Focused on Learning - News & Updates

Advice and guidance for social service staff about using social media

2012-12-20 14:44:49

Over the past year or so, there has been an increasing awareness of the need for advice and guidance for social service staff in relation to using social media. The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) has published guidance on this issue which can be download here.

The SSSC has developed two additional resources as part of the Skills for Care and Development, Mobile Knowledge and Learning Solutions project, which are intended to give staff further guidance:

A short video aimed at all staff in the sector. It can be viewed online, or downloaded so that the video can be viewed on a computer or mobile device. An infographic which summarises some key facts about social media and its use by social service workers. This can be printed out and posted in staff rooms etc.

You'll find both resources at http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/socialmedia

We were commissioned to write the script for the video and the infographic, which has been expertly produced by our colleagues at CactusID.

Webinar - Mobile Knowledge & Learning Solutions

2012-07-27 15:08:36

In February 2011, SSSC, IRISS and Focused on Learning organised a one day conference at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh focused on the potential for using technology to support learning and development in the social service sector in Scotland.Following the event, there was significant interest in the potential for further events to be organised in the future to take the core themes of the conference and building on these. The world of learning technology has moved on rapidly in the last 18 months and Scottish Social Services Council, along with its partners in Skills for Care and Development, has been successful in securing funds from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKES) to support employers in developing their workforce through the use of mobile technologies as a means of delivering learning and development materials.To launch this project in Scotland and explain how you could benefit from the outputs and be involved in the work as it progresses, SSSC has planned webinars on 13th and 27th September at 10:00am. The webinars will run for a maximum of 90 minutes.We hope you will be able to participate in one of these online events. To register, please email Keith Quinn - keith.quinn@sssc.uk.com - to indicate which of the two events you wish to be part of.We look forward to meeting you online to discuss this exciting project.

Project Management Made Easy

2012-03-23 16:06:39

We have been using TeamworkPM for our own projects for a number of years, and we know it inside out. We have delivered a number of training courses on the software and we're pleased to be Certified Trainers for TeamworkPM.

We take great pride in designing and delivering tailored training programmes that are practical, interactive and fun, and we work with you deliver solutions that make a real impact. Our reputation has grown from our ability to meet the real learning and development needs of our clients.

We can offer you training in the software, and project management generally, or a combination of both.

We have a number of very experienced project managers, some with Prince2 qualifications – so we can offer a broad range of training and development courses to suit your exact requirements. Because we use TeamworkPM every day, we can help you make sense of it, and use the most appropriate features for your organisation and projects so the training will deliver significant benefits to your business in a short timeframe.

Feedback

Here's what one of our NHS clients said recently...

"We had an inspiring afternoon facilitated by Focused on Learning in order to assist the Organisational Development Team of South Cheshire Health and Vale Royal Clinical Commissioning Group to further develop their use of TeamworkPM as a way of managing projects. The training was tailored for our needs and was covered in a worthwhile afternoon. We were given really snappy and informative reading material and focused on the practical aspects of running a project with the software. We had time to really get hands-on and have a go ourselves, supervised by the trainer and receiving useful hints and tips along the way. We left the training feeling excited and inspired to get going using TeamworkPM!"

Click here to learn more about our project management training...

The Big Event: 24 March

2011-12-16 17:29:46

We are very excited to be working with Scotland's Children's Parliament to facilitate an event for over 80 looked after and accomodated children. This will be held in Livingston on Saturday 24 March.

It's called The Big Event and is going to be very interactive and fun. The main theme is about value and respect.

We'll post updates as the programme develops.

SSSC scoop the prize!

2011-11-24 15:27:32

We are truly delighted that one of our clients, the Scottish Social Services Council, scooped the winner's prize in the Innovation and Progress - Skills Development section of the Guardian Public Services Awards 2011 this week.

We have worked very closely with the SSSC to develop the Workforce Solutions Portal. Their innovative approach with an augmented reality training model using games and consoles aims to improve staff's learning retention was recognised by the judges as pioneering work that has delivered lasting improvement to the social services workforce in Scotland and could easily be replicated in other areas of public services.

The Guardian Public Services Awards showcase innovation and best practice across government and are recognised widely as the gold standard of achievement by public services teams. We were able to be at the awards ceremony on Tuesday evening in London and all of the projects shortlisted for awards were creative and innovative - every one of the finalists was so deserving of recognition. It was a terrific experience and we were delighted to be able to share in the SSSC's success.

