Learning and development opportunities for social care workers

---

We look at what learning and development opportunities are available for social care workers this year, to help you and your team keep learning.

Ongoing learning and development is essential for people working at all levels in social care. That’s why we’re encouraging everyone to keep learning for success this year.

Ensuring that both you and your team’s skills and knowledge are up-to-date is key to following best practice and keeping up with new innovation and ways of working to provide the best levels of care to the people you support.

Investing in learning and development for your team can also increase productivity, boost staff morale, make your team feel more confident in their roles, and reduce staff turnover.

Here’s what learning and development opportunities you and you team can make use of this year.

 

Training programmes and eLearning

Moving Up

The Moving Up programme is aimed at leaders from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds who want to take the next step in their career, with an understanding of the specific barriers which people from a diverse background may face in progression.

The Moving Up programme includes a mix of self-learning modules and live online sessions, and covers topics and skills including networking, building self-confidence, leadership skills, creating a personal brand, and identifying your own skills and weaknesses.

Additionally, it offers an opportunity to network with like-minded people in the sector, learn from others, and share experiences and ideas.

In recent years the programme has completely booked up, and we expect it to be popular again this year.

New cohorts are set to launch in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye on our website for details of how to book on.

Find out more about Moving Up.

 

Creating an inclusive organisation programme

Our Creating an inclusive organisation programme also aims to support social care workers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

This programme is aimed at people who are working in direct care giving roles, who are at the very start of their leadership journey.

The programme is a fully online programme which can be self-completed at any time. It’s made up of two digital modules which have been designed to support participants when dealing with specific challenges they face in the sector, while helping them to build confidence in improving diversity and inclusion within their organisations.

The programme covers topics including equality, diversity, and inclusion; leadership and management; personal branding; communication skills, and career progression.

Find out more about Creating an inclusive organisation.

 

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training has been co-produced, trialled with over 8300 health and care staff and independently evaluated. It comes in two tiers so all staff working across all CQC registered services can receive the right level of training.

An eLearning package is the first part of The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training, which is now available via Health Education England’s eLearning for healthcare platform.

The training aims to provide the workforce with the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate, and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability.

Keep an eye on the Skills for Care and Health Education England websites for updates.

Find out more about the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training.

 

Sexual and personal relationships guide

Care providers are increasingly recognising the importance of addressing the relationships and sexuality needs of people that they support, within the context of offering a holistic, person-centred service. But without adequate training and resources, the workforce can lack the confidence and skills to address this previously taboo area of practice.

We’re working in collaboration with Supported Loving to launch a new training package and resources focused on supporting personal relationship within services.

The training package provides basic knowledge and skills for frontline workers which addresses the importance of relationships and the sexuality needs of people who draw on care and support.

We’ll be sharing further details about this new training on our website over the next month so make sure to look out for this.

 

Learning from events module

Our ‘Learning from events’ digital module aims to support managers and leaders to conduct learning reviews. The purpose of a learning review is about learning from adverse events and taking lessons of what could be improved for next time.

Our short digital module supports managers to conduct these learning reviews to help their staff to continually develop in their roles, grow in confidence, and use their experience to keep improving.

This module has now relaunched with improved accessibility and format.

Find out more about the Learning from events module.

 

Leadership programmes

There’s a number of leadership and continuing professional development (CPD) programmes which are delivered exclusively by Skills for Care’s endorsed learning providers.

These include:

• Leading change, improving care: Practical guidance for managers on how to influence and implement the necessary changes to meet current and future challenges and service needs in health and social care.
• Lead to succeed: To develop leadership and management potential and put this into practice.
• Well led: Models of leadership that can be practically applied to deliver change and promote best practice.

The CPD modules focus on understanding performance management, understanding self-management, and understanding workplace culture.

Find out more about the leadership and CPD modules.

 

Introductory modules for managers

We offer 11 introductory modules for managers covering topics including supporting and developing teams, effective communication, making decisions and managing resources.

These modules have been recently updated and aim to support new and aspiring managers in becoming an effective leader.

The eLearning modules include real-life examples of good practice and include activities, videos, and time to reflect.

Each module is short and the whole programme can be completed flexibly.

Find out more about our introductory modules for managers.

 

Qualifications

Earn a qualification

There’s a broad range of qualifications you can work towards gaining to take your skills to the next level in social care.

This can help you to progress in your role or to specialise in a particular area of interest.

Qualifications available range from Level 2 to Level 5, meaning they’re available from entry level to more senior roles. Qualifications can be diplomas or certificates. Diplomas are longer qualifications while awards and certificates are shorter in length.

Topics could range from a Level 2 Diploma in Care to a Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management in Care, or a Level 5 Certificate in Principles of Commissioning for Wellbeing.

You can use the Workforce Development Fund (WDF) to contribute to the cost of you or your staff undertaking a qualification.

Find out more about qualifications in social care.

 

Apprenticeships

Another way for social care staff to learn new skills, gain a qualification and take the next step in their career is through an apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships involve learning on the job, alongside studying and completing assessments. This can be a great way to further develop your staff to help them to step up within your organisation and to fill skills gaps that might exist within your team.

Apprenticeships can be completed for care worker, nurse, nursing associate, social worker, occupational therapist, and physiotherapist roles.

Funding is available to support employers with the costs of apprenticeships.

Find out more about apprenticeships.

 

Events

The Managers Conference 2023

Attending events is a great way to learn from experts in the sector and to network.

Skills for Care and National Care Forum are hosting The Managers Conference 2023 on 13 and 14 March 2023.

This conference will offer the chance for managers working in adult social care to share, learn and find solutions to everyday challenges. The topics that will be covered include team working, embracing and embedding equality, diversity and inclusion, delivering outstanding care, and recruiting potential managers.

Find out more about The Managers Conference 2023.

 

For more information and inspiration on how to #KeepLearning this year have a look at our spotlight page.

Print this page

---