Learning Network North Blog

This blog provides updates on events, conferences and meetings members of the Learning Network North team have participated in or have facilitated (as and when appropriate). The blog entries do not form an exhaustive list of events / conferences / meetings we are contributing to but are intended to provide an overview of the kind of work and initiatives we are engaging with.

Training Local area Network (Tue 7 Sep 2010) posted by Carolle Smith.

The last week of August saw the inaugural sessions of the Training Local Area Network take place in Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness.

As an introduction to the sessions the theme of Induction was chosen as the main topic. The sessions included a brief summary of the findings of the TLAN consultation earlier this year. This was followed by a presentation on the SSSC’s Preparing for Practice induction guidance and tracking tool.The groups then shared their knowledge and experience on the subject.

More detailed notes of the meetings will be circulated to members of the TLAN.

If you would like to join the TLAN contact: learningnetworknorth@aberdeenshire.gov.uk 

 

OT at RGU with the Care Commsssion (Wed 4 Aug 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

Aberdeen, 18th June 2010

You can now access the Post Event Report (pdf)

This event was designed to consider the opportunities for greater partnership working and engagement in the provision of placements to students undertaking the BSC(Hons) Occupational Therapy award.  Colleagues from RGU outlined the course and the opportunities that may exist for students to work in a variety of setting, Edith Macintosh from the Care Commission explained what was happening in other parts of Scotland. 

For more information please contact Edith Macintosh Tel: 01382 346492 edith.macintosh@carecommission.com

Information and presentations shared at the event can be accessed below...

OT at RGU (pdf)

Fit for Practice - Care Commission (pdf)

Developing the Children’s Workforce National Workforce Conference (Tue 3 Aug 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

This event held in Edinburgh on the 30th June was run by the Scottish Government in order to disseminate information relating to a variety of pieces of work and research that have taken place recently.

Presentations covered functional analysis of the workforce and key issues arising from a Danish study visit.  Workshops covered these two areas and Getting it Right for Every Child and Flexible Workforce Roles in a schools project. 

Round table discussions also explored the Denmark visit, the role of the pedagogy and how this may be utilised in the Scottish workforce. 

Presentations and an Event Summary will be available here shortly.

C.O.D.Y Launch (Tue 3 Aug 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

Thursday 1st July saw the launch of new material by the Scottish Social Services Council relating to the Codes of Practice.  Aimed at young people, this range of materials, including a DVD have been developed in order to help when raising awareness with your people of what they should expect of the people they work with. 
For copies of this highly visual material please visit http://www.sssc.uk.com/cody/

 

SVQ Assessors & Verifiers Local Area Network (Thu 22 Jul 2010) posted by Jan Foster.

The notes of the last meeting (26th May 2010) are now available in the SVQ LAN's private site in the lnnportal.

 

Aberdeen City Local Practitioner Forum (Tue 13 Jul 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

Drugs services are changing – get in the know!

25th June 2010  Aberdeen

This event held at Robert Gordon University provided a great opportunity for local practitioners to find out more about how drugs services are provided in the City. 

Information and presentations that were shared at the event can be accessed at http://north.learningnetworks.org.uk/show.php?id=730 - Aberdeen City LPF's webpage.

For more information about the Aberdeen City Local Practitioner Forum, please contact Anneliese Stellmach 01224 557879 ASTELLMACH@aberdeencity.gov.uk
or Norman Mackinnon 01224 551351  NMACKINNON@aberdeencity.gov.uk

SVQ Assessors & Verifiers Local Area Network (Fri 9 Jul 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

The SVQ LAN is an open forum for assessors and verifiers in the north of Scotland who meet regularly to consider topics of interest and provide peer support to one another.  

At the last meeting held in Huntly on the 26th May three organisations, CSTAC (Aberlour), HiMATS and VSA gave presentations and explanations of the ways in which electronic systems are used to support the SVQs provided by their respective organisations.

The group raised a number of questions and a healthy discussion addressed a number of ways in which support could be given ‘virtually’ to candidates.

The group would like to start an on line community of practice so if you would like to participate, please visit the LNN website and access the LNN portal from there. Notes of meetings are available in the SVQ LAN section of the lnn portal.

The next meeting of this communities of practice group will be in Inverness and will take place in September, keep an eye on the Events Calendar, all assessors and verifiers are welcome. The topic for the meeting has yet to be confirmed, but if you have any ideas of subjects that would be useful for the group please send them to learningnetworknorth@aberdeenshire.gov.uk.

Occupational Therapy - Care Commission event (Thu 8 Jul 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

Aberdeen, 18th June 2010

This event held at Robert Gordon University was designed to consider the opportunities for greater partnership working and engagement in the provision of placements to students undertaking the BSC(Hons) Occupational Therapy award.  Colleagues ffrom RGU outlined the course and the opportunities that may exist for students to work in a variety of setting, Edith Macintosh from the Care Commission explained what was happening in other parts of Scotland. 

