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Louise Atkin

Louise Atkin's NYA profile

Education

Louise Atkin graduated from Liverpool University with B.A. (Hons) in 1986 and went on to qualify as a professional youth and community worker at Jordanhill College, Glasgow in 1990. She recently completed the C&G 7407 qualification in Adult Education.

Employment

Louise began her career in youth work as a Community Service Volunteer in Toxteth, Liverpool in 1986, working with young people at risk of school exclusion. Since that time she has worked in a range of youth work and youth justice roles in Liverpool and the West Midlands.

In 1999, Louise was appointed as a policy adviser to the Youth Justice Board for England & Wales. She was involved in the establishment of Youth Offending Teams and was responsible for policy development with persistent young offenders. She was then responsible for management of the YJB human resources strategy, this included the development of National Occupational Standards for youth justice and Louise managed the national pilot of the advanced modern apprenticeship.

Louise has been an additional Ofsted inspector for Connexions and the Youth Service since September 2001 and is also part of the Ofsted team inspecting YOTs.

Atkin Associates

Louise established Atkin Associates in 2002 as a small group of associates who specialise in work with young people. This includes consultancy work to develop policy and management within services that work with young people, such as the Youth Service, YOTs and Connexions partnerships. Atkin Associates also develop and deliver training to managers and practitioners who work with young people, including Initial Worker Training, QA and curriculum programmes.

Areas of Specialism

Curriculum: Working with youth services to develop effective curriculum frameworks that focus on the learning and development of young people. Atkin Associates offer training in programme and session planning, and work with young people’s services to develop curriculum packages around ECM outcomes.

Quality Assurance: Working with organisations in the voluntary and statutory sectors to develop effective QA systems based on the Ofsted inspection frameworks. A particular focus is on training managers and workers to carry out observation visits and to make reliable evidence based judgements on quality.

Workforce Development: Working with senior managers and HR personnel to ensure that workers have the skills, knowledge and training to carry out their work effectively. A particular focus is on developing workforce strategies across the range of children and young people’s services.

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