Social

The Greater Lancashire region already had a strong partnership but the appointment of the Project Manager has helped to make more valuable links with other partners to build upon the existing relationships. One of note is that with Lancashire Constabulary who are now at the final stages of becoming formal partners in the GLTP. The Project Manager built upon her network of police colleagues and this has ensured that even without a formal arrangement in place at this time, social workers have been invited to attend free training (HYDRA suite simulated 47 training, working alongside the police on a mock case). The attendees took on different roles throughout the training providing all with an understanding of the different roles and how Police and Social Workers can support each other. The feedback on the day from the two cohorts in receipt of this training (both social workers and police officers) was positive and there are two more cohorts planned for this year. This is an excellent example of partnership working across Greater Lancashire and a longitudinal analysis of the impact of this will be undertaken by one of the Practice Development Workers.  

Governance arrangements 

At the start of the Greater Lancashire Teaching Partnership, the set up of the project required significant initial input from all partners. The region already had established relationships and good joint working arrangements and everyone worked hard through the various challenges. This included recruitment to posts in different agencies using different HR processes, funding allocations etc. As a partnership, we agreed to allocate the resources to fund key posts to ensure that we had the capacity to deliver on targets, build on good practice and further develop critical workforce planning and social work development across the region. 

Key objectives:

· Agree and put in place a robust governance structure to oversee all project workstreams 

· Negotiate funding allocations and achievable outcomes within a revised, reduced allocation 

· Agree sub groups, terms of reference, membership and dates for meetings 

· Recruit experienced workers at the appropriate levels to undertake the required roles in the given time

· Agree management reporting requirements in agencies working within different operational arrangements 

· Identify project expectations, consistency and differences 

· Establish working structures with a view to future sustainability 

· Create a robust implantation plan reporting system to enable reporting back on outcomes 

The group set up a clear framework of steering and sub groups to meet at agreed timescales. Partners committed to attending meetings and involvement in planning. The make up of the groups included the most appropriate representatives from all agencies at various levels to ensure joins with existing practice and workforce activity in agencies including Principal Social Workers, HR Workforce and Universities. We felt this was important to ensure alignment with overall agency direction, workforce planning / strategies and sustainability.

We recruited experienced Practice Development Workers in each agency and identified in-house management arrangements with strong links to PSW and Workforce Leads to complement existing structures. This was an important decision for future sustainability and to ensure best use of internal and external resources. 

There was some delay in recruiting to the Project Manager (November 2018) and Business Support Officer (January 2019) posts due to some discussion over suggested secondment opportunities. These posts were central to the coordination and reporting on progress against the project plan. Once in place, the Project Manager was able to refine plans and there was greater confidence around central reporting back to DfE as well as coordinated practical arrangements around meetings, document recording etc. 

Evidence of impact 

A strong working partnership has been created and the group is working positively together. There is good communication and involvement at all levels and across all agencies.

Some learning points and successes: 

• Recruitment 

The recruitment of all Teaching Partnership staff members was an achievement within tight timescales and organisational constraints. Experienced Practice Development Workers and a Project Manager were appointed in the time, all with significant understanding of Social Work Practice and Education. 

• Implementation plan / reporting/ project support 

The Project Manager has helped to keep project commitments on track and visible to the sub groups for measuring outcomes. There were some challenges with the initial plan which was linked directly to the bid document with confusing overlapping objectives. The steering group found it difficult to manage this jointly. The Project Manager reconfigured the plan which has helped to simplify reporting. 

• Communication

In the beginning of the partnership, draft documents were being circulated across all partners and it was agreed to set up an IT portal to share these digitally, Lancaster University set up ‘the Box’ which was a simple shared portal.  Unfortunately due to agency security issues, not all partners were able to access this and we will need to identify other solutions. The appointment of a Business Support officer for the project was a positive move as has helped with managing the practical aspects of the partnership, contacts, meetings, shared documents etc.

• Partnership 

The greatest achievement to date has been in creating a cohesive and creative partnership which has an identity, title and logo. The partnership works together but also respects differences in application / process which inevitably exist across different local authorities and universities. This sensible approach to individual development alongside partnership identity will help to maintain sustainability in the long term. Internal management arrangements also help to embed the developments in the day to day practice of Social Workers. The Project Manager has helped to bring greater links with wider partners and service user participation which is positive development for the partnership.

Future changes

We are working to capture and present our developments as a partnership and to be able to share these wider. We have identified gaps and overlaps which have helped with learning. The Partnership should be able to identify what has been achieved and what can still be done beyond the original bid criteria. 

There are of course real challenges to resources and time which exist within all Social Work services and Universities but there are already very clear improvements across the Teaching Partnership as a result of the project. Good relationships and structures now established are realistic and should continue into the future.

Objectives:

• Placement provider representatives and those with lived experience are involved in skills development day [SDD] teaching, learning, assessment and curriculum planning for initial education and CPD.
• The partnership’s SDD programme is structured around jointly agreed learning outcomes; practice learning opportunities are quality assured with a clear learning structure in place; can evidence clear links to practice, social work law and theories, methods and models of social work in its SDD programme.
• Partnerships have agreed procedures for assessing student progress; the application of these procedures is consistent and evidence confirms this is the case. There are clear arrangements to identify poor student progress and take appropriate action to fail students when needed.
• The CSWs’ Knowledge and Skills statements are embedded in the curriculum. 
• A plan is in place to ensure placement opportunities are monitored and quality assessed from 1 November 2019. The partnership has a plan for consistency checking of assessed and supported year in employment (ASYE) requirements, Approved Child and Family Practitioner (ACFP) and DfE supervisor proposals into CPD from 1 November 2019.
• CPD, including ASYE arrangements, is linked to national requirements for all social workers and the latest national assessment and accreditation system (NAAS) for child and family social work, reflecting the embedding of progression, learning and development within organisational identity.
• (Stretch criteria) Partnerships offering both statutory placements relevant to students’ preferred areas of practice in contrasting settings from AY 2019 will be prioritised in the assessment of applications.
• Programmes providing units in child and family and adult areas of practice will be prioritised.
• All placement students are guaranteed statutory placements relevant to their preferred areas of practice, which they are offered from AY 2019-2020. In child and family settings, these will offer all students significant experience of using the statutory framework for child and family social work. In adult services, students will have experience of using statutory frameworks for adult social care in delivering outcome-focused, personalised responses.

The partnership can evidence enhanced collaboration between employers and HEIs to undertake long term planning for training and development of the social work workforce throughout their careers. 

A number of these objectives overlap and indeed the Teaching Partnership was fortunate to be making good progress both as individual partners and also through informal arrangements to achieve a number of the identified goals. That said, consideration of the evidence gathered identifies that the Teaching Partnership are able to demonstrate notable impact against all the above objectives. 

Curriculum

Both Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire are committed to ensuring that those with lived experience are involved across the curriculum. They each have their own processes and mechanisms for ensuring that those with lived experience are playing an active role in student admissions, teaching and facilitation on a variety of different social work modules and curriculum development.

The University of Central Lancashire has a service user group called COMENSUS (Community Engagement Service User Support), this group holds a database of over 100 people from the local community who actively volunteer and has connections with over 70 community organisations also. Having these contacts enables the organisation to respond to requests for involvement in working alongside academics within the School of Social Work, Care and the Community. 

A Service User, Carer and Academic Group (SUCAG) works to implement authentic service user and carer engagement throughout the Social Work department, this is achieved through the development and delivery of social work education at UCLan by informing and being involved in the recruitment and selection of staff, admissions of students teaching, learning and research. SUCAG members attend meetings so that people with lived experiences and their carers are represented, including: readiness to practise panels, curriculum development and staff meetings.

In relation to specific modules, COMENSUS are actively involved in SW1069 – Learning from Service Users and Carers Experience and Knowledge (BA HONs), this module is designed, delivered and assessed in partnership with service users and carers, the aim of which is to enable students to gain an understanding of what it is like to be a service user or carer in contemporary social work and to explore this directly with service users and carers themselves.

