National Leadership Network (NLN) which Staf are lead hosts of alongside our partners at CYCJ, Columba 1400, Resilience Learning Partnership and Who Cares? Scotland.
Steering Group
Harley and Gemma from the group recently planned and delivered a presentation on the work they are doing at a quiz hosted by The Fostering Network (Scotland) and the National Leadership Network. They also discussed what they like about the work they are doing and what they are looking forward to seeing happen in the future.
Members of the Steering Group are part of a Website Working Group which is looking at getting the NLN website ready to go public.
One of the Steering Group recently was involved in a paid role with CYCJ on an interview panel. This was a hugely positive experience for the person involved!
Dr Fern Gillon from CYCJ delivered online training to the NLN Steering Group about research and evaluation methods this month. This was a really interactive, interesting, and fun session which received great feedback.
The Steering Group continue to meet regularly and now have a decision-making process in place. They are still working on how this year’s funding will be allocated.
National Leadership Network Consultants
All the consultants are still working on individual pieces of work which includes:
Volunteering Team: A team comprising one member of the Steering Group and one of the consultants has been established to develop a volunteering strategy for the NLN. To date, the group have met 3 times mapping various elements of the strategy including definition of a volunteer and volunteering, opportunities within the NLN and beyond, advertising and recruitment, induction and training, support and supervision, contracting, risk, evaluation, and feedback. The group plan to work on exploring each of these areas in more detail and reviewing the volunteering policies shared by some of the partners. Next month the team are attending volunteering training being delivered by Volunteer Scotland in Stirling to support them with this work.
Peer Support: Work is being undertaken with one of the consultations on the creation of group (peer led) support and supervision. Meetings have taken place mapping out a proposal and strategy for this which will be shared with the Steering Group in due course. Steps are being taken to identify child protection training for the consultant to attend to support her in this role.
Guide for Parents: One member of the Steering Group has been working on an individual project this month writing a guidance document for organisations to support parents returning to work following maternity/paternity leave. This document is in the first draft and will be shared with the wider NLN group for feedback.
We now have our 50 x NLN hoodies, and these are starting to be distributed to the Steering Group, Consultants, Hosts and NLN staff.
National Leadership Network hosts meeting
This month the hosts from the NLN met in person at Resilience Learning Partnership HQ. The agenda included team and partner updates, monitoring feedback, evaluation, and funding. It was decided that two subgroups will develop to work with the Steering Group focusing on funding and evaluation.
Engagement with partners and allies
To mark Foster Care Fortnight the NLN and The Fostering Network (Scotland) delivered a fun quiz this month. This was a great opportunity for some of the Steering Group to build relationships with the Fostering Network Advisory Board. A good mixture of people took part, and it was great to see members of the NLN coming in 2nd and 3rd place in the quiz.
Through our friends at Who Cares? Scotland, NLN staff met with a social worker from Angus this month who was keen to know more about the Network. Angus Council have social work staff with a specific remit for working with asylum seeking young people.
Podcast
This month saw the launch of a podcast hosted by Resilience Learning Partnership which can be found here This discussion, which included Gary and Lisa, focuses on lived experience in the context of working with children, young people and families.
Email distribution list
The NLN continues to share various leadership opportunities and experiences we hear about from various partners and allies. Periodically we get feedback from people who have followed up on these which is great to hear about.
Roadshows
Planning for roadshows continues with discussions with various partners in Fife (Embrace and National House Project), a Children’s House in Dundee and via West Lothian College, (more information available on request).
Life Changes Trust Legacy work
NLN staff are involved in the development of a Learning Channel which is being led by Dawn at Staf. Gary is part of the Learning Channel Steering Group and Lisa is supporting the development of an Open University course focusing on relationship-based practice and trauma.
National Leadership Network Year 1 report feedback
This month we met with our funder The National Lottery Community Fund who gave very constructive feedback on our Year 1 report. This will play an integral role in the Network moving forward.
It has been great to get some feedback from our friends and partners on the NLN Year 1 report which you can find here One of our colleagues from another national project said:
“I love that report and it gives me a really strong sense of where you guys are, what you have been wrangling with and where you hope to go. I like that no-one is trying to make it all sound smooth and sorted too- we’re all still in the ‘swampy lowlands’, eh?
For more information contact gary@thenln.org
