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Training & Development
Learning throughout lockdown
Our award-winning Practice Development Unit ensured that staff and students alike could continue enhancing their skills despite the pandemic.
Just as our frontline services were required to adjust to the new restrictions imposed by the lockdown, so too our Practice Development Unit adapted by moving to online delivery to ensure that staff continued to have access to key learning.
This continued throughout the year to include meetings and student assessments. Over 300 training courses were delivered for Extern staff, students and volunteers, as well as over 100 social work student placements offered across the sector.
The team also reacted to meet the changed needs of staff, by delivering well-being workshops to colleagues, offering them the chance to interact with others and share experiences.
Funding was secured to meet the need for additional student placements, and there was an increase in the number of requests for safeguarding training as the organisation continued to ensure that good governance and compliance was maintained.
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qualifications achieved by staff and students through the Practice Development Unit
Extern provided the first step in my social work career
I chose social work as a career, as I really wanted to help people to change their lives for the better and contribute in a meaningful way. Being able to do my placement with Extern has been such an important first step in my career. My goal is to work with children and young people, so I loved being given the chance to engage with them and gain firsthand experience of building relationships. This was made all the more challenging due to the restrictions posed by Covid, but with the guidance of my team I was able to keep up to date with my work and continue offering support to the young people I was engaged with. Extern is such an amazing organisation which makes a really positive difference in the lives of the people it works with. I feel so privileged to have been able to play even a small role within their teams.
