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Strengths
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- Other successful initiatives include the work done by the Youth Offending Service which, though still below target, has successfully improved the proportion of young people in education, employment and training by 20% to 59%. p.6
- Data shows that there is good progress in relation to taking action to prevent offending and reduce re-offending through a number of strands of work which have combined to successfully address this issue. p.9
- As a result, although some schools do very well with large proportions of pupils achieving highly, overall fewer pupils in Northamptonshire attain five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C than in some similar authorities and fewer achieve one or more GCSE passes at grades A* to G. p.6
- The council has organised a number of successful summer schools for gifted and talented students and these are reported to have had a positive impact on increasing the proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels at Key Stages 3 and 4. p.7
- The council has effective practice in terms of enabling looked after children to make a positive contribution through their own reviews and more widely, for example through their involvement in the production of DVD materials, newsletters and web materials about their experience of public care. p.9
Concerns
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- A service that does not deliver minimum requirements for users Inadequate p.15
- For example, activity in three project areas in 2004-5 significantly reduced exclusions and school refusals for young people at risk, thus reducing the likelihood of offending. p.9
- Long-term stability in fostering and residential placements for looked after children remains poor. p.3
- This suggests that the service is not providing targeted pre-registration information at an appropriate level or that post registration support is not effective. p.5
Next steps
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- the promotion of healthy lifestyles for children and young people p.10
- partnership working in relation to children with special needs, looked after children and children with disabilities p.10
- provision and participation of pupils in school sports. p.10
- to maintain improvements in the reduction of teenage pregnancies with a particular focus on the areas of Wellingborough, Kettering and Daventry p.10
- to ensure priority is given to implementing plans to enable equality of access to CAMHS services for those young people living in the north and south of the county p.10
- to ensure looked after children and young people receive their health and dental checks on time. p.10
- good child protection procedures. for example training programmes for schools p.10
- well established multi agency collaborative practice p.10
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Full report text
apa_2005_928.doc Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404045 Email: edhelpline@ofsted.gov.uk
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Mr Andrew Sortwell Director of Children’s Services Northamptonshire County Council County Hall Northampton NN1 1DN
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COUNCIL’S EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE FUNCTIONS 2005
This letter summarises the findings of the meeting held on Wednesday 20 July 2005 to assess the performance of the education and social care services within your authority. We are grateful for the information that you provided to support this process and for the time made available by yourself and your colleagues to discuss relevant issues.
p.1
Being healthy
Outcomes in this area are good and result from the strong contributions made by both social care and education services. The effective way in which services are co-ordinated ensures that they focus clearly on specific local priorities.
p.1
Being healthy
Participation in sports is good and it is positive to note that 82% of schools in Northamptonshire are actively involved in School Sport partnerships. Current participation by schools in the Healthy Schools Standard is above that of regional and national levels.
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Being healthy
Elected members have shown a close interest in the health of Northamptonshire’s children and young people. The Health Scrutiny Partnership Committee commissioned a research project on ‘young persons’ health’. Over 1,000 young people responded and commented that they wanted better health information, to take part in designing and running health education projects and joined up services that cover all aspects of health care, including emotional support. This is now being taken forward by an action-planning group with membership from the Health Scrutiny Partnership Committee and the Children’s Scrutiny Committee.
p.1
Being healthy
To promote positive healthcare of looked after children the council has established a Centre for Health with dedicated nurses to work with this group. All looked after children are encouraged to have annual health and dental checks. However the number of health checks for looked after children has decreased significantly over the past year. The council has investigated the reasons for this and established that in previous years health checks had been over reported. As a result the council has taken remedial action to ensure accurate recording and the Centre for Health is now taking a lead role in linking in with the Primary Care Trusts to ensure that the health checks of looked after children are carried out more systematically.
p.1
Being healthy
The youth service provides access to a wide range of information to promote healthy lifestyles amongst the young people with whom it works. An example of good practice is the forum for teenage fathers to help them address relevant health issues. The group is currently being run by the youth service in partnership with health colleagues.
