Note of the Children and Families PSW Network event on 23 September 2022

The new chairs opened the event by saying they wanted to honour and build on the previous leadership.

Presentation and introduction to the new chair team

The new chair team

Clare Poyner

• Clare qualified as a social worker in 2002 and has worked in three local authorities along the south coast. She has worked as a practitioner and manager in most parts of the social journey and continue to be passionate and curious.
• Currently, Clare is the Principal Social Worker for Portsmouth City Council, where she oversees the academy, advocacy and participation, and leads on innovation.
• Clare’s practice interests include creating work environments that support relational, restorative and trauma-informed working, family safeguarding, listening, utilising and working with extended family more effectively, and anti-racist practice. ​

Rob Tyrell

• Rob has been Principal Social Worker for children and families for Gloucestershire since 2017.
• He has worked in adults and children’s services since 1985 and qualified as a social worker in 1998. Rob has managed adoption, permanence, and safeguarding teams.
• Rob’s practice interests include participation and family involvement, ‘language that cares’, using systemic ideas in practice, and promoting change through discussion and actions for equality, diversity and inclusion.

Paul McGee​

• Paul joined Essex County Council in 2017 and is the Head of the Essex Social Care Academy and Principal Social Worker for children and families.
• He qualified as a social worker in 1994 and, prior to moving to Essex, worked in three London boroughs as a social worker, team manager and service manager in frontline roles. He is also a national assessment and accreditation system (NAAS) accredited practice supervisor.
• Paul’s practice interests include developing reflective supervision, approaches to assessment and understanding families, meeting the emotional needs of children and young people, and staff welfare and wellbeing. He is also a qualified yoga instructor.

Setting the scene

• An intentional and increasing focus on seeking support and input from all principal social workers to develop key themes.
• Involving dynamic partnership working with the Department for Education, Chief Social Worker, Ofsted and the Adult PSW Network and more active succession planning.
• Philosophy… a network of distributed leadership.
• Are we in unprecedented times?
• Positions, taking a position, and positioning.
• Key priorities discussion:
  • succession planning​
  • recruitment and retention​
  • anti-racist practice​
  • engaging the regions… who we are/being representative.​
• Engaging the regions.

Presentation by Felicity Allen, Department for Education

• Political context
• Children’s Social Care Reform
• Working together

Presentation by Yvette Stanley and Jeremy Gleaden, Ofsted

• Key conclusions of review of children’s social care and national review of staff.

Presentation by Dez Holmes​, Research in Practice: Collective ownership, collaborative leadership

• A discussion on how to make practical some of the intentions to enable this network to be led distributively.

Final reflections​ on the event

​Thank you for to all those who attended and we look forward to welcoming you back for our next meeting on 24 January 2023.