As part of the Queen’s University suite of programmes aimed at widening participation in higher education, our Social Work Pathway Programme offers 17-year-old school pupils the opportunity to learn about how social workers promote social justice and help people in need, including personal change in their lives. The programme runs a weeklong summer school where pupils explore real world problems and challenges experienced by people who use social work services. The students learn about the social work role in working with children, families, adults and people who have a disability or issues with mental health, dementia, substance misuse or homelessness.

The summer school students spend time with qualified social workers, learn about career options and work with our current undergraduate and postgraduate students in the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work (SSESW). The SSESW students share with the pupils their personal experiences of being interviewed for the Social Work course at Queen’s, of the degree content and of studying at Queen’s University in general.

In SSESW, we have incorporated the use of immersive virtual reality (VR) technology in our Social Work degree programme, providing a cutting edge and stimulating learning experience for students at Queen’s in training for real world scenarios that arise for social workers. The summer school students get to try out the VR technology along with exploring the Queen’s campus and facilities. At the end of the social work pathway programme, students receive certificates of completion and a warm invitation to consider social work as a rewarding career.

School of SSESW academic lead for this strand of widening participation at Queen’s, Dr Gerry Marshall, said of this year’s pupil group:

"As the Social Work Pathway Programme co-ordinator it was an absolute joy to run this year’s summer school. Every year it goes from strength to strength and this is in large part to the commitment of the BSW student assistants alongside the PhD guides Brenda and Jess. I just want to praise their people skills and ability to teach social work in an informative, fun and student friendly manner - onwards and upwards for next year’s summer school!"