Agenda Document Pack - Education, Children and Families Committee - 19/11/2024
North Lanarkshire Council · 19 November 2024
Back to Education, Children and Families Committee — 19 November 2024 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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8 November 2024 Members of the Education, Children and Families Committee Chief Executive’s Office Archie Aitken Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell ML1 1AB www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk Notice is given that a Meeting of the Education, Children and Families Committee is to be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB on Tuesday, 19 November 2024 at 14:00 PM which you are requested to attend. The agenda of business is attached. Archie Aitken Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Members : Clerk Name: Clare Louise McDonald Clerk Telephone: 01698 302190 Clerk Email: mcdonaldcl@northlan.gov.uk M McBride, B Baudo, D Ashraf, A Ballinger, C Barclay, A Beveridge, M Boyd, H Brannan- McVey, B Burgess, T Carragher, C Costello, M Coyle, S Coyle, G Currie, P Di Mascio, H Dunbar, F Fotheringham, T Johnston, J Jones, P Kelly, A Khan, K Larson, G Lennon, H Loughran, A Masterton, B McCluskey, P McDade, F McKay, R McKendrick, C McManus, M McPake, J McPhilemy, A McVey, P Patton, J Reddin, G Robinson, A Smith, A Stubbs, J Toner, N Wilson.M Clarkson, G McCormick, M McCrossan, I Scott. Page 1 of 364
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Agenda 1 Declarations of Interest In Terms of the Ethical Standards In Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 2 Education Employee Appeals Sub Committee - 26 August 2024 Submit minute of the meeting of the Education Employee Appeals Sub Committee held on 26 August 2024 for approval. 5 - 6 Operational 3 Standards and Quality Report Session 2023-2024 Submit report by the Acting Chief Officer (Education - North) seeking approval of the Draft Standards and Quality Report for Session 2023/24. 7 - 118 4 Resilient People - Improving Health and Wellbeing, Family Support and School Attendance Submit joint report by the Chief Officer (Education - South) and Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) setting out progress for delivering a range of services to support children, young people and families as part of the Resilient People Programme of Work. 119 - 172 5 Petition for Immediate Action on School Transport Cuts and Public Safety Concerns in North Lanarkshire Submit report by the Acting Chief Officer (Education - North) advising of a petition received in relation to the changes to school transport distance eligibility criteria. 173 - 178 6 Regional Improvement Collaborative Improvement Plan Submit report by the Acting Chief Officer (Education - North) informing of the work undertaken by the West Partnership Regional Improvement Collaborative during 2023/24 and seeking approval for the Council to remain a part of the West Partnership beyond 2025. 179 - 228 Page 3 of 364
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7 A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments - Policy into Practice Submit report by the Chief Officer (Education - South) seeking approval of the draft "A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice" document which is designed to support staff working within the Educational Establishments. 229 - 268 8 Community Payback Order Annual Report 2023- 2024 Submit report by the Chief Social Work Officer (Children, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) seeking approval of the Annual Community Payback Report for 2023/24. 269 - 296 9 Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2023-24 Submit report by Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) providing an overview of social work service delivery in North Lanarkshire for the period April 2023 to March 2024. 297 - 352 Financial 10 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report Submit report by the Acting Chief Officer (Education - North) providing a summary of the financial performance of the Education, Children and Families Service for the period from 1 April to 16 August 2024 (Period 5) and highlighting the projected outturn position as at 31 March 2025. 353 - 364 Page 4 of 364
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Education Employees Appeals Sub-Committee - Monday, 26 August 2024 1 Monday, 26 August 2024 at 13:00 PM. A Meeting of the EDUCATION EMPLOYEES APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE PRESENT Councillor McBride (Convener); Councillor Ballinger, Beveridge, Brannan-McVey, Costello, Currie, Jarvie and A Stubbs. ALSO PRESENT In accordance with Standing Order 64(A) Councillor Robinson attended as substitute for Councillor Larson. CHAIR Councillor McBride (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE Legal Manager (Democratic and Resources), Democratic Co-ordinator, North Lanarkshire Council, Appellant 2/2024 and I Glennie, Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association. APOLOGIES Councillors T Johnston and Larson. 1 Declarations of Interest In Terms of the Ethical Standards In Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 There were no declarations of interest. 2 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC It was agreed in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. 3 Education, Children and Families - Appeal Against Dismissal There was submitted intimation of an appeal against dismissal by Appellant 2/2024, together with a report by the Chief Officer (Education - North) in explanation of the circumstances leading to the dismissal. The Sub-Committee then heard representations and submissions from the Chief Officer (Education - North) on behalf of the Service and representations and submissions from I Glennie, SSTA on behalf of Appellant 2/2024. Thereafter, both parties withdrew from the meeting. Both parties were then re-admitted to the meeting. Decided: that the grounds of the Appeal had been substantiated and the appeal be upheld. Item 2 Page 5 of 364
