Supervision guidance

Supervision is a fundamental role that managers will undertake to support the development of their staff's skills and practices in work with children, young people and families and the safeguarding of those in their care.

The CSCP have developed a Supervision Guidance, and the purpose of this guidance is to support partner agencies to improve the quality and effectiveness of supervision for professional staff working in complex multi-agency environments.

The purpose of this guidance is to support partner agencies to improve the quality and effectiveness of supervision for professional staff working in complex multi-agency environments. Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023 states: ‘Effective professional supervision can play a critical role in ensuring a clear focus on a child’s welfare. Supervision should support professionals to reflect critically on the impact of their decisions on the child and their family’.

This guidance is aimed at all agencies working with children and young people and families. Agencies should ensure that their staff and / or volunteers receive good quality, supervision which offers high support, exploration, reflection and high challenge. All managers undertaking supervision should ensure they follow their own agency supervision policy and procedures and use the associated paperwork.

All agencies which have operational responsibility for safeguarding / child protection services must have an agreed policy, which defines minimum levels of formal supervision of those staff that are accountable for safeguarding and child protection.

Westmorland and Furness Safeguarding Children Partnership - Supervision Guidance (PDF , 304KB)

Please note this is legacy document, the content remains relevant, however the document will be reviewed in due course as part of the move to separate Safeguarding Children partnership arrangements.