Another year over!
It’s been such an important year for Compass. We’ve been growing and evolving in 2024. And now we’re readying and steadying ourselves for more changes and developments in the New Year.
Whilst ongoing change and challenge can sometimes feel exhausting, and is at times difficult, you continue to rise to the challenge.
That’s because by continually improving we all know we will deliver better services for more children, young people, and families.
And that is ultimately why we are here.
Compliments of the season.
Building the Ultimate Compass
CEO Rachel spoke with us about the Business Plan to build the Ultimate Compass. In a Teams address watched by the vast majority of staff, many of whom joined us in groups in services, she focused on
- Purpose & identity
- Service & infrastructure development
“We want to grow at a steady pace. But also to continue to develop both our infrastructure and the way in which we deliver services. Key to all of this is that as an organisation we have an infrastructure that is sustainable, that’s fit for purpose and that ultimately supports you in doing what you do best.
Rachel Bundock, CEO
Rachel updated us on our Business Plan priorities
Employer of choice
What did we do last year?
- Rolled out our colleague survey in Oct 2023
- Used feedback from the survey and focus groups to develop an improvement plan: – Fair compensation, staff wellbeing. Good career development opportunities – Tools & resources to do our jobs effectively
- Reward & Recognition – embedded CEO Awards (now called One Compass Awards), and Everyday Hero Awards
- Extended to include new team awards & leader award
What are we doing this year?
- Process of undertaking consultation to de-couple appraisal from pay award and replacing PRP scheme
- Appraisal process – simplifying, introducing improvements to benefits package including staff wellbeing/CPD
- Implementing annual workforce development plan to support professional development and career progression
- Creating a positive Compass culture – defined key behaviours aligned to our values and embedding them within teams
- Staff intranet – Underway with the design/look & feel. Shortly moving to next phase to finalise its functionality and its maintenance before we move to testing.
Affordable delivery
What did we do last year?
- Set up the digital solutions steering group. Evaluated a number of products and approved: – Silvercloud, Triple P, ChatHealth, Go To training – This year, piloting OSI, Lumi Nova, Visiba App
- Further developing integrated models – One front door, duty systems, App. Learning and evolving as we go.
What are we doing this year?
- Corporate systems steering group led by Directors and the Head of Data, Insights and Intelligence
- Overhauling system – more automated, so data can be easily extracted and pulled through Staggered systems review – Finance, IAPTUS completed – New people and payroll system chosen – Review of IT supplier contract and Intranet development underway
- WSA Framework – co-developed a Compass Framework to support new and existing services to deliver WSA activities consistently. Manual will go live in the new year
Evidenced effectiveness
What did we do last year?
- Impact report template established for marketing purposes to showcase our services’ impact to commissioners/stakeholders. Led by BD team who will create reports on behalf of managers using their monitoring reports
- University partnerships – working with multiple universities up and down the country to support staff through qualificiations and embed professional development pathways as part of our workforce development plan.
What are we doing this year?
- Roll out impact reports together with service managers and use them within our marketing plans
- Partnered with Exeter University to independently evaluate Compass MHST model across number of sites funded by Compass to evidence what works and take forward an improvement plan
High quality and governance
What did we do last year?
- Broadened the suite of audits as part of the annual cycle. Audit review is routinely embedded
- Broadened scope of policies whilst rationalising, making them more user friendly
- Steering groups eg Volunteering, Participation, EDI – established and working to clear terms of reference made up of people from across wide variety of roles/services. Co-design principles, approaches, processes, procedures
What are we doing this year?
- Quality standards building Compass Framework define what good looks like, how will measure it
- Implementing new Freedom to Speak Up Guardian roles to help foster a speak up culture within Compass. Help staff feel heard and listened to and broker conversations if worried about unsafe or unhealthy practices
- EDI thematic groups – embedding them focusing on keeping up to date, sharing BP, developing new initiatives, developing central resources, increasing knowledge through service pledges, awareness days
Managed growth
What did we do last year?
