Reflective Practice in Children’s Homes: Why it is vital
We provide training in reflective supervision because reflective practice is vital to high quality work with children in care. The core of work in children’s homes is the relationship between staff and young people; their daily interactions, shared experiences, the giving and receiving of nurture and care. Reflective practice is the cornerstone of safe and effective work. Without it we cannot learn enough about young people’s needs or our own strengths and vulnerabilities to be able to provide care which can be sustained through difficult times.
Ofsted are looking for staff to: be consistent and confident in what they are doing; understand the research base for and the reasons why you do things the way you do; understand that how they act has an impact and how to have a positive impact, and that they can articulate what it is that the home does which helps the young people. (Ofsted SCCIF, 2017) The most effective way of enabling staff to meet these requirements is to have regular reflective supervision, group reflective discussions and a reflective culture in your home.
Staff and supervisors can easily adopt the practice of using a simple reflective cycle to review events:
The Reflective Cycle
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What happened – the story
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Reflect on what happened – think about thinking and feeling
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Analysis – making sense of what happened
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Action – putting learning into practice
With repetition this way of reflecting can become second nature and a valuable resource for staff resilience, insight and skill. Inevitably it will also become blended into the way we talk and feel with our young people. The most effective children’s homes are ones where staff and young people learn and grow together.
To add your name to the waiting list for the next 3 hour live online training or to arrange for whole staff team face to face training email us
To access our introductory video on the online training click here