Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE)
At Newham, we follow national guidelines for the ASYE:
- Protected Caseload – The ASYE offers a protected caseload that gradually progresses in quantity and complexity at each review milestone of the programme. In the first 3 months a NQSW should have a workload equivalent to 25% of the average in their team, with this increasing to 50% by 6 months and 70% by 9 months .By the end of the ASYE, a NQSW should have a workload equivalent to 90% of what is expected of a confident social worker in the same role in their second or third year of employment.
- Increased Supervision – Weekly for the first 6 weeks. After this it will go to fortnightly until the six month review, following which it will become monthly.
- Protected study time - 10% of the NQSW’s time should be set aside to undertake a range of learning and development activities including attending ASYE training and peer discussions, shadowing, co-working and reading. This equates to about 6 hours a month. The rest of the time (one day a month) is for the NQSW and their manager to agree on how they would best spend it. Time to write their portfolio should be included in this.
- Regular Reviews – baseline, three month, six month and 11 month, with a moderation panel agreeing the results”
In addition to this, we are proud to have created a bespoke full educational programme for NQSWs to support you in becoming a capable and confident practitioner by the end of your first year in practice.
The Newham ASYE programme has been developed in line with our restorative, relational, systemic Practice Framework. Our framework equips NQSWs with the knowledge, skills, tools and support to work with families as the experts in their own lives to help them identify and address the issues that impact them.
NQSWs are also encouraged to explore their own history and background, and reflect on how their Social GRACES have shaped their world view. This helps practitioners to better understand their relationships with children and families. Social GRACES also offer insight into how an individual's life and family may have come to be in a particular situation, and their experiences of social work involvement.
Our Programme
Overview and purpose
The Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) is an employer-led programme that supports the needs of newly qualified social workers (NQSW) during their first year of practice to make the transition from qualifying education to the world of professional social work practice as smooth and effective as possible.
The programme aims to help NQSW’s consolidate their learning from their qualifying education and develop their skills and knowledge, apply the learning from their qualifying social work course to social work practice and strengthen their professional confidence over a year.
Newham views the ASYE as an investment in the future of the service and the community. By providing our Newly Qualified Social Workers with a great first year in practice, they will emerge with an understanding of the legislation underpinning children and family social work, knowledge of research and theory and, most importantly, the skills needed to engage children, young people and their families in ways which help them to make their own lives better.
To this end our ASYE programme is designed to provide all NQSWs with an understanding of children and families’ experiences when Social Care are in their lives, from the initial referral to the closure of the case.
Newham’s monthly ASYE training follows the Journey of the Child for the first half of the ASYE. During the second half, NQSWs will undertake the first stage of Newham’s Systemic Offer – a five day Introduction to Systemic Practice course is run by our Director of Clinical Practice and the in house Family therapist.
Newham is part of the North East London Teaching Partnership, which brings together local authorities and higher education settings, including the University of East London and London Metropolitan University to offer training to NSQWs.
We are also partnered with Research in Practice, Care Knowledge, and Making Research Count, with all Newham Children’s Services employees receiving a subscription to these services.
Monthly Learning Cycles
During your ASYE, you will follow the themed learning cycle on the right each month:
- The month starts with a half-day training session on the month's theme
- You and your manager identify themed experiential learning opportunities including observation; shadowing; joint work; recommended research, and reading relevant cases
- During the month, you will reflect on training and, through your experiences, be able to embed your learning into practice
- The month ends with a reflective peer group discussion facilitated by a systemically trained social worker, offering NQSWs an opportunity to share and learn from each other’s experiences
- During the second half of the year, NQSWs attend a five-day systemic practice course, spread over 10 weeks. You will work with your manager to embed your learning into practice, and will continue to attend reflective group supervision at the end of each month.
Intake and Location
We take in two cohorts of NQSWs each year, with recruitment cycles taking place in March/April and intake start dates July/October.
NQSWs are placed in service areas that deal directly with children and families, and this can be in any service area that features in this diagram. Your line manager is also your ASYE Assessor.
Intake is staggered across service areas to so that there should always be NQSWs from each cohort, with the earlier cohort helping mentor the newer cohort in their teams, and in turn embedding their own learning.
Salary and Application
£38,364 + £5,000 recruitment and retention supplement
12 month ASYE leading to Permanent SW role when passed.
Full time, flexible remote working. Office: Newham Dockside, E16 2QU
To apply for an AYSE social work role with Newham, you must be:
- Awarded an eligible social work qualification within the 4 years prior to your start date.
- Registered with Social Work England prior to starting
- Able to legally work in the UK for at least 12 months following the start of the programme (we are unable to assist with visas or sponsorship)
- Not have started an ASYE in another local authority (this can be checked with Skills For Care)
If you do not meet the above criteria, we will be unable to progress your application.
Please apply via the Newham Council jobs page.
All applicants who meet the minimum eligibility criteria will have their written submissions considered for shortlisting. Applicants who best demonstrate how they meet our recruitment criteria will progress to the next stage.
There is no set template for being a successful social worker, but we are looking for people who are empathetic and reflective, and who are able to demonstrate that they are keen to learn, passionate about serving the local community and have the ability to apply theory to practice.
If you have any questions, please click here to contact Newham Children's Social Care's Recruitment Team.
