Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Tuesday 9th September 2014
Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
The Integrated Children's Services Conference will take place at the Aberdeen Exhibition and
Conference Centre on Tuesday 9th September 2014.
The Conference will highlight key national and local messages and will be an opportunity to
share good practice across our services.
The Conference will run over three sessions to give as many colleagues as possible the
opportunity to attend. The conference is free.
Morning session – from 9.30am to 12.10pm
Afternoon session - from 1.00pm to 3.30pm
Twilight session - from 4.00pm to 6.30pm
Colleagues are invited to attend one of these sessions
All children's services staff across all sectors are invited and encouraged to attend. Colleagues
are particularly encouraged to sign up for a workshop which is being delivered by our partner
colleagues, to learn about the developments taking place across our sector.
Tea, coffee and light refreshments will be provided to delegates on arrival.
The full programme for conference is shown overleaf.
Booking Instructions
Please register online for your place at this conference, using one of the following links:
Morning Session (9.30am – 12.10pm): http://ics-conference-morning.eventbrite.co.uk
Afternoon Session (1.00pm - 3.30pm):
http://ics-conference-afternoon.eventbrite.co.uk
Twilight Session (4.00pm - 6.30 pm):
http://ics-conference-twilight.eventbrite.co.uk
Bookings for the conference and individual workshops will be accepted on a first come, first
served basis – early booking is advised!
Please ensure you register by Monday 1st September 2014 at the latest!
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Conference Programme
Colleagues are invited to attend either the Morning Session, the Afternoon Session or
the Twilight Session:
Morning Session – 9.30am – 12.10 pm
Register for this session here: http://ics-conference-morning.eventbrite.co.uk
09.30am
Registration, Refreshments and Display Information
10.00 am
Welcome and Introduction from Conference Chair
Superintendent Innes Walker, Police Scotland
10:10 am
Setting the Scene
Angela Scott, Chief Executive, Aberdeen City Council
10.20 am
Keynote Address
Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
10.50am
What is happening in Aberdeen?
Gayle Gorman, Director of Education, Culture and Sport,
Aberdeen City Council
11.10am
Workshop Session – Choice of workshops available see over for details
12.10pm
Conference Close
Afternoon Session – 1.00 pm – 3.30 pm
Register for this session here: http://ics-conference-afternoon.eventbrite.co.uk
1.00 pm
Registration, Refreshments and Display Information
1.30 pm
Welcome and Keynote Address from Conference Chair
Joyce Duncan, Chief Executive,
Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations
1.40pm
Keynote Address from Invited Speaker
Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
2.10pm
What is happening in Aberdeen?
Liz Taylor, Director of Social Care and Wellbeing
Aberdeen City Council
2.30pm
Workshop Session - Choice of workshops available see over for details
3.30pm
Conference Close
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Twilight Session – 4.00pm – 6.30pm
Register for this session here: http://ics-conference-twilight.eventbrite.co.uk
4.00 pm
Registration, Refreshments and Display Information
4.30 pm
Welcome and Introduction from Conference Chair
Lorraine Currie, Strategic Co-ordinator – Child Health, NHS Grampian
4.40pm
Keynote Address
Tam Baillie, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People
5.10pm
What is happening in Aberdeen?
Susan Devlin, Head of Children’s Services, Aberdeen City Council
5.30pm
Workshop Session - Choice of workshops available see over for details
6.30pm
Conference Close.
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Please indicate which workshop you wish to attend when registering online.
Workshop Choices
1) Early Years Collaborative: Making Aberdeen the best place in Scotland to Grow
up!
Sacha Will, Early Years Programme Manager
In October 2012 Scottish Government set out ambitious aims for the Early Years Collaborative
(EYC) to ensure that Scotland is the best place in the world to grow up. Since then the
Aberdeen Early Years Collaborative team have been progressing improvement projects and
developing our understanding of the Model for Improvement. The model helps us to turn our
ideas into action so that the right changes can be developed and spread to maximise
improvement.
Come along to this session to find out more about the Model for Improvement and what, where,
when and how Aberdeen’s Early Years Collaborative team have been implementing
improvements to make sure Aberdeen is the best place in Scotland to grow up!
2) Mental Health is everybody’s business: Putting words in to action – the Bridge
of Don ASG pilot
Aberdeen City Mental Health Improvement Group
The workshop will allow participants to explore the concept that the mental health and wellbeing
of children and young people can be positively influenced by everyone. It will draw on the pilot
project in the Bridge of Don ASG which seeks to use a population based approach to promote
the mental health of children and young people and their families.