For more information please contact Edith Macintosh at e.  edith.macintosh@carecommission.com or t. 01382 346492

Information and presentations shared at the event will be available shortly....

Reflections and visions SIRCC national conference (Wed 16 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

7th – 9th June 2010 Aviemore.
The conference provided an opportunity to hear from a wide range of speakers and engage in workshops covering a variety of topics.  The programme enabled networking and incorporated the celebration of success though the inaugural SIRCC Residential Child Care Awards.
More information can be found on the SIRCC web site at http://www.sircc.org.uk/

Scotland's Dementia Strategy (Wed 16 Jun 2010) posted by Elke Cradden - MHO, Highland Council.

Alzheimer Scotland's Dementia Awareness Week Conference 2010 included the launch of Scotland's Dementia Strategy – Making it Work for People, here's a delegate's perspective...

Glasgow 7th June 2010

As the lucky recipient of a free place at the official launch of the Scottish Government’s National Dementia Strategy, I agreed to provide some comments on the day.

The strategy was introduced by Shona Robison, Minister for Public Health, and the main aims are to provide a more consistent service for service users and carers across Scotland, with an emphasis on early diagnosis. It is hoped that early diagnosis will allow people with dementia and their families and carers to play a more active role in making plans for their future care, either by making use of ‘Advance Statements’ or granting ‘Powers of Attorney’. As a practising Mental Health Officer I welcome this particularly, as I often end up dealing with situations where this has not been possible, or where a crisis has arisen often resulting in hospital admission. In such circumstances it is often difficult to take account of the service user’s wishes and views, and all too often the only option seems to be placement in a care home. A multi-disciplinary ‘Memory Clinic’ offering advice and support after early diagnosis, including advice on how to make best use of options available under the Adults with Incapacity Act and Mental Health Act would be great.

I attended an afternoon workshop on ‘Person-centred non drug approaches to ‘behaviours that challenge (quite a mouthful!), with recommendations that early intervention, a good knowledge of the person’s previous life and their likes and dislikes, coupled with a thorough assessment of triggers and context of ‘behaviours that challenge’ should allow for good managements strategies to be implemented, avoiding the unnecessary use of anti-psychotic medication. This was followed by a very stimulating presentation about the use of Qi Gong (a Chinese exercise/relaxation method using gentle movement and breathing) with people with dementia and their carers run by NHS Grampian. The impact on participants has been evaluated, with positive feedback from all participants, and observable improvements in physical coordination and mobility of people with dementia, who often go on to develop Parkinsonian symptoms. Everyone in the workshop participated in the exercises and seemed to enjoy it greatly.

My lasting memory of the many presentations of the day is the repeated exhortation for ‘agencies to work together’. As a so-called ‘frontline worker’ this left me feeling somewhat irritated, as most of us do this on a daily basis, and have been waiting for those in charge to take serious steps towards achieving this goal. After all, Community Care legislation was introduced in 1993 – why are we still talking about having to improve co-operation 17 years later!

More time for discussion would have been useful, especially to address issues of potential cuts in funding (raised by several members of the audience) or ‘budget challenges’ (a term apparently favoured by politicians and senior managers).

Access Scotland's National Dementia Strategy here

Access presentations from the conference here

Training Local Area Network (Wed 16 Jun 2010) posted by Carolle Smith.

Following the consultation process a Summary Report is now available to read at http://www.learningnetworks.org.uk/show.php?id=82. We will be following through with the recommendations contained in the report in the coming months.

Some advance notice of what we intend to do:

  • we are in the process of setting up an on-line secure portal and will be asking for interested participants to get in touch shortly about this. It is hoped this will be up and running early in July
  • look out also for dates for the first “Training Local Area Network” (TLAN) meetings which are planned for late August. It is likely that the theme for these initial meetings will be Induction Training and it is hoped that we can prioritise topics for following sessions on those days.

Everyone who attended the initial events in Aberdeen, Elgin and Inverness (as well as those who expressed interest but were unable to attend in person) will shortly receive a TLAN e-bulletin detailing all this and more in the coming weeks, exciting times ahead!!

Aberdeen Children’s Services Network (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

Aberdeen Children’s Services Network 27th May 2010, Aberdeen


“The Network exists to share knowledge, work experiences and issues relevant to working with children and improving services”

The objectives of the Network are:

  • To benefit children living in Aberdeen City
  • To support groups and individuals directly concerned with the care and development of, and the provision of services to children in Aberdeen City.

