Key management messages
Dear colleague
In this month’s bulletin we update you on the Ofsted Improvement Programme as work continues to attract new
staff and retain current employees. The ASYE recruitment has resulted in 15 new
starters with a further 14 due on 29 September, also included within the update:learning from audits; visible leadership; locality meetings; Police news; and CAMHS.
Peer Review update
We've commissioned a Peer Review from the Local Government
Association to provide an independent assessment of our safeguarding services.
The review team will be headed by Andrew Ireland (Corporate Director, Social
Care, Health and Wellbeing at Kent County Council), and will be on site with us
for a week from Monday 13 – Friday 17
October 2014. Please refer to the draft timetable, audit work and preparations you may be involved in.
Update from Children’s Safeguarding
Improvement Board (CIB)
This month Professor Ray Jones, independent Chair noted:
* the arrival of the newly qualifying social workers working within newly established teams
* prospects of a more resilient children’s mental health service over the next 12 months
* an Ofsted inspection likely over coming months
Read more in the September CIB update
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 Takeover Day... young people coming to work with us soon
Takeover Day, Friday 21 November, gives children and young people the chance to
work with adults for the day and be involved in decision-making.
We want to
make our ‘Takeover Day’
one in which young people get to make a practical difference and influence
outcomes which support the Children’s Improvement Plan and wider voice of the
child work
Our Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) endorse the
proposed activity and look forward to meeting:
- children in care and care
leavers
- Devon members of UK Youth
Parliament
We hope this will help break down barriers between
generations and encourage children's active involvement in their communities.
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HR update - Manager
Briefing:
Providing a monthly update on performance, workforce development and recruitment activity to share with social work teams, we cover professional practice, social worker recruitment and ASYE induction.
Don't forget HCPC registration is now open!
The HCPC webpage has some useful online resources and information including on how to renew your regsitration.
 Finding it hard to keep in contact?
Then you need... ICT Contact Tools - user guidance
Workshops carried out
with children’s social work staff as part of the LEAN review identified
problems across teams in making contact with other members of staff by phone or
email. To help you, information has
been consolidated into a user guide
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 Making it easier to contact children’s social work by telephone - 0345 155 1078
Improvements have been made to the way you are able to contact our children’s social work teams by telephone.
Several telephone numbers will be phased out over the next few months. Find out more.
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Resources and training opportunities
 Are you signed up to Research in
Practice (RiP)?
Devon County Council has corporate membership to RiP. In
the coming month we are going to get everyone in Children’s Social Care and
Child Protection automatically signed up – so look out for your login
details. If you are already a member, don’t worry, nothing will change.
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 And remember...
Applications for secondary school transfer is open until 31 October
If you work with our children in care (11 year olds), who started their year 6 in primary school this September, they will need to have places allocated for secondary school in September 2015. Children in care receive the highest priority but it
is still essential that an application is made before the closing date.
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