- Information
- Activity
- Resources
There are 10 social work programmes in the south west including the Open University. The region covers 16 local authorities areas and includes a diverse range of other statutory agencies, as well as private, voluntary and independent organisations that provide practice learning opportunities.
Download the full South West Regional Map and Development Plan 2003 in pdf format.
The Learning Resource Network (LRN) initiative is a Department of Health funded project, which is being delivered by Skills for Care. It is intended to support the establishment of LRNs in each region, during the period up to April 2006. During this time work will be undertaken to identify sources of funding which will sustain the work of the LRNs in the longer term.
LRNs will benefit people who work in social care services for adults, children, young people and families; as well as related services such as health, housing, education and criminal justice. They are being developed under the auspices of the nine Skills for Care Regional Committees, supported by national project management activity.
LRNs will play an important part in the establishment of a co-ordinated approach to the development of the social care workforce in each region. They will focus on making connections rather than developing fixed centres. They will enable people within the social care workforce to find the resources they need in order to meet their learning needs and secure relevant qualifications. (National Project Plan for LRNs 2004)
In the first year, the Practice Learning Taskorce has supported a range of exciting development projects within the regions. Work undertaken has focused on the following areas:
Preparing for the development of new practice learning opportunities
Generating new practice learning opportunities with particular focus in the voluntary and independent sectors
Involving Service Users and Carers
Establishing accessible resources and training provision
Technical Developments
In the South West region, the following development projects were supported:
Identify new placements in the voluntary sector , particularly in relation to multi professional staff group and service user and/or carer focus.
Develop a website to support practice learning and practice teaching.
Extend the range of practice learning opportunities in the voluntary and independent sector and update agency profiles.
Develop the planning for an inter-disciplinary learning centre for the sub region of the Far South West of England.
Develop a database for new and established Practice Learning Opportunities.
Develop the current Practice Teachers Award into a new Practice Learning Assessment Award.
Develop Service User perspectives on the Practice Placement Assessment.
Develop a TOPSW regional database.