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Education Employees Appeals Sub-Committee - Monday, 26 August 2024 2 Page 6 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref: MOH/GS/JB Date 19/11/24 Standards and Quality Report Session 2023-2024 From Michelle O’Halleron, Acting Chief Officer (Education – North) E-mail ohalleronm@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Executive Summary Education Authorities have a duty, as outlined in the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 which amends the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, to continually endeavour to improve the quality of education provided in the schools managed by them. To enact this duty, every year the Service produce a Standards and Quality report and a Service Improvement Plan. These reports are presented to Committee and submitted to Scottish Government. The Standard and Quality Report summarises progress over the last academic session, August 2023 to June 2024. It is framed around the 4 key HGIOS4? Quality Indicators and shows our progress in relation to the National Improvement Framework (NIF) drivers. It exemplifies, in one document, progress made by the Service towards previously agreed improvement priorities and other key aspects of improvement activity. The Annual Service Improvement Plan outlines our improvement priorities for next session; 2024-2025. It is linked to NIF priorities and drivers and evidences our commitment to improving outcomes for children and families and reducing inequalities of educational outcome experienced by pupils as a result of socio-economic disadvantage. Importantly, the report contains specific information on attainment. It is pertinent to note that this data is provisional and may be subject to changes following Scottish Government data cleansing processes and SQA appeals decisions. Recommendations It is recommended that committee: (1) Endorse the contents of the (draft) Standards and Quality Report 2023-2024. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (6) Raise attainment and skills for learning, life, and work to enhance opportunities and choices Programme of Work Brighter Futures Item 3 Page 7 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 The Education and Families service aims to provide the highest quality education services for our children and young people. The Standards and Quality Report 2023- 2024 outlines progress made towards achieving our improvement priorities, highlighting key successes, and identifying next steps. 1.2 Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Through our work with young people and their families, and with our communities and partner organisations, we are committed to making North Lanarkshire a thriving community where everyone is able to live, learn, work, invest and visit. This commitment is reflected in our priorities within the service plan and report. 1.3 This Education and Families Standards and Quality Report is designed to serve three purposes: (i) To provide all stakeholders and the people of North Lanarkshire with performance information across the National Improvement Framework (NIF) drivers and against our improvement priorities to measure how well we are improving educational outcomes for children, young people and their families. (ii) In line with external grant funding, we are required to summarise the outcomes and performance of the Pupil Equity Fund Programme, at authority level. The Scottish Government have acknowledged that to reduce bureaucracy and duplication, we can link this reporting requirement to the existing statutory requirement under the Standards in Schools etc. Act 2000 as amended by the Education (Scotland) Act 2016. This requires us to prepare an annual report describing local authority activity to: (a) reduce inequalities of educational outcome experienced by pupils as a result of socio-economic disadvantage and (b) achieve the strategic priorities of the National Improvement Framework (NIF). The Standards and Quality Report allows the local authority to meet those requirements. The Standards and Quality Report will be shared with all stakeholders and forwarded to Scottish Government. (iii) To provide the information required to contribute to the Scottish Government’s annual report on the 6 NIF drivers for improvement. 1.4 In December 2021, NIF priorities were updated to reflect legislative changes incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into law. The introduction of the new priority ensures that practitioners, at all levels, are aware of their responsibilities in relation to the UNCRC. The 6 drivers were also updated. Key changes included closer alignment of curriculum and assessment and integration of early years terminology throughout the drivers. This provided increased cohesion and reflected the progressive nature of the 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence. 1.5 Subsequently, the 2024 National Improvement Framework (NIF) for Scottish education introduced several further changes to enhance the quality and equity of education. For example, the vision statement has been updated to emphasise achievement over attainment, aligning more closely with the four capacities of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). There is a renewed focus on professional learning and building staff capacity and on the effective use of data and evidence to support continuous improvement. There is also a clearer focus on equality, inclusion and sustainability. 1.6 The Service continues to keep abreast of these changes and strives to ensure they are reflected appropriately in planning and reporting processes. Page 8 of 364