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Being healthy
There is good progress in relation to teenage pregnancies with the number of teenage pregnancies continuing to reduce year on year. However the areas of Kettering, Wellingborough and Daventry have significantly higher rates than do the other council areas. It is recommended that whilst continuing its overall strategy for reduction the council ensures that intervention is more specifically targeted at these three areas. Teenage pregnancies of looked after children have similarly shown a significant reduction during the past year.
p.2
Being healthy
Access to services for children and young people with mental health needs is satisfactory overall although the council needs to ensure as a matter of priority that there is equal access to services between the north and the south of the county. After lengthy consultation between health and social care organisations the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Strategy was finally produced and agreed by the Joint Executive Board in April 2005. A Joint Consultative Panel regularly meets to discuss children and young people with more complex health needs. The council has negotiated improved access to CAMHS for any looked after child or young person who needs that service.
p.2
Being healthy
The council and health colleagues have reached agreement in principle for improvements to be made to CAMHS to achieve services to children and young people with learning difficulties, 16/17 year olds and for the provision of 24 hour access and availability of the service. However the council is reliant upon the Primary Care Trust to identify and provide appropriate funding so that the changes to the service can be implemented. Funding arrangements need to be prioritised and finalised so that future service planning and developments can be progressed.
p.2
Being healthy
The appointment of two Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) to work with the Youth Offending Service has made a significant improvement to the capacity of the service to respond to the mental health needs of young people who offend. The links between the CPNs and CAMHS has ensured that young people who are referred for more intensive assessment and support receive a speedier and more consistent service. For this group of young people there is no differential in waiting times to access the service between those who live in the north or the south of the county.
p.2
Being healthy
The council has clearly defined improvements for 2005 that are to work co-operatively with partners to ensure looked after children receive their health and dental checks, to ensure the CAMHS Strategy is put into practice and to work in schools to tackle obesity and improve nutrition.
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Staying safe
Outcomes in relation to staying safe are good when all aspects of practice are taken into account. Children and young people living in Northamptonshire are provided with the safe environment to which they are entitled. The authority’s policies recognise what constitutes a safe environment and there have been improvements in the way their implementation is monitored. There are satisfactory arrangements in place between the authority and partner agencies to ensure that all issues relating to child protection are fully collaborated upon and implemented.
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Staying safe
The authority has clear referral systems in place, families and children at risk are identified and the quality and range of preventative support significantly improved. Timescales for initial assessments have shown improvement but are still taking longer than in similar councils. The percentage of core assessments completed within 35 working days is very good and the council’s performance is much better than that of its comparator councils.
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Staying safe
During the past year the council has greatly improved its performance in relation to its provision and range of preventative services. There has been the introduction of Family Support Services and the focus on earlier intervention has meant more children and young people can remain living with their families. The development of additional Family Resource Centres is designed to consolidate and improve performance further.
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Staying safe
There have been significant improvements to the council’s child protection services. The council has reviewed its Review and Conference Service and has strengthened the system to ensure there is weekly reporting to the Head of Service. All child protection reviews have been carried out within the required timescales and conducted by an independent chair. The Child Protection Co-ordinators have had their role re- established to include that of critical adviser and to ensure all appropriate avenues have been explored before a conference is convened. All children and young people who are on the child protection register and looked after children are allocated to a social worker.
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Staying safe
All key performance indicators relating to looked after children are satisfactory particularly in relation to the placement of children under ten years of age within foster care and placement for adoption within twelve months of the child’s best interest decision having been made. Long-term stability in fostering and residential placements for looked after children remains poor. The council is aware of this difficulty and to address the issue has made improvements to its commissioning processes and practices. The changes seek to ensure that there will be better placement choice and options at the time a child or young person becomes looked after thus minimising the potential for a placement breakdown. The challenge for the council is to be able to recruit sufficient foster carers locally who can provide appropriate placements to older age groups, offenders, black and minority ethnic groups and unaccompanied asylum seeking children and young
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Staying safe
Ofsted inspections of Northamptonshire schools inspected during 2004 and 2005 found that arrangements to meet pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety were mostly satisfactory or better but arrangements in a small number of primary schools and one special school were judged to be unsatisfactory. Those same schools were also judged as being non-compliant in their Child Protection procedures. Subsequent HMI monitoring visits have evidenced that Procedures for monitoring the care and well- being of pupils in the special school are now well established.
