- by Siobhan Maclean
- 15th Jul 2019
The National Accreditation Assessment System (NAAS)
The National Accreditation Assessment System (NAAS) is rolling out across England. Just over a year ago, I was approached by the Childrens PSW Network to prepare a workbook to support children and family social workers working towards the NAAS. I took a very different approach to the development of the workbook, consulting with people with a lived experience. I wanted to ensure that the voices of children and their families were central to the resource. After all, that’s what our work is all about. Paul Yusuf McCormack, who grew up in the care system in the 1960s and 1970s and is now a foster carer, and Annie who writes Surviving Safeguarding both got involved. Throughout the text you will find “Annie’s Advice” and “Paul’s Perspective” both of which add real depth to the learning. A number of social workers also contributed to the resource by sharing examples of good practice. The NAAS is based around the Knowledge and Skills Statement for children’s social workers and so this workbook contains a chapter on each KSS statement. It also contains some general chapters on professional development and working towards a reflexive approach in practice. As such this will also be a really useful guide for newly qualified workers working towards their ASYE. I am proud of what we have put together to support social workers to prepare for the NAAS, and initial response from social workers and managers has been very positive. The resource was described by Lee Pardy-McLaughlin, Principal Child and Family Social Worker, as Written by the sector, for the sector and with the sector. A no nonsense approach to support front line social workers. You can download a brief PowerPoint presentation with some example pages here.