COMENSUS run a number of workshops in the substance misuse skills day (BA Social Work year 2 skills day event), which focusses on substance misuse, recovery and mental health, this is understood to be a new area of activity but COMENSUS have committed to continuing to support with this.

COMENSUS support with the SW2071- Social Perspectives on Mental Health and Distress skills day, where volunteers facilitate a number of workshops which are attended by students. 

In the Postgraduate MA modules, COMENSUS members assist in the Service User/carer interviews as part of SW4400. This involves students working in pairs to interview a service user or carer. The interviews last 20 minutes and encourage students to develop their skills of working with individuals. COMENSUS members answer questions about their own lives and afterwards provide students with constructive feedback about what they did well and highlight any areas for development.

In addition to this, COMENSUS assist in supporting with simulated interviews of students, providing critiques of MA Poster displays, which serve to show an understanding of the advantages and challenges of collaborative working, assistance is provided with admissions for both BA and MA courses, volunteers in assistance with staff, interview applicants and make decisions as to whether or not they are suitable candidates for the Social Work qualifying programmes.

Additional 'ad hoc' support is provided by COMENSUS with teaching, where staff have requested involvement to engage with service users and carers, with some sessions being co-designed where the session is delivered in partnership with academic staff and others being stand alone, whereby volunteers are asked to provide a narrative that the staff member will use to aid modular outcomes.

Lancaster University currently offers an MA and a BA Social Work programme. The University has a long history of including those with lived experience in the delivery of the programme. There are strong relationships between teaching staff and those who contribute to the sessions. This has a number of strengths, namely that there is confidence in what will be delivered and the way this complements the teaching. This does, however, mean that often these experiences might not be recent and that there are a limited number of opportunities for new individuals to be part of this. The University are alive to all these issues and it is evident from discussions with course leaders that this is an area of ongoing work and something which is significant in term of their agenda. 

Those with lived experience currently deliver on the Social Work Practice 1, Social work with Young People, Social Work and Mental Distress, Social Work in Adult Social Care and Social Work Practice 2 modules within the BA programme and Preparation for Practice 2 , Social Work with Young people, Social Work and Mental Distress and Social Work in Adult Social Care within the MA programme. 

Lancaster University is working alongside the participation leads from all three local authorities to involve children with lived experience in curriculum development and delivery. The academic staff member who delivers teaching on young people has also spent a day with Blackpool care leavers.

It is clear that the impact of the involvement of those with lived experience is significant, and meaningful. Feedback from students who have experienced the input of COMENSUS and people with lived experience delivering sessions at university has been overwhelmingly positive, as evidenced in the following quotations:

‘My practice tutor had previously worked in Mental Health and was keen to include service users into our lectures. We had service users coming in to talk to us about the things that may trigger their conditions, I remember one lady saying that her condition could be triggered by the scent of strong perfume. I found this really helpful as these were things that I hadn't thought about before.’

(BA Student Lancaster University, year 2)

‘Our first year module was based on service user experiences, I found this really good as it gave us an insight into how they wanted professionals to interact with them and how they wanted to work in partnership.’ (BA Student, UCLan, year 3)

‘In our first year we had a whole module on working with people with lived experience, they (service users) came in each week for 8 weeks. We had people come in to talk about their roles as carers, experience of mental health conditions, experience of domestic violence and people who were trans gender. Every single week it was so engaging, you could literally hear a pin drop. The thing I took from it the most was that they are the experts. We can go in there with all our theories but at the end of the day they are the experts and we need to listen to them. I think that was my favourite module.’ (BA Student, UCLan, year 3).

‘Since the beginning of the course we have had people with lived experience in to talk to us. On a recent skills day a service user with a diagnosed mental health condition came to talk to us about their experience. It was nice to have someone just be honest, some of their experiences with social workers had been positive and some had not but it was good to obtain their advice on what social workers should and should not do. For example 'don't tell me what to do.’ (BA Student, UCLan, year 3).

‘I like the honesty of the COMENSUS people, can just talk to them about what they expect of social workers. They don't want you to try to 'fix' them, they just want to be listened to and treated with respect.’

(BA Student, UCLan, year 3).

‘It was great hearing from people who have used services…I mean you know that it’s a different perspective but it made me really think about the impact we make, not just now, but in someone's life. It’s a privilege when you really think about it, we’re there at the most intimate moments of their lives.’ (MA Student, Lancaster University)

‘Involving people with lived experience is essential. It goes beyond providing students with an opportunity to hear service users perspectives to a position where their knowledge is seen as integral in  production. At Lancaster University we place particular emphasis on ‘knowledge’, and see service users contributions as core to understanding what social work is and can be.’ (Director of Social Work, Lancaster University.) 

Curriculum Development

There is a Curriculum Development Group (CDG) that operates across the Partnership. These arrangements were in place prior to the commencement of the partnership, however, these arrangements have strengthened as a result of the collaborative working and there is an agreed recognition of the value of involving those with lived experience within this. As a result of the Teaching Partnership the CDG has now merged, allowing for greater partnership working. This has built on the earlier joint meetings which took place around placements. This is an area for further development with discussions currently taking place with regards to how to ensure that there is meaningful engagement and that this includes both children and adults with lived experience. 

The Local Authorities are also committed to involving those with lived experience in the planning for Continuing Professional Development. An example of this from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council is the development of the ‘What do you think?’ group whereby children aged 6-11 are consulted on their views around social care. This will feed directly into the planning for CPD. 

In relation to practitioner input at the universities, a protocol is now in place with both universities whereby any requests for practitioner input on skills days are made centrally to the team mailbox and a suitable practitioner selected from the ‘Register of Interests’.  Where possible, co-production and facilitation is encouraged to provide as many practitioners as possible with the opportunity to be involved in skills days and also reduces the likelihood of the universities being 'let down' at last minute if a practitioner is unable to attend on the day due to any extenuating and unforeseen circumstances such as practitioner illness.

To give an idea of just how many practitioners have been matched to facilitate skills day sessions, for the academic year 2019/20, data collated from UCLan requests indicate that as of 13/09/2019; 33 requests had been made from UCLan for Practitioners to assist with SSD in Adult and Children modules in addition to some simulated interview scenarios and in total 31 practitioners across the partnership had been allocated and confirmed, broken down as follows: 20 practitioners at LCC, 7 practitioners at BwD and 4 at BC, 2 were yet to be confirmed.

In order to prepare practitioners for delivery and facilitation in the HEIs, both the universities have developed a training day, which is provided to all practitioners willing to volunteer to deliver in the HEIs and who have their managers approval to do so.

Although the training courses have different titles: 'Teaching Tips Course' run by Lancaster University and the 'Tricks of the Trade' course run by UCLan, their aims and objectives are fundamentally the same, that is to support delegates to:

· Learn the importance of preparation 

· Revisit adult learning theories 

· Explore how to manage a classroom 

· Develop confidence in speaking to a group of students

So far places have been offered to over 80 practitioners across the partnership and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, as indicated in some of the feedback from practitioners who have attended the days, see below:

‘I found the day really useful, lots of good advice and tips. Lesson planning was particularly good.’

‘I valued learning how to be more creative and engage students in different ways.’

‘I valued interactions using different techniques and variety of teaching methods/skills’ 

(Quotes from practitioners who had attended the 'Tricks of the Trade' Training at UCLan)

Once practitioners have been matched to facilitate sessions, their contact details are provided to the module leaders and discussions take place in respect of planning the session in order to ensure learning outcomes are adhered to and what methods may be most effective with certain groups (use of case studies, quizzes etc)

Although qualitative feedback has been difficult to obtain in respect of individual taught sessions due to the way in which modules are evaluated at the end, discussions with students who have experienced practitioner input during their courses have revealed how beneficial they have found the experience.

