Hull aspires to be the best place to practice social work and to make a positive difference to the lives of Children, Young People and their families.
We recognised that to achieve this we needed to bring together all the learning and development opportunities for social workers prior and post their qualification, so we have developed the Hull Social Work Academy.
We recognise that our workforce is our most valuable resource, and we need to achieve ambitious standards of practice for children, young people and families.
This supports our overall vision of more children living safely at home within their families, wherever possible.
We know it is crucial for our social workers to have continuous professional development. The Academy framework is to support all learners to inform and inspire social workers in their continued professional development.
The team within the Academy will wrap around the workforce to provide nurturing, enjoyable and innovative ways of learning.
The Academy has many strands of support
Roll out of initial social work training
If you’re a student the Academy will oversee your placements and training.
We have continued to develop our relationships with local universities, and we input directly into the recruitment of students and teaching of programme content within the universities, along with our colleagues in adults’ social care.
The Academy supports the Step-Up programme and the Social Work apprenticeship.
Early careers framework for newly qualified social workers (NQSWs) in their assessed and supported year (ASYE)
We have proactively further developed our Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) offer in the past year which is supported by new guidance setting out clear expectations within a more protected environment.
This includes a clear induction programme, learning pathway and a caseload promise.
One of our colleagues won the national NQSW of the year award in 2021.
Professional qualifications
There are a number of professional qualifications which staff in the children’s workforce can undertake. Some of which do not require a social work qualification but are considered critical and in some roles mandatory.
Other qualifications support a broader partnership approach.
We have two Professional Development Assessors working from our City and Guilds assessment centre, who support vocational awards at levels 3, 4 and 5.
Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
Hull City Council has an ‘in house’ learning and development team, consisting of 8 specialist trainers and 2 trainers from the safeguarding partnership.
Ofsted recently graded this as Good. Training is blended, facilitated through e-learning to taught classroom or virtual sessions.
There is a broad range of ‘In house’ training courses, such as Safeguarding Children on introductory, targeted and specialist, in addition to commissioned training and this will be aligned to the Academy team.
Leadership and Management
Is key to leading the practice system and creating the conditions for excellent practice.
As part of the Practice Learning Programme described above with Research in Practice, 3 additional learning and development modules have also been commissioned and delivered to managers - Developing Effective Leadership, Reflective Supervision and Developing Emotionally Resilient Teams.
This year, several social work managers have completed the Association of Directors of Children's Services Ltd ADCS Aspirant Leaders programme and others have completed the Practice Supervisors Development Programme facilitated by Research in Practice sponsored by the Department for Education.
Hull are now developing their own Aspirant Leadership course, and this will link with the strong commitment to ‘growing our own’.
We are determined to put in place the right support and learning environment which will help to develop strong, passionate and resilient social workers committed to making a difference for children in Hull.
Practice Standards
These practice standards have been set out to give everyone working and delivering children’s services a consistent set of core values and standards by which to work to, which will be measured by the quality of service we provide to children and families in Hull.
As a nationally, and internationally, recognised practice model, used successfully by many local authorities, Signs of Safety was selected as Hull’s model.
There are a number of resources and tools on Signs of Safety.
All practitioners who work for us have an account for the knowledge bank and lots more information can be found there.
Contact
If you require any further information, contact us via -
- telephone - 615 678 or 616 051
- email - Socialworkacademy@hullcc.gov.uk