Shropshire Council's Children's Services: the road to Ofsted 'Outstanding'

In 2022, social workers at Shropshire Council made a pledge to “put love back into the system”.

They wanted to build a service where practitioners could focus on supporting children and families, not navigating processes or getting lost in paperwork. 

When Ofsted visited in 2023, the inspection highlighted areas where recording and compliance needed to improve. This wasn’t about a lack of care or commitment. Social workers were doing incredible work, but it wasn’t always visible in the documentation. 

Leaders recognised that this wasn’t a people problem, it was a process problem. In response, they launched a wider programme of improvement, introducing a range of initiatives to strengthen practice and better support frontline staff. As part of this effort, they launched a one-year pilot of Notes to see whether AI could help automate admin, improve the quality of records and give practitioners more time back with children and families. 

What started with 30 practitioners quickly grew into something much bigger as leaders realised Notes wasn’t just saving time, it was helping them deliver on their promise to put love back into the system.

The challenge

Admin overload

Social workers were travelling long distances to visit families across Shropshire, often driving up to two hours back to base after a visit, only to face a backlog of notes waiting to be written up. 

Staff were spending more of their time on admin than they were supporting children and families. 

Less time to listen and observe 

Practitioners often left visits feeling they hadn’t been able to listen as well as they wanted to because they were either busy typing notes or trying to remember what to write later.

They also weren’t able to fully observe the room. 

Gaps in compliance

Leaders were confident that children were being supported effectively. However, an Ofsted visit in 2023 revealed that:

• Processes weren’t clearly evidenced
• Visits weren’t always written up on time
• Decision-making wasn’t clearly visible in the records

As Jennie Lowe, Service Manager, QA reflected:

“Ofsted could see the compliance issues and, because of that, it was more difficult to see the love and effort going into the work.” 

This led to negative judgments about the service’s ability to safeguard children, not because the care wasn’t there, but because the evidence wasn’t. 

The approach

Shropshire didn’t take part in a traditional short-term, controlled pilot. Instead, they committed to a full year, giving themselves the time and space to understand how Notes could fit to their service. 

They began with a group of 30 practitioners, led internally by Jennie Lowe, Service Manager, QA and Julie Duncan, Workforce Development Manager. Because the message came from respected colleagues rather than an external software provider or IT department, early adopters leaned in, curious to see how it could help. 

Clear safeguards were put in place from the start. Notes was used to summarise meetings and visits. But the social work thinking remained a human task, with staff writing their own chronologies, assessments, and most importantly, their analyses.

The pilot group met regularly to discuss how to make it work better in practice. If a template wasn’t working, feedback went straight back to the team and improvements followed quickly. It felt collaborative, not imposed. 

When leadership saw that Notes was helping practitioners produce high-quality records more efficiently, they moved quickly. Rather than waiting for the full year to finish, they began expanding access to more teams so more practitioners could benefit. 

The impact 

^“This has cut my workload in half”

Social workers no longer return to the office at 5 pm to start a mountain of paperwork.

As David Shaw, Director of Children’s Services at Shropshire Council, said: 

“They [social workers] drive two hours back to base and the admin is effectively done on the commute. They get back to the office and it’s all there for them.”

One team manager, juggling a high caseload, reported saving 19 hours of admin time per week within just two weeks of using the tool.

Better conversations with children and families 

The biggest impact can’t be measured in hours saved or costs reduced. It’s felt in the room by children and families.

With Notes capturing the conversation in the background, practitioners could press record, close their laptop, and give their full attention to the person in front of them. 

After one session, a young person said to her social worker:

“That was the best time I have spent with you because we were completely engaged… you were much more present in the room with me.”

High-quality records 

Social workers said fewer details were missed because notes were captured during the conversation, not written later from memory. The records were clearer and more complete. They also said the child’s voice came through more strongly. 

That makes a real difference because these records aren’t just forms to fill in, they’re part of a young person’s history. And one day, they may read them back.

Clear, accurate notes help them understand what happened, and why certain decisions were made about their care. 

As one Service Manager put it:

“I want little Johnny to come back at 18, read his file and think, I get why that decision was made. I can see why people did what they did for me.”

Closing the compliance gaps 

“Now the compliance is where it needs to be — evidence of visits, supervision write-ups, the voice of the child. It’s all there.”

David Shaw, Director of Children's Services at Shropshire Council 

Notes helped make sure visits and meetings were written up on time, supervisions were clearly recorded, and statutory visiting was evidenced. 

By 2025, children’s records were consistently up to date and, with clear evidence of processes being followed, Ofsted inspectors were now able to see the quality of the care being offered. 

This helped Shropshire get the Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ rating that the team deserved. 

A more inclusive way of working

Notes also had an unexpected benefit. It helped create a more inclusive working environment.

Neurodivergent staff, colleagues with disabilities, and those with English as an additional language shared how much it reduced pressure and built confidence.

As Julie Duncan, the Workforce Development Manager, reflected:

“They [neurodivergent social workers] can often feel overwhelmed by needing to make good records and the pressure to maintain eye contact. This allows them to focus on the child, knowing the recording is being made.”

Do you want to put love back into the system?

Join the growing list of Local Authorities using Notes to transform social work.