"Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short races one after the other"
Events this week:
January 1st- January 31st - National Mentoring Month 2024
January 1st- January 31st - National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
January 1st- January 31st – Veganuary 2024
January 11th- National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2024
Legislation/Regulation of the week
Upcoming changes to childcare support
Thousands of parents are entitled to free childcare to support them to return to work after parental leave. Depending on how old your child is, you may be able to access between 15- and 30-hours free childcare a week. From April 2024, even more parents will be able to access free childcare. From September 2024, 15 hours of free childcare will be extended to all children from the age of 9 months. From September 2025, working parents of children under the age of five will be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Please remember to review this in your policy/legislation review workbook)
Videos of the week
Chris Kamara: Lost for words
The renowned presenter and footballing legend Chris ‘Kammy’ Kamara embarks on a personal journey as he seeks to discover a deeper insight into Apraxia of Speech.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Event of the week/month
National Mentoring Month 2024
National Mentoring Month is celebrated throughout January each year. It’s a time for communities to engage in various mentoring-related activities and for individuals to reflect on the importance of mentorship in personal and professional growth. In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, the constant flux of technological advancements and changes in job demands has created disruptions in traditional employee connection and development. The traditional avenues for interpersonal connections and knowledge sharing may be compromised. The lack of face-to-face interactions, mentorship opportunities, and collaborative work environments can impede the development of a strong team culture.
(This can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
Key provisions introduced in working together to Safeguard children 2023
This Department for Education (DfE) statutory guidance sets out what organisations and agencies who have functions relating to children must and should do to help, protect and promote the welfare of all children and young people under the age of 18 in England.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Safeguarding Voice Podcast
Education Child Protection is a specialist child protection and safeguarding training company working with organisations across all sectors who come into contact with children, young people, families and adults at risk. Our Mission is to use our passion, knowledge and expertise to empower professionals with the skills and confidence to keep people safe, reach their potential, and thrive.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Protection against stalking
Stalking can happen with or without a fear of violence. This means that if you are receiving persistent unwanted contact that is causing you distress but the person has never threatened you, this is still stalking and is not acceptable. With statistics from national crime survey of England and Wales 2023 indicating around 17,243 young people aged 16 and over were victims of stalking, knowing where to signpost learners for support is becoming more important for provision staff.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Racism in social work: Podcast
This episode is about racism within social work. We speak to Nana and Ash, both children and family social workers, about their experiences of racism. There is discussion about racism from families they have worked with but also from within the organisations they have worked for.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Early childhood trauma – what does this mean for professionals working with children?
The positive thing for practitioners is that if trauma is properly identified, and if staff are properly training to deal with it, then the impact on children can be reduced. The UK Trauma Council has produced free resources for practitioners to use to support children and young people with trauma.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Health & Safety
Why we should be making mental health new year resolutions
New Year resolutions often revolve around exercise and diets, but we can also use this time to think about how we can improve our mental health too. So what kind of goals can you set for your wellbeing - and how can you stick to them?
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Keeping Well: Webinars
A wide range of webinars to support your mental health and wellbeing. The webinars cover a wide range of topics such as managing anxiety, low mood and burnout and mindfulness.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Anxiety self help guide
This guide aims to help you to:
find out if you have symptoms of anxiety
understand more about anxiety
find ways to manage or overcome anxiety
There are a number of conditions that have anxiety as a symptom, or have anxiety in the name – like social anxiety, social phobia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This guide is designed to help with general anxiety symptoms.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
How to beat the January Blues
After the excitement and bustle of the Christmas season, it is completely natural to feel a little down at this time of the year. January, the month of cold weather, dark mornings and (possibly) failing in our New Year’s resolutions collide to create “January Blues”. Typically, January Blues manifests itself as feelings of low mood, sadness, lack of motivation, tiredness and low energy. It is also the peak season for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which can induce serious depressive episodes during the darker months.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Wider Curriculum
Knife crime, myths and facts
Some young people will say that a lot of people are carrying blades for Self-defence or self-protection. This is not true- research from fearless.org indicate 99% of young people DO NOT carry knives. The choice to could have serious consequences for that person, including serious or fatal injury to themselves or others, as well as getting a criminal sentence of up to 5 years in prison even if they haven’t used it.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Learners feeling the pinch from Festive spending? -Pay day loan support and information
With December always been a big spending month, many learners may now be getting into debt due to using buy now pay later schemes to get them through the festive season. Organisations such as Step Change and Money helper offer loan and debt advice to those who may now be struggling financially into the new year.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
The prevent duty is now in place
The Prevent Duty in Early Years Settings is a crucial safeguarding measure aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of young children. This duty, established in the UK under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, requires early years practitioners to have a robust understanding of the signs of radicalization and extremism. They must be vigilant in identifying any concerning behaviours or expressions of extremist views among staff, children, or their families. Additionally, Early Years Settings are expected to create a safe and inclusive environment that promotes British values, such as democracy, tolerance, and the rule of law.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
We are exploring how the often negative media coverage of the profession affects social workers – and how it can be improved. In this episode of our Learn on the Go podcast series, from Community Care Inform, two expert guests discuss media coverage, blame and shame of social workers.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