This group meet regularly to jointly look at a variety of matters, and at this meeting the range of matters that the LNN engages with and how individuals and organisations can join in was discussed.  Information about the LNN portal was also shared and how this could be used by the Network was discussed.

The Network have further meetings scheduled for 26th August and 25th November.  For more information contact James Dreslin via email at j.dressel@rgu.ac.uk

For more information on the Network please visit their website at www.acsn.org.uk

 

SVQ Local Area Network (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

26th May 2010, Huntly


At this meeting we considered how organisations are using electronic systems to support the provision of SVQ’s.


Karen from CSTAC ( Aberlour ) explained how she had developed a site within the LNN Portal for storing the SVQ material and how she used this to share with candidates.  Karen has also developed an on line support process to enable synchronised discussions that provide valuable support to out of normal hours staff.


HiMATs and VSA gave demonstrations of the systems they have developed which enable candidates to submit evidence electronically and progress against the award to be monitored. 

The group also discussed the potential for using the portal discussion area to maintain contact between meetings, so watch out for communication about this.  For further details contact the LNN on learningnetworknorth@aberdeenshire.gov.uk

 

Partnership working within Aberdeen City (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

This event (25th May 2010) in Aberdeen was organised by the Childrens and Young Peoples Voluntary Sector Providers Forum and provided an opportunity for networking with various members of the voluntary sector in Aberdeen.  The event incorporated the AGM of the Forum and presentations by Sue Bruce and colleagues from Aberdeen City Council and Lorraine Currie from NHS Grampian.


For more details about this forum please contact Sarah Irvine at ACVO at sirvine@acvo.org.uk or telephone 01224 685529

SIRCC and LNN - Registration Support Day (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

20th May 2010, Inverness


This event provided the opportunity for delegates to consider the situation of registration as it relates to the residential child care sector.


Presentations provided further statistics relating to the sector, Leadership and the role of the manager, the Continuous Learning Framework and how can you support your staff whilst they are undertaking qualifications.


Further information can be provided by Maureen Anderson, Assistant Director (Workforce Development), SIRCC tel 0141 272 3937 email manderson@langside.ac.uk

Highland Third Sector Forum (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

20th May 2010, Inverness
This meeting provided an opportunity for representatives from a range of organisations to collectively consider a variety of relevant topics. On this occasion, the following subjects and others were considered:

• how Highland Council will manage their budget beyond 2011
• an update on progress towards the Highland Single Interface www.highlandinterface.org
• Volunteering Display Event 2010
• COMPACT Champions from Third Sector Organisations in Highland.

You can find more information about COMPACT at: http://www.voluntaryactionhighland.org/blog/2010/04/highland-compact-inaction/

You can access past and future meetings' agenda and notes at http://www.voluntaryactionhighland.org/meetings/index.php

The forum meets 3 times a year to reflect, share and discuss a variety of topics.  Further information about this group can be found at www.voluntaryactionhighland.org

ADSW Annual Conference (Wed 2 Jun 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

12th to 14th May 2010, Creiff

This annual event brought together a range of speakers from across the social services sector.  This year the event covered a wide range of topics and had guest speakers from Scotland, England and Sweden. 
Copies of the presentations from this event can be accessed via http://www.adsw.org.uk/Events/Event-Presentations/

Leadership Launch (Tue 11 May 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

The 27th April event in Dunfermline was organised by the Scottish Government in order to provide a ministerial launch by Adam Ingram MSP to establish the way forward for developing leadership activity in the sector in Scotland.

As a National organisation, we (Learning Network) have a responsibility to work in partnership with the SSSC to take Leadership forward across Scotland. In the next few months, you will be hearing and seeing much more about Leadership in the Social Services sector so watch this space.

The strategic statement is accessible at http://www.sssc.uk.com/sssc/news/action-plan-for-leadership-in-scotlands-social-services-launches-today.html and a post event summary will be available soon.

North Training Network (Wed 5 May 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

The Way Ahead - 20th April Aberdeen, 22nd April Inverness & 28th April Elgin

These three events each considered the developments of a new Community of Practice for those with a responsibility for training.  The meetings were all well attended and a variety of thoughts as to what a community of this kind could be used for and how members would communicate were considered.

Once all the contributions from delegates have been collated, we hope that this group will be established.

CLF Gathering (Thu 8 Apr 2010) posted by Yvonne Leathley.

CLF Gathering, Elgin 15th March 2010

This practice sharing event considered the developments of CLF in the area giving representatives the opportunity to inform the group of developments in their organisations relating to CLF.  It also provided the opportunity for CLF developments nationally to be raised including the evaluation process.
The next meeting of the group will take place on 30th September and in the mean time to enable communication to continue, group are going to establish a space on the LNN Moodle facility.

Notes from the meeting can be accessed here.