With the children's centre programme now in its final phase, strategies on integrated working are becoming more clearly defined. The NDNA's workshop - An approach to integrated working - aims to help professionals embed integrated working into their settings.
Patricia Hanson, the NDNA's director of strategic partnerships and development, says, 'The workshop was originally rolled out during the first phase of children's centre development. At that time many people found they had a children's centre role bolted on to their existing job and needed to access some quick techniques.
'These days there is greater recognition of the need to establish the right attitudes and our workshops provide the opportunity for a rich exchange of experiences and good working models.'
Ms Hanson says that the workshop facilitator tries to establish a shared idea of what an integrated service means.
'Parents need to feel that they are getting a one-stop shop. Embedding a high quality of service can come down to all staff greeting parents in a similarly appropriate way and being in a position to provide them with the information they need.'
There is a lot to keep up with in integrated working, as policies are constantly involving. For example, CWDC has just refreshed its guidance for the Common Assessment Framework, the standard process for assessing a child or young person's additional needs.
Ms Hanson says, 'Depending on whether attendees are a private nursery manager, children's centre worker or head teacher, they will have a different experience of integrated working; it is good to hear different views.
'The facilitator of the workshop is there to organise the dialogue taking place but not to control it. Recent sessions highlight that some practitioners are not entirely comfortable with the way things are being done, while at the same time there are plenty of examples of strategies which are effective.
'The workshops tend to work best when there is a mixture of professionals attending. When they are all from the same local authority they can develop a strategy that can make a real difference across their borough.'
www.ndna.org.uk
