Setting

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456-404045 Email: edhelpline@ofsted.gov.uk

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Ms Sharon Shoesmith Director of Children’s Services The Children Service London Borough of Haringey 48 Station Road, Wood Green London N22 7TY

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COUNCIL’S EDUCATION AND CHILDREN’S SOCIAL CARE SERVICES 2005

This letter summarises the findings of the meeting held on 27 June 2005 to assess the performance of the education and social care services within your authority. We are grateful for the information which you provided to support this process and for the time made available by yourself and your colleagues to discuss relevant issues.

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Being healthy

Outcomes in this area are good, despite many children and young people in Haringey experiencing severe deprivation that impacts on both their health and well-being. The council’s strategy is based on a good local analysis; action is targeted at wards with the highest incidence of teenage pregnancy and vulnerable groups. There is considerable evidence of innovative practice and successful multi-agency working. Much has been achieved and there is a clear realisation regarding the further action needed to enable children and families to adopt healthier lifestyles, with robust systems for monitoring and responding to shortfall.

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Being healthy

Take-up of health services is satisfactory. Reducing health inequalities is recognised as a major challenge, particularly between the east and west of the borough. To this end, the impact of all council policies are evaluated. A multi-agency partnership board works successfully to co-ordinate the promotion of health and well-being of children and young people. It has agreed a comprehensive multi-agency improvement plan addressing key priorities, including establishing baseline data for evaluating outcomes. A multi-agency food and nutrition strategy has helped to reduce childhood obesity and is improving healthy eating. Children and young people are educated about sexual, substance and health risks and have access to impartial and confidential advice and guidance. Schools are also receiving additional support with policies for smoking, healthy and nutritious eating, physical activity and sport. Rates of conception among 15-18 year-old females remain high, although similar to

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Being healthy

comparable London boroughs. The conception rate for under-16s has remained fairly static, but 15 out of 19 wards have under-18 conception rates among the highest 20% in England, and several wards in the east have very high rates of teenage pregnancy. A number of successful initiatives have resulted in a reduction in the rate of conception, but further reductions present a major challenge to the authority. Nevertheless, multi-agency action is robust, wide-ranging and well targeted. Given the challenges, the council believe it is unlikely that the interim target for 2004 and the target for 2010 will be met. However, it is recognised that the local strategy has strengths and that clear action is being taken to respond to areas for improvement identified in the Teenage Pregnancy Unit feedback.

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Being healthy

Children and young people have access to an appropriate range of support for mental health problems and for counselling. Increased demand, some reflecting post-traumatic stress from the very large asylum seeker and refugee population, has been matched by increased investment. This includes the appointment of additional mental health and social work staff to work closely with GPs, schools and the adolescent outreach service. Further work is underway to develop a single referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and to improve the range and location of CAMHS services. Children who are fostered receive age-appropriate guidance, support, advice and health care in line with their needs.

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Being healthy

Successful multi-agency working and the commissioning of specialist services have resulted in improved education and health outcomes. The views of vulnerable young people are taken seriously and they are involved in the recruitment of staff.

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Staying safe

Overall, there is evidence that child protection services and systems to safeguard children are improving and outcomes are good. There has been a robust response to inspections by the former Social Services Inspectorate in previous years. As a consequence, formal child protection processes and systems have received significant attention. This has resulted in improvements in some key areas. All children on the Child Protection Register have a named social worker who is qualified. All reviews of children on the Child Protection Register are carried out within the required timescale.

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Staying safe

There has been a fall in the length of time that children spend on the Child Protection Register, from 13.9% to 12.1%. This fall is welcome, although it remains above the level for all comparator groups. There has been an increase in the proportion of children on the Register who have been previously registered, from 5.6% to 8.3%, due to more robust scrutiny of individual cases by the council. The council have identified referral and assessment as an area for improvement. There has been a 13.7% fall in the proportion of initial assessments carried out within the required timescales and a slight fall in the proportion of core assessments completed to time. In both areas, the council’s performance is below that of all comparator groups. The proportion of referrals that were repeat referrals has increased by 8.6%; this remains well above the level of all comparator groups. It is recognised, however, that Haringey has a

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Staying safe

much higher proportion of referrals leading to an assessment than all comparators. The outturn for 2004/05 was 81.3%, an increase of 26.2% from 2003/04. It is likely that Framework-I, the council’s new management information system, should improve the council’s ability to monitor timescales and improve recording.

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Staying safe

The placement stability of looked after children has improved, and is now a very good level of performance, although the number of placement moves remains only slightly higher than the level found in all comparator groups. The long-term stability of looked after children has shown a slight improvement and remains slightly better than comparable authorities.

