Seth Harris-White gave up his career as a music teacher to train as a social worker with Coventry city council because he wanted to change children’s lives. “I wanted to make a difference, and be able to see those changes being made,” he says. “I wasn’t under any illusion – both my parents are social workers and I knew it would be challenging.”
Today, nearly eight years on, Harris-White – who has moved up through the ranks from trainee social worker to become a team manager – has no regrets about the change of direction he took, or his decision to develop a career at Coventry city council. “I enjoy the work that I do,” he says. “And I think I have been given the opportunity to develop – I feel valued and part of something that is good.”
His comments reflect the success Coventry is having in creating a high-quality workforce in children’s services, generating a strong professional culture. Its commitment to training and development was recognised by Ofsted inspectors last year when they acknowledged its focus on “the continuing development and education of staff”, including coaching for team managers and an early professional development programme for social workers in their second year post-qualifying. Those who are just qualified are also given bespoke mentoring and training from the new social worker academy, which got off the ground last September.
There is support at every step of the career ladder, according to Harris-White. “I’ve had specific training in domestic violence and child neglect and I’ve recently undergone some management training, because moving from being a social worker to a manager was a big step,” he says.
Social workers themselves are also able to identify gaps in skills through social worker practice improvement forums. “We know our strengths, but it’s also important to recognise where work needs to be done,” he says – and reflective practice is also key. “There’s no such thing as a stupid question; we are encouraged to pick things apart and be open about that, and that’s really important.”
Coventry children’s services prides itself in putting the child’s needs at the centre of professional practice. Social workers follow the Signs of Safety model of working, which, significantly, recognises the existing strengths in the family to help improve outcomes for children.
“The model allows us to bring the issues to the forefront, it’s easier to engage with the families. We talk a lot about what the parents’ actions mean for their child. It is real family-based work,” Harris-White explains. “Everything comes back to being really clear about what difference it makes to that child’s life. That’s always at the front of my mind and it’s always reinforced.”
The council is also committed to listening to the voice of its looked-after children. Its Voices of Care Council is made up of representatives of children in the care system and care leavers, and has the power to influence council decisions about services that affect them. Ofsted inspectors last year acknowledged that the initiative “positively influences service response and design”. Members of the Voices of Care Council also sit on social worker recruitment panels. “It makes perfect sense because they are the people who are going to be spending time with the children,” says Harris-White.
Last year’s Ofsted inspection report paid tribute to the “intense focus” the senior leaders and councillors had shown in the previous 12 months to improve the quality of children’s social care. Inspectors ranked the experience and progress of Coventry care leavers as “good”, while other services required improvement. They recognised the progress made in recruiting and retaining social workers, which created a more stable workforce. Agency staff use has reduced “significantly”. Harris-White confirmed this, revealing that in the past around 65% of the 30-strong social work team were agency staff. Today, only three are agency recruits. “That level of stability has direct benefits for the families we work with. If you have consistency, it means that the family and child will have a single social worker and the [care] plan keeps moving in the right direction, and you can effect change more quickly.”
He says that staff retention has also improved because there is a clear career pathway to follow: “I think the academy has brought more intensive support for newly qualified social workers and a progression panel now means they can move up the pay scale after 18 months in post.”
Harris-White recognises he has been on a journey with Coventry as it strives to transform its children’s services, with the aim of achieving a “good” Ofsted ranking.
“I think I can speak with some confidence, having been here for a while – I can see the difference in the practice and the training,” he says. “I came to Coventry because I wanted to work in frontline social work, and people used to say if you aren’t in the front line you aren’t a real social worker. I scoffed at that at the time. But the opportunities here just present themselves week in week out – and I don’t have any plans to go anywhere else.”
Find out more about social work opportunities in Coventry