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Staying safe
Since the inspections the council has taken appropriate action and invested significant resources in ensuring a robust child protection training programme has been delivered to all schools. The council monitors schools’ participation to ensure all schools attend the training and then follows up at a later date to ensure that the training has been delivered to all staff within the schools. The outcome of the training has been very positive and has led to more schools seeking advice and guidance at an earlier stage in relation to safeguarding children. Although independent schools are not accountable to the council in the way the council’s own schools are, in order to promote the safety and well being of all children the council offers child protection training opportunities to independent schools within Northamptonshire.
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Staying safe
With neighbouring authorities, the authority has signed up to a regional Special Educational Needs Protocol aimed at ensuring children and young people do not become ‘lost’ to agencies when moving into and out of the area so that their needs can continue to be tracked and maintained. The council does not make unannounced visits to children and young people with special educational needs placed in schools outside Northamptonshire. It is strongly recommended that the council should review its practice in this area.
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Staying safe
Children who are looked after by Northamptonshire have access to a Children’s Rights Service, which is available to all looked after children, both those living in foster care and residential care. An independent chair conducts reviews of looked after children and for children who are subject to Court proceedings there is an independent Guardian appointed by the Court to ensure that the child’s welfare and safety is met. There have been two instances during the past year where the council did not follow its own procedures in relation to the placement of a child out of county and the way in which a complaint was investigated. Although there was no adverse outcome in either case the council must ensure that all staff adhere to its policies and procedures so that a child or young person is afforded as much protection as possible whilst being looked after in public care. Subsequently the council has taken appropriate action and
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Staying safe
strengthened its commissioning arrangements.
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Staying safe
The council has in place integrated systems for monitoring the effectiveness of the notification system for unknown or missing children with regular reporting to the lead member of the council for children’s services. The Education Welfare Service tracks and monitors children and young people missing from education and seeks to ensure all schools follow the protocols. The council has had protocols in place since 2001 that relate to looked after children missing from care.
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Staying safe
During the past year the Youth Offending Service has supported 42 young people aged between 16 and 18 through an accommodation project. The latest data available demonstrates that 69% of those young people supported by the project have not re- offended and a further 12% have shown a significant reduction in their patterns of offending. This positive outcome helps young people remain safe through a reduction in offending.
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Staying safe
An area that requires further improvement is that of the Early Years advice, guidance and support service. Ofsted inspectors have identified that some groups of Early Years childcare providers have a far higher percentage of actions required at initial registration than is the case nationally. In addition, the proportion of child minder and Out of School day care provision judged at inspection to be good is significantly lower than that of similar councils. This suggests that the service is not providing targeted pre-registration information at an appropriate level or that post registration support is not effective.
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Staying safe
Recently the council has taken steps to change the way the Early Years Service responds in providing pre-registration information and guidance and post-registration support. It is too early to assess the impact of the change in practice but it is recommended that the council keep this matter under review and if necessary take further remedial action.
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Enjoying and achieving
Outcomes in relation to enjoying and achieving are generally good although there is some variation across different aspects of provision. Early years provision is at least satisfactory in its promotion of children’s development with no type of provider judged to be unsatisfactory in Children’s Act inspections. The homogeneity in terms of quality can be regarded positively, for example in nurseries proving full day care, where fewer have significant weaknesses than nationally. However, fewer are judged good overall; suggesting there remains room for improvement in helping children to meet the early learning goals. Three Children’s Centres have been identified as models of good practice, confirming the council’s commitment to partnership working, and the council has identified further proactive involvement with partner agencies as an area for development.
