Do you work in social services? Do you have a service or project you need to evaluate? Do you need support and assistance? IRISS and Evaluation Support Scotland (ESS) are inviting practitioners to join a peer support group which, over the next 6 months, will assist you to plan and/or undertake an evaluation related to your work. This will build your (and your organisation’s) capacity to self-evaluate and, in the process, help us learn, understand and share ‘what works’ in peer support for self-evaluation.
Is this project for you?
Yes! If you work within social services (statutory or independent) and you have a service, project or other piece of work that you currently need to evaluate, we would like to hear from you. We need people with more than an interest in evaluation – though that will certainly help – as this is a practical project aimed at supporting you to successfully undertake an evaluation that you are already thinking about as part of your work.
You should also be happy to discuss and share ideas about your evaluation with others in order to aid your learning and theirs. Through this you will be contributing to a wider understanding across the social services sector about the role of peer support in self-evaluation. Any issues of anonymity and confidentiality will be addressed and respected within the sessions and during reporting.
What’s in it for you?
By the end of the process each participating organisation will have increased their capacity for self-evaluation and should have at least produced a plan for a specific piece of evaluation work, which will be informed by peer review and support.
What’s the commitment?
Along with an interest in evaluation and a belief in the value of peer support, you must present with a specific, current evaluation task relating to your work. You will attend and actively contribute to five facilitated sessions. These will take place approximately monthly with provisional plans for the initial full day session on Wednesday 31st October, and half days in November, December, January and February. Between sessions you will need to be able to dedicate some time to moving forward with your evaluation.
We will need your help to reflect on the success of this project, so in addition to sharing your thoughts and recommendations on the process, we would like you to produce a short summary of your experience of participation at the end of the process.
We assume you’ll want to share your learning with your organisation and there will also be opportunities for you to get involved in sharing your thoughts on the process more widely.
What to do next?
Due to the nature of the project, there is a limited number of places available for participants. If you would like to take part please complete this expression of interest form, by 21st September 2012, telling us a bit more about you and why you want to take part.
If you have any questions please contact Emma Collins on 0141 559 5059 / 07545 696163 or emma.collins@iriss.org.uk or read more about this project.