- Mobilised Birmingham & Wakefield Bereavement services and Derby EITSS this year
- Invested in our central infrastructure – new systems, specialist central roles and workforce development plan
- Process for identifying emerging needs
- Designed new integrated models such as Substance Misuse/Emotional Health and Emotional Health/ Eating Difficulties
What are we doing this year?
- DII team setting up a process to identify themes re gaps/barriers/emerging needs from local JSNAs
- Board invested in an Innovations Fund to test new ways of working including pilot schemes and projects
- Positive Effect is changing from trading arm to Social Value arm. Helps services build lasting partnerships with local businesses through corporate giving and receiving
Each of the key elements support how we deliver services and enable us to achieve high quality, safe innovative and effective services.
Please note – Some staff will need to sign into Google or set up a Google account to access youtbue videos. We recommend using your Compass email address for this.
You can access the video file, along with the SLT questions and answers here.
U:\Staff Updates\2024\Annual CEO Presentation
Compass Community: A New Direction for Positive Effect
by William Bentley, Development and Sales Officer
We are excited to announce an important change in direction for our team as we transition from Positive Effect to Compass Community. This shift reflects our renewed focus on Social Value and our commitment to creating meaningful, lasting relationships with businesses and communities, whilst supporting each individual service. Our aim is to provide greater support to all our services and will begin our initial trials with Central Services and NEL Teams in the coming weeks and months, with the eventual roll-out to all services.
At its heart, Social Value is about creating a positive impact that goes beyond financial gains. It’s about fostering partnerships that benefit our services, the community, and the businesses we work with. By collaborating with organisations, we aim to achieve measurable improvements in wellbeing, inclusivity, and sustainability for everyone involved.
Together, with your involvement, we can make Compass Community a powerful force for positive change. Whether it’s identifying opportunities, sharing ideas, or building new partnerships, your role is key to shaping the success of this new initiative. Let’s shape the future, one connection at a time!
Compass now supporting more children and young people in Birmingham
Forward Thinking Birmingham (FTB), the city’s 0-25s Mental Health Service, has joined hands with Compass to deliver more Mental Health Support to school children in Birmingham.
The Compass service, commissioned by Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, will provide wellbeing support to children in schools in the North, East & West of Birmingham, with the aim of preventing young people from developing mental health issues in the future.
Read the full story on our website news page here.
Connect for Health School Nurse Hannah gets national award
by Hannah Round, C4H Marketing and Comms Officer
We are delighted to announce that Hannah Roberts, School Nurse, has won the SCPHN Student of the Year Award.
For the past few years, Connect for Health has been building and nurturing relationships with the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) partners and communities. We have been conducting a project which has seen our School Nurse students actively reach out to this marginalised group, and explore how we can best support them.
The project was initially started by our previous student School Nurse, Zelah Wickendon. Zelah successfully established good relationships with partners and was ever on the lookout for opportunities to build links and share Public Health messages.
With these links firmly established, our next student School Nurse, Hannah, was able to build on these relationships and was given access to one of our GRT sites in the north of Warwickshire. Thanks to the good relationships that had been cemented with partners, we were delighted to be warmly welcomed by the community. During our visits to the site a group of practitioners shared fun and educational activities with the children, such as boxing workouts and oral health games.
As an integral part of her University course, Hannah captured the work undertaken through a full academic write up and within a poster presentation design. This poster then supported our application for Hannah’s nomination for the Student SCPHN student of the year competition. Thanks also go to Anne Tomkinson who supported both students and also submitted the nomination for the award. Following a hotly contested competition we were delighted when Hannah was announced as the overall winner.
The award was presented to Hannah at the annual School Nurse Association conference. Well done Hannah for carrying out this great piece of work.
Anti Bullying Week 2024
Anti Bullying Week this year had the theme “Choose Respect”. Changing Lives explored this with children and young people around Derby and Derbyshire. Continue reading
Changing Lives connect with Sikh community in Derby
Changing Lives visited the Sikh community in Derby at a Gurdwara to talk to talk to young people about how to break down barriers to accessing mental health support. Continue reading
Train the trainer workshop at Compass Be
by Emma Turton, Whole School Approach Practitioner
Compass Be MHST, along with some specialist services staff, took part in a Train the Trainer workshop at their base in Barnsley.
