Leadership Development Programme Children s Social Work THEFRONTLINE.ORG.UK

Transcription

1 Leadership Development Programme Children s Social Work THEFRONTLINE.ORG.UK

2 FRONTLINE PARTICIPANTS ARE ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE CONTENTS 2 Dare to change with Frontline 37% of our first cohort were the first in their family to go to university Around half the years and cohort graduated the other half in the last graduated between and 2012 of Frontline 50% cohorts ARE CAREER CHANGERS I dared to change: Margaret s profile Your Frontline journey and beyond A day in the life: Laura s profile What subjects did they study? Over 100 different degree subjects, including Social Science Economics Law Humanities Art Natural Sciences Drama Politics Modern Languages Mathematics Religious Studies Psychology Music Zoology English Medicine CAREER PUBLIC CHANGERS have come from a variety of sectors, including CORPORATE NOT-FOR-PROFIT ANDTHE ARTS What s in it for you? I dared to change: Jordan s profile What we re looking for The selection process I dared to change: Andy s profile

3 DARE TO CHANGE ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT? THERE S NO CAREER LIKE SOCIAL WORK, AND NO OTHER PROGRAMME LIKE FRONTLINE. JOIN US AND MAKE REAL CHANGE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. THE PROFESSION As a social worker, you ll be joining one of the most challenging, but most rewarding, professions. You ll work directly with children, families, schools, courts and the police, to empower families to achieve positive change. THE PROGRAMME You ll help to transform the lives of vulnerable children by developing a range of invaluable skills including relationship-building, conflict resolution and leadership. Being a social worker on the programme takes resilience, dedication and qualities you didn t even know you had. THE MOVEMENT By 2020, there will be over 1000 Frontline alumni helping to shape the children s services social care sector, and building secure foundations for some of our most vulnerable people. Approximately 400,000 children in England get support from social workers. Almost a third of the homeless population were in care at some point in their lives. (Barnardo s 2016) 6 0 /0 of care leavers go to university compared to approximately 40 0 /0 of all young people. (UCAS 2015) Children in need in England are over 9 times more likely to be permanently excluded from school. (UK GOV 2015) 2 3

4 IT S UNPREDICTABLE, EXCITING AND ONE OF THE BEST THINGS YOU CAN DO Margaret, 2015 Cohort I DARED TO CHANGE In my final year at university, I looked at quite a range of different career options and graduate schemes, and social work wasn t even something I d considered. But when I saw Frontline, it sounded like no other graduate scheme. The opportunity to gain a postgraduate diploma, and a Masters while working full-time in a local authority was something that really interested me. Now I m on the programme and doing social work, it s really opened doors to me. I don t know any other career where you can work in such a collaborative way with a child and their family, and so many different organisations involved in a child s life. We re all working to achieve the common goal of ensuring the child s safety, and to make sure they re able to reach their full potential. I enjoy the unpredictability and variety of the job. I work across a lot of different settings, such as schools, community centres, families and foster carers homes and children s centres. I don t know what my day will involve, and that s exciting as well as challenging. Support comes in many forms on the programme. There s always someone in the team to talk to when times are hard and people who ll tell you when you ve done something well. I feel that I ve learnt so much more about myself and the strengths I hold. My most rewarding experience so far was when, after months of working with a family and tackling different issues, a mother told me how much she felt supported by having me in her life. That was a special moment. 4 25