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Staying safe

The council recognises the need to improve the way it delivers better adoption outcomes, and progress is evident. The number of children adopted remains lower than similar authorities. There has been a 5.1% fall in the proportion of looked after children placed for adoption, and performance is significantly below the level of all comparator groups. There has also been a significant fall in the number of looked after children placed for adoption within 12 months of the best interest decision. The council has taken appropriate steps to improve adoption outcomes. It has introduced a specialist permanency ‘partnership’ team made up of adoption workers, designated lawyer and Independent Reviewing Officers. There have also been successful targeted adoption recruitment campaigns aimed at improving the number of black and minority ethnic carers. An adoption support service has also been established. The council has introduced a robust

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Staying safe

monitoring system to track individual adoption cases.

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Staying safe

There continues to be a high number of looked after children and young people living outside the council’s boundary. In particular, there are low numbers of younger children under the age of 10, living in foster placements in Haringey. The council report, however, that a number of looked after children live just outside the borough boundary. The council has successfully increased the number of children placed within the borough as part of its foster carer recruitment strategy but given the geographical area in which the council operates, it also recruits foster carers in neighbouring authorities, such as Enfield. In March 2005, 310 looked after children were placed outside the borough, and of those children, 114 were placed more than 20 miles away. There is evidence of a significant focus on increasing local placement resources. Importantly, social work visits to looked after children are monitored as part of the council’s performance management

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Staying safe

The Local Safeguarding Children’s Board drives and supports improvement. It views safeguarding in the broader context and not just child protection, including such areas as road safety, fear of crime and race discrimination. Importantly, performance information is increasingly interrogated and analysis used to review practice. Every school has trained, designated teachers for child protection and looked after children. The authority has significantly improved the range of single and multi-agency training opportunities for all designated teachers and governors. A comprehensive training programme, based partly on a needs analysis from schools, is in place and attendance monitored rigorously.

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Staying safe

Risks to safety are well identified and managed. Procedures have been established to ensure that any child without a school place is identified by the Children’s Service. Robust systems are in place to monitor school attendance of looked after children, and importantly, this includes those children placed outside of Haringey. A school safe system operates in conjunction with the police, providing early warning of potential dangers to schools from members of the public.

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Staying safe

Good partnerships across a range of agencies, including the voluntary sector, promote a safe environment. There has also been innovative work with local faith communities. Firm action is taken to challenge discrimination and harassment. Three-quarters of schools offer good or very good provision to pupils to ensure freedom from bullying and harassment. The council is taking a range of preventative and supportive action to reduce harassment and create a greater understanding of diversity and difference. There are a number of initiatives focussed on anti-social behaviour and race relations among young people.

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Staying safe

There is a good focus on youth crime prevention and there has been some success in reducing crime and unruly behaviour around school premises. Fostering services in Haringey meet regulatory requirements in relation to ensuring that children and young people are safe from harm. Similarly, the council’s residential settings have systems and procedures in place to promote safe care.

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Staying safe

Organisational changes in line with Every Child Matters, including the development of the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board, have been managed effectively and the focus on making sure children are safe has remained high on the agenda throughout the transition.

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Enjoying and achieving

Outcomes in this area are good because of the value added to the achievement of children and young people . Although the overall level of achievement at Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 4 is below national levels, the rates of improvement are higher than the national rates. Haringey continues to be among the most disadvantaged boroughs in England and faces multiple challenges, including a large population of refugee and asylum seekers and a highly mobile school population. Early years’ provision is satisfactory or better overall, but attainment on entry to primary schools is well below national averages. Following the inspection of the LEA in September 2003, partnerships, provision, and support to providers have been strengthened. Actions imposed on new providers at registration are considerably lower than national averages. However, on inspection, actions imposed are above national averages and unacceptably

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Enjoying and achieving

high for out of school day care, where there has been a vast increase in provision to enable parents to continue in employment or take up new employment opportunities. Inspection of nursery education reveals significant weaknesses, double the national average, for full day care. The authority acknowledges further improvement is necessary and action is underway, including a reconstruction of the early years’ service.

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Enjoying and achieving

Highly focused attention on attendance in schools, together with strong leadership and firm action from the authority, supported by a wide range of successful inter-agency partnerships and successful cross-service working, has resulted in improvement. Local targets have been met, although figures remain below those nationally. Significantly, Haringey no longer requires additional monitoring by the DfES. Both authorised and unauthorised absence has reduced, however, apart from authorised absence in secondary schools it still remains too high. Levels of permanent exclusion remain stable. The authority is aware of an over-reliance on the use of fixed term exclusion in some secondary schools as a strategy for managing behaviour. In response, a range of well targeted and specialist action is making a significant contribution to strategies for behaviour management.

