Empowering the Children's and Young People's Workforce

Useful Websites

Chapter 2: Skills for successful learning

  • Time management. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/qy82y7b

    This website offers practical advice about time management for students based on the work of Stella Cottrell (see Further Reading). It offers advice on working on your own, five tips for managing your time, an activity, and an opportunity for reflection.

  • Essaying Academic Writing. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/qdxt4zu

    This website is linked to the University of Roehampton, London. It contains an eight unit course written by Adrian Chapman, Lecturer in Academic English. The content of the course is wide ranging – What is academic writing?; Essay structure; Paragraphs; Understanding titles; Essay planning; Introductions and conclusions; Arguing your case; Style; and Further resources. Select one of these units in response to your current needs and engage with the unit, considering its value in supporting your development in academic study.

Chapter 3: Work-based learning

  • Self-Regulation. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/cem57mk

    Explore the content of this website developed by The National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented at the University of Connecticut. Clearly designed for use by teachers, users can develop an understanding of the research into self-regulation (Section 2), Phases of Self-Regulation (Section 6) and Common Self–Regulation Strategies (Section Seven). Reflect on its content in relation to your own ability to self-regulate and the abilities of others.

  • SWOT analysis for schools/education/colleges/universities. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/nmyftjb

    A comprehensive website which explains how to carry out a SWOT analysis. Consider undertaking one for the setting you train/work in in consultation with mentors/managers – what benefits might undertaking this have on the quality of the service offered to service users?

Chapter 4: ‘The researcher and the researched’: ethical research in children’s and young people’s services

  • The Research Ethics Guidebook: a resource for social scientists. Available at: www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk/

    A great website which offers useful signposts for researchers to detailed information about applying for ethics approval, negotiating ethics at different stages of the research process, and dealing with ethics dilemmas that arise during a project.

  • National Research Ethics Service. Available at: www.nres.nhs.uk/

    A wonderful website from the NHS that offers valuable information for those who work/train in a medical context. The Directory of guidance for Researchers link under the ‘Guidance’ heading is particularly useful.

  • The Ethics of Social Research. Available at: www.sagepub.com/upm-data/34088_Chapter4.pdf

    This weblink contains a superb chapter on the ethics of social research. It offers an interesting short history of ethics in research (pages 60–63), some wonderful discussion questions on pages 85 and 86, and a useful checklist of questions for conducting an ethical research project by Patton (2002).

Chapter 5: Gifted and talented learners

  • Gifted and talented children in (and out) of the classroom. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/ncpog4g

    A link to a wonderful report written for the Council of Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in February 2006. Its content is wide ranging – from What does it mean to be Gifted/ Talented? and What Learners Like To Do to Provision for Gifted/Talented Children within the regular classroom and International Provision for Gifted and Talented Students. Refer to the contents pages with your placement/setting in mind, selecting the most appropriate pages to read and reflect on.

  • Gifted and talented. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/mxuu8ge

    Explore nationally archived materials (2011) produced by the UK government that were designed to ‘help gifted and talented pupils reach their potential’. Consider the relevance and value of strategies, approaches and ideas advocated in these materials under one of the three main headings: Leadership and school improvement, Gifted and talented quality standards, and Gifted and talented progress tools.

Chapter 6: Special educational needs and disabilities: Supporting the needs of children and young people through inclusive practice

  • Theme: Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). Available at: http://tinyurl.com/mz6vpms

    This weblink offers a ‘list of themed resources [relating to SEND] as recommended by participants at a series of eight HEA [The Higher Educational Academy] workshops held around the country in spring/summer 2012’ (p. 1 of document). Take a look at the different resources offered, selecting three which you intend to actively engage with. Reflect on their content – how do they help to move provision and practice forwards in your setting/work placement?

  • Teaching Expertise: Special Educational Needs. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/ma6n5xm

    This weblink takes you to a website that is full of links to publications, articles, recommendations, ebulletins and blogs to support teachers, practitioners and those training by ‘inform[ing], updat[ing] and stimulat[ing their] work with pupils with SEN’ (website). Consider the value of the different resources offered by this website, sharing items of interest with colleagues/mentors.

Chapter 7: Children, young people and risk – just about managing?

  • Department for Education: Safeguarding Children. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/c77a8m9

    This government website outlines the policy, procedures, information and resources about the systems in place to protect children and young people at risk of abuse with a UK context. All areas of abuse are covered, from internet safety to forced marriage and the employment of children.

  • The Best Practice Network’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/kjor3cf

    This is a really clear website that gives accessible definitions of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, and confidentiality, and what to do if you are worried that a child you are working with or know is being abused.

