ensure that we had the best lecturers, best guest speakers from different specialities to share their work and equip us ready for our placements and future social work practice.”

The award comes as the university was praised for its exceptional support for students in its social work courses after an inspection by Social Work England. It also approved a new curriculum for new students which starts in the 2024/25 academic year.

Dr Turner said: “As a fairly new member of the University, I led the inspection with some trepidation as a lot of responsibility was resting on us not only to approve all of our existing BA and Degree Apprenticeship provision, but also to approve an entirely new set of innovative provision.

“Preparing the huge submission of folder right at the end of the Christmas term was a herculean task. We also arranged a number of briefing days for the social work team. As a final result, receiving no conditions for our existing programmes alongside approval for the new curriculum is honestly more than we could have hoped for, and it creates a positive new mandate for innovation in social work at Chichester.”

For more on social work courses at the University of Chichester, visit: https://www.chi.ac.uk/childhood-education-and-social-work/