The workshop took the team through Key Points, The Character of Sam and Branding, Development – the importance of Child & Teacher Feedback, the KS1/LKS2 This Is Me & My Emotions Primary Class Workshop & the KS2 Your Journey To Positive Mental Health Primary Class Workshop – Objectives, Preparation for the workshops, Delivery, Evaluation & Feedback. There was a recap of the process the team use to book workshops and events.
All the MHST staff attended along with the Family Practitioners and Specialist Team MHPs and Wellbeing Practitioners. It gave the Specialist Services team an insight into what content is covered in the initial MHST primary class workshop packages.
The training was delivered so the staff team felt prepared to deliver the KS1 and KS2 initial workshop packages for the primary schools in their localities and took the team through the preparation, content and structure of the workshops.
Read more
The Trainer the Trainer workshop was delivered by me, as Whole School Approach Practitioner. I created the workshop packages and have delivered them in schools across the borough since 2022. The requests from schools for the workshops has increased and demand is much greater for the early intervention WSA work the team offer.
This also creates opportunities for members of the team who are keen to be delivering more WSA work in schools, alongside their 1-1 and group work, so they can further support their schools to embed the WSA.
Each Practitioner was given a pack with contained their Train the Trainer pack and all resources required for the workshops.
‘I work with adults so really useful to see what content is like for CYP.’
‘As we discussed it has also been helpful in terms of me being able to tailor resources for parents’.
‘I enjoyed being able to discuss ideas about how to deliver workshops when children have different needs.’
‘‘The buzz in the office today was definitely how useful it was and how much people enjoyed the session’ Evalynne Charmer Clinical Operations Manager Compass Be& Compass Wakefield.
Compass teams enjoy Christmas and end of year celebrations
Fab time
Louise Doughty of Compass Be said: “We have been having a fab time for Christmas over in Barnsley.
“We had a night out in Barnsley with a meal and games which may or may not have gotten a little competitive. Then we enjoyed a lovely fuddle and Bad Santa present swap in the office.
“I think we all scrub up quite well 😊 Happy Christmas to everyone at Compass from all of us here in Barnsley.”
Shout outs….
To Louis Yarrum for great work on duty with a particular challenging case. Shareen and Chante (specialist team) for starting the first Beyond behaviours group for Birmingham. And finally Nicole, Yve, Jessica, Shareen, Jordan and Hollie for launching Birmingham’s staff forum – Marissa Byng, Specialist Team Lead, Compass Birmingham MHST
Supportive & understanding
I would like to thank Abi Dean and Rich Thomas for their support of our team. The service has been stretched with high demand and both Abi and Rich have been extremely supportive and understanding of the pressures we are all facing. – Ruchika Charan, Emotional Wellbeing Worker, Compass Shine
Stepping out
A huge thank you to Fizza Zaidi for stepping out of her role to support me in a meeting. I really appreciated you going out of your way and showing such kindness and support. Your a star! Thank you, Tasminder x – Tasminder Virdee, TEMHP, Compass Birmingham MHST
Huge thank you
A huge thank you to the recruitment team- especially Barry and Debra for all of your support when we needed such a quick turnaround for some attrition posts in our MHSTs in Birmingham! You made a tight turnaround more manageable with your support and expertise! – Rachel Haynes,
Clinical Operations Manager, Compass Birmingham MHST
Loved every minute
Please can I say a MASSIVE Thank you to all of the team at Compass Phoenix. I’ve been with the Northerners about a year now and loved every minute. You are all so knowledgeable, kind and present: I really appreciate the expertise, support and patience you have shared with me this year. Special thanks for the daily support, guidance and fun from Rachael and Alice who make coming to work an absolute pleasure. 👌😊👍❤️🥳Clare Smith, Training & Consultation Worker, Compass Phoenix
Great feedback
Thank you so much to Kirsty, James and Thom from Compass Be for all you support at the TYS International Men’s Day event. Thanks for all stepping in last minute to make our contribution to the event a success. Thanks James and Thom for sorting and delivering the workshops for the young men that attended we received great feedback and Kirsty thank you for being so on it on the stall as you always are. You definitely proved that ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’ and just wanted you to know I really appreciate the hard work you put in. Thank you 😊 Em x