5 YOUR JOURNEY FRONTLINE ONGOING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT We need resilient, motivated individuals who ll stay committed to our mission after completing the two-year programme. Whether you continue your social work career or use your leadership skills to make change in broader society, you ll have our ongoing support. AND BEYOND AFTER THE PROGRAMME BECOME A FELLOW LOCATIONS: JOINING US ON THE 2017 PROGRAMME, YOU COULD BE WORKING IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS: Greater London and South East North West West Midlands North East The Frontline team will place you in a local authority within one of these regions. All of the regions offer excellent training, development, support and the chance to make a real impact on children and their families lives. Participants will need to display a degree of flexibility. SUMMER INSTITUTE*: INTENSIVE FIVE-WEEK RESIDENTIAL PROGRAMME Get ready for practice in a local authority, as experienced social workers, world-renowned academics and leadership experts help you develop the qualities needed to bring about change. YEAR 1: INCLUDING OVER 200 DAYS OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, AND 50 TAUGHT STUDY DAYS You ll work in a local authority child protection team with three other Frontline participants who make up your unit. Supported and led by a Consultant Social Worker (CSW), with regular visits from your practice tutor, you ll work to gain a Postgraduate Diploma by the end of this first year. YEAR 2: MASTERS DEGREE, COACHING AND MANAGING YOUR OWN WORKLOAD You ll be a newly-qualified social worker employed in Children s Services by your local authority, and supported to be responsible for your own caseload. Continuing professional development opportunities include coaching to develop your social work leadership skills and fully-funded study to gain a Masters degree qualification. Once you ve completed the full two years of the Leadership Development Programme, you ll become part of a network of individuals with a shared experience of the Frontline programme, and who apply themselves to addressing social disadvantage. There will be specific activity in the following areas: PRACTICE ZONE activities to help you develop your practice skills and work towards progressing in your practice-related career. POLICY ZONE activities to support you in having an influence over national policy. INNOVATION ZONE activities and resources to support you in developing an idea or project that transforms the lives of vulnerable children. CAREERS IN SOCIAL WORK Continue in frontline Child Protection social work. Management or leadership roles within social work teams (such as becoming a CSW working with Frontline). Senior management roles. Social work specialisms beyond Child Protection (such as Youth Offending). CAREERS BEYOND SOCIAL WORK Policy making in government. Private or public sector consultancy. Set up your own social enterprise. Systemic Practitioner/ Family Therapist routes. Voluntary sector. Work internationally. *The sensitive nature of our programme dictates that you must pass certain checks before the end of the Summer Institute in July. We take on final year students who must supply their degree classification prior to the Summer Institute. 7

6 IT S ABOUT WAKING UP AND WANTING TO GO TO WORK Laura, 2015 Cohort A DAY IN THE LIFE Describing a typical day is pretty much impossible. It sounds like a cliché but really, no two days are the same in social work. I normally like to get in early, to catch up on any reports or s. We get regular s from our practice tutor, so it s impossible not to feel supported. Generally, in the morning, I ll have a visit to a family at their home. Then I ll come back and write the visit up. Later there could be a meeting at a school, or at the local authority offices. Day-to-day we re managed by a Consultant Social Worker, who not only teaches us how to do things, but is the first person to spot if something has upset us. Social work can put you in some quite vulnerable situations, and as a professional you can t show how something has touched you at the time. It s important to have someone to talk to about it afterwards. On some days I ll have three visits, and I never really know what I m going to find. Sometimes you ll think it s going to be a routine visit, and then suddenly a child may open up to you and you need to take more time. Then you re-plan the rest of your day. You have to maintain a degree of flexibility. It s really important to take time to find the best way to build a relationship with a child, to help them feel they can trust and open up to you. So as part of that, I ve spent time with children building dens, playing dragons and colouring. Then later I ll be in a meeting with other professionals, talking about some very serious concerns, and have felt tip pen on my fingers! The challenges you face daily as a trainee social worker can be quite different to any other role. Even early on in your training you have a lot of responsibility, and have high level conversations with people in a variety of settings. We work with so many different organisations, I don t think you realise how many people there are working to safeguard children until you go into social work. As time goes on, and I see all the families who ve moved on and all the children that we think are safer now, I can go home and think, I did a good day at work today. 8 9

7 WHAT S IN IT FOR YOU? 2016 Cohort, Summer Institute EARN AS YOU LEARN YEAR 1 tuition fees and Summer Institute accommodation will be covered by Frontline. In your first year you will receive a tax and NI exempt bursary. Inner London: Bursary of 19,207 Outer London: Bursary of 18,181 North East, North West or West Midlands: Bursary of 16,428 YEAR 2 Earn newly qualified social worker salary, of around 30k depending on local authority and location. An opportunity to complete a fully-funded Masters degree. HIGH LEVELS OF SUPPORT Receive support from experts your Consultant Social Worker, Practice Tutors, Qualified Coach and Frontline Programme Team. QUALIFY AS A PROFESSIONAL Qualify as a Social Worker after your first year and register with the Health and Care Professions Council. MAKE A DIFFERENCE DEVELOP AS A LEADER RECEIVE TRAINING WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A VARIETY OF ORGANISATIONS In the second year of the programme you ll work with a wider network of professionals outside of your unit to bring about positive change in the lives of vulnerable children and families. FRONTLINE FELLOWSHIP NETWORK THE BENEFITS Keep in contact with your cohort and other Frontline Fellows. Invitations to Frontline events, including Leadership Seminars and conferences. Professional development opportunities. Ongoing support for your work contributing to transforming the lives of vulnerable children. WORK AS PART OF A DYNAMIC TEAM In the first year of the programme, work on cases with your peers led by your Consultant Social Worker