‘In last half of 2nd year some practitioners from Blackpool came out to meet us, they brought a case study which we had to do a presentation on. The practitioners were great, they were always really professional and honest about the reality of practice.’ (BA student, UCLan year 3)

‘We had a newly qualified practitioner come out to talk to us about her experience of going into a qualified position and undertaking her ASYE year, she was really honest and it was helpful to know what to expect when we qualify.’ (BA student, UCLan year 3)

‘I remember in the 1st year we had approximately 4 or 5 different social workers come into university to talk about the areas that they worked in, they gave us some really helpful hints and tips about certain areas. 1 person recounted having been on a visit and sitting on a 'wet' sofa which turned out to be urine- this made us think about the need to possibly keep a change of clothes in the car when going out on visits.’ (BA student, UCLan year 3)

Work is currently underway to develop a way to quality assure such sessions and ensure that practitioners themselves are included with feedback from an academic member of staff in respect of facilitation and delivery following the sessions.

Feedback from practitioners who have had the opportunity to facilitate sessions at the Universities has also been positive:

‘Although I was nervous about putting together a session to deliver to students at the university, I thoroughly enjoyed it as it reminded me why I had gone into the profession in the first place. I enjoyed taking in some real life case studies, which were anonymised and used with the students. The students were all so keen and enthusiastic but also asked some really critical questions, which had me thinking about the way we do things and why. I have since had the opportunity to attend the 'Tricks of the Trade' Training with UCLan and have learnt some really useful strategies that I will no doubt put into practice if I am asked to facilitate further sessions in the future.’ (Social Work Manager, Adult Social care, LCC)

The process of matching practitioners to deliver sessions has certainly been welcomed by academic staff within the universities;

‘I have worked collaboratively with Laura and the Teaching Partnership. I am a module leader on the 2ndyear M.A. in Social Work at UCLan. This module has strong links to practice taught directly before the students go on their final placement. We have worked together and invited 24 practitioners to UCLan to speak directly to students in relation to their individual specialisms within social work practice. We have also arranged for a skills day around safeguarding for adults and children which is also presented by practitioners. This has given our students a rich experience to listen, ask questions and learn from those in social work in practice.’ (Mary Clare Davidson Lecturer in Adult Social Care, UCLan)

A plan has been developed to manage the practitioner register in the longer term once funding for the GLTP and the PDW role ceases.

It is hoped that having an arrangement in place will ensure that a range of practitioners get the opportunity to facilitate sessions at the university, and that fresh and new ideas are continually brought into teaching. It will also reduce the previous 'ad hoc' arrangements that were in place and provides the universities with a larger pool of experienced practitioners to draw upon.

Lancaster University offers a comprehensive programme during the Skills Development Days. The University are receptive to feedback around these, taking into account the views of placement providers and students. The content of this is considered at the Curriculum Development Group. There is excellent liaison between the Universities to ensure that practice learning opportunities are quality assured, with a clear learning structure in place. This is evident from the point at which a possible placement is identified and throughout the placement itself. The information gathered by the University seeks to support the placement to identify learning opportunities and students are encouraged to be proactive in this during their placements. The mid-point reviews and QAPL process ensure that placements deliver what is required, and there is specific feedback provided to each Practice Educator on receipt of the final report which the agency is able to use for its own service development.  

Placements 

‘I was really apprehensive about what placements would be…I couldn’t have been happier though. There was good communication about when we would find out and when I was told I was going to be on a safeguarding team. It isn’t an easy placement but I am learning loads and there’s good support.’ (BA Final Year Student, BwD)

The Teaching Partnership have specifically focused on ensuring that the quality of placements has increased and that there is a consistent standard across all three Authorities. The improved liaison with the Universities has assisted with this. 

Across both the University of Central Lancashire and Lancaster University there is a clear, consistent process for identifying poor student progress and taking action when needed. 

Clear procedures are in place in respect of assessing student's progress throughout the Teaching Partnership, mechanisms for assessment include; reflective discussions in supervision, observations of practice and critical assessments of practice. Areas for development will be discussed and agreed at the mid-point review, which is attended by both the Practice Educator and Academic Advisor/University Tutor (depending on which university) and onsite supervisor (if applicable). Any areas for development or issues for concern will be outlined within the mid-point development plan, templates for which can be found in the appendices to the Practice Educator Workbook.

There is a process which Practice Educators, Students, Academic Advisors and Supervisors must follow should they have any concerns in relation to practice learning, regardless of the concern and this is depicted in flow chart format in the Practice Educator Workbook page 128.

In some cases it may be apparent that a placement cannot continue, at this point the student's portfolio is to be brought up to date and the academic advisor is to inform the Administrator of the Practice Issues Panel. Reports should be submitted by the academic advisor, practice educator and student to the administrator of the Practice Issues Panel, clearly outlining what steps have been taken to rectify the situation following the Practice Issues Panel Guidance.

The numbers of students going through the Practice Issues Panel (PIP) will of course vary from year to year, however looking at statistics from the previous 2 academic years at UCLan there was a significant increase in the number of cases referred to panel in the 2018/19 year, despite this increase, the number of students failing placements had reduced:

2017/18 academic year - April 2018 onwards:

Number of students referred to panel: 18

Failed placements: 6

2018/19 academic year:

Number of students referred to panel: 31

Failed placements: 5 

(Data from University of Central Lancashire)

Feedback from Practice Educators who have been through the PIP process with students has been positive as indicated in the following quote:

‘Although I didn't feel great about failing a student, it was good to know there was a defined procedure and support where I needed it. From the day I contacted the university to raise my concerns, a tutor came out for a joint meeting within 3 days, I then received an email containing all the documents I needed to complete and the appropriate guidance. I was supported throughout the process by LCC and the University, the process was great from start to finish, it was clear what I needed to do and the support was available when I needed it.’ (PE for UCLan Student, LCC)

Both Universities seek to work to identify areas of concern before this needs to be taken down a formal pathway. Lancaster University has lower numbers than UCLan and as such their response to concerns differs. In the event that concerns are raised, a meeting will take place between the student, tutor and Practice Educator to seek to resolve this and for support to be put into place. If concerns are identified which question the student's suitability to practice, then a formal meeting takes place, chaired by the Practice Learning Co-ordinator, to determine whether the placement continues and what further action might need to be taken. 

The information from practitioners and students identifies that this more informal approach is welcomed and means that the majority of issues on placement are resolved. The University have not collated data on the frequency of the former meetings, however, their data indicated that prior to the commencement of the Teaching Partnership the number of placements which ended due to practice concerns were low. The University have identified that they now have more focused ways of recording 

‘Going to PIP is always a last resort. I was really concerned about my most recent student, in fact, in previous years I am sure that she would have failed. The additional support from the Uni as well as the support arrangements here at the LA meant that we could give her increased support and in the end she did well; she just needed a greater degree of support.’ (PE for Lancaster University Student, BwD).

The Practice Development Workers (PDWs) that have been employed in each of the Local Authorities across the Teaching Partnership, have undoubtedly had a role to play in the quality assurance of placements, and through having regular contact with both students and practice educators at ‘learning hubs’, they have often been the first point of contact to such individuals. These learning hubs are a group session whereby any good practice can be shared, issues can be resolved, and where there can be focused discussions around current areas of interest. This very visible presence has ensured that PDWs have been accessible to both Practice Educators and Students alike, and consequently there have been times when an intervention by a PDW may well have prevented a referral through to Practice Issues Panel.

An example of this was when PDWs were undertaking some feedback from students on placement. A final year student shared challenges they were having due to Practice Educator sickness and how this had impacted on their confidence. Rather than this issues continuing, the PDW was able to intervene to address these issues, improving the outcome for the student. Whilst this involved a change of placement, it ensured that the student was given a quality placement. 

This action was supported by the University and although it was recognised that there would be a great deal for the student to learn in a short period of time, she did go on to successfully pass her placement.

Upon her return from sickness absence, work was then undertaken with the Practice Educator in question to support her to reflect on the situation and identify a plan of action moving forwards should she choose to continue to pursue accreditation to stage 1 and support further students. 