And can I also add a thank you to the Compass Be and Specialist Service Team to say the following:
Thank you to all the Compass Be staff that took part in the Trainer the Trainer workshops you all got fully involved and made me feel so supported it reminded me what a lovely team of people I work with. Special shout out to Kim and Liv for the extra bits you did to help me get set and Emily for being a star in terms of participation. Thanks all 😊Em x
Emma Turton, Whole School Approach Practitioner, Compass Be
Smiles on your face
Wow!! Connect for Health you are amazing. It has been an extremely busy term. We have had referrals, group work/health promotion activities, network events, NCMP sessions and safeguarding meetings coming out of our ears!! Everyone has been exceptionally busy. Thank you for rising to the multiple challenges thrown at you. We know that you have tried hard to cover all the demands and to work as efficiently as possible. Your “can do, positive” attitude is greatly appreciated as are the smiles on your faces. THANK YOU for all your efforts. Karen, Isabel, Jenni, Anne and Eilish – Karen Cornick, Service Manager, C4H
You’ll be missed and Congratulations
Laura was successful in securing a position as SP in the new wave starting in January 2025. We, all at Kingsmead, wanted to wish you all the best as you embark on this exciting journey with your new team. Good luck – you’re going to be great, but we will miss you and we all appreciate all the wonderful things that you have done in Kingsmead. We appreciate the vast amount of knowledge you have about the best places to eat in Derby! It’s been a pleasure to work with you. You will be missed.
To Sarah, the future Mrs Kemp (Mr Right and Mrs Always Right!) Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Wishing you and your partner a lifetime of love, happiness, and beautiful memories together. This is such an exciting new chapter , and we we’re so happy for you ! Lots of love from everyone from the Kingsmead Team.
Smita Sandhu, Team Leader, Compass Changing Lives MHST
Overcoming challenge
Could I please say a massive thank you to my team leaders for all of their hard work this year, overcoming every challenge and being solution focused.
We are now achieving amazing results through their hard work and Compass Birmingham is an amazing service to work in because of them and there staff : Lucy Marshall, Rachel Haynes, Hayley Spies, Marissa Byng, Jessica Kennedy , Arlene Lespeare and Fran Dodd
Dean Morrall, Service manager, Compass Birmingham MHST
I’ll miss you
I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Tracey, Mel, Carn, Rachel, Charlotte, Carla and Meg at Compass Changing Lives for all your support and kindness over the last nine months.
I will miss you all and although I will be starting a new adventure in the Glossop Team, part of me will always be part of the Specialist Team (O&S’s) x Rebekah Hallas, Families Practitioner, Compass Changing Lives MHST
A big thank you
A big thank you to Alice as you prepare to take your maternity leave. Alice, you are not just one of the best colleagues anyone could hope for, but a truly incredible friend too.
Thank you for the excellent banter, our collective sense of humour which can get us through it all and how we often share one mind!
This next chapter will be incredible because there is nothing in this world that compares to your strength as a mum.
Love always, Pip Nix, Training & Consultation, Compass Phoenix
Incredible work
I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our Family Practitioners Emily Simpson & Lisa Jane Nicholson @CompassBe in ‘Barnsley-Thank you for the incredible work you both deliver across Barnsley supporting parents, carers, and families to manage and understand there own MH &EW alongside that of there children/s. You not only deliver this support on a 1-1 basis you also provide a menu of MH/EW workshops for example helping families to understand their child/s anxiety ,emotional regulation and SEN to parents and carers not only in an educational setting but as part of the most recent project delivering these across all 6 of our new family hubs across Barnsley. Your time commitment, dedication and empathic understanding enables the service to be able to reach the families who may not have received such amazing support from other services demonstrating that role modelling behaviour we pride ourselves upon. Thank you for been you and always striving for more. Michelle xxx – Michelle Eyre, Team Leader, CompassBe
So supported
I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone at Compass Be for throwing a Christmas fuddle/baby shower. The day was amazing from start to finish with a buffet, decorations and lots of laughs and cuddles.
