Anna Bacchoo

Director of Practice

Anna is responsible for ensuring social work practice is at the heart of What Works for Children’s Social Care. Working with the rest of the senior management team, Anna works to ensure our research has an impact on practice and for children and families. Anna leads on engaging with the sector, including hearing the voices of children and families. Anna’s team leads our practice development and learning workstreams, to embed evidence-based practice in social work.

Anna studied politics at the University of Sussex and has a Masters in Social Work from the University of Brighton and she is our Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Before joining WWCSC, Anna worked in statutory child protection social work for 13 years at Brighton and Hove City Council. She is passionate about social work values and maintains her professional registration.

Anna enjoys family dog walks on the South Downs and Sussex beaches.

ARTICLES

  • read more about Practice in Need of Evidence call
    Blog

    Practice in Need of Evidence call

    13 July 2022
    Researching what works for children’s social care means we are often looking at sensitive issues, and some of these issues can be particularly upsetting. However, it’s vital that we look at even the darkest areas and challenges to make sure we are doing all we can to protect children and support families. I want to […]
  • read more about Reflecting on the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the National Safeguarding Panel’s Reviews
    Blog

    Reflecting on the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the National Safeguarding Panel’s Reviews

    30 May 2022
    Last week marked a significant milestone for children’s social care with the publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care and the National Safeguarding Panel’s Review of Child Protection in England, in relation to the murders of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson. The reports have recommended seismic changes to the way services are funded, […]
  • read more about The case for small wins
    Blog

    The case for small wins

    24 January 2022
    Social worker well-being has long been a cause for concern and recent data shows things aren't improving. With the release today of phase two of our Happier, Healthier Professionals research Director of Practice Anna Bacchoo considers the report's findings and how even small wins should be considered if they enable social workers to feel supported and valued in their work.
  • read more about Our latest anti-racism work
    Blog

    Our latest anti-racism work

    13 January 2022
    In her latest blog, Director of Practice, Anna Bacchoo, discusses our programme of anti-racism work, including our recently published rapid reviews on outcomes for Black children in care and representation, progression, promotion and wellbeing of minority ethnic social workers and social work students.
  • read more about Connecting Social Workers to the Care Review
    Blog

    Connecting Social Workers to the Care Review

    1 July 2021
    In her new blog, Anna Bacchoo, Director of Practice, explains how social workers can share their views on the independent review of children's social care through our polling.
  • read more about Introducing our Evidence Ambassadors
    Blog

    Introducing our Evidence Ambassadors

    23 June 2021
    Anna Bacchoo, our Director of Practice, writes about our Evidence Ambassadors - our new programme to help bring research into practice. Read on to find out more about the programme and how to apply to be a Research Ambassador.
  • read more about Evidence, training and trees
    Blog

    Evidence, training and trees

    27 April 2021
    Anna Bacchoo, our Director of Practice, discusses the part our new training programme can play in the journey to evidence-based practice in children's social care, as well as our love of tree acronyms.
  • read more about How do we know we’re doing it right? Evaluating multi-agency working
    Blog

    How do we know we’re doing it right? Evaluating multi-agency working

    7 November 2019
    Our Practice in Need of Evidence programme (PINE) is well underway with our first cohort of nine partners working on conducting their own evaluations – with our support – of their promising practice. Based on the fantastic response to this first round, and really positive initial feedback from the participants, we’ve launched another round – […]
  • read more about Could we be doing more to improve child protection plans?
    Blog

    Could we be doing more to improve child protection plans?

    9 September 2019
    Head of Practice, Anna Bacchoo, blogs about child protection plans and asks how they could be more effective. I have recently been thinking a lot about the plans we make when working with families, particularly child protection plans, and their impact and efficacy. These are a vital tool in safeguarding children and young people, but […]
  • read more about Practice In Need of Evidence
    Blog

    Practice In Need of Evidence

    29 March 2019
    The last thing social work needs is another acronym, but old habits die hard. I’m writing to introduce PINE – Practice in Need of Evidence, our latest programme to build the evidence base in social care. Dismissing thoughts of air-freshener and 90s furniture, PINE is an offer of support to take promising practice on a […]
  • read more about World Social Work Day 2019
    Blog

    World Social Work Day 2019

    15 March 2019
    A short film from the What Works Centre to celebrate World Social Work Day, 2019.
  • read more about It’s all about relationships
    Blog

    It’s all about relationships

    1 March 2019
    Says Centre’s new Head of Practice and Social Worker, Anna Bacchoo
  • read more about “Drawing from cartoons and the evidence-base”
    Blog

    “Drawing from cartoons and the evidence-base”

    19 July 2018
    The importance of making evidence-informed practice accessible on the frontline