Roundup: Social Work

The Prime Minister announced yesterday that it would be rolling out the Troubled Families programme across the country, to help more vulnerable families. The government have also committed themselves to long term funding for a proposed centre of expertise, which will aim to address and tackle child sexual abuse. The benefits of delivering action services early on have also been discussed in a new report by Action for Children.

These developments come as The College of Social Work (TCSW) closes its doors due to lack of funding from the Government. The membership charity was established following the 'Baby P' case, to become a beacon of best practice for social workers. Useful resources and advice can still be found on the TCSW website, particularly for those wanting to become a social worker and there are a number of best practice case studies also available.

Meanwhile, a number of charities have criticised the government for continuing to outsource children’s social care as Ofsted this week ceased regulation of third-party providers. In March, The Deregulation Act 2015, became law, stating that providers no longer have to register with Ofsted before taking on local authority contracts. Previously, these providers would have had to meet a number of requirements set out by Ofsted including vetting checks, interviews and a visit to the proposed premises. At the moment, there are five independent providers commissioned to provide social care services, but numbers are expected to grow.

Ofsted: Examples of Best Practice

For Ofsted examples in best practice, head toward the Government website, which has several dedicated pages showcasing excellence in education. Each page covers a different area - early years, schools, further education and skills and initial teacher education; the case studies have been organised into sub-sections, for example, the further education and skills page covers adult education, employability, improving outcomes as well as various subject areas.

Basildon: A Model for Educational Excellence

In just two years, several failing schools in Basildon have turned the tables, receiving 'good' or 'outstanding' Ofsted ratings in 2013. Other schools have improved and by next year, headteachers across the town are confident all their schools will be rated “good” or “outstanding”.

There have been several contributing factors to these achievements: successful schools have agreed to step in and  help out struggling neighbours immediately if needed; all schools, academies and local authority-maintained schools, have signed up for the town’s excellence panel; the town’s teaching school, Lee Chapel, sees its role as training new recruits for every primary school in the town - not just its own; successful heads act as mentors to newly-appointed ones.

Now Basildon's pioneering model could be adopted by schools across the rest of the country. Plans are already underway to extend the scheme to other counties and possibly, extending the blueprint to secondary schools too.