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Learning and development

The Academy aims to create a learning culture that supports the professional development of individual workers, helps embed Relational values in our practice and contributes to the continuous improvement and development of our services.

Our learning offer is key to meeting these ambitions and our programme is open to all staff (including agency staff) with an expectation that learning opportunities are taken up as part of your Continued Professional Development requirement.

The Academy works in partnership with the Learning and Development Service to commission learning based on the identified needs of staff members and the wider needs of the service as identified through audit findings or in response to changing legal and practice frameworks and knowledge from research.

The Academy monitors the quality and impact of our learning programme to ensure it meets the needs and expectations of staff and to measure its impact on standards of practice, service delivery and ultimately, outcomes for children and families. To help with this process we ask staff to complete training evaluation forms at the end of every session.

You can access and book onto all available training courses via the Learning and Development hub.

Our core learning programme is open to all social care professionals and reviewed and updated every April. It is based on the key learning statements and aligned to our career pathways in order to support staff to progress along their chosen pathway and help social workers retain their registration.

 

All practitioners are expected to attend core training as part of their role and to meet the requirements of continued professional development. Core learning represents the areas of practice, expertise and standards expected of social care practitioners. 

 

Some learning is mandatory if you are practising in a specific area of work and some training needs to be refreshed on a regular basis.

 

We encourage different methods of learning and modes of delivery that are flexible in order to meet the preferred learning styles of practitioners and the needs of the service, for example:

    • online and class-based learning
    • webinars, e-learning and other resources including articles, videos, podcasts and top tips
    • practice workshops provided by staff with specialist knowledge of areas of social work
    • learning sessions organised by the Principal Social Worker exploring specific areas of practice.

 

Our current 2024/2025 calendar is available here;

We want your learning and development to be tailored to your needs and aligned to your career ambitions. Supervision is the main forum for you to have "aspirational conversations" with your manager around your learning needs and how they will be met so you can both identify the learning you need. Managers will record these discussions in a learning and your development plan that is shared with the Academy and this information is used to help us commission our training.

You can also have a "career conversation" with Practice Development Officers based in the Academy at the monthly Academy clinic; they can advise you on your career pathway options and the best learning and development opportunities to support your choice.

You need to agree attendance at courses and other learning opportunities with your manager prior to applying for a place. It is an expectation that managers allow staff to attend and that cancelling attendance is in exceptional circumstances only.

Newly-qualified social workers joining Camden will be automatically enrolled on to our Assessed and Supported Year of Employment (ASYE) programme and receive extra support from the Academy. For details go to the ASYE webpage.

We work in partnership with a number of Higher Education institutions to develop flexible post-qualification learning for experienced practitioners as part of their continued professional development. Learning will be embedded into practice and evidenced in the practitioners portfolio.

Qualifications include specialist modules and Masters courses provided by Royal Holloway, Southbank University, Middlesex University and the Tavistock Clinic and Institute for Family Therapy.

If you are considering this option, you need to discuss your plans with your manager and you can apply to Camden for a contribution towards fees and to agree other forms of support and study leave. Applications should be made to the Progression Panel via the funding application form.

Practitioners will also need to sign a Financial Assistance Undertaking to remain working at Camden for 1 year after the course has finished.  

CSCP multi-agency training

The CSCP provides multi-agency safeguarding training for all agencies in Camden working with children and families and practitioners from all services within the Children and Learning Directorate are expected to attend. This training is vital in supporting multi-agency responses to safeguarding and child protection concerns and emphasises the importance of working in partnership with other agencies as this is the best way to protect children at risk of harm.

Training is offered at different levels based on the level and degree of contact professionals have with children and families and the CSCP safeguarding training is set at level 3 to enable attendees to understand safeguarding from the perspective of other agencies:

  • Level 2-3 training is offered to  Family Support Workers, Early Years educators and Youth workers based in in Early Years, SEN and Youth services who have regular contact with children and families, are in a position to recognise safeguarding concerns and who will be part of the safeguarding response.
  • Level 4-5 training is offered to social workers carrying out statutory duties under section 47 of the Children Act under child protection procedures.
  • Level 6-7 training is offered to managers responsible for the oversight of child protection work and supervising social workers carrying out child protection activity.

There is an expectation that new staff attend the relevant training as soon as possible at the next available training session and that this is noted in their induction plan on joining Camden.

The training also needs to be refreshed on a 3 yearly basis.

For more details see the CSCP training strategy.

Research resources

As a learning organisation that looks to embrace new ideas and approaches in order to innovate and improve our practice, Camden subscribes to the following research resources. 

Research in Practice; to subscribe, please click on the link and follow the instructions to create an account.

Making Research Count: All Camden staff automatically become members of MRC and learning opportunities and research documents are regularly distributed to practitioners. To subscribe, please click on the link.

Camden also subscribes to the British Journal of Social Work, an international, peer-reviewed academic social work journal, published in the UK and owned by BASW. It has a focus on social work research and theory across all aspects of social work practice. All practitioners can access the journal here and browse articles.

We actively encourage practitioners to use these resources to support evidence-based practice. The Academy will regularly distribute information about webinars, workshops and other learning opportunities from both organisations.

Camden embraces a model of mentoring that is informal and relationship-based where an experienced practitioner shares their professional knowledge and experience with less experienced practitioners in order to support them and help them develop their own knowledge and experience.

The Academy will ensure that all newly qualified social workers on the second year of the ASYE programme are offered mentoring from an experienced practitioner during their time on the programme. 

The Academy can also link other practitioners with an experienced practitioner for mentoring where the practitioner is in need of extra support around a specific practice issue and there is an agreed focus to the mentoring,

All staff can access the corporate mentoring offer; see Essentials for details.

Camden has a social work apprenticeship scheme that is open to Camden employees who meet the eligibility criteria. If you are interested in the scheme, you can talk to the Academy team manager to find out more.

You will need the support of your manager to apply to the scheme so  you should have a conversation with them about this during supervision as part of your learning and development pathway. 

Our apprenticeship learning is delivered by Kingston University and is a mixture of online, independent learning and attendance at college. During this time you will be working in a social care setting within the council.

For more information contact the Academy team manager:

Jay Fente ([email protected]) 020 7974 1096

Camden commissions a bespoke learning programme for personal advisors that is delivered by Become, a leading charity for care experienced young people. The programme covers the care system, the unique challenges faced by care experienced young people and provides support for staff who are beginning their career as a personal advisor.