Go big or go home: trialling the Social Workers in Schools programme during a pandemic

Westlake, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7507-3413 and Bennett, Verity ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9311-4124 2025. Go big or go home: trialling the Social Workers in Schools programme during a pandemic. Westlake, David, Sanders, Michael and Hirneis, Vanessa, eds. Experimental Methods and Children's Social Care: The Contribution of Randomised Controlled Trials, Sociology, Social Policy and Education 2025, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 107-120. (10.4337/9781035327157.00018)

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the challenges and insights gained from conducting a large-scale randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the Social Workers in Schools (SWIS) programme during the COVID-19 pandemic. SWIS aimed to reduce risks to children and improve well-being by embedding social workers in schools. The trial, which involved nearly 300 schools and 280 000 students across 21 local authorities, faced unique challenges, including the pandemic's disruptions and the need to balance implementation fidelity with flexibility. The findings showed no significant impact on the primary outcomes, emphasising the importance of null results in social care research. The chapter explores the complexities of conducting RCTs in children's social care (CSC) and reflects on how to make such research more common and effective in this field.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education) Research Institutes & Centres > Children’s Social Care Research and Development Centre (CASCADE)
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN:	9781035327140
Last Modified:	15 Dec 2025 15:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/183244

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