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Enjoying and achieving
Children are generally enabled and encouraged to attend school through the provision of sufficient suitable places and the council has been increasingly successful in further reducing surplus places. Attendance rates are broadly at the national average, though there is relatively high authorised absence in some secondary schools. Importantly, absence rates amongst looked after children have decreased by one third to bring the council closer in line with national averages. Behaviour in schools is generally good and exclusion rates are relatively low overall although, again, the picture is less positive in some secondary schools. The council recognises that the recent reorganisation from a three-tier to a two-tier system of education has been an adverse factor affecting both attendance and behaviour in a minority of schools and it is taking appropriate action to address this.
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Enjoying and achieving
The standards achieved by pupils are satisfactory overall, but the pattern is too variable. Achievements are generally good at Key Stages 1 and 2 in primary schools where performance in national tests for English and science have been consistently just above national averages and those of similar local education authorities. Outcomes in mathematics have followed the national trends and have been in line with or slightly below those of similar authorities. The extent to which secondary schools add value at Key Stages 3 and 4 is too variable however. As a result, although some schools do very well with large proportions of pupils achieving highly, overall fewer pupils in Northamptonshire attain five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C than in some similar authorities and fewer achieve one or more GCSE passes at grades A* to G. This pattern is borne out by Ofsted inspections which, although based on a small sample of
p.6
Enjoying and achieving
schools, indicate that there is less good and very good achievement in secondary schools than is the case nationally.
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Enjoying and achieving
The council is taking appropriate action to address these issues by increasingly focusing support on its weakest schools. It is also doing well in relation to meeting the needs of specific groups of pupils, including those who are excluded. Pupils who are excluded from schools and attend the council’s Pupil Referral Units generally receive good quality support, they achieve well and reintegration rates are reported to be improving. The proportion of pupils without a school place who receive full time education is improving but the council needs to do more to ensure that all pupils without a school place obtain sufficient education.
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Enjoying and achieving
Those pupils from ethnic minority groups and disadvantaged backgrounds who are in danger of underachieving are generally provided with suitable targeted support to enable them to better achieve their potential. This includes the good support for school age mothers, the support for disengaged young people through the Springboard Centres and a virtual learning community. Other successful initiatives include the work done by the Youth Offending Service which, though still below target, has successfully improved the proportion of young people in education, employment and training by 20% to 59%.
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Enjoying and achieving
The council provides good quality support for its schools, thus helping to improve the provision for their pupils. This is particularly the case for those schools that have been identified through Ofsted inspections as presenting a cause for concern. The proportion of such schools is in line with national figures. There are also clear procedures in place to identify schools where weaknesses are beginning to emerge, thus enabling the council to be proactive in raising standards in those schools. In a minority of schools, mainly in the secondary phase there is more to do in raising the proportion of lessons judged to be good or better. This is, appropriately, a current focus of the council but there is less evidence of a clear challenge agenda for school management.
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Enjoying and achieving
Access to recreational and voluntary learning provision is at least satisfactory and improving. The provision for music is a particular strength, with 15,000 students reported to participate in additional in school and voluntary musical activities, but arts and sport are also well established. In common with many authorities, the council has set itself the objective of increasing the diversity of those participating in musical and performing arts. The council has organised a number of successful summer schools for gifted and talented students and these are reported to have had a positive impact on increasing the proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels at Key Stages 3 and 4.
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Enjoying and achieving
The council is not yet in a position to ensure full compliance on the provision and monitoring of Personal Education Plans (PEPs) for looked after children. However, new tracking arrangements are now in place to enable more effective support through the Life Chances Team, and steps are being taken to improve the exchange of data between agencies.
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Enjoying and achieving
Children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities are helped to enjoy and achieve well. The number of pupils with statements of special needs is broadly in line with that nationally and the quality of the statements is considered generally good. All pupils who are put forward for assessment are awarded a statement and it is reported that there are very few appeals against the decision not to assess, suggesting that the council’s procedures for the identification of those who might benefit from a statement are secure.