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1.7 The Standards and Quality report contains a section outlining our attainment progress, within key stages of the Broad General Education (BGE) and Senior Phase (S4-S6.) It is important to note that the information provided is based on provisional data available at the time of writing the report and that this data may be subject to changes after data cleansing and SQA appeals etc. 1.8 Attainment of the Broad General Education is collected at P1, 4, 7 and S3 through teacher professional judgement of Achievement for Excellence (ACEL) data and reported on nationally. (National data is published circa. November.) 1.9 The senior phase exam structure in Scotland largely returned to normal for session 2023-24. Notably, this session is the first time since Covid that pupils were required to complete all coursework aspects in most National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications. 1.10 The significantly different circumstances in which exams have taken place from 2019- 2024 means that comparison of attainment between years and any conclusions drawn in changes in performance should be treated with significant caution. For this reason, in this report, the 2024 exams results data has been compared to the 2023 and 2019 exam results data, as this was the last year that the traditional exams system was applied prior to the pandemic. 2. Report 2.1 Education and Families has developed approaches to service delivery to successfully implement a range of national and local educational aims and priorities and enact its duties in relation to the Education (Scotland) Act 2016 which amends the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000. The aim is to ensure that every child and young person is equipped with the skills they need to lead successful and fulfilled lives and to contribute positively to their local communities and to the local and national economies. 2.2 The Service Improvement Plan and Stands and Quality (S&Q) Report align with national and local improvement drivers. They are designed to incorporate key priorities from serval underpinning service level programmes of work and strategies. Throughout the plan and report there is a clear focus on raising attainment, ensuring equity and ensuring all learners are supported to achieve their full potential. 2.3 The Improvement Plan and S&Q Report reflect the Service’s self-evaluation and encompass recommendations from several internal and external reviews including recommendations from the inclusion review and findings from collaborative improvement activity. 2.4 The S&Q Report 2023-2024 sets out some of our achievements in delivering our priorities within the context of the cost-of-living crisis and budget reductions across all local authorities. It includes information on how the Service has effectively managed tapering Strategic Equity Fund (SEF) to strengthen core activity and provide meaningful actions to address the poverty related attainment gap. 2.5 The Summary Standards and Quality Report 2023-2024 (Appendix 1) exemplifies the progress we have made in achieving our improvement priorities, in an abbreviated version. The full Standards and Quality Report (Appendix 2) contains further detail and highlights some of the highly effective approaches which were implemented, across education establishments, and with families and local communities, to continue to Page 9 of 364
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support recovery processes and to combat the effects of poverty on children and their families. 2.6 Evidence of our progress and improvements in relation the 6 NIF drivers permeate the document: • Performance Information • School and Early Learning Centre (ELC) improvement • Curriculum and Assessment • Parent/Carer Engagement and Family Learning • Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism • School and ELC Leadership 2.7 In addition to highlighting strengths and successes we have also identified key areas for development and next steps to enable us to continue to deliver excellence and equity and to ensure better outcomes for children, young people, families and communities. 2.8 The S&Q Report also contains information on our progress towards our core and core plus stretch aims; identified as part of Scottish Government’s refreshed approach to the Scottish Attainment Challenge. (Key Performance Information (KPI) in Appendix 1 of the S&Q Report.) The report also exemplifies the way the Service has maximised the use of tapering Strategic Equity Funding (SEF) to improve outcomes for children and families impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty related attainment gap. 2.9 The core stretch aims are part of a requisite package of measures identified by the Scottish Government. Core Measures include ACEL for P1, P4 and P7 Literacy Combined, ACEL for Numeracy P1, P4 and P7 Combined, 1 or more at SCQF Level 5 and 1 or more at SCQF Level 6. As previously reported to Committee benchmarks for the stretch aims were calculated from baseline data from 2020-2021. NLC established their stretch aims based on local intelligence and data and local and national comparison data. Stretch aims are set over a 3-year period. Session 2023-24 is an interim year however, information on our progress has been included for reference. Data should be analysed in context and with the understanding that NLC’s targets were aspirational and from a higher than usual baseline. Furthermore, a level of tolerance should be applied to interim measures. 