Mrs Lauren Martins

At CCCU, I am employed as a Lecturer in the Social Work team. I am the Hydra simulation suite lead, Employability lead and the Recruitment and Marketing lead. I am also a Personal Academic Tutor and a Placement Tutor. I am currently the only accredited Social Work Hydra facilitator in the country and I can autonomously lead and facilitate activities using Hydra software within the simulation suite.

I joined the Social Work team in August 2021. I have gained my front line experiences working in a range of settings including working as a Mental Health Social Worker in an inner city London borough. I also have experience working as a Criminal Justice Social Worker/Probation Officer in Kent. Before completing my masters degree in Social Work, I have also spent time as a group work facilitator for the Probation Service in which I delivered a range of HMPPS CBT accredited programmes to groups of domestic abuse perpetrators and also delivered one to one interventions with the aim of rehabilitation. I also have experience of working in police custody as a Designated Detention Officer and as an emergency 999 call handler for the London Ambulance Service. Prior to becoming an academic, I was a Team Manager for the largest probation team in Kent.

My specialisms and interests include law, domestic abuse, safeguarding, interprofessional working, neurodiversity and student wellbeing.

I am passionate and committed to innovative, creative and exciting teaching and I like to adopt a partially flipped learning approach during my sessions.

I am currently Module Lead for the BA and MA Social Work law modules and I also teach on the Social Work year 2 Research Minded Practitioner module. I have previously taught on safeguarding modules too. I am a dissertation supervisor for BA and MA Social Work students.

I am also involved in creating and leading some Skills Days. I am Hydra lead for the Social Work team and I also lead the Social Work Employability Days. 

Since September 2022, I have been volunteering as a virtual mentor for young people in schools and colleges across the UK, particularly in relation to research projects and career aspirations.