I have felt huge support from my team and managers throughout my pregnancy and feel that I couldn’t have felt more supported and loved.
A special shout out to Julie Crossland for her beautiful venue decorating.
I am so appreciative of the collection we received. – Courtney Askey, Compass Be
Thanks for your support
I would like to thank Renita and Jess for all their support with helping me set up the first Beyond Behaviour group for Parents. It wouldn’t have been possible to get everything done within the time constraints if they hadn’t supported. – Shareen Akhtar, Families Practitioner, Compass Birmingham MHST
Astounding
On behalf of Compass Wakefield (newly named Compass Rise!) we would like to say a massive well done and thank you to the whole team, and this month in particular, one of our lovely Wellbeing Practitioners Debbie Tolson. Her dedication to professional development has been astounding all year, which has been gratefully noted! Debbie demonstrates every day the Compass Values of honesty and integrity, being solution focused, and committed and has worked tirelessly to improve outcomes for children and young people by being proactive about her own CPD. She has worked so hard to develop her skills, learn and develop new processes, and has a keen eye and wise mind for safeguarding children. Well done, Debbie on behalf of all of the management team! We are very proud of your progress and achievements and hope you are too. – Evalynne Charmer, Clinical Operations Manager, Compass Be and Compass Rise
Stepping in and up
I would like to say thank you to Chek for stepping in and up so quickly in the HO admin team. 😊 –Emma Preston, Senior Admin, Central Services
Amazing
Thank you to Rachel Zilate for being an amazing Line Manger! You are always so supportive, friendly, and understanding. Thank you for all your support this year. – Laura Guest, EMHP, Compass Changing Lives MHST
“Bloomin’ Ace”
I would just like to say a huge thank you to the whole of Compass Bloom for just being Bloomin’ ace! I feel really lucky to manage such a dedicated and passionate team and I am so proud of the work that we are doing to help support the children, young people and families across Central and West Lancashire. Keep being you, because you are awesome and I can’t wait to see what we achieve in 2025.
I just want to say a massive thank you to the other Service Managers. Thank you for all your support, help and most of all laughs, during the year – you are a really awesome bunch of humans 😊 and I love working with you all. – Anne Haines, Service Manager – Compass Bloom MHST
We appreciate you
A big thank you to Arlene, Olubola, Fiyaz, Karen for keeping our MHST running smoothly! We appreciate you always😊 Renita Paul, Supervising Practitioner BABCP registered, Compass Birmingham MHST
Fantastic
A Huge Thank You to the South Ribble Locality Team at Compass Bloom! Over the past 12 months, we have undergone significant changes, with a completely new team formed. While we’ve said goodbye to some fantastic staff, we’ve also welcomed equally fantastic new team members. I want to take a moment to thank you all for your support and dedication.
Together, we’ve worked hard to reach as many children and young people as possible, responding to their mental health needs at the right time, in the right place, and ultimately improving outcomes.
Thank you for your hard work, your commitment, and most importantly, for the laughs along the way. We’ve truly made a difference, and I’m so proud of everything we’ve accomplished as a team! – Fran Hodson, Team Leader, Compass Bloom
Friendly and understanding
A huge thank you to the Shine team at Coventry. As the first service we worked together with as Compass Flex. You’ve helped us settle into our new roles in Compass and supported us amazingly. Your team is incredibly friendly, generous, and understanding. Thank you so much for everything this year! From Beth and Jack – Bethani Key, Mental Health Practitioner (Remote)
Compassionate
We would just like to say a huge thank you to the Phoenix team who have worked so incredibly hard this year. As always, we have continued to change and develop our service over the last 12 months, in regard to staffing, service delivery and adapting to IAPTUS, yet the team have faced every one of these challenges with enthusiasm and dedication to the support young people in North Yorkshire. Every success in our service down to this fantastic team and we are incredibly proud to be part of such a hardworking, compassionate, and supportive team.
