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  • Student placements & Practice Development Unit
  1. Work with us
  2. Student placements & Practice Development

Student placements & Practice Development Unit

Practice Development Unit (PDU)

As the leading provider of social work placements in the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland, Extern plays a leading role in assisting university students with finding the right placements which will help get their careers started in this challenging but rewarding sector. 

Central to this is Extern’s Practice Development Unit (PDU), which provides training services, internally and externally, across Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The unit currently has five full-time staff and two part-time co-ordinators employed within the team - all of whom have been frontline social work practitioners - and the Practice Development Manager is responsible for co-ordinating and delivering all mandatory staff training, as well as advising on policy and practice.

Internally, in Extern Northern Ireland, the Practice Development Team co-ordinate and deliver all mandatory staff training, while the HR Learning and Development Training is co-ordinated and delivered on an all-Ireland basis.

Specialist training

Currently, the PDU in Northern Ireland has three contracts with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) for the delivery of Social Work Education across the Voluntary sector.

We also have a VOCALS contract, which is a centralisation of all communication-related social work education from across the sector into one place, so that all information about social work education is disseminated by us across the sector.

We sit on all the decision-making processes within the universities, the degree partnership and represent the voluntary sector’s interests in discussions and decision-making about what’s happening in social work education.

Meanwhile, our Professional in Practice (PiP) service delivers post-qualifying social work training and assessment to social workers across the voluntary sector, as well as a communication service.

Training for success

In 2019-20 it offered over 2,000 training places to existing staff and volunteers to ensure our teams meet the mandatory requirements for their role, and are upskilled in their particular area of practice.

This training allowed staff to upskill, refresh and acquire additional skills, enabling them to deliver an optimum service across Extern and, above all, provide our service users with a holistic, knowledgeable and empowering approach to their journey when engaging with Extern projects.

The team have also began the promotion of moving Extern towards becoming a Trauma Informed Practice organisation, by providing specialist training to managers and staff, as well as providing delivery of Safeguarding Board for NI Adverse Childhood Experiences Training.

The team also provided Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) training to all staff across Extern, to offer support and promote positive mental health.

Global success

Extern’s Designated Practice Learning Provider also provides social work student placements to students from across the UK and internationally.

Furthermore, we offer opportunities to Internationally Qualified Social Workers to gain the experience and assessment needed to register with the NISCC.

In Extern a key belief is that we meet people at their point of need, and that ethos is also a cornerstone of our work for the staff and social workers we support in the PDU.

Extern launch Vbook

Find out more about a social work career at Extern

Published: 20th February, 2019

Updated: 19th January, 2022

Author:

Location: 3 McKinney Road, Mallusk, BT36 4PE

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Contact us

Extern is a registered charity in Northern Ireland
Registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC105869
Company Registration No: NI 16083
Registered office

Hydepark House,        
3 McKinney Road,
Newtownabbey, BT36 4PE
Telephone: Mon to Fri 9-5pm 
+44 (0)28 9084 0555

Extern is a registered charity in the Republic of Ireland
Company Registration No: 383201
Registered Charity Number: 20055318
Registered office

Extern, 1st floor, Block 4
Monread Leisure and Commercial Centre,
Monread Avenue,
Naas, Co Kildare
W91 YWX3
Tel: Mon to Fri 9-5pm +353 (0)45 878720
Extern Problem Gambling: 
ROI: 089 241 5401
NI: 07537 188 575


Extern Group
Registered with The Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC103226
Company No. NI 618684

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