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What have participants said about the programme?
“Excellent CPD. Sessions were organised, run and timed superbly! Thoroughly enjoyable, productive and exciting 24 hours.”
“The opportunity to get to know my colleagues as people rather than professionals was invaluable.”
57 multi-agency professionals - made up of school leaders, health professionals, social workers, educational psychologists, governors, teachers, children's services professionals and voluntary sector workers - spent 5 days together looking at how they might collaborate more and work better together for the sake of safeguarding children.
The National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services designed the programme and it was facilitated by Best Practice Network.
The MATD programmed is designed to make a significant contribution to the government's Every Child Matters (ECM) policy initiative. ECM is aimed at providing more joined up children's services to ensure every child has the best possible start in life. The course is about helping teams to transcend organisational boundaries and work better together, tackling real projects and issues.
One Extended Schools coordinator said: It has been essential for us, to get to know one another, understand more how each of us operates and then take (the learning) back to our everyday job'.
Dr Vanessa Rowe, BPN's programme leader, says 'I believe passionately that such a programme is not only much needed but it is also designed in such a way that it can really make a difference to children's lives and the people that work with and for them'.
Feedback from these first teams is that it is achieving these objectives.
"An overriding feeling for me is that things have really changed, and as a group of people who work together we have really come on and there's a great amount of energy."
Participants commented on how valuable it was to have the time and space for getting to know each other and for personal and team reflection leading to real, tangible action that impacts children's lives. Some examples of this action so far:
Bristol Children's Services have shown willingness by putting resources into this project showing their commitment to the ECM agenda in the city.