News

10 March 2010

GSCC report on raising standards released

The evidence in this report indicates that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) providing courses in social work are delivering to current national standards.  The full report and executive summary can be downloaded from the GSCC website.

10 March 2010

Future of Social Work in Adult Social Services in England

The Department of Health (DH), together with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), Skills for Care, British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and the Social Care Association (SCA) has produced a joint statement on social work in adult services to clarify the contribution of social work and assist Directors of Adult Services (DASSs) in planning their workforce.

The statement acknowledges that social work is an international profession.

In order to produce it, a consultation was undertaken with social workers, the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee, the General Social Care Council and the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

Building on the work of the Social Work Taskforce, the collaborative effort aimed to develop a clear articulation of the tasks that social workers should perform in adults’ services and the skills and knowledge they need.

The full news release and statement can be viewed on the Department of Health's website. 

08 March 2010

Launch of the College of Social Work website

The College of Social Work Development Group has launched a website to provide information on the work that it is doing. A major consultation exercise will begin in May 2010 in order to develop the purpose of the College. Establishing a college was one of the recommendations from the Social Work Task Force which reported in December 2009. The website, which will be updated on a regular basis will provide updates on progress and enable you to contribute to the consultation. The address of the website is www.collegeofsocialwork.org.

04 March 2010

Funding opportunity - Northern Ireland

The Subject Centre for Sociology Anthropology and Politics (C-SAP) has funds available to staff in universities and colleges in Northern Ireland delivering HE programmes in Sociology, Anthropology and Politics and in cognate interdisciplinary areas. C-SAP project funding is intended to foster a pro-active approach to change in learning and teaching.

There is a growing sense of expectation that the higher education sector should respond to the challenges posed by the need to develop sustainable ways of living in the 21st century. The social sciences are vital in understanding the human dimensions of both problems and solutions and we recognise the importance of increasing 'sustainability literacy' among students and the growing demand for sustainability skills among employers.

To that end, C-SAP is seeking to fund a project up to a maximum of £7,000. The successful project will address one of the following themes:

• Development of curricula and pedagogy to equip students with the skills and knowledge to live and work in a sustainable way.
• Embedding sustainable development goals into learning and teaching and curricula.
• Development of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) principles within and between subject communities’.
• Coordination and dissemination of policy, research and practice relating to ESD.

For further information and how to apply please see the C-SAP website:

Closing date for receipt of expressions of interest is midday on 12th March 2010. All applications must be completed on the appropriate application form.

23 February 2010

General Social Care Council appoints new directors

The General Social Care Council (GSCC) has announced the appointment of three new senior managers. Michael Andrews will take up the position of Director of Regulatory Operations, Sherry Malik will take up the position of Director of Strategy and Social Work Education and Stephen Williams will take up the position of Director of Corporate Resources.

The wealth of experience of these three new appointments will strengthen the GSCC at a crucial time and will be valuable as we move forward with the challenging agenda set out by the Social Work Task Force.

The full news release is available on the GSCC Website.

03 February 2010

Jisc Techdis announces fourth round of the HEAT Scheme

JISC Techdis has announced a fourth round of the HEAT Scheme (Wales only): Using technology to develop or uncover good inclusive practice.  Funding of up to £1,200 will be available per bid and whilst applications are welcome from all areas, priority will be given to the four following areas: Lifelong Learning, Work-Related Learning, Employer Engagement and Business & Community Engagement.

The closing date for bids to be submitted is Noon on Monday 22 February 2010.  Further information and bid forms can be found by visiting the HEAT4Wales website.

28 January 2010

Higher Education Student Volunteering Awards (HESVA) - Nominations now open

We are delighted to announce that HESVA 2010 is now open for entries.  The Awards celebrate the diversity of the student learning experience and recognise the outstanding contributions to community volunteering made by students in higher education across the UK.  As part of the Academy's UK-wide remit, HESVA is open to all UK higher education institutions. It is also open to further education institutions with 100 or more full-time equivalent students in England and Northern Ireland. Scottish or Welsh FE Colleges may submit a joint nomination with a sponsoring higher education institution. 