  • Safeguarding Children and Young People. A toolkit for General Practice (2011). Available at: http://tinyurl.com/q53w7c3

    Although this document is aimed at General Practitioners and written by the Royal College of General Practitioners, it offers all practitioners working with children and young people a broad and comprehensive insight into safeguarding. Areas including the social and national policy context of safeguarding children and young people, as well as practical information and strategies to aide identifying and responding to safeguarding issues, are covered.

Chapter 8: Skills and knowledge for effective practice

  • The Research Ethics Guidebook: a resource for social scientists. Available at: www.ethicsguidebook.ac.uk/

    A great website which offers useful signposts for researchers to detailed information about applying for ethics approval, negotiating ethics at different stages of the research process, and dealing with ethics dilemmas that arise during a project.

Chapter 9: Learning a language: how practitioners and those training to work with young people could use language learning in their practice

  • What the Research Shows: American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/ppstvom

    This website offers numerous links to a wealth of research which reports on the benefits of language learning. The research is organised into three major areas (presented as question headings):

    • How does language learning support academic achievement?
    • How does language learning provide cognitive benefits to students?
    • How does language learning affect attitudes and beliefs about language learning and about other cultures?

    The main research findings are offered underneath these headings – select the research finding which interests you the most and explore the link, considering how the knowledge acquired from reading the research might inform provision and practice in the setting you are placed in/currently work in.

  • Free MFL Teaching Resources. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/ob2zuhz

    This website offers professionals free resources to support the teaching of MFL to children and young people (Key Stages 1–4). The Language Guide resource is particularly interesting and strangely addictive!

Chapter 10: ‘Reflecting on reflection’: Work-based reflective practice

  • Reflective Practice. Available at: http://reflectivepractice-cpd.wikispaces.com/

    This wonderful resource includes a varied range of learning activities, notes, videos, downloads and more to help you to focus on key themes and topics relating to reflective practice, and provides content and examples which can be used to help practitioners and those training develop as reflective learners.*

    *Please note that the website above is education orientated but this does not mean that materials cannot be adapted by other readers from other services.

  • Reflective Practice 3rd edition. Available at: www.uk.sagepub.com/bolton/

    This companion website relates to the work of Gillie Bolton, author of one of the Further Reading recommendations for the chapter. It offers, amongst other things, a short descriptive essay, PowerPoint slides and handouts, and weblinks to complement the content of her impressive book on reflective practice.

  • Reflective Practice. Available at: http://reflectiononthetin.wordpress.com/

    An interesting website which has been developed to support community engagement practitioners – its content is easily transferable to other members of the children and young people’s workforce. Some useful pages are available on the right hand side of the website, including some Handy resources.

Chapter 11: Parents, carers and the community: the collaborative relationship

  • Six Types of Involvement: Keys to Successful Partnerships. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/4xtukxv

    This interesting website presents a framework for parent involvement in child education that was developed by Joyce Epstein, founder and director of the National Network of Partnership Schools. The framework consists of six types of parent involvement which help schools and parents develop relationships to support children in their education. Each type is succinctly described under subheadings – ensure that you click on the link at the bottom of each type page as this will give you access to a wealth of American case studies that describe the type of parental involvement ‘in action’ (click the More links to open these case studies).

  • Chapter 4: Barriers to Partnership Working. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/kuq5kkv

    This weblink offers briefing notes for practitioners and managers about the barriers to partnership working between health, social care and housing within the Scottish context. Informed by a wealth of interesting academic literature, this is a useful reading to compare to the education context – do the same kinds of barriers exist? Reflect on its content, considering any information what is useful in developing your understanding of barriers to partnership working and effective ways to overcome these.

Chapter 12: Integrated working: from the theory to the practice

  • Toolkit. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/nkv6nrm

    This website offers a ‘toolkit’ in the form of ‘a web-based resource to support the delivery of multi-agency working across the public, private and voluntary sectors’ (Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, 2013). Explore the content of this toolkit, comparing it to materials developed by the local authority your train/work in – how does the content compare?

  • Integrated Working: A Review of the Evidence. Available at: http://tinyurl.com/c2rwbb4

    This weblink takes you to a report written by Oliver, Mooney and Statham (CWDC, 2010) who are all from the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London. It offers an interesting review of evidence to ascertain the impact of integrated working on the lives of children, young people and their families. Consider the findings in relation to the current climate – does ‘the direction of travel [continue] to be a positive one [?]’ (p. 9).

Chapter 13: The learning community: international lessons