Jonathan is a Practice Supervisor with Bradford Children & Families Trust. He talked us through his journey into the profession, how his own experience with the care system motivated him to become a social worker, and how his current role helps to mentor and support new social workers as they begin their careers.

The role of a Practice Supervisor is slightly different to most social work specialisms, as Jonathan’s main focus is on workforce development and quality assurance. This allows him to draw on his extensive practice experience to support colleagues with reflection, training and advice in handling complex or unfamiliar situations.

“I support social workers, I run peer reflective groups and training. That might be on things like assessments, the voice of the child, or the language we use. I don’t think two days are ever really the same.”

Providing help with more complex cases means Jonathan still gets the chance to stay connected to frontline practice:

“Every now and again I’ll get to do some good old fashioned social work and do a bit of door knocking with some of my colleagues if it’s something really complex.”

As someone who enjoyed being on the frontline, becoming a practice supervisor was something of a departure and initially it was a challenge to adapt the change in focus:

“I think the challenge has been taking a step back. Social workers instinctively want to do social work, so at first I tended to want to do things for colleagues rather than working with them to help them improve.”

The flipside of this is one of the most rewarding things about Jonathan’s current job. He found he really appreciated seeing the impact his work can have on newly qualified social workers, as they develop their professional confidence and start to build their own unique style of practice:

“I’ve got this amazing social worker just now, who’s in her first year of practice, and I remember she wasn’t very confident at first. The thing I’ve enjoyed the most so far has been watching her develop, seeing those skills come out. We did a lot of visits together in the beginning, and I’ve just watched this worker flourish in the last six months. I think she’s going to be a fantastic social worker.”

Jonathan’s motivation to study social work was rooted in personal experience as his own experiences of the care system made him passionate about finding ways to deliver better outcomes for young people who were in a similar position:

“So, I am care-experienced and I always resolved that whatever I experienced in the 90s, I could do ten times better as a social worker. I’ve always had that motivation of being a looked after child myself, and that’s why I’m still passionate about what I do after all these years.”

The variety of experience Jonathan has been able to build up has proven particularly useful for workforce development. After qualifying from Salford University, he worked across several different specialisms, spending seven years as part of Looked After Children’s Teams, also working with a leaving care service and spending two years as a Supervising Social Worker in fostering. More unusually, he also found time to practice social work abroad: during the pandemic he relocated to Spain for family reasons and was able to work remotely as an independent social worker for a spell.

After returning to the UK, Jonathan spent some time in London before deciding to move back up North. Bradford stood out in particular as an interesting move for Jonathan, and the opportunity to be part of their improvement journey:

“Bradford was the best vibe I had in an interview when I was interviewing for roles. It’s not a secret that there have been issues historically, but I honestly feel that this organisation is on a real upward trajectory. It’s actually really empowering in social work when you see the fruits of your labour, the way the teams evolve. The management are really approachable, they’re on the same journey.”

For Jonathan, children’s social work matters because of the active role practitioners play in advocating for young people, acting as someone in their corner to protect their rights: 

“We’re here for a reason, we’re here to get out there and do the best we can for the kids we serve, to protect and safeguard them, and to make sure their rights are upheld. We challenge things that aren’t going right for them, we are their advocates.”