For more information, please visit: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/hesva 

28 January 2010

Deadline for practice educator bursaries announced

Practice Educator bursaries are now available for voluntary/not for profit organisations with a minimum of three employees undertaking a practice educator programme or PQ modules.

The deadline for applications to be received has been announced as 1 March 2010. For more information and to apply please visit the Skills for Care website.

27 January 2010

Launch of Nuffield Trust Report into Four UK Healthcare Systems

Political devolution means there are now four National Health Services in the United Kingdom. The health services of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all funded by the UK taxpayer, but have developed different systems of governance and different methods of providing healthcare.

Funding and Performance of Healthcare Systems in the Four Countries of the UK Before and After Devolution examines the impact of this by studying key performance indicators for the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland at three time points – 1996/7, 2002/3 and 2006/7.  The report also undertakes a completely new comparison of NHS performance in the English regions and the devolved countries.

26 January 2010

Open University's Widening Participation Conference - Call for Posters

The Open University’s Centre for Widening Participation is pleased to announce a Call for Posters for its biennial Widening Participation Conference.

‘Widening Participation in the 21st Century: A Decade of Learning’, to be held on 24 and 25 June 2010 in Milton Keynes, will focus on three main themes: Evidence Gaps, Learning Design, and Knowing the Learner and submissions of posters are requested addressing these themes.

If you would like to discuss potential submissions or would like further information about the conference, please get in contact with John Rose-Adams by email to CWP-Conference@open.ac.uk.

25 January 2010

Planned Environment Therapy Trust - HLF award

The Planned Environment Therapy Trust has won support for its proposal ‘Therapeutic Living with Other Peoples Children: an oral history of residential therapeutic childcare c. 1930 – c. 1980’.  The forgotten histories of childcare will now be told thanks to the award of £197,700 from the heritage lottery fund (HLF).

The Planned Environment Therapy Trust will give former children, staff and families the chance to record their memories as well as getting involved in archive conservation, creating a website and DVD and performing theatrical pieces drawn from the material collected.

The full press release can be found at the Planned Environment Therapy Trust website.

15 December 2009

NUS launches PGR Employment Survey

The NUS is delighted the launch its first major piece of research for the new Postgraduate Campaign in collaboration with UCU: a Postgraduate Employment Survey aimed at postgraduate and recently postdoctoral researchers who have undertaken employment in a HE institution at any time since September 2008.

The survey should take no more than 15-20 minutes to complete. All researchers who complete the survey will be given the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw to win £50 of Amazon vouchers. You can access the survey via the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BRYX8QQ 

10 December 2009

New resources: service user and carer involvement

The Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) has published three new resources about service user and carer involvement in social work education.

• Report 28: Developing user involvement in social work education (produced with Shaping Our Lives National User Network)
• Report 29: Carers as partners in social work education (produced with the University of Sussex, Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Crossroads Caring for Carers and Carers UK).
• At a glance summary 19: Building user and carer involvement in social work education (a summary of the two reports listed above)

All of these publications can be downloaded or ordered from SCIE.

09 December 2009

Wellbeing in HEIs

Staff wellbeing, a HEFCE-funded project focussed on improving performance in HEIs through wellbeing and engagement, has launched a new website. The project is a partnership between the Universities of Bristol and Leeds, in partnership with the Universities of Birmingham, Chester, Newcastle and Queen Mary, London, and Grimsby Institute for Further and Higher Education,

03 December 2009

Ian Light Award

Applications are invited for this annual award that aims to support and nurture user and carer involvement development workers employed in UK higher education. The award is open to anyone involved in supporting the development of infrastructure for user and carer involvement in higher education institutions.  Priority will be given to applications from workers for whom this is the sole focus or main purpose of their role. In particular the award aims to support collaborative projects developed in partnership between two development workers and is for work in pairs. An annual amount of £1,500 is available.  Applications for up to £500 are invited. The deadline for applications is 25 January 2010.

For more information visit the mhhe website.

01 December 2009

Call for papers: Social Policy Association Conference

The 2010 SPA annual conference will be held at the University of Lincoln with the overarching theme being ‘Social Policy in Times of Change’. Proposals are invited for papers on any aspect of social policy, particularly those reflecting high quality research, or which explore questions of social policy in practice or the teaching of social policy. The closing date for proposals is 12 February 2010. For more information visit the conference website.

