https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/New writing by the author of We Don’t Steal Babies.en-gb https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/twenty-to-nine/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/twenty-to-nine/Finding a desk, in an office that has eight for every ten of us.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/waiting-at-court/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/waiting-at-court/Listed for ten o’clock. Called at twenty to four.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-fridge/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-fridge/The longest-running dispute in the building.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-student/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-student/A week of being watched by somebody who is writing it down.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/sunday-night/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/sunday-night/What happens between the end of the weekend and the start of the week.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-training-day/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-training-day/Six hours, one flipchart and an icebreaker.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/first-day-back/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/first-day-back/Two weeks away, and what is waiting.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-pool-car/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-pool-car/A small silver hatchback, and everybody who has ever driven it.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/school-reception/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/school-reception/Ten minutes on a chair built for somebody of six.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-leaving-do/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-leaving-do/Twenty-six years, a card in an envelope, and a speech nobody wanted to give.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-lanyard/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-lanyard/What happens when you forget to take it off.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-fire-drill/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-fire-drill/Eleven minutes in a car park with everybody who works in the building.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-a-social-worker-does-on-a-tuesday/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-a-social-worker-does-on-a-tuesday/An ordinary day, hour by hour. Nothing happens, which is the point.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/should-i-become-a-social-worker/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/should-i-become-a-social-worker/An honest answer, from somebody who would do it again and would not recommend it to everybody.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-survive-your-asye/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-survive-your-asye/Twelve months, a portfolio, and a caseload that was supposed to be protected. 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How to get it, keep it and use it.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/room-2-14/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/room-2-14/A short history of every meeting room in local government.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/on-being-shouted-at/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/on-being-shouted-at/It happens. What it is, what it is not, and what to do with your face.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-keep-a-newly-qualified-social-worker/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-keep-a-newly-qualified-social-worker/For managers. Care instructions, as for a houseplant, but with more paperwork.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/why-a-novel-and-not-a-memoir/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/why-a-novel-and-not-a-memoir/The honest book about this job had to be the invented one.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/to-the-person-who-rang-it-in/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/to-the-person-who-rang-it-in/For the neighbour, the auntie, the friend. You were worried about a child and you picked up the phone.Thu, 01 Oct 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/do-social-workers-steal-babies/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/do-social-workers-steal-babies/The short answer is on the cover. The longer one takes about four minutes.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/things-people-say-at-parties/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/things-people-say-at-parties/What happens when you tell a stranger you are a social worker, in order of frequency.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/a-letter-to-whoever-starts-on-monday/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/a-letter-to-whoever-starts-on-monday/For the newly qualified. What I would say if I could sit you down with a brew the Friday before.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/why-i-use-a-pen-name/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/why-i-use-a-pen-name/Four reasons, one of which is cowardice.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/if-a-social-worker-knocks-on-your-door/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/if-a-social-worker-knocks-on-your-door/For parents. What to ask, what you are entitled to, and what I would do in your place.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-goes-in-the-bag/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-goes-in-the-bag/The home visit kit list that nobody gives you at university.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-car-park/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/the-car-park/On crying at work, and where to do it.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/a-field-guide-to-the-biscuit-tin/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/a-field-guide-to-the-biscuit-tin/There is a hierarchy of everything. This is the biscuit one.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/books-that-got-me-through/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/books-that-got-me-through/Seven books I have lent and never got back.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/to-foster-carers/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/to-foster-carers/A thank-you letter, several years late.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-the-file-leaves-out/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/what-the-file-leaves-out/On case notes, and the child who will read them one day.Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-love-a-social-worker/https://secretsocialworker.com/notebook/how-to-love-a-social-worker/For partners, parents, best friends and anybody else who has been told “I can’t talk about it.”Mon, 28 Sep 2026 09:00:00 +0000