New Beginnings is a concept which has been inspired by the Flemish organisation 'Stobbe'.Ā Comparative research carried out by Leigh (2013; 2014; 2017) into the way in which services are provided in Flanders, Belgium and England, found that in FlandersĀ residential centres are effective in providing better outcomes for children and parents. The findings showedĀ that once parents … Continue reading Being Ready: How do we know when parents are ready to work with us? | Jadwiga Leigh
The Department for Education is seeking to improve communication with IROs / social workers and has established anĀ e-mail channel and a new e-newsletter for children and family social workers. Quarterly bulletins from the Department for Education will provide the latest news, guidance on best practice and updates from innovation projects across the country. Sign-up to … Continue reading News from the Department for Education
The participation of and direct work with children and families are key strengths. Social workers are supported to deliver meaningful intervention to sustain positive change and safe long-term outcomes for children. Children are at the heart of social work practice. The senior leadership team has worked resolutely to create a learning culture that is responsive … Continue reading Children are at the heart of social work practice in Portsmouth
Brigid Featherstone and Amanda Boorman talk about their experiences of respite support and how it might be used to support birth families before a child is removed ... Read full piece at source: Redistributing care: why respite support should exist for struggling birth families, not just foster carers and adopters
At the start of August, North Yorkshire councilās childrenās services was heralded āoutstandingā by Ofsted ā and became the first to achieve this accolade in every measure of its inspection. Its director of childrenās services, Stuart Carlton, shares with Community Care how the council has progressed ā highlighting the importance of practice quality beyond performance, … Continue reading Practice quality, not audit: a councilās journey to āoutstandingā
Emma Ing, Her Majestyās inspector and Ofstedās regional director for the East Midlands, asks:Ā what is safeguarding? Earlier this month, Ofsted inspectors, school leaders and local authority representatives gathered at the Leicester Racecourse and Conference Centre to discuss 'what is safeguarding?'. They heard first-hand from local and national safeguarding experts about a range of problems, from … Continue reading Safeguarding is about culture, not box-ticking | Ofsted blog
Ian ThomasĀ (formerly DCS at Rotherham, now Chief Executive at Lewisham) has called for positive action to addressĀ 'the worrying trend regards the low percentage of black, asian and minority ethnic (BAME) senior leaders in local government'. 'for decades, BAME colleagues have been under-represented at this level within the sector'. - Ian Thomas, writing in the Musical … Continue reading Workplace Diversity
Research in PracticeĀ have a range of great resources available via their website.Ā The resources are open access - free to use. Ā Topics covered include: Planning and reviewing contact for children during care proceedings and supporting contact once in placement Supporting birth relatives in understanding and maintaining contact for their children Supporting adopters to understand the importance … Continue reading Contact after adoption | Research in Practice
Ofsted Inspection of Brent children's social care services has praised the significant improvements in the quality of social work practice for children. The experiences and progress of children in care and care leavers in Brent is "outstanding". Senior leaders in Brent recognise and prioritise the needs of children and young people. They "focus their attention on the … Continue reading Ofsted finds Brent is Good for children!
Source: Department for EducationĀ Published: May 2018 The Department for Education (DfE) has provided updated guidance and issued new advice onĀ Sexual violence and sexual harassmentĀ between children in schools and colleges. It covers: what sexual violence and harassment is schoolsā and collegesā legal responsibilities a whole school or college approach to safeguarding and child protection how to … Continue reading Safeguarding Update: Sexual violence and sexual harassment