12 November 2009

Survey results: postgraduate student experience

The results of the Higher Education Academy’s 2009 postgraduate taught experience survey (PTES) and postgraduate research experience survey (PRES) are now available.   The two surveys offer the most extensive portrait of postgraduate student experience available, putting the Academy at the forefront of research in this area in the UK.

Among students of taught programmes, the PTES results show that 84% of students on average agreed that their overall experience had met or exceeded their expectations. Students on research programmes are equally positive. The PRES 2009 results show that 84% of students said that their experience met or exceeded their expectations; this is a 1.5% increase on last year’s figure of 82.5%.

For more about the results of the survey visit the Higher Education Academy website. 

The next national administration of PTES will take place between February and May 2010, with PRES to run in Spring 2011. If you would like to participate in PTES, starting in February 2010, please register your interest before 30 November 2009 by emailing surveys@heacademy.ac.uk.

11 November 2009

Practice learning: call for contributions

Do you have an innovative practice or strategy you would like to share? The spring edition of SWAP’s newsletter ‘infocus’ will look at innovative ideas and resources to support students in getting the most out of their practice learning opportunities. If you have a piece of work you would like SWAP to showcase email swapeditor@soton.ac.uk

06 November 2009

Substance misuse: new resources for teaching

A collection of resources for those interested in teaching substance misuse have been published by SWAP. The resources include information on integrating the topic into the curriculum, teaching the basics, involving alcohol and other drug specialists, a case study and a list of useful online sources.  The resources are all available to download from the SWAP website.

05 November 2009

Government framework for higher education

A new framework for higher education has been published this by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The proposals includes building more links between HE and FE and providing students with clear and comparable information on what students can expect from their course/university. The document also comments on the need to promote excellence in teaching and praised the Higher Education Academy for the support it provides for subject communities in considering how courses prepare students effectively for employment.

For more information download the framework document.

04 November 2009

Call for nominations: NTFS individual awards

The NTFS Individual Awards 2010 Call for Nominations is now open.
The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is applicable to those working in England and Northern Ireland. It is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DEL NI) and administered by the Academy on their behalf.

Under the individual scheme up to 50 awards of £10,000 are made to recognise individual excellence. The award is intended for National Teaching Fellows' professional development in teaching and learning or aspects of pedagogy.

Guidelines and application forms can be found on the Higher Education Academy website.

The deadline for receipt of electronic nominations is Wednesday 3 February 2010 (12:00 noon).

04 November 2009

Resources for social work students

The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) have launched a student campaign sending resource packs to over 12,000 social care students in UK HE. The packs provide information on SCIE’s range of print, web-based and e-learning resources. For more details of the campaign and to request resources visit the student section of the SCIE website.

04 November 2009

Social Work & Social Sciences Review - call for papers

Special Issue: Critical Debates in Leadership and Management

Guest Editors: Trish Hafford-Letchfield & John Lawler

This Special Issue aims to publish a collection of high quality papers that offer new critical approaches to thinking about the current nature of leadership and management in social work and its position of power and influence within care environments. Papers submitted should address these themes as follows:

• Research papers based on empirical studies.
• Discussion/debate papers on contemporary challenges for managers in the field at different levels.
• Practice papers sharing innovative and radical approaches to developing services in which management makes a positive contribution.
• Shorter papers (i.e. approx 1,000 words) representing voices from user managers or front line practice managers perhaps writing for their first publication.

Closing date for submission of all papers: 15 January 2010

For further information download the pdf here. 

For enquiries, please contact: Trish Hafford-Letchfield on p.hafford-letchfield@mdx.ac.uk orJohn Lawler: j.lawler@bradford.ac.uk

03 November 2009

Practice Education Developments - bursary, practice educator framework and demonstration sites project

Skills for Care, the Children's Workforce Development Council and the General Social Care Council have announced that the Social Work Development Partnership (SWDP) has agreed a number of measures to support the development of practice education for social work.

The SWDP have developed a proposed framework for the development of practice educators, a project to encourage demonstration sites to test out the new framework and revised bursary criteria that support practice educators.