2.10 Local Authorities were able to identify their own Core plus stretch aims. North Lanarkshire Council’s Core Plus stretch aims focused on improving attendance (primary and secondary) and included a participation measure focusing on work led by the Virtual School’s team to reduce exclusions for Care Experienced young people. Data outlining our progress towards these aims in also included in the Key Performance Indicators, within the S&Q Report. 2.13 The Education and Families Improvement Plan for session 2024-2025 is included in Appendix 3. This provides specific detail around priorities for next session and outlines how we will track and measure progress. This is year two of our strategic three-year planning cycle. As such, the overarching priorities will remain in place for more than one academic session, however, key actions and baseline measures will change to reflect our progress. More detailed information outlining the Service’s approach to raising attainment will be presented at the February Committee meeting. Page 10 of 364
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2.14 The Education and Families Plan contains key priorities from several underpinning plans and programmes of work including The Plan for North Lanarkshire. It incorporates the Service’s priorities from the Scottish Attainment Challenge plan and Raising Attainment Strategy. This demonstrates NLC’s commitment to simplifying planning processes and aligning resources and efforts to reach overarching goals. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Continue to raise attainment and achievement for all young people and provide opportunities for them to develop skills for life and work. 3.2 Continue to work in partnership with parents and carers to provide meaningful opportunities for them to engage in service, and establishment level, self-evaluation processes that facilitate continuous improvement processes and enable all parents to have opportunities to support their children’s learning. 3.3 Continue to support headteachers to improve outcomes for children and families, through implementation of, and participation in, robust self-evaluation and quality assurance processes. 3.4 Continue to use a range of qualitative and quantitative data to track and measure progress and inform planning for improvement processes. 3.5 Attainment measured against core and core plus stretch aims. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1 – Draft Summarised Standards and Quality Report 2023-2024 Appendix 2 – Draft Standards and Quality Report 2023-2024 Appendix 3 – Draft E&F Improvement Plan 2024-2025 Michelle O’Halleron Acting Chief Officer (Education – North) Page 11 of 364
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 12 of 364
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The report contains details on the proposed over-arching policy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment. Within this, the policy reflects the UNCRC, ensuring prominent focus and planning for children, their rights and wellbeing is central. This is monitored through the quality improvement and assurance model. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 13 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Education, Children and Families Standards and Quality Report 2023-2024 Abbreviated Version Page 14 of 364
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EDUCATION AND FAMILIES’ IMPROVEMENT REPORT: 2023-24 Strategic Aim: Raise Attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap. Link to Education and Families’ Priority: Attainment and Achievement, Equity – Closing the attainment Gap, Developing the Young Workforce. Link to The Plan for North Lanarkshire: Resilient People and Brighter Futures. NIF Priority Improvement in Attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy. Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people. NIF Driver Assessment of Children’s Progress. Teacher professionalism. School Improvement. Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights Improving outcomes by building staff capacity and leadership skills. Effective analysis and use of data to support excellence and equity at local authority and establishment level (tracking and monitoring). Continued implementation of the Service’s Quality Improvement Framework to provide assurance and support continuous improvement across the Service. Provision of high- quality professional learning opportunities • Review SEEMiS Tracking and Monitoring. Procedures to ensure a consistent approach across all establishments. • Refresh current educational dashboard, linking with West Partnership. • Pilot new secondary attainment review processes to increase impact. • Organisation of Faculty Head Twilight sessions with a specific focus on raising attainment. • Bespoke CLPL sessions delivered by Education Scotland Attainment Advisor focusing on outcomes, measures, evaluative writing, and robust self- evaluation (SECI). • Launch the parental engagement strategy and monitor impact. • Analysis of HMIE grades for QI 1.3 Leadership of Change. • % of Positive HMIE results. • % of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall, they are satisfied with the school. (HMIE questionnaires.) • Analysis of Pupil and parental HMIe questionnaires, as reported as part of North Lanarkshire’s Strategic Performance Framework. • Quantitative and qualitative feedback from Validated Self Evaluation Visits, Support and Challenge discussions etc. • Innovation and Improvement usage data. • 3 Faculty Head sessions took place across the year with 87% of schools attending. • In session 2023-2024, a total of eleven inspection reports were published for North Lanarkshire establishments. 