Cartoon of a lady with a pencil

Children's social care support and training

To assure flexibility and improved access we deliver the Learning and Development Offer through a combination of virtual and face to face methods.

It has been informed by the continuous improvement cycle set out in our Children’s Services Quality Assurance Framework.

This includes:

  • We use Signs of Safety as our practice model and offer ongoing training to our staff.
  • We have a strong links with local universities and an apprenticeship scheme.
  • We promote the learning from academic study within practice.
  • We are a member of the West Midlands Teaching partnership and contribute to their training and development programme.
  • Cheshire East Council is committed to developing the careers of its practitioners through learning and development opportunities, including vocational and academic routes.
  • We encourage social workers to demonstrate their professional progression within the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and the Knowledge and Skills Statements (KSS).
  • We are strengthening our focus on reflection and wellbeing time. We include reflective practice group supervision in addition to supervision with your manager, in line with our refreshed supervision policy.
  • We develop our practice and training plans in line with the national context of social work and evolving impact of the recent global pandemic.
  • We have close links with the ‘What Works Centre for Children’s Social Care’ to ensure that the latest findings of research are implemented into our practice and shared within our local authority.
  • The Principal Social Worker and the Lead Practitioner Team disseminate relevant learning to the service teams, supporting discussion within practice forums and unit meetings.
  • We support our ASYE ’s within their practice.
  • We have refreshed our training plan in terms of the generic support offered to ASYE ’s in addition to facilitating bespoke training to ASYE ’s within their own area of work.

Page last reviewed: 21 July 2022