The following feedback was provided by the student in question, names have been amended to protect the anonymity of the student in question:

"The experience I had with the Teaching Partnership was amazing, I was listened to and supported with the breakdown of my placement, and also supported through a bereavement I was going through at the time. By having the Teaching partnership, I was able to reach out and express the difficulties I was facing on my placement at the adult social care team with an independent individual who would offer no judgement.  I did not feel supported by my practice educator and although seeking advice from the practice supervisor, I was told to 'wait and see' what happens, PDWs took this into their own hands and found me another practice educator on the safeguarding team and supported me in moving to this team, although half way through my placement. From having a bad experience on the adult social care team, it knocked my confidence tremendously. The PDW built this up and gave me a second chance to gain as much experience as I could.  Without the Teaching partnership, I was ready to leave my studies all together. I am now starting my social worker post on the LDA team. " (Final Year BA Student, UCLan)

It is envisaged that the learning hubs will continue to run post April 2020 in all 3 authorities. 

Knowledge and Skills Statements

The ongoing dialogue between the partners has identified that whilst the Knowledge and Skills statements are embedded in both the curriculum and CPD arrangements, this is not as explicit as it could be and there is further work to do around this. 

‘I’m not sure students always know what the KSS are; I mean it’s clear what they are learning is promoting this, but I don’t think they always make the links…mind you, I guess that is where the placement can come in; we have a role in helping them see how that learning links to their practice and the KSS captures it all’ (PE, BwD)

The placements provided across the Teaching Partnership are monitored as assessed and there are plans for this to continue post funding. CPD, including ASYE arrangements are a real strength across the partnership. There was an existing regional ASYE group which continues to meet. Partners from a neighbouring Teaching Partnership also attend this group and this has allowed for shared learning. The Teaching Partnership has enabled good practice to be shared and the arrangements for quality assuring the ASYE portfolios adds to this. Each Local Authority has a developed a comprehensive ASYE programme with shared expectations throughout; this includes access to mentoring, peer support and specific learning opportunities. The University of Central Lancashire deliver the ASYE programme in this area and are responsible for marking the final critical reflection. This ensures consistency in the standard of work.

All three authorities are alive to the KSS Approved Child and Family Practitioner (ACFP) and Practice Supervisor proposals. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council access the Practice Supervisor training and feedback on this has been positive. Current training is being mapped against the ACPF requirements. Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council are working towards introducing the same over the next 12 months. 

All three Local Authorities recognise the importance of offering CPD opportunities. This includes in house training and also opportunities through both Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire.

Each Local Authority has a training plan which details mandatory training and a wider offer; this is mapped against the KSS and PCF. 

Practice Development Workers have been pro-active in developing CPD opportunities specific to Practice Education, to support staff to maintain currency as a Practice Educator. This includes a two day Practice Educator refresher course, mentoring and coaching training and reflective supervision training (refer to 'Practice Support and Development' Case study for more detail and analysis on this).

The Practice Educator learning hubs/support groups, which run every other month in LCC and monthly in Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Council, also offer Practice Educators the opportunity to engage in CPD specific to their PE role and afford an opportunity for reflective peer supervision. All three authorities have now begun to extend this provision to PVI partners.

NAAS

One of the three Local Authorities, Lancashire County Council, is an early adopter (phase 2) for the National Accreditation and Assessment System (NAAS) in Children's services and the other two authorities are in discussions in respect of this. So far, 70 candidates have been through the assessment process and a further 17 have been endorsed and will be assessed in the next few months. The accreditation rate for these so far is 100 per cent and it is the aim for 25 to 30 per cent of the social work workforce to have gone through this process by May 2020. Encouragingly most of the service leads have either taken their assessments or have been endorsed to do so, which is helping to encourage and promote the process to Social Workers within their services.

Blackpool Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council are in the early stages of planning for NAAS. The Teaching Partnership has enabled Lancashire County Council to share their learning around this with the other Authorities, ensuring an informed approach can be taken. Feedback from practitioners that have been through the accreditation process has been mixed, this is exemplified in the following reflection:

‘Before the experience I initially had some low level anxiety about whether I would do well considering the role play aspect of the day and the fact that actors would be used. I worried a little about how conscious I would be about being filmed – acting a false scenario and whether I would be able to act naturally. However I found that the actors were exceptionally good and once I was presented with the case studies, I just fell into the role and behaved and acted as I would meeting that service user for the first time as a practitioner.

I appreciated that I was able to reflect on the sessions afterwards with the assessor as this enabled me to talk about anything I hadn't covered in the role play that I would have done differently or which I may have followed up on in real life.

I found the day to be quite high pressure and draining but overall I enjoyed it and came away reflecting further for a number of hours on those case studies, my answers, what I may have missed etc. I do feel it would be inappropriate to have to work either before or after the assessment as the day was full on. 

I would have liked to have my results within the week as I had to wait approx. 30 days which was I felt a little too long but was pleased to learn I passed and am now accredited.’ (Social Work Practitioner, LCC) 

The Teaching Partnership is committed to offering two statutory placements to all students coming through the partnership in either an Adult Services statutory setting or a Children's Services statutory setting. By adopting the Social Work England definition of a statutory placement, the GLTP will look further than the Local Authority when identifying placements for students. 

Discussions did take place with the universities in respect of 'streamlining the matching of students to placement' through the use of a standardised form, however, after consideration, the Universities preferred to utilise their own forms, which they felt provided them with the broadest options regarding their preferences. Lancaster University's form, for example, asks that students indicate three main areas of social work or three user groups that they are particularly interested in, although there is no guarantee that a placement will be found in any of these preferred areas. 

UCLan's profile forms are sent out with an 'additional information page' which gives students the opportunity to indicate area of interest, including a tick box for certain categories such as Older Peoples Service, Children and Families, Substance Misuse etc. There is also a free text box which enables the student to be more specific in relation to their preferences, however it must be noted that this information is only shared with potential host agencies in a very condensed format. 

Attempts are made to match students against their preferred area within the host authority but again many factors need to be taken into consideration when trying to accommodate preference, such as student learning needs, geographical location, transport arrangements etc. Currently a process is being developed whereby all three Local Authorities meet with the universities on a set day to allocate and match placements thus to ensure a fair, equitable and consistent approach is followed. It has been agreed that this process is going to continue post partnership, with Blackburn with Darwen being the lead for this. 

The matching process is complex with a team of HEI staff working to ensure the best fit between the students needs and placement opportunities. Placements are offered to students in the knowledge that they will provide the required learning objectives, even if the placement setting/location may not be the students preferred option.

There has also been a greater focus on linking in with PVI’s and ‘hidden’ social workers to ensure that the scope of placements is reflective of the opportunities available post qualifying. The term ‘hidden’ social workers is used to refer to those registered social workers who are not currently employed in a Social Work role. As a result of this, Blackburn with Darwen has identified a Social Worker placed within a school. This Social Worker attended the PE training in October 2019 and the school are positive about their student commencing a placement with them in February 2020, having stated;

‘This will be a great opportunity for a student to work with a strengths based approach…sometimes with families known to social care, but more often with those who don’t meet the threshold. There will be a real focus on direct work with children; I wish this sort of placement had been available when I was a student.’ (Prospective PE) 

Both Universities have a clear programme which features stand-alone adult and children’s modules. This is clearly evidenced in their prospectus and on their websites. This gives students an opportunity to learn about both sides of service provision, challenging stereotypes and broadening their understanding of the roles available to them post qualification. There is good communication between those delivering these modules and the Local Authorities to ensure that the modules reflect changes in policy, legislation and practice and provide students with the knowledge they need to be begin their placements. The placements offered complement this, giving students rich opportunities for using statutory frameworks and from making the links between theory and practice. 

‘Before I went on placement I thought working with adults was all about older people…it’s so much more…it’s like you learn all this stuff in uni and then when you spend time in the team it just clicks…and you know, this is where you want to start your career.’ (MA, Year 2)

The Partnership is fortunate to benefit from existing arrangements between the partners. An example of this has been the Curriculum Development Group referred to previously. Having the established networks in place has enabled further groups/meetings to be developed to target specific areas of practice. An example of this was when concerns had been raised by students in one Local Authority that they did not think that they were learning enough about the application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in practice. Discussions took place with both Universities to identify how this could possibly be resolved. A meeting was arranged with two Practice Development Workers for Adult Services, the module leader at UCLan, a Mental Capacity Act (MCA) co-ordinator and a Court of Protection (COP) co-ordinator. This was positive in terms of identifying how the course content could be strengthened. 

