Frontline (social work)

Industry Social Work
Founded 2013 (2013)
Headquarters London
Area served
 UK
Key people
 Josh MacAlister, Founder and CEO,
Lord Adonis, Chair of the Board
Products Recruitment and training for social workers
Website TheFrontline.org.uk

Frontline is a charity which recruits and trains social workers in the UK.[1]

Frontline coordinates a 2 year employment-based training programme whereby participants are placed at local authority Children's Services departments. In their first year participants work directly with children and families while completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work. At the end of the year, successful participants qualify as social workers. In their second year participants continue working in their local authorities and undertake further study, working towards a fully funded Masters in Social Work.

The scheme has received widespread coverage from the UK media[2][3][4][5][6] and cross-party political support. Frontline was given explicit support in the election manifestos of the Labour,[7][8] Liberal Democrat[9][10] and Conservatives[11] parties.

In February 2015, Frontline was awarded a grant of £1.8m by the DfE to develop 'Firstline', a new training program for managers in social work.[12][13]

Frontline entered the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list in 2014 in 76th place and rose to 40th in 2015.[14]

History

Frontline was founded by Josh MacAlister in 2013 after he spent 3 years working as a teacher in a challenging school in Greater Manchester with the Teach First programme. Through his experiences working with vulnerable children he was inspired to develop the idea for Frontline.

The idea was picked up by Lord Andrew Adonis, who encouraged Josh to take the idea and turn it into a reality.

Timeline[15]

Recruitment process

In order to be eligible to apply to the Frontline programme, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  1. Have or be predicted a 2:1 or higher in their first undergraduate degree.
  2. Have grade C or above in Maths and English GCSE - applicants must also demonstrate competence in IT as well as spoken and written English
  3. Achieved at least BBB (or ABC) in their top 3 A-levels (or equivalent pre-university grades) – excluding General Studies and any additional AS-levels.

There are 6 stages to the application process:

Frontline Programme

Participants work in the same local authority children's services department throughout the two years. In their first year, participants work towards a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work alongside direct work with children and families. In their second year, participants work as newly-qualified social workers (NQSW).

Summer Institute[17]

The Frontline programme begins with a 5 week residential training period called the 'Summer Institute'.

During the five-weeks participants are taught the knowledge and skills of social work by academics from the Frontline Academy. These include how to think systemically about families and relationships, how to build meaningful relationships with vulnerable and challenging people, and how to assess and work with risk. Participants begin to learn how to bring about change in people’s behaviour. The curriculum is delivered through traditional lectures, action learning, role plays and journal clubs, as well as interactive sessions with guest speakers, practising social workers and people with experiences of care.

After completing the Summer Institute, participants are formally assessed by the Frontline Academy to ensure that they are ready for practice before starting their Practice Learning Experience in a local authority.

Year 1[18]

As part of a local authority Children’s Services department, participants form units of 4 students, supervised and line-managed by an experienced Consultant Social Worker (CSW). In this unit participants work directly with vulnerable children and families, building up a range of practice experiences over the year. By the end of Year 1, participants will have undertaken over 200 days of ‘on-the-job’ training and 46 full taught days of study.

Participants are assigned an academic tutor who will tailor individual and group tutorials to their specific learning needs. Participants' development will be regularly monitored and assessed throughout the year. Uniquely among social work training programmes, participants work with children and families is directly observed by the CSW and academic tutor, who assess progress.

At the end of Year 1, successful participants are awarded a Postgraduate Diploma in Social Work and are then eligible to formally register with the Health and Care Professions Council as a qualified social worker.

Year 2[19]

In Year 2 participants are qualified social workers responsible for their own caseload. Participants work in their local authority’s Children’s Services team and their professional development is closely supported by their local authority and also by Frontline through the ongoing leadership development programme. Participants also have the opportunity to undertake further study to gain a Masters qualification by the end of the two-year programme.

In addition, Participants have the chance to receive coaching from an experienced coach who is part of the Frontline coaching network. Coaching is a development approach in which the coach supports the coachee in achieving a specific personal or professional goal as determined by the coachee. This programme sits alongside the Masters, both of which are designed to to develop participants leadership skills.

