VERP – Video Enhanced Reflective Practice
What is VERP?
- Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP) is a method of professional development where practitioners are sensitively supported to reflect on their practice using real life videos. The aim is to give individuals a chance to reflect on their interactions, pay attention to elements that are successful, and use these positives to make changes where desired.
- VERP course participants receive some group teaching to help them to understand the Principles of Attuned Interaction and Guidance. VERP can also be used to support turning other training into practice, for example applying nurture principles or enhancing early literacy skills.
- Each participant analyses short video clips of their own practice and shares and reflects on these, usually in groups or sometimes 1:1. VERP focuses on reviewing work by each participant, and their identified goals for change.
- VERP is based on the importance of relationships and is useful for any professional who has contact with other people.
Who can VERP help?
VERP is useful for any professional who works with other people. Here are some examples:
- Parents of young children looked at what worked to help their child feel settled to learn and reduce separation anxiety about attending nursery/p1
- Nursery staff facing lots of challenges worked on supporting children with additional support for learning needs
- Learning centre staff looked at how they could maximise the engagement and increased the communication with their severe and complex learners
- Learning assistants in a secondary school looked at how they managed behaviour positively
- Residential care staff won a care accolade for using VERP to improve the quality of relationships with young people and guide service improvement with young people’s views a central part
- Adoption and fostering social work staff looked at achieving high quality support for the carers they worked with using both VERP and VIG (video interaction guidance, same model on a one to one)
- Managers looked at enhancing the effectiveness of their leadership and supervision of staff
- Trainee doctors, social workers and educational psychologists have all used VERP to enhance their skills working with clients
- An educational psychology service used VERP to look deeply at a quality indicator and improve the service
- A Local Authority used VERP to embed strategies that support early literacy skills, showing significant gains with VERP compared to those who attended the initial training alone.
Why choose VERP?
VERP is a very personalised training course which is tailored to each individual, setting or team, focussed on what you want to change.
VERP intentionally raises awareness of professional strengths, skills and capacity for change, starting from a foundation of strength and building from this.
VERP has the potential to improve wellbeing at the same time as improving practice.
It focuses on real life, ensuring theory is truly embedded into practice.
Research has shown VERP to have significantly more impact than one off training.
I’m interested, what next?
VERP courses will be run in each term by the Educational Visiting and Educational Psychology services. If you would like a course run in your setting please complete this expression of interest form.
If you would like any further information please contact:
Pam Abraham, PT Educational Visiting Service, Pamela.Abraham@dumgal.gov.uk
Anne-Marie Walker, Educational Psychologist, Anne-Marie.Walker@dumgal.gov.uk