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Enjoying and achieving

In 2003, the inspection of the LEA identified good provision for young people at the pupil support centre, but at the same time found weaknesses in provision for children with no school place. This has improved markedly. Statutory responsibilities are met, exclusion is carefully monitored and excluded pupils are well supported to continue their learning. The percentage of pupils receiving alternative tuition because of permanent exclusion is above the national figure, as is the figure for those receiving alternative tuition for longer than one school year. However, more pupils are reintegrated into school.

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Enjoying and achieving

The performance of schools is thoroughly analysed and action to bring about improvement is well targeted. Levels of attainment are low, although the performance of higher attaining pupils is closer to the national figures. Nevertheless, pupils’ make satisfactory gains in their learning in primary schools and above average gains in secondary schools, particularly at Key Stage 4. Standards at Key Stage 1 have kept pace with improvements nationally, but remain below national figures and mostly below those of similar authorities. At Key Stage 2, standards overall have improved faster than the national rate, but also remain below comparators. In secondary schools, standards are below averages, although significantly improved against national figures at both Key Stages 3 and 4. All secondary schools met the government’s floor targets for 2006 in 2004. Performance at post-16 is improving but too many young people do not continue into education, employment or

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Enjoying and achieving

training and too many leave school without qualifications. In response, plans are underway for transforming provision in secondary schools. The rate of improvement, above the national rates for improvement, evidence the added value made by the council to pupils who may come less well equipped than their counterparts elsewhere.

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Enjoying and achieving

Underachievement of specific ethnic groups, for example, from the African, African Caribbean (particularly boys), Kurdish and Turkish communities, has a significant impact on achievement overall. A range of well targeted action addresses variations in the performance of schools and patterns of under-performance within key groups of children and young people, including those from ethnic minorities, looked after children, Traveller pupils and boys. However, the local priority target for improving minority ethnic attainment is unlikely to be met, despite this good intervention, and progress is of concern to the authority.

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Enjoying and achieving

Monitoring, challenge intervention and support, including for the school in special measures, together with actions to improve school and subject leadership, are appropriate. These are supplemented by the provision of performance data, the focus on self-evaluation and opportunities for school partnerships. Schools have improved with a sharp decrease in the percentage of parents appealing against their secondary school place. Results have risen and the number of schools requiring special measures has reduced, but some schools causing concern remain fragile. Recruitment and retention of school staff remains a critical issue and continues as a key priority.

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Enjoying and achieving

A range of wider learning and recreational opportunities are offered to children and young people to broaden their experiences, but the authority recognises that take-up could be higher. Sure Start, Children’s Centres, schools and good provision for family learning promote both formal and informal opportunities for parents to support their children’s learning and to engage in learning of their own.

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Enjoying and achieving

Children and young people, who are looked after, including care leavers, are helped to enjoy and achieve. In 2003, the inspection of the LEA identified weaknesses in the attainment and attendance of looked after children, and unsatisfactory support. This has been addressed. All looked after children have access to specific educational support and all have a personal education plan. Levels of attainment are now carefully monitored and have improved. The percentage of children leaving school with a qualification has increased. Levels of absence from school for looked after children have reduced. The educational needs of children who are fostered are met.

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Enjoying and achieving

Two-thirds of pupils with statements are educated in mainstream schools, with statutory assessment completed very promptly. The progress of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is carefully tracked and a number of initiatives are taking place to improve their attainment, including transforming special schools.

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Making a positive contribution

Services are good. Overall, considerable work is taking place to enable children and young people to make a positive contribution. This work is well focussed and reflects the diverse nature of communities and the challenges faced by the authority. Plans for the future are realistic and robust.

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Making a positive contribution

All secondary schools and approximately half of the authority’s primary schools have participation forums or school councils. Seven secondary schools take part in the Youth Forum and 32 schools participate in the Junior Citizen’s programme. Young people are represented on the steering group for the new Haringey Secondary Strategy. The Youth Service has been successful in engaging with hard to reach groups of children and involved them in activity planning. The Connexions Service together with the Youth Service has trained groups of young people as inspectors of youth facilities and provision, awarding kite marks to those assessed as providing quality services to young people.

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Making a positive contribution

The Children’s Fund participation project is supporting a panel of young people, the ‘participation crew’, to feedback the views of other children and young people on the provision of services in Haringey. A participation tool kit is being developed for use across the authority.