This example exemplifies what is seen across the Teaching Partnership and there are a number of examples of input from the Universities strengthening Local Authority practices.

‘The partnership has collaborated on a number of projects including the practitioner contribution to teaching and the curriculum development group. Practitioners meet with our academic teams on a regular basis to ensure the curriculum is up to date and meets the needs of the social employer. The partnership have also supported the classroom delivery and students really value their input. Although this has been a feature of our delivery for many years the partnership has enhanced the strategies that make it happen. This includes affording practitioners the time to attend training on how to teach, and time to do the teaching. Another example is our collaboration to support social workers to achieve status as a practice educator and this year we have directed resources to support those with stage one to progress to stage two. This is particularly relevant to ensure an appropriate number

of practice educators beyond the life of the Teaching Partnership.’

(Dr Clare Stone, UCLan)

Next Steps: 

• Strengthen the learning culture within the Local Authorities, growing the desire to join the pool of PE’s, with responsibility shared across the workforce. 
• Train more practice educators to Stage 2 and mentors to provide sustainability for the future and align these to the new PEPS.
• Identify what structures and information are needed by practitioners and managers to maintain their PE roles.
• Each Local Authority to focus on sustainability, specifically in terms of learning hubs. 
• All partners to continue to identify gaps in students’ academic learning, during placement or once qualified, to feed into the ongoing curriculum development group.
• All partners to continue to explore the relationship between Local Authority and Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) placements, that can meet the statutory requirements to maximise the wealth of opportunities that can be available in the PVI setting.

Each Local Authority to develop ways to involve those with lived experience during the placement e.g. during the induction process. 

The Greater Lancashire Teaching Partnership (GLTP) comprises of Lancashire County Council (LCC), Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BwD) and Blackpool Council (BC). They work in partnership with two Higher Education Institutions, Lancaster University (LU) and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). 

The Greater Lancashire Teaching Partnership began in April 2018. Throughout the duration of the partnership, all stakeholders have worked collaboratively to ensure that there is an effective system in place to support final year students in their transition to qualified practitioner, above and beyond final placement arrangements.  

This study looks at:

1. What is currently in place through the GLTP offer to support final year students in their transition to qualified practitioner, above and beyond final placement arrangements. This details support provided to students for:

- 1.1 Final Year Support: This incorporates support put in place during the final placement that goes above and beyond a standard offer

- 1.2 Applications and Interviews: This focuses specifically on improving students' employability skills as well as work done to promote job opportunities and attract final year students to apply for social worker roles in the relevant local authorities. 

- 1.3 Transition from Receiving a Job Offer: This focuses primarily on what is in place to support   students in the gap between receiving a job offer and being granted their Social Work England registration. 

2. Conversion Rates to evidence the effectiveness of the system. Conversion rates of final year placement students who go on to become Newly Qualified Social Workers within one of the Teaching Partnerships' Local Authorities have been collected and analysed. 

3. Former Students' Feedback. This feedback came from two cohorts of NQSWs currently on their Assessed and   Supported Year in Employment (ASYE)- one cohort from Adult Services and one cohort   from Children's Services, who had graduated from UCLan or Lancaster University after April 2018. A qualitative analysis of this feedback has been undertaken.

4. Building an Improved System.  This comprises of initiatives in the early stages of implementation, as well   as recommendations for future initiatives.

1.1. Final Year Support

All interventions provided by the three respective Local Authorities and the two universities have the ultimate purpose of helping the student to be as prepared as they can be for applications and interviews, as well as to provide appropriate development opportunities above and beyond the final placement, to bring them to the level expected of a qualified social worker.  

As an accompaniment to the standard 100 day final placement, students are offered various methods of additional support to improve their final year experience, and thus work towards improving the conversion rates of final year students gaining a job within one of the teaching partnership's   authorities. 

These methods of support are detailed below:

Lancashire County Council Adult & Children's Services

Preparation for Practice at LCC session: As an employee’s first impressions of an organisation have a significant impact on their integration within the organisation and their level of job satisfaction, all students at LCC receive a bespoke student induction, 'Preparation for Practice at LCC' which are provided by the Teaching Partnership Practice Development Workers (PDW). This induction focusses on some LCC specific issues, such as an overview of the organisation's policies, procedures, code of conduct and further corporate documents. The induction additionally focuses on some more general 'student specific issues' such as: preparing for contact, visits with service users, and the importance of personal safety and supervision as a tool to developing emotional resilience. This session is currently rolled out at the beginning of every cohort. Students from both universities and different placements come together on this session and the feedback received has been positive from evaluations that have been completed (see below). By helping students feel settled in the organisation and more familiar with how it operates, the intended purpose is to both attract Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) to the organisation as well as to help them with questions that may arise in their interviews. 

Student Forum/Learning Hubs: These are available to all students on placement at LCC and are provided by the Practice Development Workers. The aim of these one day sessions is for students to provide peer support to one another whilst on placement and to focus on any specific developmental issues that the students request to focus on. Students are asked to arrange the meetings themselves by nominating a lead student representative in the central, north and east areas of the county. Practice Development Workers then attend to facilitate these. The first part of the session entails the PDW delivering a structured presentation on a specific theme, e.g. progression into employment. The second part of the session is more unstructured, and involves students providing peer support to each other on specific issues that they set for themselves. The partnership is looking into ways to improve participation, as all student learning hubs and to seek ways of these becoming more sustainable.

CPD + Learning and Development Opportunities: When students are on placement at Lancashire County Council they can access the CPD and corporate Learning & Development opportunities that are available to all employed LCC staff. Learning and Development opportunities include, but are not limited to, the following training courses:

a. Unconscious Confidence

b. Mindfulness

c. 3 C's for Health & Wellbeing

d. Our Vision and Values

e. Conflict is Normal

All corporate and social care courses that would be available to qualified social work practitioners are available to student social workers within their respective service. Many of these learning interventions have links to skills expected of current social work practitioners.

From January 2018 to December 2018, there were 472 training places taken by student social workers. This includes student social workers outside of the GLTP HEI's.

Blackburn with Darwen Adult Services

Presentations: Final placement students are invited to deliver a 15-20 minute presentation about their team and their role within it. The presentations are attended by students, practice educators, team managers and representatives from the senior leadership team. This presentation is intended to help students to recognise their skills and experience in preparation for applying for jobs, as well as an opportunity to make connections to those who may be interviewing and working with them in the future. 

Monthly Student Workshops: This entails identifying roles students are interested in undertaking post-qualifying and arranging for them to experience some time in the relevant teams. The workshop additionally features on different areas of work so that students have a wider understanding of the many different roles that might be available to them in the Local Authority.

Blackburn with Darwen Chidren’s services

Students are involved with the   planning and delivery of a group with children and young people to gain their views around their involvement with social care, the policies and processes.   These are monthly sessions; they then present the feedback from the children to the wider service. 

4 weekly support sessions are run; these are   for students to feed back on their placements, discuss learning opportunities, have direct input/teaching and discuss their next steps.

Blackpool Adult and Children's Services

Preparation for Practice at Blackpool Session: This is a session delivered during the first week of the students starting. During this session The Practice Development Workers go through the induction paperwork, making sure students have everything they need and if not, informing them of how to source it; go through students' portfolios; and provide all the important student dates for the duration of their placements. 

Monthly Student Learning Hubs: These sessions are facilitated by the   Practice Development Workers and are student led. They are centred on themes that tie in to their portfolio. Practice Development Workers facilitate and provide input in these sessions to support students. From past experience the students like to cover theories, professional relationships and boundaries as well as case work. 

Reflective Supervision: Final year students are provided reflective supervision sessions on a fortnightly basis. These are facilitated by Practice Development Workers and centres on case work. Students bring along case work examples and the group look at these cases, discussing how they should be addressed. This is a group participation session and requires all students to actively participate.  