Scottish Social Services Council's Moodle site shortlisted for award

NY2SY: Solo North Atlantic Row 2012

2011-11-10 20:03:32

We're delighted to be sponsoring Niall Iain Macdonald on his Solo North Atlantic Row 2012, raising funds for the Scottish Association For Mental Health (SAMH).

The North Atlantic Ocean is one of the most challenging, unpredictable and dangerous bodies of water in the world. Niall Iain is going to attempt to row solo from New York to Stornoway, on the Isle of Lewis, a total distance of 3400 miles (approx!).Only 10 people have successfully rowed solo from West to East across the North Atlantic (more people have walked on the moon!) and no one has ever completed the route that he is undertaking.He will leave New York at the end of May 2012. Initially, his route will take him east, roughly following a course of 40 degrees north latitude before he begins to head north east towards the UK, taking advantage of the Gulf Stream, and subsequently the North Atlantic Drift, to help him on his journey home. He aims to arrive in Stornoway, at the beginning of September...2012!Most previous crossings have made landfall in the Scilly Isles, off the southwest coast of the UK, but Niall Iain has decided to try and get all the way back to Stornoway as he feels that the fact he is rowing home will keep him going and get him through even the most difficult times.The NY2SY: Solo Atlantic Row 2012 will involve rowing for 12 hours, each day, for 3 months as well as coping with the various hazards the North Atlantic Ocean can present.Please make a donation towards his epic adventure and help him with his efforts to raise as much money as possible for the Scottish Association For Mental Health (SAMH).

One in four people in Scotland will have a mental health problem at some point in their life. This means that you may know someone with a mental health problem, or maybe you're worried about your own mental health. SAMH is Scotland's leading mental health charity and supports over 3000 people with mental health problems every day.

You can visit the NY2SY website at http://ny2sy.co.uk

Case Study - Behavioural Support Strategies

2011-11-09 11:11:47

Did you know that we provide a wide range of highly specialist training?

For example, we provide training on the legal aspects of physical restraint and the law relating to service users for Behavioural Support Strategies (BSS).

BSS is an independent Scottish entity offering training and support to develop and implement the BSS program of dealing with challenging behaviour in Scotland. BSS is now managed by Voluntary Service Aberdeen.The need to establish BSS was driven by changes in European and Scottish legislation, eg. Human Rights Act 1998 and Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 which required organisations to have recognised systems of accountability in place to ensure quality of provision for people who use services. The BSS approach is an established and recognised method of achieving this for people who on occasions may challenge services.The BSS approach offers a step by step process for crisis intervention and prevention. The BSS programme promotes the Whole Person Approach and aims to provide a framework for the use of proactive support for the management of behaviours that challenge. It emphasises as a very last resort the use of reactive strategies and physical interventions.

Each person's needs are assessed to emphasise positive behaviour changes, with staff actively working to support the individual develop new skills and improve self-control.The BSS programme does acknowledge that on occasions physical interventions are appropriate to deal with a specific crisis. A suite of core interventions are approved, all of which are designed to protect the individual from injuring him/herself or others. These interventions are used as a last resort.The BSS program was developed for service users, their families, carers and direct care staff who provide support for:

Children in Educational and Residential Services Adults and children with complex support needs Adults or children with physical sensory and learning difficulties Younger adults in transitional services Adults or children challenged by Autism People with a Mental Illness or Mental Health issue Older people People with Dementia

The law surrounding the use of physical interventions with children, young people and adults with learning disabilities and severe challenging behaviour is extremely complex.

Our training forms part of the 4 day Instructor Training as well as the annual 1 day re-certification course. The whole programme is accredited by BILD, the British Institute of Learning Disabilities, as part of their Physical Interventions Accreditation Scheme.

We cover a range of topics, including (but not limited to) human rights, health and safety, duty of care, criminal and civil law, liability, recording, data protection, child protection, working with vulnerable adults, mental health legislation... and more!

Both our Director and another consultant also teach undergraduate and postgraduate students about the law in relation to social work at two Scottish universities.

Training Vouchers

2011-11-08 13:15:39

We're proud to receive consistently great feedback from participants attending our training events. This is because they are practical, hands-on, hosted in small groups and tailored for your needs.

If you're coming to the end of your financial year and you've got training budget still to spend we can provide you with training vouchers for use at a future date. Save time, money, paperwork and effort. Take care of all your training needs for the entire year with one single purchase order. We issue the invoice immediately so you can apply it to this year's training budget. It's then up to you when you use the training. Most importantly the training budget is used, and not lost.

