Helen Sewell

I have a MA Social Work / DipSw from University of Warwick.

I am a qualified and registered social worker and have over 20 years of experience working mainly in children and families social work.

I have had a varied social work career, working mainly with children and families in a range of settings including statutory, voluntary and education sectors. I have enjoyed working as a frontline practitioner as well as a being a manager of various teams. As a social worker, I worked primarily with teenagers. My ongoing interests include social work with young people (particular care leavers) and current issues such as sexual and criminal exploitation.

More recently, I spent 9 years working for Portsmouth Local Safeguarding Board. I have substantial experience of developing and delivering multi-agency safeguarding training and development as well as writing procedures and guidance. I worked with a range of professionals within the city to ensure that they understood their safeguarding responsibilities and provided guidance and advice so that they felt confident to carry out their roles as effectively as possible. I was also involved in professional practice and service development for a number of years. I am a strong believer in the need for high quality reflective supervision and provided group supervision for professionals aimed at supporting them to work through dilemmas, develop robust plans and manage their emotions.

I believe relationships are the bedrock of good social work and am passionate about restorative practice. I have supported organisations to embed restorative practice as a model for their work and am an accredited restorative practice trainer.

Current role:

I am the current Associate Head (Students) for the School of Health and Care Professions as well as BSc Social Work Course Lead.

I also teach across the BSc (Hons) course and act as a personal tutor for social work students.