The Frontline Academy[20]

The Frontline Academy is the name given to the partnership delivering Frontline's academic programme. It comprises the University of Bedfordshire's Tilda Goldberg Centre, the Institute of Family Therapy, the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London, and involves a range of other social work experts.

The Academy’s teaching is grounded in the recent, evidence-based approaches to child protection social work. The broad approach is to prepare participants to work with children and families to bring about change. A key feature of the Academy’s approach to social work education is the integration of theory and academic learning into everyday practice. Professor Donald Forrester is a leading social work academic responsible for numerous social work research studies and heads the Frontline Academy.

Leadership Development[21]

The leadership development programme is an key strand of the Frontline programme. It is delivered by Morning Lane Associates, and aims to help develop the leadership qualities needed to bring about change with families, within the social work profession and beyond. The programme introduces a number of key leadership concepts. It also provides practical training in how to deconstruct complex issues and drive forward appropriate solutions. In Year 2, further leadership development is provided to compliment work in local authorities.

Expansion

Frontline has placed increasing numbers of participants in local authorities each year.[22][23] The scheme initially started in London but has since expanded to Manchester and the North East.

Year No. of Incoming Participants Position in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers [14]
2014 104 76th
2015 124 40th
2016 164
2017

National Expansion

In January 2016 the Department for Education announced its support for Frontline's plans to roll out the programme across England.[24]

Firstline[25]

In February 2015, Frontline was awarded a grant of £1.8m by the DfE to develop 'Firstline', a new training program for managers in social work.[12][13] The programme is based on research into what constitutes excellent first line leadership in a children's social work setting. The programme has been designed to help first line managers develop the skills they need to create change at a personal, relational and cultural level.

The design of the programme has been informed by research that explored:

This led to the development of the Firstline curriculum, which is predicated on the insight that enhancing self-awareness is crucial for effective leadership and for creating and sustaining change. The curriculum covers elements such as:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Frontline | Changing Lives". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  2. ↑ Brindle, David (2015-10-28). "As fast-track social work training goes north, can it win over its detractors?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  3. ↑ "Big-hearted top graduates shun big money for jobs in social work | The Sunday Times". www.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  4. ↑ education, Katherine Sellgren BBC News; Reporter, Family. "Graduate child social worker scheme rolls out across England". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  5. ↑ "A social work revolution — throwing top graduates in at the deep end | The Times". The Times. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  6. ↑ "'The success of Teach First points towards a major shift in what society considers an aspirational career'". TES. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  7. ↑ "Labour pledges to avoid ‘extreme’ social care cuts". Community Care. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  8. ↑ "Read Labour’s manifesto". www.labour.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  9. ↑ Stevenson, Luke. "Lib Dem manifesto promises to 'radically transform' mental health services". Community Care. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  10. ↑ "Lib-Dem Manifesto" (PDF).
  11. ↑ "The Conservative Party Manifesto 2015". www.conservatives.com. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  12. 1 2 3 Donovan, Tristan. "Best team leaders can beat organisational problems and deliver great social work, finds report". Community Care. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  13. 1 2 3 "'Frontline for managers' gets backing". nql.redesign.cypnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  14. 1 2 Ltd, High Fliers Publications. "The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2015-2016". www.top100graduateemployers.com. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  15. ↑ "About Frontline | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  16. ↑ education, Katherine Sellgren BBC News; Reporter, Family. "Graduate child social worker scheme rolls out across England". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  17. ↑ "Summer Institute | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  18. ↑ "Year 1 | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  19. ↑ "Year 2 | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  20. ↑ "The Frontline Academy | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  21. ↑ "Leadership Development | Frontline". www.thefrontline.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  22. ↑ education, Katherine Sellgren BBC News; Reporter, Family. "Graduate child social worker scheme rolls out across England". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  23. ↑ Carter, Rachel. "Mental health social work fast-track scheme backed by £1.6m of government funding". Community Care. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  24. ↑ education, Katherine Sellgren BBC News; Reporter, Family. "Graduate child social worker scheme rolls out across England". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  25. ↑ "About : Firstline". Firstline. Retrieved 2016-03-09.

External links

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