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Making a positive contribution

Exposure Youth Media, an interactive web site for young people, funded by Haringey, provides young people with the opportunity to express their opinions. Although there is some good and innovative work, the council recognises the need to develop a more coherent strategy for young people’s participation, and have started to review current activity. A significant amount of work has already been completed and planning is at an advanced stage.

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Making a positive contribution

Work is also taking place with looked after children to encourage participation and to listen to their views. There have been consultation events, and a consultation day to explore young people’s views of the Change for Children process. Such events have involved members and the lead member for children and young people. A high proportion of looked after children were able to contribute views to their statutory review. The Leaving Care Service has also contributed to a number of initiatives, including a Leaving Care Handbook and DVD, and through the recruitment of volunteers.

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Making a positive contribution

The proportion of looked after children who received a final warning, reprimand or conviction decreased from 5% to 2.9% last year. This remains slightly above the level for similar authorities, though performing against the national average. The council has developed a range of services to work with looked after children to reduce the risk of offending behaviour. This includes the use of co-ordinated intervention packages and prioritised preventative work.

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Making a positive contribution

The council’s fostering service and residential care units have robust systems and protocols in place to ensure that children are encouraged to maintain contacts with family and friends. They also promote children’s opinions being sought in relation to important decisions.

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Achieving economic well-being

Outcomes are adequate in this area. The council recognises what needs to be improved. Its vision and strategy links educational achievement to the well being of children and young people and engaging with parents and communities. This builds on action that has already resulted in nearly 20% more students studying a range of vocational courses at Key Stage 4, demonstrating improved achievement, motivation, attendance and punctuality, although performance remains well below that of similar authorities. Action encompasses plans for transforming provision in secondary schools, further increasing the range of vocational opportunities, and improving provision for work-based learning. Much has already been done to reduce numbers of young people not in education, employment or training, including forging stronger partnerships and thorough capital investment. Funding has secured for a sixth form centre to open in 2007. This will serve the particular

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Achieving economic well-being

needs of secondary schools in the east of the borough where levels of deprivation are high and rates of attainment are lower. Secondary schools are already working in partnership to develop vocational courses at Key Stage 4, providing pathways to the new centre and the Connexions service has located personal advisers in schools in the east of the borough to encourage young people to remain in education and training.

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Achieving economic well-being

Care leavers are well supported to continue in education or training. For children and young people who are looked after, all services in regulated settings have met the required standards with only minor shortfalls.

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Achieving economic well-being

Children and young people make a significant contribution to local communities, to some of the services designed to support them and in decisions that affect their lives, for example through individual care plans. Nevertheless, internal review indicates the need for greater collaboration between services and a coherent strategy for children and young people’s participation. This work, which includes a participation strategy for young people leaving care and for care leavers, is well in hand.

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Strengths Areas for improvement

Being healthy: • good analysis supporting strong multi-agency working and planning • a multi-agency food and nutrition strategy has helped to reduce childhood obesity and is improving healthy eating • children and young people are educated about sexual, substance and health risks • a number of successful initiatives have reduced teenage conception • children and young people have access to a range of support for mental health problems and provision reflects the needs of the diverse population, including a large asylum seeker and refugee population. Being healthy: • further reduce teenage pregnancy through the targeting of vulnerable groups, and wards with the highest conception rates • develop further work on establishing a single referral point to CAHMS • reduce health inequalities across the borough • improve sexual health and the prevention of drug misuse • work with children and families to adopt healthier lifestyles

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Strengths Areas for improvement

• establish baseline data for evaluating outcomes of the multi-agency improvement plan • health checks and health planning for all looked after children. Staying safe: • all children on the Child Protection Register are allocated to a qualified social worker • all children on the child protection register are reviewed within the required timescales • all schools have trained, designated teachers for child protection and looked after children • there are good procedures in place to identify children without a school place and the school attendance of looked after children is monitored carefully • a school safe system is in place • there is a range of initiatives to reduce discrimination and harassment. Staying safe: • action to improve adoption outcomes • reduce the timescales for completion of initial and comprehensive assessments • take action to reduce the number of children, particularly those under 10, living outside the borough boundary.