On behalf of the local leadership team in North Yorkshire, Merry Christmas, best wishes for 2025 and again a huge thank you for everything you do.
Merry Christmas and best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year to all our Compass colleagues in other services and the central service teams. – Zoe, Rachael and Lotty at Phoenix – Rachael Askew, Team Leader, Compass Phoenix
Festive care
by Alice Sotirchos, Training & Consultation Worker, Compass Phoenix
For anyone having a tough time right now, perhaps due to the loss of family members, friends or pets during the festive season, you are not alone. Know that there are others in your boat, even if you haven’t spotted them in the fog just yet. Reaching out to colleagues, friends, family or your GP can feel like a big ask at times but the Samaritans are open for the entire Christmas period, you can find them here: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ and their number is 116 123. Sending love to anyone struggling this year.
Supporting Creative Innovation
by Jan Smith, Operations Director
Compass Senior Leadership Team have been continuing to work on the things staff told us were important at the last staff survey, paying particular attention to those things where development creates a positive and dynamic workplace.
At the last staff survey, 87% of staff said they felt encouraged to come up with new and better ways of working. We certainly see this in lots of examples – Warwickshire CYPDAS Bike project in partnership with the Council and some Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) funding and Compass Phoenix pilot of Lumi Nova, digital CBT funded by North Yorkshire to reduce waiting times and extend the range of online interventions for children and parents are just two recent examples.
We know that everyday, Compass colleagues and teams work creatively to implement new ideas, opportunities and innovations that are not reliant on external funding but make a huge difference to the children, young people, families and communities we serve and improve our efficiency and delivery models.
Following staff survey and building on the ideals of creative problem solving an innovation fund was agreed by the board to support local teams with short term (up to 2 years) funding to test new ways of working or to embed new ideas.
Projects
So far, we have committed £530,000 to local teams and services over the next two years on projects to:
- Create a digital whole school and college approach audit tool which will be used by all MHST’s and school based services to better understand and respond to the emotional and mental health needs of the individual school/college but also to create resources across the organisation to meet the common needs of schools and colleges which can be adopted by all our services.
- To employ a dedicated digital delivery wellbeing worker who will support all Compass teams to maximise the use of digital delivery and support practitioners to adopt new ways of working with digital tools to meet the needs of CYPF.
- To pilot an holistic early intervention eating difficulties model in Compass GO… working in schools and communities delivering universal support to improve esteem and body image, tackle unhelpful attitudes and raise awareness amongst the school population and to provide targeted intervention for those with emerging eating difficulties.
- Development of a neuro-inclusion project to improve on the inclusion and participation experiences of neurodivergent children, young people and their parents/carers in Compass Rise and Compass Be; expanding on the service delivery to children, young people and families across these localities and ensuring that Compass interventions and resources are relevant, appropriate and effective and that staff receive appropriate training, supervision and CPD. The project will align to the Compass EDI activities and develop the knowledge and support for Neurodivergent staff and volunteers across Compass.
- To design, deliver and evaluate new ways of working for Warwickshire School Nursing through the introduction of a new digital platform which will enable us to virtually deliver Public Health information sessions to young people and parent/carers. This innovation will increase inclusivity and improve accessibility to our service for young people and parent/carers.
- The design and publication of a KS1/LKS2 story book to accompany ‘This Is Me & My Emotions’ Class Workshop and audio recording in Compass Be and for roll out across the organisation to further enhance children’s learning experiences around mental health and wellbeing and ensure learning is accessible to all, removing barriers for children with SEN needs and meeting the needs for children with a range of learning styles.
- Create a digital whole school and college approach audit tool which will be used by all MHSTs and school-based services to better understand and respond to the emotional and mental health needs of the individual school/college but also to create resources across the organisation to meet the common needs of schools and colleges which can be adopted by all our services.
- To employ a dedicated digital delivery wellbeing worker who will support all Compass teams to maximise the use of digital delivery and support practitioners to adopt new ways of working with digital tools to meet the needs of CYPF.