3) Understanding Thresholds
Members of the Child Protection Committee and the Operational Sub Committee
Issues around thresholds arise in many circumstances. The Child Protection Committee has
developed a pack of materials for the multi-agency children's workforce which focuses on 3 key
points at which discussion on thresholds often arises the point at which the eligibility criteria for social work intervention is met,
 the point for referral to the Children's Hearing, and
 the point at which a child is at risk of significant harm and the matter becomes a child
protection issue.
Using key reference documents and case studies, featuring domestic abuse, the materials aim
to encourage discussion and enhance clarity in relation to those threshold points.
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Workshop Choices
4) Map Your Play
Soozy Lai, Play Development Worker, Aberdeen Play Forum
After a brief introduction to the benefits of ‘loose parts’ play, you’ll be invited to sketch a map of
your playground, identify play opportunities within it, then share and discuss how these could be
expanded upon through the introduction of new rules and/or low cost resources.
Participants will be sent the following by email:
 Information by Creative Star Learning Company on introducing loose parts to your
setting, including sample loose parts risk benefit assessments.
 A list of ideas for resources and where you might find them
 The playtime revolution staff training PDF, which includes links to the accompanying online film clips.
This workshop is aimed at: setting managers (including schools) anyone who works with children
in settings for children aged 2-11 and has not previously attended APF’S loose parts training.
5) Together we are …. Reclaiming Social Work
This workshop will be presented by those closely involved in the development of the Reclaiming
Social Work Programme
Children's social work services in Aberdeen are undergoing an innovative and ambitious change
programme of front line services for children and families. For the first time in Scotland, the
Reclaiming Social Work model, first developed in Hackney in London, is being implemented over
the next three years. Delegates will learn how a fundamental cultural shift and a major
investment in training staff in systemic practice is enabling social workers to undertake the
business of social work.
The session will inform participants about how children's social work services are being redesigned to reduce bureaucracy and giving our staff the confidence and expertise to work as
effectively as possible with our service users. Introduction of the model will enable our staff to
work systemically and collaboratively in small social work units and to allow them to focus on
their work with children and families.
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Workshop Choices
6) Corporate Parenting …. It’s all our responsibility
This workshop will be presented by staff who are involved with the Corporate Parenting agenda and will
include direct input from young people
As corporate parents the local authority and its partners are committed to improving the lives of our
looked after children and are proactively working to remove barriers to support them so that that there is
no discernible difference between the outcomes of all children and young people who have been looked
after and their peers who have not.
This workshop will look at what corporate parenting means in Aberdeen in the context of the Getting It Right
for Every Child agenda and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. It will look at the issues
that affecting our local looked after young people and explore ways that barriers can be removed.
Participants will hear views and experiences provided by our looked after children and will gain an
understanding of what it means to be looked after in care in Aberdeen.
7) Supporting Learning in the Mainstream Classroom (Inclusion)
Eleanor Sheppard – Inclusion Implementation Manager
The session will provide an insight into how mainstream schools respond when it becomes clear that a
child is experiencing a barrier to learning/participation. It is hoped that participants will gain an
understanding of the many ways that barriers can be identified and reduced through either a school
response or by seeking expertise from others.
8) Children's Rights and the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014
Juliet Harris, Director, Together-Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights
This workshop will look at the new Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014, with a
specific focus on the UNCRC and the Children's Rights part of the new legislation.
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Integrated Children’s Services Conference
Information Stands
A number of Information stands will be on display throughout the Conference. These will be
available to view during registration. These will include:

Aberdeen Guarantees

Children and Young People’s Voluntary Sector Providers Forum

Family Information Service

GIRFEC

PACE Programme

Reclaiming Social Work

The Caring Dads Group (Caledonian)
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