Welcome...
They say a week is a long time in politics - well a month is certainly a long time in Children's Services!
Anyone who thought we might take our feet off the pedal post-Ofsted will have seen how determined we have been to increase the pace of our improvement journey.
We must use the momentum we've built up to respond to Ofsted and make sure we're making the necessary changes to the most positive difference to our children.
We are now in the middle of the staff consultation on a series of proposals made to redesign the service in order to make that difference.
Please do take the time to read through them carefully and let us know what you think.
This is an extremely challenging, but I believe exciting time for Children's Services and I want to thank you for your continued support and energy.
John Gregg, Director of Children's Services
john.gregg@coventry.gov.uk
|
Children’s
Services Manager Briefings
I am pleased
to launch regular briefings for Managers to update you on improvements and
changes in Children’s Services.
The briefings will be fronted by myself and other members of the Children’s Services
Leadership team and will include a range of topics. The dates agreed for the
year are:
- 24th
May 2017
- 14th
July 2017
- 12th
September 2017
- 7th
December 2017
The first briefing will be taking place on 24th May and will include
the following topics:
-
Update
on Children and Families Social Work Act 2017
-
IRO/CP
Chairs Improvements
- The
Workforce Strategy (Assessment Centre Framework/Accredited Professional Development
Scheme and the Social Work Academy)
- Financial
Accountability and ownership
I would like
to encourage you all to attend as your contribution is important.
If you are a
Service Manager or Team Manager and have not received a meeting request, please
contact Kirstie Murray on Tel 024 7683 3402.
John
The Fostering Team's latest video is already getting great feedback after being launched at the start of May.
'Giants' highlights the need for foster carers who can keep siblings in care together in Coventry.
The team previously released a short film called 'Alfie's Journey' which won international acclaim.
The latest project was led by Coventry on behalf of 13 other local authorities.
Make sure you take a look.
|
Assessment
Centre Pilot for recruiting experienced Social Workers
A
structured assessment centre for appointing experienced Social Workers will be
piloted in June and July.
The
assessment centre will include three key stages:
1.
Application
process – an on line
application
2.
Off
site assessment – two
on line tests
3.
Assessment
Centre – a Children’s
Panel/Technical Interview and a Case study written exercise
Feedback
from managers and candidates will be gathered from the assessment centre pilot
in June and July and changes agreed with Managers and signed off by the Workforce
Development Board before fully implementing.
Further
details will be circulated to Service Managers and Team Managers and discussed
further at the Manager Workshop on 24th May 2017.
Special Guardianship Orders
Special Guardianship Orders (SGOs) are part of the legislative framework for children who cannot live with their birth parents.
In the last few years there has been increasing debate about their use (or misuse!).
This report clarifies what SGOs are, what they are not and when they should be be applied for.
Putting Practice First
Following the
success of our Putting Practice First one day conference we have arranged for a
series of dynamic and engaging children and young people practice focussed
events throughout June.
These workshops, beginning on June 26, will be facilitated by leading
academics and national policy leads from across the country and will give you
the opportunity to reflect on current thinking and practice to support your
knowledge and skills. Further information and booking details to follow!
Places are available on a course looking at the importance
of critical analysis and reflection in social work practice.
The course has been organised by Adult Social Care but is
equally interesting and helpful for social workers and social care professionals
across adult and children’s social care.
It promises to demonstrate how to apply critical reflection
and analysis to inform and provide rationale for professional decision making.
To book a place click here.
Transformation Programme Latest
Work is progressing on
each of the projects in our work to transform Children's Services and put
children and their outcomes at the heart of what we do.
Early
Help - the Connecting Communities Phase 2 recommendations
were agreed by Cabinet on 7 March. Staff and Trade Union Consultation
incorporating these recommendations with the wider Children’s Services redesign
commenced on 8th May and ends on 21st June..
Business
process – we are finalising the outputs of the focus
groups with the services that have helped us to map what a child's journey
looks like. We're checking these back with the people who took part. More
detailed analysis in specific service areas is about to commence and this will
help inform the redesign of Children’s Services.
Workforce –
Formal staff and Trade Union consultation for the Children’s Services Redesign
(including the Connecting Communities Phase 2 recommendations) commenced 8th
May and ends on 21st June. Feedback should be sent to the
generic inbox for transformation; childrenstransformation@coventry.gov.uk.
Edge
of Care – further work looking at different options
for how we deliver Edge of Care services in the future continue and will be
reporting back to the Transformation Board at the next meeting.
Fostering -
the Everest scheme for
fostering children with complex needs is underway and we're working with St
Christopher's to recruit carers. Information evenings have taken place and one
child has already been placed.