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Strengths Areas for improvement

Enjoying and achieving: • a range of well targeted and specialist action is making a significant contribution to strategies for behaviour management • exclusion is carefully monitored and excluded pupils are well supported to continue their learning • the performance of schools is analysed and action to bring about improvement is well targeted. Enjoying and achieving: • raise levels of attainment, particularly in underachieving and ethnic groups • improve the quality of provision in early years’ • reduce absence from schools • reduce levels of fixed-term exclusion from school • address the recruitment and retention of school staff. Making a positive contribution: • work to enable children and young people to make a positive contribution is well focussed and reflects the diverse nature of the community • the Youth Services and the Connexions Service have worked effectively with hard to reach groups • there is a range of innovative work,

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Strengths Areas for improvement

such as the Children’s Fund participation project and Exposure Youth Media • strong commitment to enable the Making a positive contribution; • continue to develop a more coherent strategy for young people’s participation. participation of looked after children • the level of offending behaviour of looked after children has improved. Achieving economic well-being: • the council’s vision and strategy is clear, particularly in linking educational achievement to the well- being of children and young people; and engaging with parents and communities • action has begun to make significant improvement • the proportion of young people in education, employment or training, including care leavers has continued to improve. Achieving economic well-being: • further improve provision for young people aged 14 - 19, specifically in opportunities for vocational and work based learning.

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Service management

The council has a strong vision and high aspirations for children’s services underpinned by clear strategic planning. There is a strong focus on outcomes, sustaining progress and improving performance, in considerably challenging areas. Local priorities are clear, realistic and reflect national priorities. Resources are well targeted to priority areas.

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Service management

Strong governance and good leadership from members is supported by strong leadership at Director and senior management level. The initial stages of the Change for Children programme have been managed carefully and effectively. Plans for implementation over the next two years are effective. The organisational transition, in particular, has been managed carefully with a strong focus on maintaining quality services, especially safeguarding. There is a strong performance management culture that enables the council to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Additionally, performance data and analysis is well used to inform and drive change.

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Service management

There is a determined drive to raise expectations with schools and the wider community. This is matched by concerted action to improve the well being of all children and young people, with a strong focus on vulnerable groups

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Service management

Budget monitoring is rigorous, and financial management is strong. Significantly, children’s social care expenditure, which had significant challenges in previous years, came within budget in 2004-05.

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Service management

There is evidence of strong and developing partnership working, across the council, as much in evidence across council departments as with external agencies, such as health and in particular with the police. There is some innovative work with the faith communities and the diverse communities that Haringey represents. The council restructured the senior management team and recruited experienced senior managers on competitive salaries. Although recently appointed, they are managers with proven track records and are potentially a strong senior management team, which is already beginning to impact on the development of services.

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Service management

The recruitment and retention of social care staff in particular, continues to be a challenge but no more so than elsewhere. Only 12.8 % of directly employed staff left Haringey’s employment in the course of the year, as compared to 15.8% in similar authorities. Only 2.8% of posts were vacant on 30 September 2004, as compared with 17.6% in similar authorities. Haringey has a clear workforce strategy and is involved in the sector’s workforce development group.

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Being healthy

Healthy life-styles are promoted for children and young people:

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Being healthy

• action being taken to further reduce teenage pregnancy.

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Being healthy

Looked after children’s health needs are addressed:

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Being healthy

• action to ensure looked after children receive health checks and health planning.

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Staying safe

The incidence of child abuse and neglect is minimised:

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Staying safe

Agencies collaborate to safeguard children according to the requirements of current government guidance:

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Staying safe

• action being taken to improve adoption outcomes • referral and assessment – timescales for completion of initial and comprehensive assessments.

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Enjoying and achieving

Early years provision promotes children’s development and well-being and helps them meet early learning goals:

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Enjoying and achieving

Children and young people are enabled and encouraged to attend and enjoy school and to achieve highly:

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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

• reduction of levels of school absence • levels of permanent exclusion.

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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

• levels of attainment, particularly in underachieving and ethnic groups.

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Making a positive contribution

Children and young people are encouraged to participate in decision making and in supporting the community:

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Making a positive contribution

• continue to develop a more coherent strategy for young people’s participation.

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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) is of good quality:

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Achieving economic well-being

Children and young people who are looked after are helped to achieve economic well- being:

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Achieving economic well-being

• provision for young people aged 14-19, specifically in opportunities for vocational and work based learning • reducing the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training, including care leavers.

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Final judgements

Please see your final annual performance assessment judgements attached at the end of the letter.

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FLO HADLEY

Divisional Manager Office for Standards in Education

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JONATHAN PHILLIPS

Director – Quality, Performance and Methods Commission for Social Care Inspection

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APA final judgements 2005: London Borough of Haringey 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

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APA final judgements 2005: London Borough of Haringey Council

Grade Service descriptors Capacity to improve descriptors A service that delivers well above minimum requirements for users Very good

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APA final judgements 2005: London Borough of Haringey Council

A service that consistently delivers above minimum requirements for users Good/promising

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APA final judgements 2005: London Borough of Haringey Council

A service that delivers only minimum requirements for users Adequate

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APA final judgements 2005: London Borough of Haringey Council

A service that does not deliver minimum requirements for users Inadequate

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