8 IT S NO WALK IN THE PARK BUT IT S MORE THAN WORTH IT I DARED TO CHANGE Social work is a mentally and emotionally demanding career. You have to be prepared for some stressful days, difficult conversations and tears. But it s more than worth it. When a family lets you into their life and they tell you, I ve never seen it like that or I couldn t have got through this without you, you feel that you re making a direct difference to a child s future. There s nothing greater than that. Jordan, 2015 Cohort I was drawn to social work through my degree. I studied sociology, so having those conversations around social injustice and the insight I gained compelled me to work to help people. Being a trainee social worker on the Frontline programme, I definitely feel like I m part of a positive movement to change social work and I m thankful to be part of it. There are lots of reasons why I chose Frontline. It s a new programme, with a strong mission. It wants to get out there and do something differently within an area that I m interested in. And from what I read before I joined, it s having a positive effect. I needed to relocate to join the programme, and the support that Frontline offers made it possible for me to do that. All of the support we get on the programme is fantastic. We get academic support from our practice tutor and a lot of supervision from our Consultant Social Worker, who helps us to put the theory into practice. If anyone s trying to decide whether to join Frontline and become a social worker, I d say just do it. But know exactly why you re doing it. Do it because you re passionate about it, and because you really want to make a difference to children and their families

9 WHAT WE RE LOOKING FOR THE SELECTION PROCESS COMPETENCIES We re looking for your potential to become an outstanding children s social worker, and will be exploring the evidence of your ability through the following competencies: COMMITMENT TO CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Motivation Self-awareness Resilience WORKING WITH PEOPLE Effective communication Empathy and relationships LEADING WITH SOUND JUDGEMENT Analysis and adaptability Leadership STAGE 1 SELF-ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY Designed to give you further insight into social work, this will help you decide whether this is the right career path for you. STAGE 2 REGISTRATION + APPLICATION FORM Answering competency-based questions you ll need to demonstrate your commitment to the Frontline mission, and your experience of working well with You can find more detailed information about the selection process on our website: STAGE 3 ONLINE TESTS If your application passes through our first round of screening, we ll ask you to complete two online tests: Verbal reasoning assessing your ability to use logic to solve complex problems. Situational judgement assessing your aptitude for social work, by asking you to respond to some realistic scenarios. APPLY AT THEFRONTLINE.ORG.UK To be eligible for our programme you ll need to have all of the following: A 2:1 or higher in your first undergraduate degree (predicted or obtained). Applicants typically have at least 300 UCAS points in their top 3 A-levels (BBB) or equivalent (excluding General Studies and any additional AS-Levels).* At least grade C in GCSE English and Maths or equivalent. Your application must also demonstrate competence in IT as well as spoken and written English. Unfortunately we re unable to accommodate those already studying towards a social work qualification or who are already qualified. *Applicants with less than 300 UCAS points will be considered if they have met the other criteria. These applicants will need to be outstanding, achieving the highest standards in screening during the application process. We will not accept any applications from those with less than 240 UCAS points, CCC (or BCD). STAGE 6 INDUCTION + FINAL CHECKS If you successfully complete the assessment process you ll receive a conditional offer for the Frontline programme, subject to security and health checks to ensure you re fit to practice. STAGE 5 ASSESSMENT CENTRE A group exercise, role play and other activities, including meeting a care leaver, give you the chance to experience real social work situations. It s an opportunity to establish whether this is the right career path for you and if you re a good fit for Frontline. STAGE 4 VIDEO INTERVIEW Recording your responses to pre-recorded questions (at home in your own time), you ll showcase both your motivation for working with children and families, and your communication skills

10 MAKING CHILDREN S LIVES BETTER, THIS IS THE FUTURE I WANT I DARED TO CHANGE Before I joined Frontline, I was a science teacher. One day, when I had to break up a fight between two pupils a 14 year old homeless boy and a pregnant girl I realised I was trying to tackle their behaviour without dealing with the root cause of the problem. To really help children like them, I needed to be working in their homes alongside them and their parents. I needed to be a social worker. Andy, 2015 Cohort When I was thinking about changing career, what helped me was thinking longer term about where I wanted to be, and what I wanted to help other people achieve and I knew that Frontline was the way for me to do that. As a social worker, you need to put yourself in other people s shoes, to communicate with different people and get your message across, which is what you need to be a good leader. In a leadership role, whatever you re doing, you re always trying to bring about change in something, or lead a team to achieve a new vision, which is what you re doing as a social worker with families. So when you re learning to be a social worker, you re learning to be a leader too. There s a real mix of people on the programme. There are some who ve known they wanted to be a social worker for quite a long time, and there are more people like me, who hadn t ever really considered social work, and then saw Frontline as an opportunity to make real change. Everyone has a different story, but we all share a passion for helping vulnerable children and families. We re all here for the same reason

11 Jenny, care leaver THE FRONTLINE @FrontlineSW frontline-org