Supported
Accommodation - we are looking at options to
reduce the number of young people over the age of 18 in supported accommodation and help them to
move onto independent living.
Residential
redesign – Cabinet approved the recommendations for
the redesign of our children’s homes on 7 March. Work is now being undertaken
on the staffing structure and the sale and purchase of properties in order to
move to implementation phase during the summer.
Recommissioning of external residential care - Recommendations for external
residential commissioning were approved by Cabinet in April; the tender will be
issued towards the end of June 2017.
Appraisals - a myth buster!
Hopefully you know by now you should have your appraisal with your manager by June 30.
There appears to be a bit of a myth you cannot carry out an appraisal of someone you manage until you've had your own appraisal.
Here's what Organisational Development told us:
Ordinarily we would expect senior leaders to cascade objectives
to service managers, however in reality this isn’t always possible.
-
As a Manager you are responsible for your team’s performance and
will have a clear understanding of their key priorities over the course of the
next 6 – 12 months. Regular communication throughout the year with your Service
Manager will enable you to undertake appraisals with your team. You do not
need to wait for your own performance appraisal to have taken place.
-
If you are unsure if your team’s objectives align to your
Service Manager’s vision for the Service, we would recommend sharing an
overview of your proposed objectives with your Service Manager in the first
instance.
Find out more here
The
2017 Learning and Development Portfolio has been updated with current courses and availability.
This will be updated regularly with priorities and needs from the recent Ofsted
inspection and Continuing Professional Develpment from appraisals.
|
Documents Library
The
Documents Library is up and running. You can now find the latest versions
of all forms (including referral forms) and templates used in children’s
services in one central place which means that you no longer have to search for
these in your emails or wonder whether you have access to the latest version of
the form or template. If you notice that a form that you use isn’t on the
Documents Library, please send this to Jackie Rutherford who will ensure that
it is included.
Good Practice
Exemplars.
We want to build on this area and get more
examples of good practice that can be shared. These are all redacted and
include the following:
-
A case file audit – use this to example model your next audit on as it is focuses on
the child’s experience
-
A case summary – all files should have an up to date case summary that include
relevant information as set out in this example
-
Two examples of case
supervision management oversight – these demonstrate use of
the Signs of Safety approach in supervision
-
A child protection plan – comprehensive, clear and focused plan
-
Initial child protection
conference report – clear and concise report to conference.
If you have other
examples of better or equally good practice, please send the details to
Lee-Pardy McLaughlin so that we can include these on the site.
The Documents
Library is on the same site as the Tri-X children’s services procedures. Why
not save this link to your Favourites?
Escalation and
Resolution of Professional Disagreements
Professional
challenge is healthy and should be seen as part of a culture of continuous
learning and doing everything possible to improve outcomes for children and
young people. When there a professional disagreement, it’s always best to air
the issues and understand the rationale for why a decision was made that you
didn’t agree with.
This applies to professionals in partner agencies as well as
those that are in the various disciplines within children’s services. The
Coventry Safeguarding Children Board has a procedure called, ‘Escalations
and Resolution of Professional Disagreements’ that should be used to
resolve differences
The same principles
apply to resolving professional disagreements between staff within the Council’s
children’s services. It is good practice to try and resolve the disagreement
though discussion and negotiation first before it is escalated.
There has been
some recent learning about this in a case where there was a disagreement about
thresholds between early help and social care that didn’t resolve themselves
and were not followed through. This meant that this case remained in the wrong
part of the service and therefore potentially was not serving the children
well.
Managers agreed that they should have escalated their concerns to senior
managers to seek a resolution rather than just accepting the situation without
a clear rationale. It was agreed that communication about this procedure is
circulated to staff and managers as part of the learning actions on this case.
Menu of Services - Coming Soon
Soon there will be
a central place to go to find out what services are available for practitioners
to commission in children’s services and a link directly to the Documents
Library if a referral form is required to access the service.
The Menu of
Services will briefly describe the service on offer, what the criteria for
access is, and how to make a referral. Watch this space for more information.
Time to sign up for the Practice Education
Qualification
We are currently recruiting to the Graduate Certificate in
Practice Education, a programme we jointly deliver with
Solihull MBC which is accredited through Bournemouth University.
This is an opportunity for experienced
social workers who are interested in developing knowledge and skills in the
supervision, teaching and the assessment of social work students to study and
gain a qualification in Practice Education. You will need 3 years post
qualifying experience and your manager’s approval to enrol on the course and
agreement to provide a social work student starting mid-September.
The
workshop dates for unit 1 are 5th
& 6th July 2017 and 16th October 17. Applications need to be in by Wednesday 14th
June at the latest.