Additional Support: Access to all Local Authority training and all students are encouraged to shadow different teams to see how they interlink with one another, to broaden and strengthen their knowledge.

Lancaster University

Transitions in Social Work Module: The personal and professional implications of transition from final year student to qualified practitioner are teased out in this final year module. The module makes explicit links between learning on placement, future careers and the unsettling nature of transition itself.   Service users, carers and practitioners contribute to the delivery and assessment of the learning in this module. (More information on this module can be found on the Lancaster University website)  

UCLan 

Final year transitional support provided by UCLan is centred on applications and interviews and is thus detailed in the below section.  

1.2 Applications and Interviews

UCLan

An Employability Module is woven into the academic year at UCLan. These sessions are co-delivered by the university itself as well as each local authority. The module includes skills development in class and is concluded with an   assessment, which involves the completion of a job application form and mock interview.   The module entails:

· Recruitment Workshops: The Recruitment Workshop is an opportunity for the local authorities to present application form and interview tips on how to get a job to final year students. 

· Mock Interviews: The interviews have current local authority practitioners and experts by experience on the panel.

The UCLan Careers Fair has been used to attract prospective employees to both apply and interview for LCC's talent pool. The talent pool acts as a waiting list for NQSWs until relevant posts become available within the organisation.

The talent pool has been trialled in LCC Adults in 2018 and 2019. For the 19th March 2019 Careers Fair: 

52 email addresses of prospective employees were collected. 

Students were subsequently sent an email inviting them to complete an application for a talent pool interview. 

7 applications were received

4 interviews were conducted.

1 student was appointable based off interview scores.   

N.B. Ways to improve the talent pool process are discussed in the "Building   an Improved System" section.

Lancaster University

Lancaster University provide the following to assist their students to progress in to employment

· A Careers Insight Event: This event involves neighbouring Local Authorities and careers development to help provide further insight for students, in order to help them make informed choices on their transition from a final year student to employment. 

· Skills Development Days: This programme is broken into three days and focuses on transition in final placement and beyond. The content is shaped by staff knowledge of ASYE programmes in the area. Students are additionally provided the opportunity to write CVs and develop awareness of all the skills they have amassed whilst on the programme. 

· Lancaster University additionally provides bespoke support for students with queries about forthcoming interviews. 

Additional Employability Support

Blackburn with Darwen Adult and Children's Services advertise job opportunities online and students are made aware of these directly by the placement. Blackburn with Darwen Children's Services facilitate specific information sessions for all students to attend, which discusses vacancies and interview preparation. Blackburn with Darwen Adult Services ensure that Practice Educators provide support and guidance in making an application and preparing for interviews, including having mock interviews. 

Blackpool Adult and Children's Services facilitate employment sessions and final year students are offered one session with the employability coach to cover application form skills and interview preparation. This is carried out towards the end of the students' final placement. Final year students also have access to two lead social workers mentor students with a focus on their job applications.

Lancashire Adult and Children's Service routinely circulate job adverts to final year students. 

The support provided by each local authority, as well as the input   provided by HEIs, is critical to conversion rates of final year social workers to qualified practitioner within one of the three local authorities.  All local authorities contribute to the employability module at UCLan and additionally run interventions specific to their LA to provide additional application support to students as well as make them aware of vacancies that   may become available. 

1.3. Transition from Receiving a Job Offer

Upon receiving a job offer, there is support put in place by each Local Authority and the two HEIs to support the new employee in their transition to qualified practitioner. This support is outlined below, and is broken down by what each local authority and HEI in the partnership provides:

All Partnership Local Authorities

Once students are offered a post, they are able to begin, prior to Social Work England registration, in a holding post as an unqualified worker. This provides a smoother transition for the employee from student to qualified practitioner. 

Lancashire County Council Adult and Children's Services

Ongoing support once the employee starts in post in the Social Work Academy. The Academy comprises of a 2 week initial full time induction programme of mandatory training, information about the organisation and other services, as well as meeting directors etc. (See appendix C for an example timetable) plus recall days at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months where they have continued support with their ASYE portfolio. 

ASYEs from both Adult and Children's Services can attend four workshops in the first 12 months. These workshops are to provide help for the students on key subjects for their first year in role. The 4 workshops are: Critical Thinking, Reflective Practice, and Emotional Intelligence & Developing Resilience. 

Blackburn with Darwen Council Adult and Children's Services

NQSWs have a full induction when they start and have a one to one meeting to discuss ASYE and identify their learning needs.  

Blackpool Council Adult   and Children's Services

There will be an enhanced ASYE scheme from September 2019. The scheme now includes a week's induction and one day protected time spent between the ASYE and Learning Co-ordinators every month throughout the duration of their ASYE. Whilst waiting to start employment a ‘keeping warm’ telephone call is made by the learning co-ordinator to the NQSW. This is to introduce them to the council and check they are progressing with the necessary paperwork in order to ensure the   recruitment process is seamless. 

There is additional support provided by the universities in this period to help their former students' transition. 

UCLan

UCLan provides an ASYE module that works in partnership with three Local Authorities to support the transition in the first year of employment for all NQSWs. This includes 2 CPD workshops where students create reflective logs. A staff member sits on the LA ASYE panel, overseeing the moderation of ASYE work.

Students are encouraged to return to UClan to continue their development through a range of CPD activities, including Practice Educator training. 

Lancaster University

There is continued email support offered to students post qualification.

As with UCLan a staff member sits on the LA ASYE panel, overseeing the moderation of ASYE work. This provides a direct feedback loop to the University for their teaching on preparing to qualify.

Students are also encouraged to return to Lancaster University to continue their development through a range of CPD activities, including Practice Educator training.

The support and development measures put in place throughout the first few months of employment for NQSWs are there to provide the smoothest transition for social workers possible, and are key to each Local Authority's retention rates. 

1. Conversion Rates

Conversion has been considered in the context of those students whom have had placements in one of the three   Local Authorities and then has gone on to secure employment in one of the three Local Authorities but not necessarily the same one in which they have   had a placement. Each Local Authority has been given a conversion rate in respect of how may final year students from across the partnership that they have employed as NQSWs. 

Lancashire County Council Conversion Rate

LCC placed 116 students from UCLan and Lancaster University between January 2018 and September 2018. 

Currently there are 71 NQSWs who attended UCLan or Lancaster that and had a placement with either LCC, Blackpool Council or Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

LCC Conversion Rate: 61%. 

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Conversion Rate

Blackburn with Darwen placed 20 students from UCLan or Lancaster University between January 2018 and September 2018.

Currently there are 17 NQSWs who attended UCLan/Lancaster, and had a placement with either LCC, Blackpool or Blackburn with Darwen.  

Blackburn with Darwen Conversion Rate: 85%

Blackpool Council Conversion Rate  

N.B. Blackpool Children's and Adult Services were only able to provide figures for the period September-December 2018.

Blackpool placed 12 students from UCLan or Lancaster University since July 2018 to December 2018. 

Currently there are 9 NQSWs who attended UCLan/Lancaster and had a   final placement with LCC, Blackburn with Darwen or Blackpool (5 in Children's Services   and 4 in Adult Services).

Blackpool Conversion Rate: 75%

GLTP Combined Conversion Rate

LCC, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen placed 148 students from UCLan or Lancaster University between January and September 2018 

Currently there are 97 NQSWs who attended UCLan/Lancaster, and had a placement with either LCC, Blackpool or Blackburn with Darwen 

GLTP Conversion Rate: 65.5%

2. Former Students' Feedback

A group of eight Lancashire County Council Adult Services NQSWs took part in a focus group on 16th September 2019 to help ascertain what went well in terms of the support provided in their transition to qualified practitioner, what didn’t go well and what suggested improvements they had. Seven of the participants attended   UCLan (six on the BA Hons course and one on the MA course) whilst one attended Lancaster University on the BA course. Six of the NQSWs had their final placement at Lancashire County Council, one at Blackpool Council and one in a third sector organisation. 