People are invited to comment on the framework through a short web based survey available on the Skills for Care website.

The objective of the SWDP is to increase the quality and availability of statutory practice placements including through the continuing professional development of practice educators and supervisors of social work students.

So this year the focus of the bursary funding available to support that work is the development of practice educators who are independent social workers, employed by small voluntary organisations or are people who use services who are supporting social work education. An application form is now available on the websites of the partner organisations.

In order to apply for a bursary, candidates must be practice educators working towards either the GSCC approved Post Qualifying Specialist Award in Social Work, the Post Qualifying Higher Specialist Award in Social Work, or the Advanced Award in Social Work or be undertaking a practice educator programme or pathway in line with the proposed national framework for practice educators.

The SWDP wishes to alert practitioners, voluntary sector employers, people who use services and carers who support social work education and universities offering PQ modules and practice educator programmes or pathways to the availability of funds. Up to £750 per candidate per year is available to cover tuition fees. This year's funds will be available to individuals who apply up to 19^th March 2010, or until the fund is exhausted.

Applications forms and eligibility criteria are available by clicking the link below

Practice educator bursaries

03 November 2009

SCIE has launched two new initiatives

This month SCIE has launched two initiatives:

• the 2009 student campaign which will send a leaflet and a CD of SCIE materials to all social students registered this Autumn. For further information, see the student campaign page on the SCIE website at http://www.scie.org.uk/student/index.asp?dm_i=4O5,29PW,T16BB,7B7G,1
• Social Care TV, which provides and on-line resource that will have numerous uses for teaching and learning. Go to http://www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/default.asp

03 November 2009

Call for Papers for the biennial Widening Participation Conference.

The Open University’s Centre for Widening Participation is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for its biennial Widening Participation Conference.

‘Widening Participation in the 21st Century: A Decade of Learning’, to be held on 24 and 25 June 2010, will focus on three main themes: Evidence Gaps, Learning Design, and Knowing the Learner and submissions of papers and posters are requested that address these themes.

We are keen to look for new research outside the more traditional core Widening Participation groups and the Subject Centres represent to us a rich source of widening participation research and knowledge, with many of the Centres even having specific research themes focussed on widening participation.

The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2009.

If you would like to discuss potential submissions or would like further information
about the conference, please get on contact with John Rose-Adams by email to
CWP-Conference@open.ac.uk

www.open.ac.uk/openings 

01 November 2009

Student report urges learner-focused education

The second annual National Student Forum Report calls for students to be seen as equal partners in their education from start to finish, working flexibly, together with tutors, to find the way of learning that suits them best. Amongst its recommendations, the group particularly looked at the flexibility of universities in the courses they offer and how students can combine qualifications gained in one institution with those gained in another. To read the full report visit the National Student Forum website.

28 October 2009

Social Care and Neurodisability: Call for papers

The journal 'Social Care and Neurodisability' is inviting papers for its launch issue in 2010. It aims to provide a forum for the sharing of information on good practice
and advances in the rehabilitation, treatment and care of people who have neurological conditions. For more information download the journal's flyer.

19 October 2009

Consultation on the Practice Educator Framework

The Social Work Development Partnership between the Children’s Workforce Development Council, General Social Care Council and Skills for Care have developed a national framework for developing practice educators of social work students. The framework sets out the learning outcomes that practice educators should meet in order to demonstrate they are competent. It also gives expectations in relation to how they should be assessed and the qualifications and experience required. It has been designed to improve the quality of the people responsible for assessing and supervising student social workers on placement. 

The proposed practice educator framework is available for review and comment at: www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=45WO_2bupN3vR913lDQWEdlQ_3d_3d

Consultation closes 03 November 2009.

19 October 2009

New UUK quality and standards microsite.

Universities UK have created a new microsite providing information on how quality and standards are assured at UK universities.

The new site can be used to find out about:

• UUK's commitment to ensuring quality and standards 
• how the quality assurance system works and the role of all the bodies involved
• what improvements are planned 
• the latest on events, publications, media releases and related links on quality and standards 

19 October 2009

Review of external examining arrangements

A new report from the HEFCE sub-committee for Teaching, Quality, and the Student Experience on Quality Assurance comments on UUK's intention to launch a review of external examining arrangements.