- To pilot an holistic, early intervention, eating difficulties model in Compass GO… working in schools and communities delivering universal support to improve esteem and body image, tackle unhelpful attitudes and raise awareness amongst the school population and to provide targeted intervention for those with emerging eating difficulties.
- To develop a neuro-inclusion project to improve on the inclusion and participation experiences of neurodivergent children, young people and their parents/carers in Compass Rise and Compass Be; expanding on the service delivery to children, young people and families across these localities and ensuring that Compass interventions and resources are relevant, appropriate and effective and that staff receive appropriate training, supervision and CPD. The project will align to the Compass EDI activities and develop the knowledge and support for Neurodivergent staff and volunteers across Compass.
- To design, deliver and evaluate new ways of working for Warwickshire School Nursing through the introduction of a new digital platform which will enable us to virtually deliver Public Health information sessions to young people and parent/carers. This innovation will increase inclusivity and improve accessibility to our service for young people and parent/carers.
- The design and publication of a KS1/LKS2 story book to accompany ‘This Is Me & My Emotions’ Class Workshop and audio recording in Compass Be and for roll out across the organisation to further enhance children’s learning experiences around mental health and wellbeing and ensure learning is accessible to all, removing barriers for children with SEN needs and meeting the needs for children with a range of learning styles.
Bright Ideas
If you or your team have a bright idea that would improve services for children and young people and would like short-term funding to support your innovation please speak to your service manager in the first instance who will decide with you if this can be supported locally and advise on the application process.
Building on an inspirational first year of Participation in Compass
by Jane Wright, Participation Lead
It’s been a year of real progress for Participation at Compass.
In March, our services completed a Participation audit and self-assessment.
We found that
- 90% of Participation work within all services was rated outstanding or good
- Services are all at different stages of participation work within the organisation and have variable resources available to them
- All services have development of participation and engagement work embedded as action in their Service Development and Improvement Plan.
During the year, we introduced the framework model ‘Degrees of Participation’ across our services and it has been great to hear about how services are involving young people in different ways across the country.
In October, services responded to three questions about participation. We got some great feedback. See below and got some great feedback including the following.
What is working well in participation ?
- Peer Wellbeing Project being led by CYPs and unique to each setting.
- That we have a protected Participation & Engagement Worker
- Being patient, flexible and tenacious to engage hard-to-reach CYPF
- Peer Wellbeing Champions in primary schools trained to support the delivery of WSA to wellbeing as well as implementing support in their schools
- Consultation and feedback from promotions/events
- Peer mentoring programme in collaboration with Local Authority
- Creative approaches to engagement – not just in relation to groups/individuals who work with us but the wider community Peer Wellbeing Project being led by CYPs and unique to each setting.
- Requesting feedback through QR codes on discharge letters for groups and one to one sessions.
What are the challenges?
- The harder to reach communities (NEET, GRT (Gypsy Roma Traveller), those who are excluded from school not having the same opportunities to access participation work.
- Hidden population – CYP who are home schooled (EHE) not referred into Compass, anti-service families
- School exclusions/behaviour policies restricting access to services
- CYPF trust in services where they have had historical poor experiences of services/not ready to access support
- Brief intervention services – attrition of ‘Champions’ etc
- Staff expertise regarding CYP participation Time and resource to focus on CYP participation Language and cultural barriers
- Hard to reach groups inherently take more time and for fewer ‘engagement numbers’ – no set way to report successes
What innovative ideas have you got regarding how young people can participate in our services
- Desire to include CYP in recruitment through a CYP Panel
- Peer Wellbeing Champion Event to share good practice/recognise excellence
- CYP ambassadors promoting service in local communities including EDI
- Social media – creating content for services
- CYP forums – used for decision making/agreed service comms
- Have drop in clinics where we are able to obtain the voice of the CYP
- Hold themed focus groups with YP Utilise PTA/Governors groups to ensure we have a pool of CYP&F that can support any interventions we are creating.
- Utilise school councils – can provide our ideas for them to discuss and then provide feedback
- More creative projects – ways to encourage hard to reach CYP to have their say about what they need to support their mental health – not another questionnaire!