The feedback provided by these students has been compiled and presented in the form of a table.  A few of the key findings from the focus group are listed below.  The majority of comments are in relation to LCC (LA) and UCLan (HEI), unless stated otherwise.

Feedback on Local Authority: 

· A number of initiatives used by LCC to help students in their transition were seen to have worked well by the NQSWs.  They particularly praised the shadowing opportunities available to them, so as to get a taste of different teams; the variety of training courses on offer; the support provided by PDWs, by way of group support, gathering of feedback etc. and the support provided by Practice Educators.

· Paradoxically, some of the NQSWs believed a few of the Practice Educators had not undertaken the necessary preparation to support them on their final placements.

· The NQSWs believed that, though good in theory, there had been teething issues with the LCC talent pool. One NQSW mentioned how they had been successful in their talent pool interview but then received no feedback on this and contact between the Local Authority and   NQSW then ceased. The NQSW subsequently applied for another job and was successful. Fortunately, this was still within the local authority. 

· Though not linked to transition directly, the NQSWs felt gaining log-ins and systems access was difficult during their placement. This was not the case for all students but did have big impacts on some and could theoretically deter students from applying for job   opportunities within the Local Authority. An analysis of how to improve these processes would be recommended. 

· Some NQSWs who were successful with job applications were offered to be placed in a "holding post", as a social work assistant for example, whilst they waited for their HCPC registration to come through, which they felt was beneficial to them. Other NQSWs were not provided this opportunity. A recommendation would be to apply this wherever possible going forward. 

· There were many suggested improvements provided by NQSWs for the recruitment process, some of which tie into HEI input which is detailed below. 

Feedback on HEI:

· The employability module at UCLan was praised by some NQSWs but improvements were suggested by others. In general, ASYEs felt the content of the module was good but there could be improvements to   the delivery. For example, the feedback provided to students in the mock interviews was graded (which NQSWs felt was unnecessary) and demotivated them. Some of the NQSWs felt the feedback they were provided with was not constructive and was not balanced with any praise. 

· The NQSWs felt there should be clearer links between the questions asked in mock interviews in the employability module and the questions asked at interviews in the Local Authorities. They also highlighted the flaws of the current questions asked by managers in interviews e.g. questions too heavily focused on experience, which NQSWs believed would benefit a more experienced social worker. Training has historically been rolled out to recruiting managers at LCC on designing interview questions, but this may need to be carried out again and, if done soon, would be timely with the recent introduction of the new recruitment system. It would then be recommended to allow universities to see some of these typical questions to ask in mock interviews. 

· There was a lack of consistency over job opportunities being advertised to students. Some of the students at UCLan did receive emails of job opportunities from their university whereas others did not. The NQSWs were not clear as to why this was but believed it may have been because of who provided their email addresses at the UCLan Careers Fair.   It would be recommended that HEIs and LAs work collaboratively to identify how best to promote job opportunities to students. 

· The UCLan MA NQSW and Lancaster University NQSW both did not have an employability module as part of their course. They both felt that this would have been beneficial for their transition. The Lancaster University NQSW added to this, stating that content was more focused on academia whereas a greater balance of this and employment support would have been more beneficial. 

· The Lancaster University NQSW was not provided with a Local Authority placement and so completed their final placement in the third sector. They believed this hindered them when it came to applying for jobs and suggested that all students should be allowed the opportunity to have a final placement at a Local Authority.

· UCLan NQSWs stated that there was not enough information provided on the KSS by the university. They felt this was key information that a qualified practitioner needs and, although the KSS is covered substantially in the Assessed and Supported Year in Employment, the NQSWs felt more of an introduction to this was needed within their studies to help them with employability. This issue was not raised by the Lancaster University ASYE. 

· The NQSWs recommended that there needed to be more LCC representation during the employability module to offer advice   and support. This has been done before but not consistently. LCC are already aware of this issue and are looking at making LCC representation during the employability module more regular, as well as ensuring that the messages coming from LCC are consistent (See 'Building an Improved System'). 

3.Building an Improved System

Each Local Authority, in collaboration with the HEI's, is continuously striving to improve the system   to support final year students in their transition to qualified practitioner.  This sometimes means replicating best practice from one authority to the other, and sometimes means diversifying processes to best fit the specific local authority. 

Examples of improvements that are either in the pipeline or are in the initial stages of exploration are detailed below.

Blackpool Council and Lancashire County Council Adult and Children's   Services

· Action Learning Sets: The Action Learning Sets would be available for final year students, and centred on themes such as how to improve employability skills. These could take place within the   student learning hubs.  

· Promotion of Coaching Service: The Skills, Learning & Development Service, along with the GLTP, are looking at ways to better promote the coaching service to student social workers. This may be   through a proactive approach, directly targeting the student social workers. 

· Talent Pool:  Exploring the possibility of incorporating the talent pool functionality in LCC's new recruitment system. The system allows for unsuccessful applicants, who meet the minimum criteria, to be stored in a talent pool which means they can then be easily contacted when a new job opportunity arises. 

The following changes are all being explored in LCC's Children's Social Care:

· Mentoring programmes: This approach involves an experienced mentor working with a less   experienced staff member on the job.

· Centralising Recruitment: The Children's Services Workforce Development Group have been exploring ways to centralise recruitment to link into the quarterly social work academies as opposed to NQSWs applying for jobs in North, Central and East of the county. This in now working, in the main, with applicants applying for one role and then selecting their area of preference, in terms of location. The aim of this is to make the approach less disjointed.

The following changes are all being explored in LCC's Adult Social Care:

· A creation of a calendar of recruitment events. This will target UCLan and Lancaster students with the aim of promoting LCC as an employer and making the organisation more visible as a recruiter. 

· Talent Pool Interviews: The idea is to time these interviews to take place in the last 20 days of student's final placement so they can use examples from their placement as support. This would be done to proactively create a bank of students for future vacancies, rather than waiting for them to finish their programme of study to apply. 

· The creation of student specific interviews that incorporate more general questions, based less on experience. 

· Creation of team ambassadors. The role of the team ambassador is to sell the specific area of the service they are in and discuss pathways into the role, drawing on their own experience. The team ambassadors will have designated time to spend with final year students to discuss these pathways. 

· Marketing Materials: Staff that are to present at UCLan as part of the Employability Module are to be provided with marketing materials to make LCC's message to students more consistent

· Practice Educators: Creation of more Practice Educators. The ultimate goal is for every grade 9 Social Worker to become a Practice Educator, who can then act in a supervisory role for final year students. 

· Improvements to the Recruitment Process: A pilot, beginning in September 2019, using a new recruitment process is being  trialled. The recruitment cycle will take place 6 times a year on a 2 month cycle. The new approach is intended to both take the burden off recruiting managers to recruit to a post, as well as improve the recruitment experience for NQSWs. 

In the new process:

* Recruitment managers submit a vacancy application. A recruitment officer then completes the necessary arrangements to fill the post. This frees up capacity for the recruitment manager.

* Job advertisements are standardised to ensure NQSWs receive professional adverts with correct messages to allow NQSWs to be provided with consistent application form advice. 

* Generic interview hints and tips are provided to NQSWs as part of the advert.

* NQSWs that apply and are unsuccessful, but appointable, will be kept in a talent pool for 3 months and contacted directly by the recruitment officer when new jobs become available.

* The recruitment officer is responsible for sending out a rejection letter in a timely manner. This helps in guiding unsuccessful students to improve their job applications as well as leaving them with a positive impression of LCC, increasing the likelihood of them re-applying for other roles with the organisation.

The partnership can evidence that employment rates in social work 6 months and 12 months after graduation are 50% and 70% respectively. 

The two Higher Education Institutions that make up the Teaching Partnership, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and Lancaster University, have provided statistics to evidence as best possible that employment rates in social work 6 months and 12 months after graduation are 50% and 70% respectively.  

