International Social Work Student Placement

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If you are studying Social Work, you can complete one of your assessed placements in Peru at SKIP. If you have not yet decided to study, but are keen to gain experience in social work, we are able to offer training and support in a range of volunteering positions.

Social work placements:

We recommend that all students teach English as this provides the opportunity for non Spanish speakers to take a direct role in the classroom both teaching and managing behaviour, and actively prepare and review lesson plans in line with our written curriculum. Lessons take place at the SKIP Centre as well as in local public schools, providing an opportunity to observe the state education system in Peru.

Due, in part, to a lack of structure in the public education system, many of the children at SKIP display challenging behaviour, and others have learning difficulties, in particular they can struggle to concentrate and are very active in the classroom. As a result, we work in small groups and have a highly structured behaviour management system in place in order to give children clear messages regarding appropriate behaviour and consequences if those expectations are not met. This means that there is a wealth of learning for students regarding techniques in working with children and opportunities to apply theory to practice.

In addition to teaching English, there are a range of other potential activities students can choose from - we will usually be able to incorporate one or two of these (which will be selected on a basis of student choice and preference), along with a session in the library where volunteers help primary school students with their homework or play educational games such as jigsaw puzzles.

• Art Teaching

• Sports teaching

• Dance teaching

• Music teaching

• Photography group

• Psychology programme support (limited spaces)

• Communications (writing articles and website management)

• Grant Applications and fundraising

• Youth Work

• Handicraft groups with the mothers

• Teaching Assistant (providing an opportunity to work with the youngest children aged 5-7 years in a nurturing environment)

• Nursery teaching assistant (working with the youngest children in SKIP, babies aged 1-2 years. This programme also involves parents and carers who come for monthly training sessions to talk about stimulative play for their children).

In addition to the above, all students will work with the SKIP social work team for one session per week where they will support local social workers. Once students have completed some Spanish sessions in order to start improving their communication skills, training will begin with an introduction to social work in Peru and then progress to shadowing sessions where students are able to observe house visits and talk about the work and role of the team within SKIP's holistic approach. There will also be opportunities to consider international social work and compare approaches in different countries.

Following the initial training period, students will begin to support the work of the team according to the needs of the project at that time of year. It should be noted that this work will not involve work of a sensitive nature which needs to be conducted by local professionals.

In order to provide opportunity to consider structured assessments, a seminar session will explore a case study comparison between the UK and Peru where we complete a core assessment of the family situation and explore potential recommendations for family support or child protection interventions.

We also conduct annual questionnaires with service users regarding programme satisfaction and involving students in both collation of information and the analysis of the data provides experience in research methods as well as maintaining a focus on developing programmes in line with feedback from service users.

We are more than happy to consider applications from students throughout the world. For those studying outside the UK, students are responsible for covering their own costs, the same as any other SKIP volunteer and if additional supervision or assessment is required, we may request a small fee in order to cover this. There is more information regarding programme costs here on the website . Once you are ready, you can download an application form to start the application process.

In the UK, we are currently working directly with the Universities of Hull and York offering placements to both Masters and Degree students who are supervised here in Peru by a qualified and experienced social work Practice Educator. You also receive support from the rest of our professional team in any of the other programmes you will be working in - you can read bios for our permanent team on the website. The cost of these UK placements is covered by the HCPC including a travel grant towards flight costs. Students only need to pay £350 to SKIP to cover the cost of their accommodation in Peru (£350 covers the entire placement). Living expenses in Peru will be around £200 per month, a generous budget which will include enough for social activities and travel to and from placement within Trujillo.

Although most students do express concern about how much an international placement will cost before coming out, all our students have been surprised that they have ultimately saved money by doing their placement in Peru because the cost of living is so much less than in the UK.

Similar placements can be arranged for students on a range of other courses such as Youth and/or Community Work, International Development, International Relations, Spanish language programmes and Humanitarian Aid, amongst others.

Please feel free to email contact@skipperu.org to enquire about anything to do with placements.