This Higher Education Academy project (ICS-HE) focuses on professional education for integrated children's services to meet the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda. Key disciplines and professions include: education, early years professionals, careers, nursing, midwifery, medicine, psychology, social work and youth and community work.

Project aims and activities

This project aims to bring together those relevant subject disciplines and sector bodies to:

• Provide an evidence-based approach to identify effective ways of developing interprofessional curricula and pedagogy for professional practice in children's services.
• Scope existing initiatives and support the development of informed educational policy and practice for professionals who will be working in reconfigured children's services.
• Provide a more coherent response to the Integrated Qualifications Framework for the children's workforce across higher education.

Project Partners

The project is co-ordinated by SWAP, the Higher Education Academy’s subject centre for social policy and social work in collaboration with the HEA’s subject centres for: Education (ESCalate), Health Sciences and Practice, Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV) and Psychology. The Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) and Children’s Workforce Network (CWN) are also project partners.

Funding

The project is funded through the Higher Education Academy (HEA) with a grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to strengthen employer engagement in HE and improve links with Sector Skills Councils. The project therefore has a specific focus on England, however we welcome involvement from individuals and organisations from across the UK.