The Executive summary and full reports, which include a number of significant proposals are available online.

Also available is the UUK response.

01 October 2009

Discipline-focused Learning Technology Enhancement Academy 2010

Are you interested in enhancing the use of technology within your department?  

Do you have the beginnings of an idea, but need some time to think it through, discuss with colleagues and work out the implications?

If the answer is ‘yes’ to these questions, then this new project may offer you just such an opportunity.  The Discipline-focused Learning Technology Enhancement Academy 2010 provides a programme of workshops and the ongoing support of an expert ‘critical friend’ over a twelve month period to help you plan and implement a learning and teaching enhancement project within your department.  The programme works best if you are at an early stage of thinking about possibilities, as you will be supported through an initial workshop to develop you ideas.

If you are interested, please read the detailed information here and complete the proposal form.  Please return your completed submission by 4pm on Monday 16^th November to Helen Bulpitt: h.bulpitt@soton.ac.uk 

Please note SWAP is only able to support one application to the programme.  All submissions will be reviewed and the successful proposal put forward to join the Academy-wide programme to commence in January 2010.

If you would like to discuss this opportunity in more detail please contact Helen directly h.bulpitt@soton.ac.uk 

10 September 2009

New academic staff survey

The Higher Education Academy is conducting a survey of newly academic staff (across all disciplines) to inform the development of the academy's EvidenceNet - a service to promote and explore the use of practice- and research-based evidence in teaching and learning in Higher Education.
 

If you are newly appointed, you can complete the survey online. Or if you have a colleague new to your department please direct them to the link below.

https://www.questback.com/thehighereducationacademy/evidencenetphase2nas/

Further information on EvidenceNet.

10 September 2009

Increased participation and high levels of satisfaction among students

Four-fifths of students responding to this year's National Student Survey (NSS) expressed satisfaction with the course they did.  There were 223,363 respondents to the survey which is an increase of over 3,000 on the year before and equates to a response rate of 62% (UK).  The survey shows that the overall satisfaction rate for students studying HE in England remains high: 81% said that they are satisfied with their course.

For more information on the fifth annual NSS visit the HEFCE website.

09 September 2009

Consultation: The roles and tasks of social workers

Following the publication of the interim report of the Social Work Task Force, Skills for Care with the Department of Health and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) is seeking to develop a clear statement of the roles and tasks that social workers should perform.  They would like to hear the views of Social work profession, workforce managers and employers, and those with an interest in work undertaken by social workers.

A consultation document, online questionnaire (and word version) can be accessed from the Skills for care website. Responses must be received by noon on Friday 9 October 2009 to be included in subsequent analysis.

09 September 2009

Call for papers: Assessment & Learning in Practice Settings

Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) has issued a call for papers for an international conference it is hosting on 16 - 17 March 2010. The conference ‘Work-based Learning and Assessment for the Next Decade’ will take place at Weetwood Hall in Leeds.
Speakers will review current and up-and-coming learning technologies, and presentations and workshops will highlight the main factors affecting the employability of graduating students. Abstracts are invited for oral presentations, workshops, poster presentations and roundtable discussion sessions within the Conference themes. The call closes on 2nd November 2009. For more information please visit the ALPS website.

08 September 2009

SWAP operational plan 2009/2010

The SWAP operational plan 2009/2010 is available online. Download the plan (PDF,43KB) and find out more about SWAP's planned activities for the next academic year. Or visit the get involved section for information on how you can take part.

07 September 2009

Mental well-being resource

The mental health in higher education project (mhhe) have written a new resource about the mental well-being of staff and students in higher education. The resource forms part of a series on inclusive practice published by the Higher Education Academy Psychology Network.

21 August 2009

Call for proposals - Technology for Learning and Practice Project

SWAP is seeking to commission an Associate with relevant knowledge, skills and experience to undertake a range of activities related to enhancing social work and social policy learning and practice through the use of information and communication technologies.  It is anticipated that the project will be run in two stages, Stage One running from 1st October 2009– 28th February 2010 and Stage Two from 1st March - 31st July 2010. Funding of £10,000 for each stage of the project. The deadline for proposals is Wednesday 9^th September 2009.