The year ahead
In January, all Engagement and Participation leads will come together to explore and plan of what the year ahead will look and feel like, with regard to engagement and participation.
There are already some exciting ideas and things in progress across the services . There are plans for a ‘community of practice’ for skills/resource sharing, specific to participation & engagement projects. And Compass Bloom are planning a big event around Participation next summer in partnership with Edge Hill University.
So watch this space ….. exciting times ahead in 2025 for CYP participation during 2025 as we have some amazing Engagement and Participation workers who have energy and passion regarding involving young people in meaningful ways.
Audit Guidance and Plan 2024-2025
by Sue Cody, Compass Quality Assurance Lead
I am thrilled to share some fantastic audit news that highlights the outstanding dedication and diligence of our staff. All services were rated ‘good’ in our recent record keeping audit in October this is measured against our record keeping policy standards.
This is an amazing achievement and is truly down to the commitment that each of you bring to your roles every day, to support high-quality, safe and effective care of the children or young person.
A huge thank you to you all.
The Compass Audit Guidance and Plan 2024-2025 is accessible to all following the below link.
See link below to Audit Guidance and Plan 2024-2025
Clinical Working Groups
A huge thank you to all our Clinical Working Group (Risky Behaviours/Universal/Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing) service representatives who have of the committed and contributed to the meetings.
Clinical Working Groups are held in each directorate bi-monthly, the purpose of these groups is to clinically review and develop working practices and governance to ensure services are effective and of a high standard.
P:\Clinical\Clinical Governance Process – June 2023.pdf
Each Clinical Working Group service representatives insights, expertise and collaborative spirits contribute significantly to the clinical development and continuous improvement of all our services which is key to continually maintaining safe, effective and a high standard of care for all our children, young people and families.
ESQ Task & Finish Group
The ESQ Task and Finish Group has been up and running since August 2024, as an action from the participation audit in March 2024. The ESQ Task and Finish members have conducted a comprehensive review of existing processes with the aim to develop recommended agreed organisational process improvements and strategies for effective user feedback collection, reporting and analysis of our children, young people and families feedback to encourage the continuous improvement of our services, directorates and organisation.
The group will continue working on this project through the first few months of 2025 with phase 2 starting in January 2025 with the soft launch in two identified and agreed services. Watch this space for more comms on the project next year.
Many thanks for all staff who have been involved in the development work so far.
2025 Awareness Calendar
Compass head office staff have produced a new Awareness Calendar for use in services. The Calendar is a live document. The EDI Thematic Working Group will agree more key dates and events in their upcoming meetings, which they will support organisation-wide.
See the latest Calendar for 2025 here.
U:\Staff Updates\Awareness Calendar and newsletter
Safeguarding L3 – Remote 9.30am-4.30pm
- Tuesday 18th February
- Thursday 20th March
BLS Training face to face – North – venue tbc
Wednesday 22nd January – 10am-11.30am, 1.30pm-3pm
BLS Training face to face – Midlands – venue tbc
Weds 19th February – 10am-11.30am, 1.30pm-3pm
BLS Training – face to face – location & venue tbc
Tuesday 11th March 10am-11.30am, 1.30pm-3pm
Please email Training to book
Know our Senior Leadership
Click pic for more info.
People Director.
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Assistant Director (Operations). Click pic for more info.
Contacting your People department
General People Team queries: peopleteam@compass-uk.org
Recruitment and onboarding queries: recruitment@compass-uk.org
Training queries: training@compass-uk.org
Compass Points email address.
You can get in touch with Compass Points via our email address. It’s compasspoints@compass-uk.org.
If you want to say thank you please remember to start the subject line with Just Say Thanks
Tell us your news…
Next deadline for Compass Points is Tuesday, 21st January, 2025.
Please note that sometimes, we may not publish all stories in the month they are submitted. Because of the volume of Say Thanks messages, we ask that they’re as brief as possible. We may need to edit any submitted content.
Please send all submissions, including thank yous, to compasspoints@compass-uk.org“