Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC)The Children’s Workforce Development Council was commissioned by the Department for Children Schools and Families to develop and implement a pilot programme for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs), during their first year of employment in children’s social care services.The pilot programme seeks to support the recruitment and retention of social workers, improve their quality through a structured programme of training and development, and promote and improve effective supervision. To support the development of NQSWs on the pilot, CWDC developed a set of 11 outcome statements and supporting guidance. The outcome statements were designed for implementation in a wide range of social work settings, building on the outcomes of the social work degree course. Each outcome is tailored to the needs of social workers employed in a children’s context and to provide a transparent set of expectations that can be used to underpin employers’ development systems. NQSWs are required to have met an agreed number of outcomes before completing the programme. In September 2008, Cambridge Education was appointed by CWDC to provide support to all employers participating in the pilot over a three year period. 144 Local Authorities and Voluntary sector organisations enrolled on the pilot with around 800 NQSWs participating in the programme. To meet the requirement to provide bespoke support to each employer, CE has assembled a team of nine Support Advisers. These are associate (non-permanent) staff contracted to CE and managed centrally to ensure consistent high quality service. Each support adviser is a qualified social worker with substantial and relevant experience in the sector. Each has a regional responsibility which enables the provision of: - a named support advisor for each employer, who can be contacted directly.
- visits to each participating employer at least three times per year to identify and offer advice on key challenges.
- advice on overcoming challenges to the implementation of the programme and on developing and sharing good practice.
- transfer of knowledge from other employers in the pilot.
Professional leadership of the Support Adviser team is provided by a senior social worker who has previously been Director responsible for the Children’s Social Services department in a large Local Authority and who works closely with the CE central support team based in Cambridge. Our central support team (Project Director, Project Manager and Project Coordinator) has the responsibility for managing the relationship with CWDC through regular monthly budget reviews, contract monitoring meetings, risk management, employer status reports and weekly reporting on issues affecting the delivery of the programme. The team also co-ordinates and quality assures the activities of the Support Advisers. For example, Support Advisers provide a written report of each of their visits, using an agreed template. The central team checks and approves these reports, before uploading them to the CWDC’s secure website. The quality of support visits is monitored by the Project Director who accompanies Support Advisers on selected visits throughout the delivery of the programme of support. To date the team has delivered 720 employer visits on time and to budget. This has enabled CWDC to ensure the pilot succeeds and leads directly to the required cultural change, including improved leadership of practice, for national implementation of NQSW status. Cambridge Education added value: - High Quality Support
- Promoting and improving effective supervision
- Providing bespoke services to overcome challenges.
To find out more
Contact the CWDC team, please call us on 01223 463780 or email us at info@camb-ed.com |