Henry Smith
Henry graduated as a social worker in 2006. Following this he worked in various children and families social work settings before joining the Frontline Academic Team in 2016.
After graduating Henry worked for a Family Intervention Project (FIP) in Newcastle. Here he worked intensively with a small number of families, deemed to have multiple and complex needs. As caseloads were limited he really had a chance to form relationships with families and develop a systemic understanding of the issues that they faced. Working in this non-statutory setting also meant he was reliant on a relationship and theory based approach to social work and facilitating change, something that hugely influenced his practice in later roles.
Henry then moved to London and worked for Richmond Children’s Services, first in a referral and assessment team and later in a child protection team. Here he developed his interests in applying attachment theory and systemic practice in children’s social work.
Henry took the role as the consultant social worker (CSW) in Richmond in the first year of the Frontline programme, establishing what was then a brand new project. He was struck by how the core theories of motivational interviewing, systemic practice and social learning theory, coupled with the unit model, helped create some impressive outcomes for families. They also provided a rich learning experience for the participants he worked with.
Following two years in the CSW role he returned to the North East to establish Frontline in a new region, this time in the new role of Practice Educator. From September 2017 Henry will be relocating to the South East as the Practice Tutor for the Essex units.
Research interests
Applying systemic practice in a children’s social care setting, supervision in children’s social care, applying attachment theory in a children’s social care setting
Selected publications
‘Using Pathway Model Components as Counter-indicators in a Complex Child Protection Referral’, in Shemmings, D. and Shemmings Y. (2014) Assessing Disorganized Attachment Behaviour in Children. Jessica Kingsley: London
Contributor to: Community Care Inform (2015) Attachment knowledge and practice hub. Available at: http://www.ccinform.co.uk/knowledge-hubs/attachment-knowledge-and-practice-hub/ (accessed 28 May 2017)
Conference Presentations
Developing a systemic model of student supervision – a case study – National Association of Educators in Practice 2015
Teaching
Applying Systemic Ideas In Children’s Social Care – Kingston University 2014 – 201, Frontline programme teaching
Qualifications
MSW Social Work, Postgraduate Diploma in Practice Education
Location: London
Frontline,
1 Rosebery Avenue,
London,
EC1R 4SR
Meet the rest of my team
Lisa Hackett
Lisa has worked in in a variety of roles in the social work sector.
Jo Williams
Jo has 25 years’ experience of direct practice in social care settings with both children and adults.
Charlie Whittaker
Charlie joined Frontline as a Curriculum Advisor in Motivational Interviewing (MI) in 2016.
Henry Smith
Henry graduated as a social worker in 2006. He’s worked in various children and families social work settings before joining the Frontline Academic Team in 2016.
Lara Parish-Mackin
Lara has been a practicing social worker and manager for the last 10 years.
Eugene Ogbewele
Before joining Frontline as a Practice Tutor, Eugene spent the majority of his professional career in working in the statutory setting.
Chris Hemsley
Chris left statutory social work to join the University of Bedfordshire as a Lecturer on the Frontline programme in May 2014
Tessa Godfrey
Tessa qualified as a social worker in 1985, following the publication of the Barclay Report on social work.
Fran Feeley
Fran has over ten years’ experience working as a social worker with high risk and complex child protection cases.
Alison Domakin
Alison has been qualified as a child and family social worker for over 25 years.
Rebecca Brewer
Rebecca has been a Senior Academic Tutor on the Frontline programme since it started in 2015.
Katie Ayres
Katie has worked as a Lecturer on the Frontline programme since October 2016.
Julie Henry
Julie left statutory social work practice in September 2016 to take up her post as lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire on the Frontline programme.