Keep track of your CPD
By Gemma Raw
It is important that social work practitioners continue to maintain their CPD portfolio, demonstrating clear evidence of continual learning opportunities. We know that the re-registration process can be time-consuming, which is why we asked our candidates to share some of their top tips.
We hope you find these top ten tips useful!
“Book training months ahead and play your diary around it” Keshia, Halesowen
“Update your portfolio regularly, use every opportunity that you have has a learning opportunity and be part of network group for social workers because you learn a lot from other” Hilda, Chichester
“Be creative and don't restrict yourself to formal training” Wayne, Sheffield. Choose a range of different activities you have been involved in that could be considered as learning points.
“Use every opportunity to learn new things. E.g. shadowing, inviting people from other organisations to give talks. Look for free courses. Learn from team meetings and supervision” Sam, London
“Keep a proper diary for all courses and any articles that you’ve read” Sasha, Aylsham
"Keep a record of all continued professional development that you complete in a folder and go back to your learning. Share your learning with your peers, help them to develop too” John, Croydon
“Keep a diary and to make sure to record all work done for every single work carried out daily. Take every opportunity and do every training offered thus gaining more knowledge and skills for your own development” Pel, Nottingham
“Just keep everything, make notes and insist that this is a standard agenda on supervision. Make sure your supervisor knows what is required and understands what it should contain” Stuart, Scunthorpe
“Use evaluation sheets from training courses to really refine on how you will incorporate that particular learning into your daily practice” Christine, Lancaster.
Provide good evidence for each of the activities. Reflective logs, case studies, presentations, certificates and feedback from your service users would all be relevant.
Crucially, include a dated list of your professional development activities within the audit period – the last two years of registration. If you have any gaps of three months or more, they will need to be explained.
We have written a selection of pieces around starting and navigating your social work career.
