Ian Vinall, Independent Chair and Scrutineer of Staffordshire Safeguarding Board shares his thoughts with you as we return from the summer breaks.
“I do hope you had the chance to enjoy the sun and take a well-earned break during the school summer holidays. For those of you who worked throughout the summer, I hope you are contemplating autumn breaks away.
Emotional resilience has become a bit of a catchphrase in the safeguarding profession, and we are all different in what works for us. In the next couple of months, I am visiting the District Social Work offices and Werrington YOI and hope to meet some young people and practitioners and talk about what keeps them motivated and safe.
Working with children, young people and families can be incredibly rewarding, seeing change and holding onto those ‘sparkling moments’ can keep us really motivated. We all forget sometimes about those positive achievements because they can be heavily outweighed by those negative ones. Hearing stories is crucial to understanding and I am keen to hear from practitioners about what is working well and not so well in the safeguarding system. Reflective conversations can really enhance learning.
Do please keep in touch and if you would like to speak with me directly please dont hesitate to contact me on Ian.vinall@staffordshire.gov.uk.
