A collection of key resources for senior leaders in children’s services

Welcome to the DCS Leadership Programme repository.

We want to help you as senior leaders in children’s services, including serving Directors of Children’s Services (DCS’) and those aspiring to the role of DCS by offering a set of resources to support and guide you in the challenging but highly rewarding leadership role that you undertake in improving outcomes for children young people and families.

This repository, developed with serving sector leaders, is a dynamic resource that will continue to evolve over time and offers an eclectic mix of materials which will range from published reports and guidance, video podcasts and blogs, to bespoke briefings and short guides that have been commissioned for the DCS Leadership Programme.

Our guiding principle has been that the repository should add value to the many wonderful channels that already exist, by providing a quick route to vital resources that aren’t easily found through a standard internet search, or that we have commissioned to fill key gaps in what is available elsewhere. We will also signpost to some other existing sources of help.

We have structured the repository under the key domain headings from the new DCS Leadership Programme Leadership Development Framework (LDF) (download below), which we commissioned as part of the wider DfE-funded DCS Leadership Programme for future leaders in children’s services.

Those domains are:

We value your feedback and suggestions regarding what is in the repository as well as what else might be useful to add. Please contact us at [email protected]

Leadership Development Framework

This framework has been developed by the Children’s Services Leadership Consortium (The Staff College, Skills for Care, the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University and GatenbySanderson) as part of the Future Leaders programme commissioned by the Department for Education in 2020.

Leadership Development Framework