Internet safety for carers

2011-11-04 20:09:14

We have been commissioned by a national foster care organisation to do a series of training courses for carers on the power of social media and the risks facing carers and looked after children.

It has never been more important to better equip social workers and carers to both understand the issues and educate young people within their care. It is crucial to understand online safety, not only to give us as adults the knowledge to keep children and young people safe, but also to help us equip them with the skills and the resilience to recognise and address risk... but how can we protect and safeguard children and young people, when we don’t have a clear understanding ourselves of the available technologies and the potential risks?

If you'd like to more, please contact us.

Scottish Social Services Council's Moodle site shortlisted for award

2011-10-06 16:32:05

A Scottish public sector elearning system is being recognised at a prestigious award ceremony in London in November.

The Scottish Social Services Council's Workforce Solutions Portal has been shortlisted in the Innovation and Progress - Skills Development section of the Guardian Public Services Awards 2011.

The Guardian Public Services Awards have set out to showcase innovation and best practice across government and are recognised widely as the gold standard of achievement by public services teams.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Tuesday 22 November 2011 at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane, London.

The Workforce Solutions Portal was developed in conjunction with specialist social service consultancy firm Focused on Learning. It's built on Moodle, and hosted by Synergy Learning, the UK's leading Moodle Partner, on a secure, robust infrastructure.

Keith Quinn, Senior Education and Workforce Development Adviser at the Scottish Social Services Council, said:

"Focused on Learning were very responsive to our needs and have continued to offer effective expert support following the conclusion of the project, and Synergy Learning was chosen as the hosting provider because of their reliable, high quality and affordable Moodle hosting services."

There are over 198,000 social service workers in Scotland today working in a range of settings with a variety of different people who use services. Social service workers include people working in social work and social care, such as care home services for adults and children/young people in the community and early years settings such as nurseries or out of school care clubs.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is responsible for registering people who work in social services and regulating their education and training.

There is currently a big push in the social services sector on workforce development and lifelong learning, and better ways for employers and employees to record and progress learning. Meeting the expectations in the workforce development and registration agendas for the social services sector can be quite challenging.

The Workforce Solutions Portal is home to a wide range of resources to assist employers to meet these challenges. Some are designed to accommodate the individual employee to plan and progress their own learning and development, while others are intended for employers to support them in developing the workforce they need now, or may need in the future. All of the information and tools on the site are available free of charge.

To find out more about the Workforce Solutions Portal visit:http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com

Social workers 'must be cautious with online social media'

2011-11-04 20:29:40

Focused on Learning's Director, Jon Bolton, has written an article for Community Care magazine, advising social care staff to make sure their online presence is professionally appropriate, while remaining alive to the potential benefits of social media for service users.

You can read the full article on Community Care's website athttp://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/06/10/2011/117566/social-workers-must-be-cautious-with-online-social-media.htm

Supporting Dyslexia Scotland - Fife

2011-05-05 12:04:31

Focused on Learning's Director, Jon Bolton, has taken on the role of Branch Treasurer for the newly formed Fife Branch of Dyslexia Scotland.

Dyslexia Scotland aims to encourage and enable people with dyslexia, regardless of their age and abilities, to reach their potential.

The result of a unique brain development, dyslexia means some students see the world differently from others. Learning styles can vary radically. Generally, students with dyslexia perform well verbally, but can find reading, writing and spelling difficult.

Jon says: "I'm currently working with some social work students at the University of Dundee who have been newly assessed as having dyslexia. I wanted some practical tips for supporting them in the most appropriate way so I contacted Dyslexia Scotland for information. There was no local support group in Fife, so a few of us have set one up."

You can follow the Fife Branch on Twitter @DyslexiaFife

How technologies offer new ways to engage, converse and collaborate

2011-03-07 21:05:39

We had a fantastic time organising and managing the learning technologies conference and exhibition (#emtech11), which was held at the Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh on Friday 25th February.

It was part of a programme to foster better use of technology in the social services.

This one was specifically about using technology for learning and workforce development. The next one will concentrate on service user technology. The third looks at systems – client information databases, referral systems, commissioning, process modelling, etc.

Over 150 people attended – and what a buzz there was on the day! Lots of talking, thinking… and laughing!

(If you weren’t there, and you want to know what the relationship is between technology and toilet paper, you’ll need to ask Tree of Knowledge!)

On a serious note though, the next generation of social services will rely on a backbone of new technology and confident, IT-savvy social care and health specialists.

