What I believe to be one of the most exciting developments for social care has just been announced. The creation of a National Skills Academy for Social Care is a massive step forward in developing the skills of nearly 1.4 million social care workers. Finally there will be a “one stop shop” to enable employers, staff and service users to access information about learning and development opportunities.  

There is, however, one confusing element that will need to be clarified – how will the social care academy link with the plethora of initiatives underway in children’s services? These include the Remodelling Social Work Practice pilots, the Newly Qualified Social Worker schemes and the development of Leadership and Management programmes for the children’s workforce. One answer may be found in the new Social Work Development Partnership Board a collaborative approach between the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and Skills for Care (SfC) which aims to improve social work practice. 

What makes a good employer? A simple audit tool which reveals whether your employer demonstrates that staff really are the most important resource in the organisation.

Quality Assuring Training  - will the new quality marks and standards make a difference to the unregulated area of training provision?

The ALISON free on-line learning community continues to grow rapidly worldwide. Gain an on-line computer qualification. Find out more about the recently launched ABC programme. .

Recruitment Agencies unite to promote quality - is your agency signed up?

Stress busters - See things from a different angle

The remodelling social work delivery project was established by the Children’s Workforce Development Council /www.cwdcouncil.org.uk/ earlier this year. There are 11 pilot sites across England involved in the project and there are a number of different delivery options being explored. The Department for Children, Schools and Families wished to encourage innovation through the active engagement of the private and not for profit sectors in establishing new approaches to working with the most vulnerable children and their families.

The CWDC project runs until March 2011 with 11 local authorities from across the country developing a number of different delivery options. Each pilot will explore ways for social workers to look at new ways of organizing their working practices,  organize their staff teams more effectively; and look at how they can provide more ‘front line' contact with children and young people.

Log on at ALISON and prepare yourself for the 21st Century workplace today!.

ALISON free interactive on-line learning for the workplace continues to grow rapidly with the launch of the global IT Skills Certification. This free and self-certifiable IT skills training now available to everyone. The certification can be achieved via the study of highly-interactive multimedia courseware which is freely accessible for study by anyone once they are a registered learner with ALISON. 

Whether you are completely new to computers or possesses some basic computing skills, the ALISON ABC IT offers full citizenship of the ‘Digital World’. ABC stands for ALISON Basic Computing.

If you are responsible for managing learning or training within an organization. ALISON MANAGER is an excellent way to introduce staff to the benefits of eLearning.

ALISON MANAGER is a complete, secure, web-based monitoring and reporting system for tracking all of your learners' activity on the courses you have selected for them. This offers all of the benefits of a Learning Management System (LMS), but at a fraction of the costs usually associated with such systems. Find out more by emailing hhannant@alison.com quoting GB310627

 Round Two for Practitioner-Led Research 2008-09 - Integrated Working
 
Following the conclusion of the assessment process for Practitioner Led Research p (PLR) this year, the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) are able to offer practitioners the opportunity to take part in a second round of applications. This chance has arisen due to too few applications from research teams who fall within CWDC's footprint.
 
The closing date for the second round is Wednesday 3 September
 
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The Guardian are to be congratulated on their continuing series of public debates exploring issues of communication and connections between the state and it’s citizens. The format of presentations followed by questions and answers encourages lively discussion and debate and a range of , sometimes radical, perspectives.

Connecting to citizens in a consumer age.
Thursday September 25 2008, 6pm-9pm RIBA, Portland Place, London.
 
Special guest speaker Alexis Cleveland, the director general for transformational government at the Cabinet Office.

I attended the last debate which was both stimulating and challenging and I would recommend booking a place. How do we translate the vision behind words such as transformational, personalization and engagement into meaningful actions that will make a real difference to the quality of life we all experience? When using state services are we consumers, clients, customers or service users? Do we have different expectations of different public services especially if they are "free" at the point of delivery?

The evening is free to attend. To register your place please email gemma.dixon@guardian.co.uk  A word of advice, these events are booked out very quickly so, if you would like to attend book your place as soon as possible. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

There may not be any free lunches available but there is some really good news – you do not have to pay hundreds of pounds for software, if you know where to look. You can get it for a fraction of the cost or even free!

Did you know about the download sites and software library sites that are now available online? These are all legitimate websites and a source of great software which is either free or costs a nominal amount?

A very useful resource for small charities and individuals who do not have big IT budgets.

How do these sites work?
It is a new way of marketing products without spending large amounts of money. Computer programmers and small software companies  write good programmes and  upload them to the sites for anyone to use either free or at low cost. This enables them to become established and encourage sales of their more sophisticated programmes and products.

 What does it mean to be an advanced practitioner in social work and does this role include a professional responsibility for leadership? With the increasing focus on interprofessional and multi-disciplinary work in both adults and children’s services, comparisons will be drawn with allied professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers and psychologists. The new roles of Approved Mental Health Professional, Best Interest Assessor, Independent Mental Capacity Advocates and Responsible Clinician detailed in the Mental Capacity Act. 2005.offer challenges and opportunities for social workers to  contribute their specialist skills and knowledge in a wider range of settings.

The recent controversial comments made by Boris Johnson’s political adviser James McGrath, and his subsequent resignation, have brought the issue of language and what it really says about us back into the headlines.

This free event will explore our use of language, and what, if anything, we should and shouldn’t say. Is there such a thing as “political correctness” and has it gone too far? What is the role of religious sensitivities?

The debate will seek to explore how we get along as a nation, speak a common language and understand the difference between freedom of expression and deliberate and hurtful insult.

What is the greatest challenge confronting managers and leaders in the care sector? Possibly it is finding the time to attend management and leadership training at one of the numerous actual and "virtual" leadership academies established in recent years.