Profile – Pixley Clarke

Name: Pixley Clarke.

Job: Service inspector, Commission for Social
Care Inspection.

How long in the job? Since 1999.

Best training ever done: When I was managing a
family centre for children who had been sexually abused, we did
some work with the Lucy Faithfull Foundation. It had a profound
impact on how I worked with families.

Over the course of my career I wish I had:
Focused more on gaining some form of management qualification.

My worst interview experience: An interview
where I had to do a presentation lasting five minutes.
Unfortunately, there was little time to prepare and I made a right
mess of the presentation, ran over time and did not get the
job.

I aspire to be: Successful at my work and am
willing to try anything. I see myself working in a range of
settings or jobs primarily related to children and young
people.

I didn’t get where I am today by: Being
inflexible.

Me and my career: Being a social worker is a
very hard job but also a very good one when people are really
responding to what you are trying to do. The most rewarding thing
for me is helping councils improve what they are doing. I really
enjoy meeting with practitioners, understanding what makes them
tick and what helps them to help others. I also like meeting up
with people who are supporting others. I work primarily in the
North East but am part of a national team, so you have to be
mobile. One day I might be interviewing the chief executive of a
council to talk about their responsibilities with children’s
services and child protection. Later on I might see a group of
young people in care. I also visit specialist services such as Sure
Start. Children’s inspections are the most demanding and
comprehensive. You have to be able to make sense of what people are
telling you and if it’s the truth.

Curriculum Vitae

2004-current: Service inspector, CSCI.
1999-2004: Service inspector, Social Services
Inspectorate.
1996-1999: Child protection co-ordinator,
Middlesbrough Council.
1994-1996: Service manager in children’s services,
North Yorkshire Council.
1985-1994: social worker and family centre
manager, East Sussex Council.
1983-1985: Social worker, Trafford Council.