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Enjoying and achieving
Ofsted reports demonstrate that schools are inclusive and meet the needs of those with special needs, and the council reports that the achievements of pupils, such as those who are visually impaired, are above the national median and that for similar authorities. The council’s Disabled Children’s Service provides a wide range of extra curricular opportunities for the children it serves and, in partnership with the Northampton Federation of Disability Sports, provides effective access to a range of sporting activities.
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Making a positive contribution
The council’s support to enable children and young people to make a positive contribution is good overall. There are some particular strengths, such as its processes for consulting children and young people; however there are also some areas for improvement.
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Making a positive contribution
In childcare settings initial registrations show a lower proportion of required actions than nationally and training has already been put in place to address those settings which are the exception to this. There is evidence through Ofsted reports of effective practice in support of the transition from early years to primary education. The council provides a range of services and teams to assist with specific groups such pupils with SEN and those with English as an additional language. School improvement advisers monitor and support transition planning from primary to secondary schools and there is evidence of some effective support of vulnerable pupils who need reintegration at this stage. There is good support form a range of initiatives, together with Connexions, for those transferring to post 16 education training and employment, though even more needs to be done to improve the number of students staying into full time education.
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Making a positive contribution
The council has placed the needs and interests of children and young people from vulnerable groups high on its agenda. There is a strongly articulated commitment to its corporate parenting role but the council has recognised this is an area for development. During routine business meetings with the council there has been an acknowledgment of issues relating to looked after children placed out of county, the need for a commissioning strategy and the progress that the council is making in reducing the number of LAC. Additional resources have been made available to the Children’s Directorate to address these issues and progress is beginning to be made.
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Making a positive contribution
There is a clear recognition and appropriate support mechanisms to meet the varied needs of children, including those on the child protection register, those who are bullied, those who are disaffected, young carers and asylum seeking children. The support provided for teenage mothers, for example, has led to a positive Ofsted report which recognised the relatively high level of achievement at GCSE.
p.8
Making a positive contribution
The extent to which the views of children and young people are sought is a significant strength. Several different surveys involving over 12,000 pupils and students have been undertaken and pupils are encouraged to participate in decision making effectively, for example through School Councils, which exist in nearly all schools. The authority supports this involvement, for example through in-service training provided to all primary schools and it is encouraging further engagement of groups such as looked after children through the Children’s Rights Service. The development of a draft ‘Participation Strategy-Services to Children and Young People’ and the work of the Strategic Active Involvement Group are further indicators of the council’s positive focus on improving participation. However, an area for further improvement is in relation to the Youth Service, which Ofsted recently reported does not reach as many young
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Making a positive contribution
Data shows that there is good progress in relation to taking action to prevent offending and reduce re-offending through a number of strands of work which have combined to successfully address this issue. For example, activity in three project areas in 2004-5 significantly reduced exclusions and school refusals for young people at risk, thus reducing the likelihood of offending. Training of magistrates, including the promotion of alternatives to custody helped to reduce the custody rates effectively in the first quarter of 2005 to 2.7%, the lowest out of 155 areas. Individually tailored support packages provided to young offenders have resulted in low rates of re-offending.
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Making a positive contribution
The council has effective practice in terms of enabling looked after children to make a positive contribution through their own reviews and more widely, for example through their involvement in the production of DVD materials, newsletters and web materials about their experience of public care. There is good consultation with young people leaving care about their views and a strong advocacy service.
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Making a positive contribution
Helping children and young people with SEN or disabilities to make a positive contribution is satisfactorily overall. A very high percentage (95%) of reports from educational psychologists include the views of children and good quality support materials have been developed for use by schools to help children and young people to contribute to reviews. Wherever possible the council expects children with SEN or disabilities to be included in more general activities such as citizenship programmes and it is working to increase opportunities post 16.
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Achieving economic well-being
The council is promoting the economic well being of its children and young people increasingly effectively, although there is more to be done in relation to improving the success rates and involvement rates for post 16 education and training, including those for looked after young people.