As most people know we're passionate about technology - but only when it helps and doesn't hinder!

There were no opportunities in Scotland for social care, health and IT professionals to meet, share practice and develop new solutions together, but this Learning Technologies Conference – the first of its kind in Scotland – bridged this gap for the first time.

Alison Petch, Director of IRISS, opened the event by saying that the day was about:

Collaborating Contributing Conversing Connecting Critical thinking Creating

…and there was certainly lots of all of that!

#emtech11 was audio & video recorded – an interactive conference report is being prepared, along with an iPad optimised version. More details soon.

Here are some quotes from the evaluation feedback...

Really enjoyed the conference, was very well organised and suited my type of learning. A great day, well organised and interesting throughout. It was very enthusiastic and made you want to try out the technologies that were being discussed Aimed at all levels. An interesting conference. The good organisation was memorable and made attending very easy. It was also easy to see what was happening at each point. It was very practical. Lots of tips. It did what it said it would. Much more lively than the title suggested. I think it is helpful to be kept up to date on new and emerging technologies, as I do not have access to this within the Council that I work for. This is really important in learning and development but also in developments that are likely to appear in the future for front line staff. It was so well organised and used technology throughout - pre and post conference.

and our particular favourite...

I have to say it is the best conference I have ever attended and I have been to quite a few over the years.

You can read some more views of the day on IRISS's website athttp://www.iriss.org.uk/how-technologies-offer-new-ways-engage-converse-and-collaborate

Social Media in the Social Services

2010-11-01 20:17:19

We were commissioned by IRISS to write a report about the use of social media in the Social Services.

Opening a debate on the Social Services Workforce in the Scottish Parliament on 29 April 2010 Adam Ingram, Minister for Children and Early Years commented:

The skills, expertise and creativity of the people who work in social services must be fully utilised... Opportunities to share training, develop common skills and break down culture, language and technology barriers must be identified and grasped.

This report builds on existing evidence to argue the case for breaking down these cultural and technology barriers. The web has revolutionised the way we use and share information yet, despite the growing awareness of the value of social networking and social media, local authority staff frequently report that access to web-based services is blocked or that their web browser lacks the required functionality.

Changing Lives and the Continuous Learning Framework both emphasise the importance of knowledge sharing, management and transfer in the development of competent, confident and valued workforce. The Knowledge Management Strategy for Social Services highlights the importance of translating knowledge into practice to transform care and support. It recognises the role of knowledge in empowering the workforce, service users and carers with the resources, skills and confidence to ask questions, find and share knowledge, and use it as a vital part of day-to-day work and learning.

As long as the social services workforce is denied the opportunity to use, experiment with and find creative uses for these tools their skills and creativity may not be fully utilised in the way envisaged by the Minister.

While there are legitimate concerns about security of computer networks, the protection of personal data and the misuse of computer equipment, an increasing body of evidence suggests that these concerns can be addressed without imposing blanket bans on access to certain types of website. Sensing a growing feeling of frustration, IRISS commissioned this report in order to:

review recent evidence about the potential of emerging technologies to support learning, development and collaboration. Highlight the difficulties facing Scottish social services workers as they endeavour to improve their skills.

You can read the report at http://comment.iriss.org.uk

Using learning technology to support social service practice

2010-11-01 19:57:26

We're delighted to be organising a conference and exhibition on behalf of the SSSC, IRISS and the Learning Networks, about technology to support social service practice.

It's a first for Scotland's social services and takes places on Friday 25 February 2011 at the Edinburgh Conference Centre at Heriot Watt University.The event promises to be both exciting and challenging. It's part of a programme to foster better use of technology in the social services.The format will be a mixture of keynote speakers and practical workshops.The audience will include policy makers, senior managers, learning and development staff, social work and care practitioners, academics, and IT managers.The conference will offer you a range of workshops aimed at demystifying the use and range of learning technologies. It will also offer assistance in developing cost efficient and accessible solutions for the social services workforce.You'll hear from industry experts and take part in practical workshops that will include demonstrations on a range of technologies and assistance on developing cost efficient, accessible solutions. The event is free and also includes a technology based exhibition and free prize draw.

You'll get more information at www.emerging-social-technology.info

Welcome to our new website!

2010-11-01 19:57:03

Wow! We have a new website!

The site has been designed by the talented Jack Barber, a freelance web developer in Yorkshire. He just makes everything so... well, straightforward really.

He coped admirably with our changes. He's a real pleasure to work with, and we highly recommend him.

Have a look at www.jackbarber.co.uk