Principal social worker Review

I am the principal social worker and my role involves quality assurance of practice and the service children and families receive. I also work closely with workforce development to ensure that there is the correct training and development to support practitioners to develop their knowledge and skills. I report in to the senior leadership team and link in with both regional and national principal social workers

The course has been very beneficial and a comprehensive package of support from a management perspective. I better understand how to use tools to develop and embed strategies to move forward the quality of practice and communicate this with the service. Engaging staff in a meaningful way in line with the services values and ethic has also been of benefit

It is interesting and rewarding sharing experience with the other students from different backgrounds and this has enabled me to gain a wider perspective. The sessions that were taught face to face were more interactive but lecturers have worked hard to support our learning in the virtual world of COVID.

The programme is very well structured with key lecturers and key note speakers in line with subject areas and current industry expertise. There have been a number of online platforms as a result of COVID but the more recent teams platform has best suited the structure and delivery. The final portfolio however seems a vast piece of work

My employer has afforded me the opportunity to attend the training and given me some time to complete some assessments. I have also had the ability within my role to embed some aspects into the work that I am currently completing . A redesign of the service is however causing a delay in my final project

The lecturers on the whole have been very supportive and made time for virtual tutorials if required. The apprenticeship coaches have met regularly with myself and my manager to check on progress and share support ideas. Whilst all efforts have been made to support us virtually I personally would have benefited from face to face support

The management qualification enables me to better perform within my professional setting and reflect on the service to ensure we are operating in line with our organisations ethics and values. The work in respect developing and implementing strategy is key as we are going through significant organisational change to improve outcomes

There a number of activities normally available but a lot of them have been stopped as a result of COVID restrictions. The organisation has however tried to support well-being through virtual sessions such as mindfulness, and coffee morning and quizzes. Individual teams across the service have joint lunches as catch up sessions to support home working.

Yes

Trafford children’s services are a supportive learning organisation who are currently on an improvement journey and therefore looking at how they work to not only support children and families but their workers too. Throughout the pandemic they have offered flexibility and support to workers across the council and in the community

If you are passionate about supporting children and young people and their families Trafford would be a good place to work. You need to be commuted to your own professional development. You need to be able to build relationships with people from all backgrounds and work with others in high support high challenge manner