As
part of our membership of the West
Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership we are also offering
two places on their Coaching and Mentoring and Practice Education course on the
Birmingham Post Qualifying Leadership Programme.
For
further information on the Practice Education qualification please contact Anne
Winn on anne.winn@coventry.gov.uk
We all have a statutory duty to safeguard the information we
record and use. It is your responsibility to do everything you can to safeguard
information held about service users, and only access case records if you
have a professional reason to do so.
Everyone must complete the recently revised Data Protection training. If you have not done
so already, please complete it as soon as possible.
Please be vigilant. If you have concerns about how information
is being used, inform your manager immediately.
Chronologies
In last month’s
Children’s Services Bulletin there were some ‘top tips’ on developing
chronologies. This was an area of concern in the recent Ofsted inspection. We will
be looking to set up some workshops about how to develop a good chronology, as
well as some further guidance.
In the meantime, how did you get on with using
the top tips? The feedback will inform the content of the workshops. Have all
your cases got up to date chronologies? If not please ensure that they do. Please discuss this at your next supervision session to assure
yourself that the expectation is clear.
Going forward,
chronologies should start with all new cases that come through the MASH and are
accepted as a referral and those that go to early help. Managers, please
discuss this at your next supervision session to ensure the
expectation is clear.
Practice Education – supporting a culture of
Learning and Development
As we move ahead there will be an ever increasing need for
social work student placements. Lots of experienced social workers within
Coventry have undertaken the Practice Educator qualification, we really need to
build on your expertise and are looking to develop new ways to support your
continuing professional development.
As well as increasing the number of social
work student placements we offer across the service, we will be looking to
create a community of practitioners that can better support the learning and
development of the workforce as a whole.
We will be holding the first of our regular quarterly
meetings with Practice Educators on Friday
25th May from 10 – 12 in the Council House 2nd Floor Room
77 please advise Anne Winn of your attendance. This workshop will provide
the opportunity to hear from Lee and Anne on the national and regional
developments that are shaping social work practice and pre and post qualifying
education.
Coventry’s
Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Framework
The Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement Framework was revised
in December 2015 and last updated in October 2016. Quality assurance is: ‘A
systematic process to ensure the quality of outcomes’. The aim of this
framework to deliver improved outcomes through a wide range of indicators of
quality. Assuring quality of practice is essential to the provision of a good
service to the children and young people of Coventry.
In order for the quality assurance activity to deliver the improvement
it is essential to ‘close the loop’ to ensure learning informs practice.
This is achieved as follows:
- Each audit activity undertaken must include direct feedback and
discussion between the auditor and the case holder. This provides
immediate opportunity to discuss good practice and improvement
opportunities.
- Once audits have been completed and moderated then the auditor must
meet the case holder and where appropriate team manager and go through the
audit and findings, in particular addressing any actions points from
auditors and agreed timeframes to complete.
- Where the auditor does not grade a case as at least good, service
managers ensure that appropriate corrective action has taken place within
timescales set by the auditor to improve this specific case and outcomes
for the child.
- A number of mechanisms have been introduced to enable learning from
audits to be disseminated to staff. These include, the practice
improvement forum, learning sets, formal and informal training, training
through LSCB, learning reviews, workforce development and through reflective
supervision.
- The Child Protection Chairs and Independent Reviewing Officer’s
also have a quality assurance and scrutiny role. The process for
management alerts when concerns are identified has been reinforced and is
now in line with the IRO management handbook.
- Once audit activity has been completed, and this includes the
regular monthly audits, a report will then be produced, detailing the
findings, both in terms of areas for improvement and existing strengths.
- There will also be a set of recommendations attached to the
report. Reports will then be sent to relevant Strategic Lead’s and
the Principal Social Worker. Strategic Lead’s produce action plans which
address the areas for improvement, within their service area.
- Action plans will then be sent to the Strategic Lead for Quality
Assurance to monitor their progress, through quarterly quality assurance
meetings.
.
Children and Social Work Act 2017
The Children and Social Work Bill has now become an Actof Parliament after receiving its Royal Assent last month.
The Act brings into force a number of changes to the social work profession.
Parenting Judgement, Fostering and Residential Care
These short videos are a useful resource to support learning and development for social
workers working directly with parents and foster carers.
ACE job opportunity
Read here for details of a job opportunity as Lead Manager for Adoption Central England (ACE)
Helping social work
practitioners communicate with deaf children.
As part of Deaf Awareness Week Professor Alys Young discusses working
with sign language interpreters in child protection, and offers advice for
practitioners.
Get in touch
Email gareth.lewis@coventry.gov.uk with your updates, comments or suggestions.
|