Social Work Sorted with Vicki Shevlin

Learning from the Clancy trial and reflections on court skills for New Social Workers (And Why They Start at the Front Door)

This week I've been watching the Lindsey Clancy trial, and I couldn't stop thinking about what it reveals about giving evidence, professional credibility, and h

Foster Care, Residential Homes and Why We Need to Talk About Money: A Conversation with Trevor Elliot

In this episode I'm joined by Trevor Elliott MBE, founder of Children We Care For and director of three residential children's homes in London, who became a fos

Finding Joy in Social Work: 4 Things I'm Committing to This Month

July was heavy. Court, honest feedback on my book, and the quiet weight of watching decisions unfold in family courts. In this honest, veryyyy unfiltered episode I talk t

Age Assessment, the SAEF Framework and What Social Work Values Have to Do With It: A Conversation with Jo Schofield

In this episode I'm joined by my friend and colleague Jo Schofield, Director of Immigration Social Work Services and one of the leading experts on age assessment in

Research, Evidence and What We Share Online: A Conversation with Dez Holmes

In this episode I'm joined by Dez Holmes, Director of Research in Practice for a conversation that went in more directions than either of us planned and was better f

Naming Social Workers in the Media and Taking Care of Yourself

In this episode I'm back after a quieter month, off Instagram, in therapy, having acupuncture, and thinking about a lot of things. This one covers the personal and t

From Youth Work to Safeguarding: Practice, Power and the So What Question, with Sean Monaghan from SaferNow

In this episode I'm joined by Sean Monaghan, founder of Safer Now, whose route into safeguarding practice started in a youth centre in North Birmingham and took him

Why are home visits invisible from Statutory Guidance? and how does it affect social work

Home visits are the main site where social work happens. And yet they are barely mentioned in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 or any version of Working Togeth

Should we still be talking about ACE's? What Social Workers Need to Know

ACEs - adverse childhood experiences - is one of the most referenced phrases in social work and safeguarding. But how many of us have actually questioned whether we are u

There are so many ways to be a Social Worker

In this episode I explore one of the most persistent and unhelpful narratives in social work; that there is a hierarchy of practice, and that unless you have done your ti

Seeing the Invisible Child: Direct Work With Infants on Home Visits

In this episode I'm talking about one of the most consistent findings across serious case reviews; the invisible child and giving you one practical thing you can tak

What Case Recording Feels Like From the Other Side

 In this episode, I'm reflecting on my own unexpected experience of having a record written about me, not as a social worker, but as a home educating parent. It&apos

Voice, Power and Practice with Jade Barnett, CEO of Power2Prevail

In this episode, I’m joined by Power 2 Prevail to explore what it really means to work with young people, not just around them. We talk about the power of youth work, ho

Name the Time: Boundaries that protect you and others

Have your home visits started running to two hours… but nothing is actually changing? In this bite-sized episode, I share a powerful reflection from inside The Social Wo

One Thing at a Time: plans, pressure, and practice

January doesn’t need to be a fresh start on the 1st and social work doesn’t get easier when we set ourselves (and families) impossible expectations. In this episode, I’m

Don’t Let Them: why social workers can’t afford passive self-help

This episode was unplanned but necessary. After receiving my Spotify Wrapped for the podcast, I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks: many listeners of Social

Christmas in social work: Boundaries, joy & the pressure we don’t talk about

In this episode, I’m talking honestly about Christmas – both as a person and as a social worker. I share my own complicated relationship with the festive season, from hyp

The Safeguarding Series: Why supervision for DSLs isn’t a ‘nice to have’

 In this episode, I’m talking directly to Designated Safeguarding Leads about supervision – what it is, what it isn’t, and why you absolutely need it in your role.  I sha

What I told a stranger in the park and why it matters for your practice

In this week’s episode, I’m sharing a story that unfolded in my local park — one of those moments where instinct, practice experience, and humanity collided. After inter

Why Are We Doing This for Ofsted? Rethinking Organisational Culture in Social Work

Why are we still doing things for Ofsted?  Why do we hear, “Make sure your case notes are up to date — for Ofsted”? In this episode, I explore how inspection culture sh