For full details visit the funding page. 

21 August 2009

Consultation on social work statement

The Social Work Task Force  for England has asked the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to work with the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS), other employers and frontline staff, to develop a clear statement of the roles and tasks that social workers should perform.

The CWDC have requested input from the social work community. In particular they would like to know:

• Does the draft statement capture the contribution of social workers in this field?
• How could the statement be used for workforce planning?
• Do the case studies provide sufficient insight into the scope and nature of social work?
• Does the statement accurately reflect the work that Social Workers do?

The consultation is open until 21 September2009.

Feedback from the consultation will shape the Task Force's thinking about the content and structure of social work education and inform future recruitment activity.

To participate access the online questionnaire.

19 August 2009

National Social Worker Recruitment Campaign

In the run-up to the Children's Workforce Development Council's ‘Be the Difference’ campaign which will launch in September, the Department for Children, Schools & Families and the Department of Health have produced a series of six impactful short films to highlight the range of situations in which social workers can become involved.

Each film is based on a real life case study of a social work service-user, portrayed by a well-known actor or actress, who lends their voice to the story – just as social workers help the voices of service users be heard.  The aim of this phase of the campaign is to show the breadth and range of social work, and to encourage talkability.

A different film will go live each day on digital platforms – such as YouTube and Facebook – followed by a short period of television advertising from 1st September, before the CWDC recruitment phase kicks off on the 11th September.

The campaign is a great opportunity to create a positive debate about social work.  Please get involved by visiting: www.helpgivethemavoice.com 

12 August 2009

Employment-based training for Social Work: Invitation to tender

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) is inviting Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), accredited by the GSCC to deliver a Masters in Social Work, to provide advice and quality assurance processes to enable regional partnerships of local authorities to design, develop and deliver an employment-based Masters in Social Work. At least one HEI will be appointed to deliver the programme. The deadline to respond is 1pm on the 1 September 2009. View the invitation to tender (PDF 176KB). 

11 August 2009

SCIE launch Social Work Education Partnership Website

A new active user-made website for sharing of good practice in service user and carer involvement in social work education has been launched by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE).  Social Work Education Participation (SWEP) has been developed by a partnership of SCIE, Shaping our Lives, the University of Sussex and a steering group made up of services users and carers, with experience in a variety of roles.

10 August 2009

Call for submissions – learning and teaching about mental health

The mental health in higher education (mhhe) project is inviting narratives based on experiences of learning and teaching about mental health. mhhe plan to publish a collection of these narratives and will provide a £15 book token for every contribution published. For more details visit  the mhhe website.

01 August 2009

Presentations from JSWEC 2009 now online

Presentations from the recent Joint Social Work Education Conference and Social Work Research Conference are now available online. To view the presentations browse the JSWEC 2009 online programme and click on the button below the relevant paper/workshop.

30 July 2009

Children, Schools and Families Select Committee - report published today

The children, schools and families select committee have published their report today. The report is in two volumes.  The first contains the recommendations of the committee and is particularly relevant to social work education.  To read it visit select committee report volume 1.  The second volume contains the written evidence to the committee. To read it visit select committee report volume 2.

29 July 2009

Social Work Taskforce publish interim report

Today the Social Work Taskforce has published its interim report. Amongst its recommendations are the creation of a national college for social work and greater partnership between employers and educators. Access the full report on the SWAP Taskforce page

27 July 2009

Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) welcomes new on-the-job training programme for social workers

The Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has said it welcomes the announcement by Ed Balls that the Government is funding a new flexible way of qualifying as a social worker. This new employment-based pathway will be delivered across England from 2011, providing a more flexible route for high quality graduates to complete their Master's degree and qualify as a social worker in the children and families context.  Visit the CWDC website for the full article.

24 July 2009

Call for bids - National Teaching Fellowship Scheme

The project strand of the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) provides funding for institutions to build on the expertise of National Teaching Fellows.  

Project teams are able to bid for funds of up to £200,000 for use over a period of up to three years. The projects will bring significant and meaningful benefits to the students' learning experiences, both in the host institution and more broadly accross the sector. Project teams lead by an eligible English university or FE college can work in collaboration with institutions across the country.  

