UPDATE NO 431 27 November 2020

Social Work England – Deadline for CPD Registration ***MONDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2020***

It is a legal requirement that social workers in England renew their registration to continue to use the protected title of ‘social worker’. The requirement to renew registration is set out in our legislation, and regulation 13 of The Social Worker Regulations 2018, and Part 7 of the Social Work England (Registration) Rules 2019. Registration renewal must be completed between 1 September and MONDAY 30 NOVEMBER 2020 or social workers run the risk of being removed from the register. Those with an open fitness to practise case still need to apply to renew their registration.

Here are resources on the Social Work England website to assist with the process:

Renew your registration and How to record CPD You Tube clips

Renewal FAQs

Top tips for recording CPD

Blog on recording CPD while on maternity/paternity leave

PHE COVID-19: mental health and wellbeing surveillance report

There are sections on 

• COVID-19 impact on children and young people’s mental health; 
• Suicidal thoughts and self-harm
• Reported symptoms of mental ill health
• Changes in reported symptoms over the period of lockdown
• How mental health and wellbeing may vary by characteristics
• Experiences, risk and protective factors associated with coronavirus (COVID-19) and mental health outcomes
• Weekly tracking data – Adults who live with children and young people
• Remote services – children and young people

The children who no-one knows what to do with – Children’s Commissioner Report

“The children who no-one knows what to do with” explains the failure of local and national government to take responsibility for these children, and sets out what action is needed by government – both local and national – to fix this broken system.

“Ideally, no child should grow up in an institution.

“Yet there are 6,570 children currently growing up in children’s homes in England.

“These children are here for a number of reasons – normally because their needs are so complex that it is not considered possible to meet them within a family home environment.

“Occasionally older children request to be in a children’s home because they do not feel like they want a “new family”, as they see foster care.

“Often, children are put in children’s homes because of a lack of suitable alternatives.

“In 2017/18, £1.25bn was spent on providing these homes – an average cost of just under £200,000 per child per year.”

The report summarises the findings of three years of work by the Children’s Commissioner’s Office and provides context for two further reports the Commissioner is publishing today (‘Private provision in children’s social care’ and ‘Stability index 2020’).

Anne Longfield: My vision for a better care system

On Tuesday, 24 November the Children’s Commissioner, Anne Longfield OBE, presented a speech online where she reflected on what she has learnt from children and young people in the 6 years she has been Commissioner, and how they have felt about the care and support they have received.

Drawing on new research conducted by her office and stories shared with the Commissioner, including through the CCO helpline, the keynote laid bare the flaws in the social care system and outlined the ways it must change to become more ambitious for children.

Anne was joined by Lemn Sissay MBE, a BAFTA nominated international prize-winning writer and a passionate advocate for reform within the care system and Sophia, a care leaver and coordinator for our IMO project. We would like to say a massive thank you as well to the five children in care; Alicia, Azizah, Luke, Sophie and Tamara who took part in a panel discussion, answered questions from the audience and shared their experiences.

Below is the full speech given by Anne Longfield. The whole event can be watched back online on YouTube, and you can find the slides here, and an overview of our consultation with care-experienced children and young people about the care review here.

Nuffield Foundation: Introducing the changing face of early childhood series

In this introduction, NF provides the context for their Changing face of early childhood in the UK series and a summary of the research projects funded by the Foundation that underpin it. 

The series aims to answer these six questions

• What does research tell us about how effective key early childhood policies have been?
• What are the implications of current changes, including the impact of COVID-19, on young children’s lives now and for the future?
• Are young children’s lives improving? Are they better prepared for schools Are they happier and healthier?
• What developments have been positive and should be built upon?
• What don’t we know and where are the gaps in data and research?
• What needs to change in order to improve the lives of young children?

Future dates for network meetings

AD Safeguarding: Friday 11 December 2020 –  for more information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: Wednesday 9 December. Following the recent meeting of the network, new confidential documents have been posted on the QA restricted pages – access to these pages and more information from Diane Williamson (contact details below)

Fostering Network: 10.30am Thursday 28 January. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: more information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: Thursday 10 December 2020. More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 27 November 2020 – 10.00am to 12.00noon – more information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: Tuesday 19 January 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

Children Missing Education – LGA Report

On 16 November, LGA published Children missing education. 

“Drawing on evidence provided by local authorities, school leaders and parents we try to understand who the children are who are missing out on a formal full time education, how many children fit this description, what evidence there is for the long-term impact of children missing education and how local and national government might work together to address this issue.”

The report recommends a wider, statutory definition of CME, strengthening EHE legislation and increased funding so LAs can fulfil responsibilities better.

The full report is available here

Changes to statutory induction for teachers during national roll-out (formerly NQT)

This page provides further detail on the intended changes to statutory induction for teachers to take place from September 2021. These changes will ensure that all early career teachers undergoing induction are entitled to a 2-year training and support programme underpinned by the early career framework.

There is no action for schools to take at this time. Further information and guidance to help schools prepare for national roll-out of the early career framework reforms is planned to be published in spring 2021.

Fostering in England 2019 to 2020: main findings

Ofsted have published Fostering in England 2019 to 2020: main findings covering 

• the numbers of foster carers and foster places and placements, in both local authority (LA) and independent fostering agencies (IFA)
• data relating to types of foster care, registrations, de-registrations and a range of other subjects

• Net capacity increased in IFAs, but decreased in LAs. 
• As at 31 March 2020, we estimate that there has been a 3% increase in the number of filled fostering places, and a 13% decrease in the number of vacant places.
• The majority of foster carers in England are over the age of 50, and 25% were over 60.
• Around half of IFA fostering households are registered with agencies owned by just 6 ‘top companies’.

Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme: insights and evaluation

The DfE has published Children’s Social Care Innovation Programme: insights and evaluation Evaluation and summary reports for the CSCIP grouped by theme. The CSCIP was launched in 2014 to test and share effective ways of supporting vulnerable children and young people who need help from children’s social care services. The programme has supported 98 projects through £200 million of investment.

There is a full list of projects that includes name, location, summary and funding amount.

The programmes and themes covered are:

1. Adolescents facing complex risks
2. Alternative delivery and finance models
3. Care leavers and staying close
4. Child sexual exploitation or abuse
5. Edge of care and children in need
6. Female genital mutilation (FGM)
7. Fostering and adoption
8. Looked after children
9. Young people’s mental health
10. Support for parents facing complex risks
11. Residential care
12. Social work systems and practice
13. Young people with disabilities

Children Missing Education – LGA Report

On 16 November, LGA published Children missing education. 

“Drawing on evidence provided by local authorities, school leaders and parents we try to understand who the children are who are missing out on a formal full time education, how many children fit this description, what evidence there is for the long-term impact of children missing education and how local and national government might work together to address this issue.”

The report recommends a wider, statutory definition of CME, strengthening EHE legislation and increased funding so LAs can fulfil responsibilities better.

The full report is available here