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Achieving economic well-being
The council is taking appropriate action to ensure 14-19 education and training is planned and of good quality, with a countywide plan agreed by seven 14-19 Local Partnerships. Post-16 take up is a recognised priority with numbers in full time education being well below the national average and young people involved in training or employment post 16 being just below the national average, but rising. Planning is sensitive to race and other equality issues but take up remains stubbornly low in some areas.
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Achieving economic well-being
Despite some successes, for example Connexions successfully achieving one of its targets, the range of initiatives to promote take up in higher education has not increased levels of applications. However, the council has identified the right priorities, including increasing capital and revenue funding, and it is addressing issues such as low numbers of young people in ETE and the unsatisfactory youth work reported by Ofsted. Choices are reported to be improving and there is a clear focus on race and equality issues.
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Achieving economic well-being
There has been some good work in relation to helping looked after children and young people to achieve economic well being and supporting them leaving care was highlighted by CSCI as one of the effective and innovative services in this respect. The proportion of looked after young people in full or part time training or employment is well above the national average, but those in full-time education is below the national average. Performance in supporting looked after children with a pathway plan is improving, though still warranting further improvement to ensure such plans exist and are monitored in all cases.
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Achieving economic well-being
The picture with regard to helping children with special educational needs or disabilities is similarly mixed but improving. Transition reviews are provided for most though not all pupils in year 9, but the recent appointment of a transition co-ordinator is a positive step. Opportunities for education, training and employment are reported to be increasing, although it is acknowledged that young people with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties occasionally experience difficulties in finding educational provision in the county.
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Strengths Areas for improvement
Being healthy: • the promotion of healthy lifestyles for children and young people • partnership working in relation to children with special needs, looked after children and children with disabilities • provision and participation of pupils in school sports. Being healthy: • to maintain improvements in the reduction of teenage pregnancies with a particular focus on the areas of Wellingborough, Kettering and Daventry • to ensure priority is given to implementing plans to enable equality of access to CAMHS services for those young people living in the north and south of the county • to ensure looked after children and young people receive their health and dental checks on time. Staying safe: • good child protection procedures. for example training programmes for schools • support for looked after children. • well established multi agency collaborative practice • commitment at a strategic level to provide safe outcomes for children
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Strengths Areas for improvement
and young people living within Northamptonshire • improved range and quality of preventative services? • youth Offending Service accommodation project. Staying safe: • to explore further the effectiveness of the Early Years advice, guidance & support service in relation to the high percentage of pre-registration actions imposed by Ofsted and post- registration support • to further improve timescales for initial assessments • to continue efforts to recruit foster carers for the harder to place young people • to seek to improve long-term placement stability for looked after children • to review the council’s practice of not making unannounced visits to placements of special educational needs children in out of county placements. Enjoying and achieving: • school age mothers unit • virtual school for travellers • good Ofsted report on PRU’s • range of consultations and acting on findings of consultation and questionnaires. Enjoying and achieving:
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Strengths Areas for improvement
• to improve value added achievements in secondary education. • to increase the proportion of pupils receiving full time education • to ensure full compliance on PEPs. Making a positive contribution: • saturday morning supplementary school • guidance, advocacy and support through Race Equality Advisor • consultation and participation with children and young people • independent visitors scheme • YOS Informal Action Project with the police to reduce re-offending. Making a positive contribution: • to raise the percentage of young offenders in EET.
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Strengths Areas for improvement
Achieving economic well-being; • collaborative planning for post 16 provision. Achieving economic well-being; • to ensure all looked after young people have pathway and transition plans. • to increase EET rates • to ensure all pupils with SEN have a transition review in Year 9.
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Service management
The council has just appointed its Director of Children’s Services who will now take the lead in integrating children’s services in accordance with Every Child Matters (ECM). Preparation for this began in April 2004 when the council developed a new Children’s and Families Directorate. This brought together social care and the education support service. The new model provided improved opportunities within the council for integrated working and prepared the foundation for the council to now move forward to a fully integrated children’s service.