Lancaster University Employment Rates (16/17)

Course - BA (Hons) Social Work 

• 100% of social work graduates had gained professional or managerial employment 6 months after completion of their degree. 
• This data is based off feedback from 20 students. 80% of those surveyed        responded.
• The data provided is specifically for employment rates at 6 months. There is no data available for 12 months. 
• The employment rates cover all employment, not just social work specific roles. The "Most Common Jobs" table represents broad job types that students have gained employment in since the course. It is anticipated that the majority of the 80% becoming a welfare professional did indeed gain a role in social work, but this can't be proven. 

University of Central Lancashire Employment Rates (16/17)

Course - BA (Hons) Social Work 

The employment rate for UCLan social work graduates has been measured in terms of graduate   prospects. 

Graduate Prospects  - The proportion of leavers in graduate level employment, further study or   training six months after completion of their course.

Graduate Prospects by Course

Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Social Work

1.     Graduate     70     (89.7%)

2.     Negative       8      (10.3%)

Total     Count     78

• Data has been collected through the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education        survey.
• The employment rate for the Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Social Work graduates in        2016/17 was 89.7%.
• There were 78 survey respondents.
• The indicators are for all respondents on BA (Hons) Social Work so includes full and        part-time graduates, those home and overseas domiciled and possibly those who left with an exit award. 
• The DLHE (Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education) survey was last run in 2016/17 and has been replaced with the Graduate Outcomes survey. The results of the first Graduate Outcomes survey are not due until the spring 2020 so cannot be provided in this study.
• The data is for employment rates at 6 months. There is no data available for 12 months. 
• The data shows social work graduates who have achieved graduate level        employment 6 months after completion of their course, but is not specific to social work. 

Limitations

• The data available from both HEIs was only for 6 month employment rates, not 12.
• The data provided by both HEIs is for 16/17 and therefore doesn't measure the impact of the GLTP on employment rates. However, this data can act as a baseline for future employment rates.

There is a credible plan to deliver 2019-2020 employment rates in social work of at least 70% and 80% 6 months and 12 months respectively after graduation and at least the same in the following Academic Year 

Lancaster University

The slight problem Lancaster have is that there is a bit of lag in the data –so our latest employment data related to students who graduated at end of 2016/17 – for this group we had a 100% graduate employment rate at 6 months. However data is unavailable for 12 months. The data for the 2017/18 cohort should be available by December this year. Moreover, the internal data (which is where this figure is from) covers all graduate employment; not just social work specific roles. That said, Lancaster are confident that nearly all our social workers go onto social work positions, but not necessarily within a Local Authority. 

This link provides a bit more detail but please note it does not specify which cohort it is referring to: https://unistats.ac.uk/subjects/employment/10007768FT-003714/ReturnTo/Search

In terms of future data collection, it may be worth setting up some kind of system so that the universities are informed how many social workers each LA employs at point of graduation through the ASYE scheme. Lancaster often have this information anecdotally, but a more formal data collection process would help.

UCLAN

The DLHE (Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education) survey was last run in 2016/17 and has been replaced with the Graduate Outcomes survey, the results of the first Graduate Outcomes survey are not due until Spring 2020. 

School level DLHE results are available for the 2016/17 survey on the Planning & Insight resource bank (only available internally at UCLan.  The DLHE survey only offers destination statistics for graduates at 6 months post-graduation. There are 2 indicators used to measure destinations - 

Positive Outcomes - the proportion of leavers in any kind of employment, further study or training six months after completion of their course.

Graduate Prospects – the proportion of leavers in graduate level employment, further study or training six months after the completion of their course. 

The Positive Outcomes indicator for the Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Social Work graduates in 2016/17 was 98.7%

The partnership can evidence that vacancies across the partnership are systematically advertised to students 

The partnership have a variety of measures in place to ensure as many students as possible are aware of current vacancies within the partnership's local authorities.  

Lancashire County Council

LCC currently have a rolling recruitment programme on the intranet and students are advised to access the intranet job site regularly.  Here, students have the facility to sign up for job alerts and add their details to the vacancies page so that these can be used when applying. 

There are two specific sections to both the internet and intranet vacancies page, advertising the benefits of working in both Children's and Adult Services, as well as the current job opportunities available. 

Furthermore, LCC attend Careers Fairs at the Higher Education Institutions and take names of students for the LCC Talent Pool, to be targeted for vacancies.  

N.B. Statistics regarding the Talent Pool as well as plans to improve the process are described in the section "The partnership can evidence that a system is in place to support final year students in their transition to qualified practitioner, above and beyond final placement arrangements". 

Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council

Blackburn with Darwen attend the Careers Fairs at UCLan and publicise these events on social media platforms. The Practice Development Workers email job opportunities to the students on placement, whilst managers usually verbally communicate these job opportunities.  Practice Development Workers also advise students to tell their peers about job opportunities. These vacancies are additionally advertised on the GLTP twitter feed. 

Blackpool Council

Blackpool attend the Careers Fairs at UCLan and publicise these events on social media platforms. External jobs are advertised on Twitter and Facebook and final year students are encouraged to set up a "Greater Jobs" (Recruitment Platform) account to get alerts when jobs are advertised. Jobs are also advertised on the intranet.

Conclusions

All three local authorities and the two HEIs have shared information and best practice in order to improve final year students' transition from final year student to qualified practitioner. Authorities in general have then used this information sharing to create similar approaches to best meet the progression objectives. The ASYE interviews provided insightful evidence that, though this best practice was followed in pockets, this wasn't universally consistent. Examples of this lack of consistency include: 

- The promotion of job opportunities to certain students and not others

- The inconsistent use of temporary holding posts for new employees awaiting HCPC registration

- The level of application and interview preparation for UCLan BA's, UCLan MA's and Lancaster University students differing significantly. 

This best practice may need to be shared in a more formalised way going forward, especially upon the ending of the GLTP funding, to make sure this practice is consistently applied across all the authorities and HEIs that make up the partnership.

There also needs to be improved recording of metric data which will help the partner agencies to ascertain the impact of any new methods implemented to improve the transitional period. In general, it appears that the measures put in place to improve progression have had a positive impact on final year students' transitional experience and there are many more interventions in the pipeline to improve this going forward. The metric data obtained for this study will also act as a baseline to track any improvements going forward.

Considerations

· Blackpool Children's and Adults' to introduce more formal recording of conversion rates between placement and employment.

· All new employees awaiting Social Work England registration to begin employment in a holding post. This has been done in areas across all three authorities, but not consistently. Areas not adopting this approach need to look at if adjustments can be made in order to do so. This will have the benefit of reducing the waiting time between accepting the job offer and starting in a role.

· A consideration for Action Learning Sets to be added to the Student Learning Hubs. The sets will allow students to provide peer support to each other on themes such as employability and placement support. 

· All three local authorities to continue to monitor student conversion rates to track progress against any interventions implemented.

· More formal attendance recording and evaluation feedback processes to be established for the   Learning Hubs at both Lancashire County Council and Blackpool Council.

· The PDW support provided during the final year for students was praised by numerous ASYEs. There needs to be well considered succession planning in place for when the GLTP disbands to pick up on the valuable support provided by PDWs.

· Lancaster University to look into the addition of additional interview and application skills as part of their Transitions module. 

· LCC to look at how they are currently promoting team shadowing opportunities to final year students, to ensure each student has this opportunity.

· LCC to look at how to most efficiently provide appropriate resources and systems access for all final placement students.

· LAs and HEIs to work collaboratively to come up with ways to best promote job opportunities across each of the LAs to all BA and MA social work students.  The three local authorities to stop being as reliant on word of mouth to promote job opportunities and instead build a system whereby communication of all job opportunities goes out to every student that is completing their Social Work qualification at UCLan and Lancaster University.

· In   terms of future data collection, an effective system to be set up so that the Universities are informed how many social workers each LA employs at point of graduation through the ASYE scheme. This information is currently anecdotally passed on, but a more formal data collection process would help to track progression. HEIs to begin recording social work student employment rates at 12 months.

· HEIs   to collect data, analyse and share employment rate data with local authorities in a more timely manner going forward to reduce the time lag.