How do you stay ahead of the curve, continuously improving and innovating to inspire, energise and enable, in the context of local, national and global change and uncertainty – in order to deliver better outcomes for children, young people and families.
AI in schools
An interesting read from research in Scotland with wider lessons and provocations.
Innovation in practice
An introduction to implementing innovative practice and applicable to any field.
Childhood Matters
Childhood Matters acts as an update to the ADCS 2017 policy paper, A country that works for all children. It seeks to capture the issues and challenges facing children, young people and families, such as poverty and poor mental health, as well as the public services they rely on. It was published in Spring 2024 ahead of the general election.
A Future Vision for the Education System
Published by ADCS in November 2023.
Schooling for the Future
Whilst most, if not all of us, are learning to come to terms with the rapidly changing world of work, communication, travel, science, technology, engineering etc. it is becoming very clear that once you start thinking about what is often called the digital challenge, it soon becomes obvious that what we are facing is a quantum leap in the speed of change compared to what has gone before.
Read time: 18 minutes
Signatures of risk for Children’s Services (extract)
Large and diverse organisations, such as local authorities, can sometimes become the enemy of effective delivery at the frontline, when they ought to be powerful allies. Drawing on inspection evidence and the experience of authorities in intervention, the Children’s Improvement Board identified a number of ‘signatures of risk’ as long ago as 2012, but which still provide a useful set of indicators today.
Read time: 5 minutes
Why I train grandmothers to treat depression – Dixon Chibanda
Dixon Chibanda is one of 12 psychiatrists in Zimbabwe — for a population of more than 16 million. Realizing that his country would never be able to scale traditional methods of treating those with mental health issues, Chibanda helped to develop a beautiful solution powered by a limitless resource: grandmothers. In this extraordinary, inspirational talk, learn more about the friendship bench program, which trains grandmothers in evidence-based talk therapy and brings care, and hope, to those in need.
Watch time: 12 minutes
Breaking through the mistrust
There is a need to better embed diversity and inclusion in training programmes and in ongoing everyday conversation in the workplace, particularly in regards to inclusive leadership and antiracism. A starting point for this is to encourage local authority and children’s services leaders to understand the lived experience of those working in their departments, in order to ensure that any strategies or actions that are implemented are addressing the key concerns of employees from ethnically diverse communities.
Read time: 70 minutes
Pushing at an open door
This study investigated some of the factors that influence senior education leaders to choose or avoid a career path that takes them into local government service. It looked into the rationale behind the career decisions of senior education leaders, LA strategic leaders and Directors of Children’s Services (DCSs). The study was commissioned by the UPON Programme Consortium, who have a particular interest to learn how they might attract more education leaders to follow this career route and support them with leadership development programmes to potentially become DCSs.
Read time: 40 minutes
International Sources Review – Managing placement provision for children and young people looked after
Gain insights into how provision is managed in different countries
Read time: 40 minutes
Leading for Longer: New report issues call to action on high turnover of leadership roles in children’s services
A call for action has been issued by The Staff College after a number of concerns have been raised about the high turnover of leadership roles within children’s services.