Social Work Health Check

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Dear colleagues,

Its that time again where we offer the opportunity for all social workers working within Cornwall Children's Services, to share your voice and views about your role and the work, as well as how it feels to work for Cornwall Children and Family Services. It is important that you have what you need to do your job well, and taking part in this annual Health Check survey will help us to ensure we meet the standards as set out by the Local Government Association.

Your responses help us identify strengths as well as areas we need to improve.

Reflecting on our 2024 Ofsted inspection it was reported that:

“Staff’s care, commitment and child-focused approach shine through when they talk about their work. This positive working environment helps to foster a culture in which an enthusiasm and commitment to do the best for children is found at all levels in the organisation.”

Children’s services were given an overall effectiveness rating of ‘Good’, broken down into the following categories:

  • Impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families – Good
  • Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection – Good
  • Experiences and progress of children in care – Good
  • Experiences and progress of care leavers – Outstanding

Reflecting on last years health check objectives we have made the following changes:

1. In response to your concerns around improved work/life balance, CFS have issued further guidance on compressed working hours, as part of the Corporate Flexible working policy. We hope that this will support a number of staff to explore this option as a way to support staff well being, alongside meeting the expectations of the service.

2. Regarding increasing use of AI, we have seen the introduction of Co-pilot, which for many managers has had a positive impact, reducing time spent on writing up meetings such as strategy discussions and supervision notes.

3. Supervision remains one of our top 5 priorities as a service and Power BI allows for live updates on caseloads and supervision. Ofsted recognised that improvements in the recording of our supervision have been made and that supervision was mostly regular and addressed risk. We continue to focus on improving the frequency, quality, reflection, influence and recording of supervision.

4. The Advanced Practitioners Network continues to provide a positive and supportive learning forum for managers and Advancced practitioners. Reflective spaces have discussed neuro-diversity tool-kits for the workforce, anti racist supervision, as well as the potential impact of the Kinship care strategy. Action Learning sets also support reflective practice and a forum for peer learning. These happen bi monthly via teams.

5. Social Work recruitment remains a challenge nationally, however Cornwall have managed to maintain the same number of social workers compared to this time last year. We continue to actively advertise and recruit, as well as explore all options to increase capacity within the workforce, given increasing demand. At the time of writing, 8 candidates are being interviewed for Act up PSW roles across the county, supporting personal development and progression within the service.

6. Our Post Qualification contract (PQ) with UWE is coming to an end. We have explored a new pathway which will continue to compliment and support our Career and Qualification Pathway (CQP) in the same way it always has. From January 2025 you will have a wider range of academic modules to support your progression with a range of providers. Further communications will detail the changes and process for applications.

7. Deeper conversations and understanding around race, inclusivity and anti racist practice have further developed across our training and development offer. All CFS staff are strongly encouraged to attend our mahogany sessions which provide a suite of training and development opportunities for all staff supporting us in our journey towards becoming an actively anti racist service.

The survey this year is similar to previous ones, as it will help to compare your views.

This will not identify individuals, but help our understanding of how things may work differently across the Service.

Thank you for taking part in this, your contribution helps form developments for the forthcoming year to support Social work staff achieve their potential.

The questionnaire closes on 20 January 2025.

Tracey Davey
Principal Child and Family Social Worker

Dear colleagues,

Its that time again where we offer the opportunity for all social workers working within Cornwall Children's Services, to share your voice and views about your role and the work, as well as how it feels to work for Cornwall Children and Family Services. It is important that you have what you need to do your job well, and taking part in this annual Health Check survey will help us to ensure we meet the standards as set out by the Local Government Association.

Your responses help us identify strengths as well as areas we need to improve.

Reflecting on our 2024 Ofsted inspection it was reported that:

“Staff’s care, commitment and child-focused approach shine through when they talk about their work. This positive working environment helps to foster a culture in which an enthusiasm and commitment to do the best for children is found at all levels in the organisation.”

Children’s services were given an overall effectiveness rating of ‘Good’, broken down into the following categories:

  • Impact of leaders on social work practice with children and families – Good
  • Experiences and progress of children who need help and protection – Good
  • Experiences and progress of children in care – Good
  • Experiences and progress of care leavers – Outstanding

Reflecting on last years health check objectives we have made the following changes:

1. In response to your concerns around improved work/life balance, CFS have issued further guidance on compressed working hours, as part of the Corporate Flexible working policy. We hope that this will support a number of staff to explore this option as a way to support staff well being, alongside meeting the expectations of the service.

2. Regarding increasing use of AI, we have seen the introduction of Co-pilot, which for many managers has had a positive impact, reducing time spent on writing up meetings such as strategy discussions and supervision notes.

3. Supervision remains one of our top 5 priorities as a service and Power BI allows for live updates on caseloads and supervision. Ofsted recognised that improvements in the recording of our supervision have been made and that supervision was mostly regular and addressed risk. We continue to focus on improving the frequency, quality, reflection, influence and recording of supervision.

4. The Advanced Practitioners Network continues to provide a positive and supportive learning forum for managers and Advancced practitioners. Reflective spaces have discussed neuro-diversity tool-kits for the workforce, anti racist supervision, as well as the potential impact of the Kinship care strategy. Action Learning sets also support reflective practice and a forum for peer learning. These happen bi monthly via teams.

5. Social Work recruitment remains a challenge nationally, however Cornwall have managed to maintain the same number of social workers compared to this time last year. We continue to actively advertise and recruit, as well as explore all options to increase capacity within the workforce, given increasing demand. At the time of writing, 8 candidates are being interviewed for Act up PSW roles across the county, supporting personal development and progression within the service.

6. Our Post Qualification contract (PQ) with UWE is coming to an end. We have explored a new pathway which will continue to compliment and support our Career and Qualification Pathway (CQP) in the same way it always has. From January 2025 you will have a wider range of academic modules to support your progression with a range of providers. Further communications will detail the changes and process for applications.

7. Deeper conversations and understanding around race, inclusivity and anti racist practice have further developed across our training and development offer. All CFS staff are strongly encouraged to attend our mahogany sessions which provide a suite of training and development opportunities for all staff supporting us in our journey towards becoming an actively anti racist service.

The survey this year is similar to previous ones, as it will help to compare your views.

This will not identify individuals, but help our understanding of how things may work differently across the Service.

Thank you for taking part in this, your contribution helps form developments for the forthcoming year to support Social work staff achieve their potential.

The questionnaire closes on 20 January 2025.

Tracey Davey
Principal Child and Family Social Worker

  • 2024 - Social Work Health Check

    Our data protection and confidentiality statement 

    How will you protect my information? 

    Your data will be stored securely and will only be accessible by members of Together for Families. Your consent for your data to be used in the evaluation will be assumed from you starting the survey. 

    Who am I giving my information to? 

    The evaluation is being carried out by Together for Families. You can view our privacy notice at www.cornwall.gov.uk/tffprivacynotice. 

    How will you store my personal data? 

    Survey responses will be collected using the Let’s Talk Cornwall survey software. By completing this survey, you consent to this transfer of your information.  This includes any information which may represent your personal data. All the information you share with Together for Families will be stored safely for the duration of the evaluation.  It will be destroyed one year after it has finished. 

    Let’s Talk Cornwall is the system used to collate the data and create reports from it. You can view the privacy statement on the Let’s Talk Cornwall website

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Page last updated: 10 Jan 2025, 02:24 PM