Supervision tool for assessing reflexivity (STAR)
Use this tool to measure the quality of supervision for an individual or your organisation.
Supervision
This tool is for supervisors, and managers who are responsible for assessing or overseeing practice quality. It was developed by Dr Lisa Bostock and Dr Louise Grant. Find out more about the research evidence base for STAR .
The supervision tool for assessing reflexivity (STAR) should be used together with an organisation’s supervision policy that clearly explains the importance of reflective supervision.
STAR is designed to observe supervision across the 6 supervisory skills or domains in the tool, with questions to guide observations.
Use the STAR guidance and worked example to think about how you will use this tool.
Use the STAR guidance and template to review supervision in your organisation.
Write supervision policies that encourage reflection and promote diversity
A supervision policy should:
- offer opportunities for reflection
- help with practice shaping conversations
- prioritise professional development and wellbeing
The policy should be in line with the Employer standard for supervision.
It should focus on:
- anti-racism
- rights-based professional practice
- other aspects of diversity, equity and inclusion
The policy also needs to set out how it will measure the quality and frequency of supervision. Supervision policies should explain how objectives should be set and how supervision is planned.
Use STAR in a psychologically safe setting
STAR provides a focus on learning and development. It is strengths-based and designed to support reflective practice.
The organisational conditions for effective assessment of the quality of supervisory practice need to be psychologically safe. For any observation of practice to be successful it needs to be based on principles of trust with careful regard to the negotiation of a clear understanding of scope and purpose.
Use STAR to assess the quality of supervision
As well as its use with individual practitioners, you can also use the tool to assess whether supervision quality across the organisation meets the Employer standard for supervision.
Once you have rated the individual observations you should collate and analyse them to inform the development of an organisational action plan to achieve the standard.
Assess individual or group supervision quality
Who is involved
The people involved in supervision include:
- an observer, which might include quality assurance leads, principal social workers or peers
- a supervisor or lead practitioner of group supervision
- supervisee(s)
Understand what STAR is for
This supervision practice observation framework is designed to evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of supervision:
- to identify areas of strength and improvement
- to ensure supervision quality aligns with organisational standards and reflective practices
Use the rating scale
You should assess supervision on the following rating scale:
- excellent practice - this score meets all six domains, with a clear focus on practice shaping which is the primary function of these elements of supervision
- green shoots that show progress - this score meets five of the six domains, but more focus is needed on practice shaping and translating hypotheses into clear, actionable conversations with people accessing services
- some evidence - this score meets three of the six domains, but more work is needed to develop practice shaping and reflexivity
If more than one person is assessing the quality of supervision practice in an organisation, you should meet to agree how you will rate the quality of supervision. This helps make assessment consistent across your organisation.
Understand the role of the observer
The observer should ensure that participants have reviewed the observation framework and guidance in advance of the observation session.
Participants, or supervisees, should understand the purpose of the observation and agree to participate.
Participants should be aware that the purpose is to:
- improve supervisory practice across the organisation
- be developmental
- be supportive
Observation is not linked to performance management unless extremely poor or damaging practice is identified.
The observer should take detailed notes, recording exactly what was said. If this is not possible then, with permission, they should make an audio recording and transcription to capture exactly what was said, relevant to each domain.
Observers should be aware that being observed can be stressful for both the supervisor and supervisee at any career stage. It is vital to approach the process with sensitivity and professionalism and an awareness of the power dynamics.
The observer should reassure the supervisor and supervisee that confidentiality will be maintained about the people discussed during supervision. They must agree not to use identifiable references in their notes.
Observers should:
- use the usual supervision agenda
- provide constructive, specific, and evidence-based feedback
- rate the quality of supervision in each of the domains
- follow a strengths-based approach to the assessment
Understand the role of the supervisor
The supervisor should understand the purpose of the observation and have read the documents and assessment framework and the associated specific criteria.
The supervisor is responsible for:
- notifying the supervisee about the observation, explaining its purpose, and addressing any concerns to create a comfortable environment
- preparing for the supervisory session so the agenda for the session aligns with practice needs and observation focus
- consider strengths and areas for growth in your supervisory approach to anticipate feedback and demonstrate openness
Achieve your organisation's objective with reflective supervision
The purpose of reflective supervision is to ensure that the organisation’s primary objective is fulfilled through the direct practice of its practitioners.
In other words, an important function of supervision is practice shaping. Supervision should promote skilled, research-informed practice.
It should:
- facilitate thorough risk assessment and careful analysis
- help with decision-making and strategic planning for people with service involvement
Supervision should aim to:
- provide high-quality support to those whose lives are the focus of service involvement
- be in accordance with the organisation’s responsibilities and accountable professional standards
Co-operative, respectful, and open dialogues between supervisors and supervisees are required foundations for these relationships. The STAR approach helps with the evaluation of the supervisory relationship. It should also show the extent to which supervision is shaping reflective, inclusive practice.
STAR is informed by the work of Shabnam Ahmed to highlight the importance of supervisory practice to encourage reflection on anti-racism in professional practice. it is important to create space for discussions around the impact of experiences of racism and other inequities and structural disadvantages.
To capture the role of supervision in the workforce wellbeing strategy, a focus on wellbeing is included. This supports the personal wellbeing of practitioners aiming to improve job satisfaction.
Use reflective supervision to develop supervisees' practice
Reflective supervision is designed to help the supervisee:
- reflect on their practice - examine their actions, decisions, and interactions with those whose lives are the focus of service involvement, their families and colleagues
- recognise risk - work from an acceptance of ‘not knowing’ and curiosity to support the generation of multiple possibilities and responses to increase the safety of the people they are working with
- identify areas for improvement - recognise patterns, biases, or challenges that may be affecting their work
Reflective supervision should help supervisees to:
- develop new skills and knowledge
- learn from their own and others’ experiences
- gain insights from the supervisor's or peer's expertise
Reflective supervision should:
- enhance supervisees’ professional growth
- increase self-awareness
- develop a deeper understanding of supervisees’ role and responsibilities
The supervision should help supervisees to:
- process strong emotions
- make sense of unmanageable thoughts and feelings
- become more emotionally attuned to the experiences of those whose lives are the focus of service involvement
Effective supervision is associated with a suite of benefits for practitioners, including:
- job satisfaction
- self-efficacy
- the capacity to develop reflexivity and engage consciously with the self and strong emotions generated from practice
- social and emotional support
- stress management
For organisations, provision of supervision is associated with workload management, case analysis and workforce retention.
There is also some evidence that quality of supervision is associated with improved outcomes for people accessing services. This includes improved parental engagement, life ratings over time and greater alignment of goals with social workers.
Evidence also suggests that the higher the quality of supervision, the better the quality of direct practice. The highest-quality supervision has been found to actively shape practice. It does this by providing a ‘rehearsal space’ to practise challenging conversations with families to develop practice that is purposeful.
For more about action planning to improve supervision, read the action planning section in Employer standard 5: Supervision.
The resources have been developed by
Research in Practice
in collaboration with
DfE.
Published: 11 June 2025
Last updated: 11 June 2025
Published: 11 June 2025
Last updated: 11 June 2025