Senior leader peer support group

NAFP practice lead, Catherine Lockett, explains:

'The role of responsible individual can be isolating and a little daunting - support is likely to be less available to you, and you possibly do not have any reflective supervision of your own, but are likely to be supervising others.

'I know when I held this position, I would have appreciated the opportunity to meet up in an informal way with others doing the role, to have some protected time to explore challenges, discuss the role in a little more detail and have a "critical friend".'

In response to our members request, NAFP is setting up a closed supervision group, specifically for responsible individuals/directors/senior managers.

How will it work?

This responsible individual/director/senior manager peer support group will meet four times a year for 90 minutes. This will be a protected and confidential space and a small closed group to allow for consistency and confidentiality. Facilitated by NAFP practice lead, Catherine Lockett, members of the group will be supported by peers with the added professional curiosity (reflective supervision) from NAFP. A terms of reference will be established allowing for confidentiality, consistency, boundaries and that members feel supported and held.

As this is NAFP’s first group of this kind, there will be flexibility to build on the structure and format, but it is envisaged that half of the session will include a check-in, sharing of good practice and gaining peer support in a confidential and protected space, a “what would you do in this type of situation”.

The other part of the time together is where NAFP will set a challenge in advance, something to develop curiosity and question your role and responsibilities, encouraging reflective thinking in relation to the Responsible Individual involvement within the learning and development of the fostering service and having clear management oversight.

The group will be capped at 10 individuals. This will provide a more meaningful experience. Once we have this number, we will create a waiting list and possibly offer an additional group, but the group will be closed from this point.

The cost is £350 for all 4 sessions. These sessions are a good way to evidence your own learning and development, how you seek out a level of supervision experience, and for those who are registered social workers, strong evidence that can be recorded as part of the Social Work England expectations.

Bookings are now being taken from those who hold the position of responsible individual/director/senior manager across the United Kingdom

The dates will be:

10.00am-11.30am Thursday 12 March 2026

10.00am-11.30am Thursday 25 June 2026

10.00am-11.30am Thursday 24 September

10.00am-11.30am Thursday 10 December 2026

This event will be hosted on Google Meet - accessibility; delegates will be emailed details of how to join a few days beforehand