UPDATE NO 198 03 June 2016

Audit Improvement Project

Kim Drake (DCS at Southampton) is the lead on a new SESLIP project designed to consider how we can work across the region to improve the quality of audit work. As part of this project Kim is looking to investigate the appetite for sharing best practice and the potential for peer auditing between authorities. 

As a starting point we are looking to identify a list of contacts to start the dialogue with. We are compiling lists of Quality Assurance/Audit Managers and Principal Social Workers. To help us build the contact list please can you advise who you would like to involve in the project and provide their contact details (name, job title, email address and phone number) to Richard Tyndall (contact details below).

Data Benchmarking – New Reports Available

This is a bumper week for new data benchmarking reports:

In the restricted reports section (password access available for data analyst members of the benchmarking group) the following reports are now available:

• (Restricted) Quarterly Benchmarking Report 2015-16 Q4 [Social Care] (PDF and Excel) – now on version 3 due to accommodating late data submissions
• (Restricted) Adoption Benchmarking Report 2015-16 Q4 (PDF and Excel)
• (Restricted) SEND Benchmarking Report March 2016 – please see Commentary Sheet for explanation of development issues

We welcome comments and feedback via the Data Benchmarking Group, or via Alastair Lee (contact details below), especially on the development of the SEND Data.

The next project will be the development of the Early Help data recommended in the recent report. Please can you check that we have the right contact for your Early Help lead.

Safeguarding Pressures Phase 5

Carole Brooks of ADCS has written

In case this has not reached your attention yet, ADCS are updating Safeguarding Pressures Research this year and will be sending a request to their members (DCSs) for information (some data and questions for Safeguarding ADs to answer).

SGP5 (as affectionately known) will be the same timeframes as before (ie late August)  to allow LAs time to submit returns. Sadly ADCS are not able to get data direct from DfE and the additional request on data teams is not one we make lightly. Whilst there are more data items included than before (e.g. UASCs and refugee families), they are hopefully ones that everyone will feel the benefit from knowing about – but we’ve batted some things back and excluded them as well as dropped other questions to try hard to keep it manageable again. Some LAs are going to be piloting it before sending out to make it as easy as possible for you.  The request for information, as always is voluntary but the more LAs that provide evidence, the greater the impact in providing robust evidence for policy makers and ADCS to use to support LAs.  

More information can be found here. Thank you all so much, Carole

Memorandum of Cooperation – Children’s Social Work Agency Event – 1st July 2016 10 to 12.30. Kingston upon Thames

Surrey County Council have very kindly agreed to host and introduce an event planned for agency providers who work with authorities across the region. The aim of the event is promote better knowledge and understanding of the MoC. It will also consider the potential for a collaborative approach to developing the MoC. Julie Fisher Deputy Chief Executive and DCS will be introducing the event.   

We need your help and support to promote the event, click here for a draft invitation which needs to be personalised to your authority and sent to the children’s social work agencies you work with.  With the invitation please also send the MoC which has list of signatory authorities contained within it.
We also need a couple of volunteers who understand the MoC and were involved in setting it up to assist on the day. If you would like to volunteer please contact Mark Evans (contact details below).

Children’s Workforce Virtual Network

Mark Evans is working with Rachael Wardell (DCS in West Berks and Lead for the SESLIP Workforce Project) to set up a monthly regional Children’s Workforce Virtual Network. The network will be based around a monthly 90-minute conference call that Rachael will chair. The initiative is based on a similar project that has been running very successfully in adult services for the last 18 months.  Participants in the Adult Workforce Network include Assistant Directors, Principal Social Workers and HR Officers, we anticipate a similar mix for the Children Network.  The Adult Virtual Workforce Network has been very effective, growing in size and helping to develop a number of collaborative projects.

