A new academy devoted to the professional development of social workers supporting children and families illustrates the commitment Wiltshire council has made to those working with its youngest – and most vulnerable – service users. “Having an academy, to me, means that Wiltshire sees itself as a learning organisation that is taking social work really seriously,” says social worker Sharon Pemberton. “It makes me feel absolutely valued as a social worker and valued as somebody who wants to progress their career.”
From apprentices to newly qualified graduates to advanced practitioners, the Wiltshire social care academy gives social workers and care support staff access to tailored learning and development programmes. Launched in March 2018, the academy is led by the council’s principal social worker and head of quality assurance, Claudia Megele, who is responsible for its overall strategy, and is supported by a team of learning and development officers and specialist consultants within HR & OD.
The academy is just one part of the council’s commitment to ensuring that practitioners in Wiltshire receive the right training and support for their practice and professional development, to allow them to offer the best service to children and young people and their families and carers.
“At Wiltshire council we are ambitious about achieving more for children, young people and their families, as well as our staff, and therefore we are investing in the Wiltshire social care academy,” says Lucy Townsend, director of families and children’s services.
The academy hosts a number of innovation projects that bring together best practice and academic leadership in a dynamic environment, to support learning and development opportunities for staff.
What sets Wiltshire’s academy apart from those developed by other councils to support their social care workforce? Megele highlights the “Care” framework – “context, action, re-think and empower – which is at the heart of both social care practice and the academy in Wiltshire. Co-produced by Megele and other practitioners and managers, the Care framework builds on her research and publications in this area.
“Wiltshire has combined the best of a range of evidence-based practices – from motivational interviews to solution-focused and narrative approaches – to create its own psychosocial and relationship based practice framework,” she says. “And although there are several relationship based practice models, there are very few practice frameworks.”
Wiltshire is using the academy to train a network of practice leaders, with two in each team who offer peer support and mentorship to team members. Practice leaders conduct fortnightly reflective practice forums and case-mapping to discuss and unpack complex cases so that “critical conversations take place”, Megele says. “This offers a regular space for reflection and sharing of experiences and a collective learning opportunity. As a learning organisation, the themes and messages coming out of these meetings and forums together with learnings from audits go back to inform the academy’s learning and development programmes.”
The academy has also created its own in-house course to train practice educators, who are then qualified to supervise and assess student social workers. A career-progression panel has been established alongside, to advise social workers on the next steps in their career development.
Pemberton joined Wiltshire as a newly qualified social worker in 2014, and is now working as an aspiring manager – a role that supports one social work student and four newly qualified social workers. She hopes the academy will develop her management skills and already has plans to complete a diploma accredited by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
Practice educator and child protection adviser Michael Graham says that the creation of the academy marks Wilshire as “a forward thinking authority”, nurturing social workers throughout their careers. “It shows the council’s ambition for the progression and attainment of staff and sets Wiltshire up as an authority that wants to improve and build a resilient workforce,” he says. “Although academies may be available in other authorities, they haven’t been done in such a structured way and it’s nice to see the value Wiltshire has put on it.”
Graham, like Pemberton, will be looking to the academy for the specific training he needs to hone his management skills. “I am at a point in my career where I want leadership training and mentoring,” he says. “And the academy will give me clear support for my own progression.”
Townsend agrees that the academy is the exactly the kind of supportive environment that staff need to feel empowered to provide the best support for children and families alongside their own professional development. “Wiltshire council is establishing this academy so that we can nurture and support the development of our staff. We appreciate the importance of co-production and the value of everyone’s contribution; developing our own relationship-based practice and growing a learning culture will be key to our success.”
To find more information on opportunities at Wiltshire Council please visit our careers website: http://jobs.wiltshire.gov.uk/childrens-social-care/