82% of establishments received a positive report, using the current criteria which categorises a grading of satisfactory or above as positive. • Half of the quality indicators graded during inspections last session were graded as ‘Good.’ • HMIe questionnaire results indicate that 79% of parents agree or strongly agree that overall, they are happy with the schools. • We have continued to increase the number of establishments with Rights Respecting Schools (RRS); RRS schools. As of March 2024, 56 establishments have achieved Bronze, 44 have achieved Silver and 20 have achieved Gold. 28 new establishments have registered with RRS. Page 15 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights to build staff capacity, at all levels. Parental Engagement Strategy. Integration of United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Implementation of Equalities outcome statements. • Continue to support schools to incorporate UNCRC through initiative such as Rights Respecting Schools (RRS), curriculum rationale work etc. • Implementation of equalities leadership sessions. • Engagement statistics re. NL’s Leadership programme. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities. (attendance/opportunities) • Feedback on parental engagement strategy. • Data re number of schools with Rights Respecting Schools status. • Children’s rights assessments on SLT/Committee papers. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. equalities activity as outlined in the equalities action plan. • Equalities leadership sessions have been created and are open to all cohorts. Further sessions will be planned into the upcoming programme. • Parental engagement strategy has been approved and will be launched in the new term along with engagement sessions. • Review of SEEMiS tracking and monitoring system is ongoing. The Service is collaborating with other LA SEEMiS representatives to look at different approaches to using SEEMiS to maximise impact. This work will continue next session. • Secondary attainment process reviewed in consultation with Secondary HTs and HMIe to maximise impact. This will be launched in session 2024-25. • SECI sessions delivered to all Heads of Establishment. Almost all agreed or strongly agreed that this professional learning improved their understanding of self-evaluation for continuous improvement. • Work on the dashboard refresh was paused as the Service are currently exploring the use of BI to create new systems and processes. Improving outcomes Strategic review of curriculum and • Continued implementation of North Lanarkshire’s Curriculum • Qualitative and quantitative data to evidence the • Curriculum Toolkit year 2 training and re- run of year 1 has had an uptake across Page 16 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights through provision of a curriculum that reflects the design principles of CfE and meets all learners’ needs. learning pathways, reflecting on recent findings from OCED, Hayward review etc. Improvement in attainment and achievement through refreshed curriculum pathways at the senior phase, enhancing opportunities for completion of a range of award bearing courses. Improvement in attainment in literacy and numeracy through the delivery of refreshed curriculum progression pathways - BGE S1-S3. (yr2) Further development of progressive learning pathways to support consistency Toolkit to support establishments to evaluate and review their current curriculum rationale and content. Establishment of support pathways for Year 1 and Year 2 adopters. • CLPL sessions delivered to support implementation of the toolkit. • Pupil Conference – February 2024. • Celebrating success and sharing good practice event implemented. • Links with West Partnership to share good practice to improve outcomes. • Steering group established to develop creative BGE timetabling models for evaluation. • Monitor the impact of literacy and numeracy progression pathways to progression, within and across CfE Levels. • Creation of further progression pathways to support consistency across North Lanarkshire. number of establishments engaging with the Curriculum Toolkit. • BGE models created and submitted for evaluation. • Presentation data evidencing increased number and range of SQA options available for learners. SEF Stretch aims: • Increased number of young people achieving- • 1+ SCQF Level 5; • 1+ SCQF Level 6; • ACEL (literacy combined and numeracy combined). schools of 62%. Faculty Heads and Principal Teachers (Secondary) also completed training sessions around curriculum and attainment with 87% of schools attending the 3 sessions. Almost all targeted staff attended at least one session. • The sharing good practice Showcase event has been rescheduled to September 2024 to better link in with the launch of the refreshed NL Learning, Teaching and Assessment policy. • Further development of curriculum progression pathways this year has included Gaelic and STEM. These will be added to the suite of those already available - Digital, Literacy and Numeracy. Expressive Arts, 1+2 Languages and Health and Wellbeing are in progress and will be completed in session 2024-25. • Following consultation with school partners, a secondary establishment is working on a pilot for a combined S4-6 schematic. The test of change will be continually reviewed. • ACEL Literacy