The first meeting (teleconference) of the Children’s Workforce Virtual Network will be held on the 14th June 2.00-3.30. The agenda for first call will include: 

• Round up of workforce news and developments from across the region 
• Exploration of the Children and Social Work Bill (Accreditation, new regulatory body, fitness to practice and the potential for new delivery models for children’s services) see also Community Care’s 5 things a SW should know article    
• Regional Children’s Workforce websites – we will discuss the impact of Yorkshire and Humberside’s Social Work Matters website, hear how it was developed and consider if something similar could work in the South East 

In previous news letter we have asked you to nominate representatives to take part in the network, to date Bracknell, Hampshire/IoW, Milton Keynes, Oxfordshire, Kent, West Berks, West Sussex and Windsor and Maidenhead have identified reps. If your authority has yet to nominate someone and you would like to participate please  identify a representative and pass their name and contact details on to Mark Evans (contact details below). 

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Safeguarding Update from South East Grid for Learning

The Government has released revised statutory guidance to ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ which will become active from 5^th September 2016.

Annex C of the new guidance highlights the addition of ‘appropriate filtering and monitoring’ to protecting children within school. The UK Safer Internet Centre and SWGfL have recently published guidance for schools as to what “appropriate” might look like. The two documents can be found either through Annex C or via the front page of the SEGfL website.   

Prevent – New resource for schools

Prevent for Schools (P4S) is a resource that is aimed at providing schools (all phases) with support around Prevent. The site has recently been updated to reflect the recent revised Prevent Duty that schools need to understand and build into their safeguarding practices.  It contains activities based on themes to help teachers address the focus areas of Prevent as well as the latest government publications and requirements for schools.

Trust Me – The charity Childnet recently released a new resource to support teachers in exploring critical thinking online. It helps to start conversations with children and young people around extremism and extreme online content. There are materials for both primary and secondary.

Monday 11 July 2016

Exploring how flexible job design can drive the retention, recruitment and performance of social workers 

A partnership event from The Timewise Foundation, Skills for Care and the LGA.

Skills for Care London Office, 4th floor, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9LT
Registration 12:00, for a prompt 12:30 start. 15:45 Close

You are invited to a workshop to explore new ways of working in social work, specifically whether adapting to time, place and task based flexibility could improve the retention, recruitment and performance of experienced social workers.

You will hear the latest insights on developing new ways of working for social work that will improve the resilience and performance of this vital service.

Online booking here places are limited to two per organisation.

Topical Peer Challenge Round 9

Topical Peer Challenge Round 9 is now open. The detailed guidance is available here, and is largely unchanged from previous versions.

Portsmouth (topic: CSE) is confirmed for 28/29 November. The visiting DCS will be Alison Alexander (invitations to the rest of the visiting team are going out today).

Medway (topic: CIN) and Bracknell Forest (topic: LSCB) are now in planning

Windsor and Maidenhead (topic: Corporate Parenting) is now postponed. All enquiries to Richard Tyndall (contact details below).

Southampton have a commitment held over from Round 8 (Ofsted, staff changes and other impediments confounded our best laid plans). I look forward to hearing from colleagues and others about whether or not they wish to join Round 9.

Kent (topic: tba) have also indicated they wish to participate.

Please contact Richard Tyndall (details below) to register your interest

Leadership Development

We continue to offer our successful portfolio of Leadership Development Courses all of which have been positively evaluated by delegates.

This year we have added a new course recently piloted in Hampshire and IoW. The senior team attended a one-day Coaching to Improve Performance workshop to ensure the Directorate were fully conversant with the training undertaken by their three cohorts of managers on two-day programme and to develop their own coaching skills to use in their own performance management roles.

We are also offering LAs the opportunity to train their own trainers for all our courses. Our aim is to increase the capacity and capability across the region  to ensure future sustainability within LAs.

A new departure for us has been running these training courses for adult services and for schools so please contact Di Smith, details below, if this is of interest to you. 

All courses are run in-house in the LA who provides the venue. Each course is accompanied by a range of training resources for the delegates including a comprehensive handbook. The current courses on offer are as follows and details of each course and the costs for each can be found by downloading the April 2016 Leadership Development Prospectus. 

Coaching to Improve Performance

Embedding a Coaching Culture

Leading Change in Times of Austerity

Step Up to Leadership   

We can also arrange one-to-one coaching, especially to support newly appointed 2nd and 3rd tier managers

If you require further details or wish to book a course please get in touch with Di Smith (contact details below)