The 2009-10 Call for Bids is now open. The closing date is Monday 5 October 2009.

For more information visit the HE Academy website.

21 July 2009

IRISS appoints a new Director

The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) have announced that Alison Petch will take up the position of Director of IRISS from 28th September 2009. At present Alison is Director of research in practice for adults (ripfa): a UK research utilisation organisation for adult social care established by the Dartington Hall Trust.  Visit the IRISS website for the full article.

14 July 2009

Interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration e-learning resources

The Social care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has created some new free to use e-learning resources. These provide audio, video and interactive technology to assist in exploring the nature of interprofessional and inter-agency collaboration and in improving collaborative practice.  The resources can be accessed through the e-learning area of the SCIE website.

13 July 2009

Guidelines on involving service users and carers in education

The mental health in higher education (mhhe) project with Developers and Carer Involvement in Education(DUCIE) have published a set of guidelines for the employment of user and carer involvement development workers in Higher Education settings.
Involving Service Users and Carers in Education:The Development Worker Role (Guidelines for Higher Education Institutions) can be downloaded from the mhhe website.

10 July 2009

Social Work Task Force: July newsletter

The Social Work Task Force have published their first newsletter. This regular update is intended to provide the latest news on key development important to everyone concerned with social work across adult and children's services. Download a copy of the newsletter. You can also register to receive the newsletter by emailing newsletter.swtf@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk .

26 June 2009

Funding for Social Work Education Policy Project

SWAP invites expressions of interest from experienced social work academics to undertake a programme of work in support of the social work education community. The focus will be on the impact on social work education of the forthcoming recommendations of the Social Work Taskforce in England.  The work will be undertaken alongside SWAP’s existing activity in this area and in collaboration with other partner organisations such as JUC-SWEC.

A total budget of up to £11,000 is available for this project.

Visit the funding page for more information

26 June 2009

National Teaching Fellowships announced

Congratulations to Ellen Roberts (University of York) and Gurnam Singh (Coventry University) who have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships.

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is part of an overall Academy programme to raise the status of learning and teaching in higher education. It comprises two strands: Individual National Teaching Fellowship Awards, and Projects. It is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI).

The individual strand of the scheme aims to raise the profile of learning and teaching, recognise and celebrate individuals who make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience, and provide a national focus for institutional teaching and learning excellence schemes.

17 June 2009

Higher Education in a Web 2.0 World

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) have published a report on the strategic and policy implications for higher education of the experience and expectations of learners in the light of their increasing use of the newest web based technologies, such as blogs, wikis and social bookmarking. The report is available to read or download from the JISC website.

09 June 2009

New SCIE publication: Changing social care

This new 'At a glance' guide from SCIE provides readers with ideas on how to successfully change services to place people at the centre of their own care and support.  The publication is based on the learning from two previous SCIE Knowledge reviews (16: Improving social and health care services and 17: Service user driven culture change). The guide can be downloaded from the SCIE website.

07 June 2009

Invitation to tender: Scottish Enhancement Themes

The QAA Scotland is inviting applications to tender for work in relation to the new Enhancement Theme, Graduates for the 21st Century: Integrating the Enhancement Theme. There will be several strands of work on offer, each linked to one of the main Themes completed to date. Details of the work, providing background information and the overall work of Graduates for the 21st Century, as well as the form for submitting an application are available from the Enhancement Themes website.

The closing date for the receipt of applications to take forward the work already publicised relating to the Graduates for the 21st Century Enhancement Themes has been extended to midday, Friday 19 June 2009.

22 May 2009

ESRC publish new Postgraduate Training Framework

This new publication confirms the Framework outlined by the ESRC in its January
briefing on changes to the way it will support postgraduate training in the
social sciences for students who will commence study from 2011 onwards. For more information read the ESRC press release.

15 May 2009

Scottish social services events service

IRISS has launched 'Social Services Events' which offers a calendar of upcoming events relevant to social services and social care in Scotland. Events can be viewed by week, month or agenda style. Visit the IRISS events page for more details.