This case study describes a day workshop for social work students attending Post Qualifying Child Care Award programmes, which was organised and run by the universities of Bristol and London (Royal Holloway) and The Hayward Gallery - a creative collaboration. The aim was to use an exhibition on prostitution and trafficking in women at The Hayward Gallery as the focus for an innovative workshop, using art to facilitate learning in an emotive and complex area of practice, and to provide the opportunity for social workers from London and the south west to study together, sharing feelings, practice experience, knowledge and ideas.

In response to institutional requirements regarding the additional curriculum and changing student needs, the social policy teaching team designed a level 1 module which integrated the development of transferable and employability skills with subject specific knowledge and study. While retaining a skills focus, it was tightly structured around conceptual, theoretical and practice-related issues: poverty and social exclusion. Students worked in small ALGs, received supporting lectures and a module handbook. Student feedback was positive even though the workload was relatively demanding. Staff saw cohesion within the student body and also an excellent relationship between staff and students.