The Latest Bulletin

February 15, 2023

The football mascot showing how local politics works

It came from a place of … what is the worst idea you could possibly have for a theatre show?” says director James Yarker, as he flicks through a heavily annotated 90-page copy of Birmingham city council’s three-year financial plan. His latest production, All Our Money, is a 50-minute exploration of the complexities of council budgets, told with the help of 6,000 gold blocks and a football mascot.

“It felt like a topic which impinges on our lives a lot that we know very little about,” says Yarker. “And we have a history of taking complicated stuff and presenting it in an understandable way.”

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A fresh look at social work theory and methods

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January 31, 2023

Spotlight – How to Survive in Social Work

Social work by its very nature is challenging and demanding work. But, in the current social, economic and political climate, it can prove extraordinarily difficult to keep your head above water. Written by two highly experienced social work professionals, this important book explores the significance of that context, offers guidance on how to survive despite it and even to aim for thriving within it. There are no easy answers, but there is much we can do to make sure that we are able to fulfil the potential and value of social work as a force for making our society a humane one without sacrificing our own health and well-being.

Available from https://neilthompson.info/shop/ or Amazon

If you’re a social worker come join us in the Social Work Focus Facebook group!

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January 31, 2023

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Make it happen – carpe diem

In today’s busy, pressurized world we can find ourselves with many different demands on our time. As a result of this important things may not get done. We can find ourselves drifting and losing sight of what is important to us. ‘Carpe diem’ – seize the day – is a good principle to guard against that. It can pay huge dividends to step back from time to time, to clarify what matters to use and focus on making happen whatever needs to happen to make sure those important things are given the attention they deserve.

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Effective Teamwork: The importance of working together

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January 31, 2023

Seth Godin’s blog – Boundaries are levers

Boundaries are levers
And assertions are maps.

Which means that:

Budgets

Timelines

Plans

Decision trees

and projections

are nothing to be afraid of. They’re a gift. They give us the chance to act as if, to describe a possible future and then to lean against them as we work to create the place we seek to be.

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Learn with Neil Thompson: Sign up to Neil’s YouTube channel

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January 31, 2023

Supporting disabled people at work

Acas’s updated disability guidance gives advice to employers to support their disabled staff at work.

We would love your help in promoting our guidance and we have included draft copy and assets below. Please let us know if we can do any cross-promotion including any articles, blogs and webinars.

The advice covers:

  • Talking about disability at work
  • How an employer should support disabled people
  • Managing a disability that gets worse over time
  • Disability-related absence
  • Capability and performance when someone is disabled
  • More support for managing disability at work

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Not a textbook, a hands-on manual of practice guidance. An essential resource!

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January 31, 2023

Talking about wellbeing early on can help us all cope better with life’s challenges

Most lifelong mental health issues begin in childhood. But talking about wellbeing early on can help us all cope better with life’s challenges We should all be talking more about how we’re feeling – not waiting until there’s a serious problem. Most public funding focuses on dealing with crisis. But early intervention gives more families the confidence to care for their wellbeing and get help when they need it.

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How to Do Social Work: A basic guide from one of social work’s leading authors

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January 18, 2023

Spotlight – The Care of Older People Practice Manual

A key text for challenging ageism and promoting dignified practice. Dr Sue Thompson presents invaluable guidance on how to take care of older people in positive empowering ways that avoid common ageist assumptions and practices. This is an essential guide to good practice in eldercare.

Available from https://neilthompson.info/shop/ or Amazon

A fresh look at social work theory and methods

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January 18, 2023

Neil Thompson’s Lessons for Living – Elegant Challenging

When people act or speak in discriminatory ways, bully people or behave disrespectfully towards others, it can be very tempting to ‘have a go’ at them, to give them a piece of your mind. While that reaction is quite understandable, it can be highly problematic. This is because there is a danger that the person who is behaving irresponsibly will see you as the unreasonable one, to see you as the person who is behaving inappropriately. This can just make a difficult situation worse. ‘Elegant’ challenging, by contrast, refers to challenging inappropriate behaviour tactfully and sensitively, so that you are giving the other person no ammunition to fire back at you. Skilfully pointing out why what somebody has said or done is much less likely to produce a defensive response and is therefore much more likely to be effective.

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A practical guide to supervision of students & other forms of workplace learning

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