Accessing CPD In Residential Child Care

Maureen Anderson, Director of Vocational Studies at the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care highlights the success of the Core Skills Appraisal Project

In 2001, the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act unsettled the Scottish social care sector. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) was created and it was required that the Council maintained a Register of social workers and of other social service workers. In addition, the legislation said that the SSSC would have the general duty of promoting high standards i) in the conduct and practice of social service workers and ii) in their education and training.

Registration became intertwined with education and training. Unqualified staff were encouraged to register but with conditions that they achieve an appropriate qualification within a defined period of time.

So, with the SSSC’s requirement that all Residential Child Care (RCC) staff need to be registered, many staff were faced with having to begin the HNC Social Care. The pressure was on. Many care staff were facing the daunting experience of returning to formal education, something that they never expected to have to do because, traditionally, the sector has been staffed by people who are caring and competent but, on the whole, unqualified.

The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) offers the HNC Social Care through a number of different educational institutions throughout Scotland. Our experience was that around 80% of RCC staff who applied for the course did not have the necessary entry-level qualifications. Despite this, we accepted most applicants onto the course, recognising that their extensive experience in the sector also counted as relevant prior knowledge. Unfortunately, many struggled with the academic content of the HNC course, frequently took longer than average, and occasionally failed.

As a result, other colleagues became apprehensive about undertaking the HNC; employers used valuable resources to backfill shifts while staff struggled with their learning; and in some cases young people experienced less consistency as sessional staff acted as their carers.

At SIRCC, we were very aware that something had to be done urgently to support the transition to learning for RCC staff and we developed the Core Skills Appraisal Project (CSAP) that was funded from 2005 by the Scottish Executive to try to address some of the challenges we were experiencing.

The CSAP aimed to encourage RCC staff into formal learning by creating and maintaining a system of assessment for anyone who did not have the required educational entrance criteria for the HNC.
It also aimed to support employers to develop a plan for the registration of their workforce by providing them with an accurate assessment of their staff’s capacity for success and/or the resources needed to address their learner support needs.

In order to achieve these objectives, the CSAP evaluates individuals’ core skills in written communication and provides recommendations and resources to those who require further preparation prior to beginning the HNC. {mospagebreak}

Within the first year of the CSAP we found that of 1016 applicants for HNC, 721 (70%) did not have entry requirements. Of that 721 people, 383 appraisals were completed, evidencing that 315 (82%) people needed learner support.

Although the numbers were much greater than we had expected, what we did notice was that the vast majority of people who had identified learner support needs all had very similar needs.
We took this information and developed a Written Communication course which can be adapted to 2 days, 3 days or 5 days, depending on the individual learner’s needs.

We were delighted that of the 86 people who participated in the first 7 Core Skills courses, 75 were successful after reappraisal and went on to begin their HNC. Most of the people we have worked with have realised that a major factor in their transition to learning is that the need to build confidence.

One woman noted the following, a very common piece of feedback from our participants:
I am much more confident to write now (i)

Frequently, the task is trying to convince people that they do have potential and that the skills they need already exist. It is usually the case that they have not practiced them for a long time and therefore are ‘rusty’.

The following comment is another typical piece of feedback after the course:
‘I think the Core Skills Course helped me to remember things I learnt at school’ (ii)

The majority of evaluation forms have very positive comments and most people identify that they have improved in the areas they were most concerned about:
‘I find reading easier’ (iii)
‘I can analyse what I read now’ (iv)

The personal contact between RCC and CSAP staff breaks down fears and builds confidence, critical to academic success:
‘If it hadn’t been for the support I got from the [CSAP] Coordinator during my appraisal, I would never have been confident enough to think about coming on a course’ (v)

We are now at the stage where the first people who undertook the CSAP course have completed their HNCs. These are adult learners who never expected that they would ever be in this position. None of them had any formal qualifications and all were extremely apprehensive about entering the process.

HNC tutors reported that the work of students who had completed the Core Skills course was of a high standard and none of them had any serious problems on the course. They were well-prepared and often submitted work that was of a better standard than the students who did not need to undertake learner support. Students also reported to tutors that they were enjoying the learning experience and were able to put theory into practice back in the workplace.{mospagebreak}

It is vital that all staff take the message from these experiences. So many RCC staff we meet are extremely underconfident and believe that the drive for a qualified workforce means that they will need to seek other employment. Managers express concerns about losing good staff who they believe will never be able to achieve the HNC.

It is clear that our experience of the last 2 years should go some way towards dispelling these fears. Without exception, everyone who has gone through the CSAP course has also believed that she/he would never be able to succeed. A significant component of the work for CSAP staff has been to build confidence and self-esteem and encourage people to take a risk and try to see themselves as learners.

This has to be way forward for the sector: a change in culture so that each individual sees her/himself as a professional who deserves to be a lifelong learner and who can achieve in order to improve the quality of service offered.

In the National Strategy for the Development of the Social Service Workforce in Scotland (vi), the Scottish Executive says that, in order to respond appropriately to changing demands, everyone must play a part in developing a learning culture where there are opportunities for staff to progress in their careers. The National Strategy aims to have a workforce that is competent to respond to changing needs, confident that it can make a positive different to people’s lives and valued for the contribution it makes to Scottish society.

Managers play an important role in preparing staff and raising their confidence through encouraging a culture of learning together in the workplace. In fact, the National Strategy gives a clear message, saying that they need to have a clear vision, be realistic about challenges and inspire and support staff to deliver the desired outcomes for service users and carers. Managers must also see continuous improvement and development as the norm and encourage their staff to be well equipped for the task facing them.

Teams also can play a part in shifting the culture of the workplace and offering support to colleagues who need it. We hear on a daily basis of groups of colleagues who have formed study groups to work together on essays. This has had a positive impact on relationships in the team because staff are sharing learning (and the stresses!) together.{mospagebreak}

Historically, if we look at the culture of residential child care, there has never been an expectation that the task requires qualifications, therefore learning and training has traditionally been restricted to those short courses needed to do the job, for example Moving and Assisting, Health and Safety. Now, there is a need for preparation for formal educational courses, Post Qualifying Training and Learning (PRTL) as well as CPD.

We have identified practical ways that staff can build skills and prepare for the appraisal by undertaking regular practice. Some candidates have arrived for appraisal saying that they feel more confident through doing this and have been successful at their appraisal because they had practiced beforehand.

At SIRCC we hope that, as more and more RCC staff come through the CSAP and eventually the HNC, their colleagues will see that it is achievable and even enjoyable! Our experience is that even the most apprehensive people have now seen that they can achieve. It is clear from the atmosphere at the College graduation ceremony that everyone believes that the hard work has been worthwhile. This, in turn, will feed into the learning culture and make a positive experience for others, in particular the children and young people who are on the receiving end of a much improved service.

We hope that in years to come, residential child care will be seen to be a profession worthy of a qualified workforce and the only doubt will be over why this was not done sooner.

(i) Core Skills course graduate who is now a HNC Social Care student
(ii) Core Skills course graduate who is now a HNC Social Care student
(iii) Core Skills course graduate who is now a HNC Social Care student
(iv) Core Skills course graduate who is now a HNC Social Care student
(v) Candidate who has completed the Core Skills Appraisal
(vi) The National Strategy for the Development of the Social Service Workforce in Scotland. A plan for Action 2005 – 2010

About
The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) is funded by the Scottish Executive and is a partnership of the University of Strathclyde, The Robert Gordon University, Who Cares? Scotland, Langside College and Save the Children.

SIRCC was established in 2000 with the aim of ensuring that residential child care staff throughout Scotland have access to the skills  and knowledge they require to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care.