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Service management
In terms of capacity to drive the ECM agenda forward the council has invested resources, specifically identified as Council Improvement Plans to develop the Children’s Trust Project, the Children and Young People’s Partnership Project and the Joint Area Review Project (the Joint Area Review is scheduled for January 2006). The lead member for children’s services for the council has been appointed. The authority has collaborated closely with relevant partner agencies in preparing its Interim Children and Young People’s Plan for 2005/2006. The Children and Young People’s Partnership Board has been established to be the partnership planning body in Northamptonshire with representation of all main services, users and voluntary organisations. The Board is currently testing out its ten strategic priorities derived from the five main outcomes.
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Service management
Over 12,000 children and young people have been consulted with by means of surveys, focus groups, individual and group meetings and through school and area councils. Consultation took place to establish the views of children and young people in relation to the five outcomes in ECM. The findings have been published in a newsletter that is targeted at all people across the county that are in contact with children and young people. The findings from this consultation exercise will be incorporated into future service planning.
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Service management
Strategically and at an operational level both social care and education can demonstrate partnership arrangements with a range of stakeholders, a clear understanding of where they wish to go and what they want to achieve. The council can demonstrate a range of good quality, safe services that seek to promote the welfare of children and young people. In general, educational attainment is good and there are a range of support systems in place to help children and young people achieve. Diversity and anti-discriminatory practices are established within school programmes and social care settings.
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Service management
The council reports a stable and positive budget settlement for children’s social care and education. There has been increased investment to allow for the development of preventative services and for the implementation of ECM.
p.12
Service management
Performance management within the council needs to become better embedded although the past year has seen significant improvements within social care and education to achieve this. Managers are using performance data to influence practice and have developed methods of identifying needs and gaps in services to children and families.
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Staying safe
Children and young people are provided with a safe environment:
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Staying safe
The incidence of child abuse and neglect is minimised:
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Staying safe
• The quality and effectiveness of the Early Years advice, guidance and support service in relation to the number of pre-registration actions imposed by Ofsted.
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Staying safe
• Progress with undertaking Equality Impact Assessments within children’s services.
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Enjoying and achieving
Educational provision is made for children who do not attend school:
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Enjoying and achieving
• Ensuring permanently excluded pupils receive 20+ hours of tuition.
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Enjoying and achieving
Action is taken to ensure that educational provision 5-16 is of good quality:
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Enjoying and achieving
• Improving value added achievement where it is below average from Key Stage 2 to GCSE or equivalent.
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Achieving economic well-being
Action is taken to ensure that 14-19 education and training is planned and delivered in a coordinated way, and to ensure that education and training (16-19) if of good quality:
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Achieving economic well-being
• Ensuring sufficient vocational opportunities are available to all pupils.
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Final judgement
Please see your final annual performance assessment judgements attached at the end of this letter.
p.14
Flo Hadley
Divisional Manager Office for Standards in Education
p.14
Jonathan Phillips
Director – Quality, Performance and Methods Commission for Social Care Inspection
p.14
APA final judgements 2005: Northamptonshire County Council
The contribution of the local authority’s social care services in maintaining and improving outcomes for children and young people The contribution of local authority’s education services in maintaining and improving outcomes for children and young people. The contribution of the local authority’s children’s services in maintaining and improving outcomes for children and young people. The council’s overall capacity to improve its services for children and young people 3
p.15
APA final judgements 2005: Northamptonshire County Council
Grade Service descriptors Capacity to improve descriptors A service that delivers well above minimum requirements for users Very good
p.15
APA final judgements 2005: Northamptonshire County Council
A service that consistently delivers above minimum requirements for users Good/promising
p.15
APA final judgements 2005: Northamptonshire County Council
A service that delivers only minimum requirements for users Adequate
p.15
APA final judgements 2005: Northamptonshire County Council
A service that does not deliver minimum requirements for users Inadequate
p.15
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