{"id":136,"date":"2026-07-01T11:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T10:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/?page_id=136"},"modified":"2026-07-01T13:22:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T12:22:26","slug":"practitioner-reflection-and-self-evaluation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/practitioner-reflection-and-self-evaluation\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Evaluation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>In Dumfries and Galloway, all practitioners have a responsibility to continually reflect on and evaluate their practice to ensure care experienced children and young people receive the support, relationships and opportunities they need to thrive. Self-evaluation is not simply about measuring performance; it is about understanding the lived experiences of care experienced children and young people and using this understanding to improve outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Nationally, <a href=\"https:\/\/thepromise.scot\/\">The Promise <\/a>calls on all professionals to understand the impact of care experience, trauma, loss and adversity, and to ensure that children and young people feel loved, safe, respected and supported to reach their full potential. Practitioners must reflect critically on whether their actions, decisions and systems are helping to reduce barriers and inequalities experienced by care experienced learners. Keeping The Promise to our children, young people and families: progress update 2024 highlights the continuing national commitment to ensuring that services are designed around the needs and voices of children and families.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Reflective practice should be underpinned by the principles of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/policies\/girfec\/\">Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC)<\/a>. This includes considering how effectively we promote wellbeing across the wellbeing (SHANARRI) indicators and whether our practice is strengths-based, rights-respecting and child-centred. Practitioners are expected to work collaboratively, listen carefully to the views of children and young people, and ensure that support is coordinated and responsive.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Within Dumfries and Galloway, practitioner self-evaluation should consider:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do I understand the individual child\u2019s story, strengths, relationships and aspirations?<\/li>\n<li>Have I actively sought and listened to the voice of the child or young person?<\/li>\n<li>How am I demonstrating high expectations and promoting equity for care experienced learners?<\/li>\n<li>Have I considered the impact of trauma and adversity on behaviour, learning, attendance and wellbeing?<\/li>\n<li>Am I working effectively with families, carers and multi-agency partners?<\/li>\n<li>What evidence do I have that my actions are improving outcomes for this child or young person?<\/li>\n<li>How do I know that the child feels respected, included and supported within their educational setting?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>National guidance also emphasises the importance of professional judgement, reflection and evidence-informed practice. Practitioners should regularly pause to consider what is working well, what could be improved and whether the support being provided continues to meet the child&#8217;s changing needs. Reflection should be informed by meaningful dialogue with the child, carers, colleagues and partner agencies, alongside analysis of wellbeing, attainment, attendance, inclusion and participation data.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Effective self-evaluation requires practitioners to move beyond compliance and ask challenging questions about the experiences of care experienced children and young people in their setting. This includes considering whether policies, systems and practices help children feel a sense of belonging, maintain positive relationships and achieve success. Reflective practitioners recognise their role as corporate parents and actively seek opportunities to improve experiences and outcomes for care experienced learners.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>By engaging in honest, compassionate and evidence-informed reflection, practitioners contribute to a culture of continuous improvement that aligns with The Promise, GIRFEC and the wider commitment to ensuring that every care experienced child and young person in Dumfries and Galloway is supported to flourish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Dumfries and Galloway, all practitioners have a responsibility to continually reflect on and evaluate their practice to ensure care experienced children and young people receive the support, relationships and opportunities they need to thrive. Self-evaluation is not simply about measuring performance; it is about understanding the lived experiences of care experienced children and young people and using this understanding to improve outcomes. &nbsp; Nationally, The Promise calls on all<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/practitioner-reflection-and-self-evaluation\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20564,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-136","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136\/revisions\/160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/dg\/careexperience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}