How We Achieved a High NSS Score Despite the Pandemic Challenges

Stefan Kleipoedszus
Dr Sally Lee
16th July 2021

We are a team of researchers from the National Centre for Cross-Disciplinary Social Work (NCCDSW) at Bournemouth University (BU), and we have been working on various projects to improve the quality of social work education and practice. We are proud to share that we have achieved a high NSS score of 96.5% from a very high number of students completing the survey. This is a remarkable achievement, considering the difficulties and uncertainties that we and our students faced in the last year due to the pandemic. This success shows how lucky we are to work with great students and colleagues who go the extra mile in challenging times. In this blog, we will reflect on what made this result possible.

The Way We Work as a Team

One of the key factors that contributed to our high NSS score is the way we work as a team. We have a strong sense of trust, support, and collaboration among ourselves. We can rely on each other, ask each other for help, share ideas and develop them together. We are all very different in our approaches, experience, skills, and way of seeing the world. Even though we do not always agree with each other, we have each other’s back. Most importantly, we share a clear focus on the students’ experience.

The Inclusion of Other Staff

Another factor that helped us achieve our high NSS score is the inclusion of other staff who are essential for what we do. We know that all those who work in program support, the library and estates are part of our team. Without their flexibility and can-do attitude, we could not focus on supporting our students in the way we can. We appreciate their efforts and contributions, and we communicate with them regularly.

The Flexibility to Adapt to Changes

The last factor that made a difference in our high NSS score is the flexibility to adapt to changes. We know that we are not perfect, but we are responsive when things go wrong. The pandemic forced us to swiftly move to an entirely new way of teaching students who were suddenly not allowed to come to university anymore. Our students had to get to grips with many changes, manage their own lives and continue to prepare for joining the demanding and challenging profession of social work. We did our best to support them in this transition, and to provide them with quality education and practice opportunities. When changes were needed, we informed our students and explained why we made them. We also listened to their feedback and suggestions, and adapted where possible. In return, they appreciated our efforts and gave us positive ratings.

Meet the author(s)

Stefan Kleipoedszus

Head of Department and Senior Lecturer
Stefan is a qualified social worker with more than 20 years of experience of working with children in different contexts, including safeguarding and disabilities. As a researcher, Stefan takes a great interest in children living in (secure) care, ways of improving protecting the welfare of children and the way social workers make difficult decisions under uncertainty.
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Dr Sally Lee

Programme Lead for the MA and BA Social Work programmes
Sally completed her Post-Doctoral Research in 2016, exploring social work practice, physical disability and sexual well-being. Sally is Programme Lead for the MA and BA Social Work programmes and teaches across both programmes leading the Professional Practice with Adults units and the First Placement unit with the BA students.
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