P1, P4 and P7 Combined – 75.05% • ACEL Numeracy P1, P4 and P7 Combined - 81.18% • All SCQF 5 (2022-23) - 85.82% Page 17 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights and quality across the service. • All SCQF 6 (2022-23) - 61.89% Education and Families Contribution to Brighter Futures Programme of work. Implementation and advancement of North Lanarkshire’s Pathways programme and success in supporting our young people to achieve sustained positive destinations. Success of our Developing the Young Workforce (Pathways, Packages and Partnerships) approach in improving outcomes for learners. Universal provision of a progressive pathway that supports all children and young • Implementation of progressive pathway (3-18). • Embedding skills framework across early years, primary, secondary and ASN schools in line with Career Education Standard. • Broaden Foundation Apprenticeship (FAs) Frameworks in line with local drivers. • Increase the number of HNC programmes delivered in schools. • Increase uptake of Foundation Apprenticeships. • Increase overall participation in Future Friday programme. • Increase engagement of most vulnerable young people in Future Friday activity. • Continue to develop partnership work with the supported employment team to support senior phase pupils with ASN. • Core primary engineering and fundamental outdoor skills will • Qualitative and quantitative data re. FAs, HNCs, etc. • Future Friday quantitative data – overall and Q1. • Data evidences increased partnership programmes. • School Initial Leaver Destination Data. • SEF Stretch Aim: -Annual Participation Measure; -Improvement in Initial Leaver destinations. • 109 young people enrolled on the programme. Of the 94 who completed the programme 98% entered a positive destination. 73% entering further education, employment, apprenticeships or other formal training, 27% remaining with the Pathways programme to access support from the Pathways team, Routes to Work and SDS to identify the next step on their career pathway. • Work has commenced to embed skills framework with Careers Education Standard. This will continue into the new session. • 34 schools achieved NL Enterprising schools award as part of the new enterprise pathway. 138 schools engaged, with 9297 pupil engagements. • Average attendance at Future Fridays’ sessions has doubled since January 2022 and increased by 5% compared to the previous academic year with 6,200 (29.03%) young people participating each week. • 40.03% (3618 pupils) of attendees at Future Fridays came from SIMD 1-3, with 29.28% (1694 pupils) of participants having additional support needs and 33.11% (248) Page 18 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights people to develop an understanding of enterprise, entrepreneurship, and self- employment as a career opportunity. Enhanced levels of employer engagement through formalised partnerships. Impact of the Future Friday programme on improving opportunities and experiences for learners. be offered across the primary estate. • Further develop employer partnerships to support vocational learning. • Continue to work towards targets set in DYW delivery plan. of attendees were from a care-experienced background. • Vocational Education team worked in partnership with Supported Employment to provide 2 dedicated Transition Support Workers to support young people with additional support needs into positive destinations. This project will continue till June 2025. 433 pupils, from 10 Primary Schools participated in Primary Engineering. 75% of pupils participating were eligible for free school meals. 130 (P5-7) pupils also attended BE-ST Next Gen programme which raises awareness of the potential of low carbon and sustainable construction. Primary Pathways provided 45 targeted support sessions for P5-7 children across five clusters who were identified by CIILS and Head Teachers as being disengaged or at risk of disengaging. This impacted positively with engagement levels increasing. Employer partnerships: Vocational Education have developed partnerships with NHS to increase opportunities for work experience within social care and health care for pupils with continuing support from NLC Early Years provision for placements for social services and childcare groups. New partnerships have been secured with 4 contractors with Page 19 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights delivery starting in session 2024-25. Data provided by DYW LED shows North Lanarkshire Secondary Schools have engaged with 1557 employers, delivering 2611 activities, to 34216 young people during session 2023-24. Developing effective pedagogical approaches across North Lanarkshire Development of a North Lanarkshire Play Strategy to support staff and maximise opportunities for learners to learn through high quality play- based learning experiences. • Audit existing approaches to play based learning. • Collaborate with relevant partners to create an authority wide Play strategy. • Complete a test of change pilot - Year 1. • Deploy play practitioners strategically to support pilot programme. • Qualitative and quantitative data showing the impact of new approaches on children’s engagement, learning and motivation (Pilot). • Analysis of stakeholder feedback re. Play Strategy. • An audit was carried out in Dec 2022 to establish approaches within primary establishments. 94 responses indicated that a third of establishments were at the initial implementation stages of play based learning. • 129 staff participated in CLPL related to play through collaborative working with the West Partnership. • Due to staffing constraints, play practitioners were unable to be released. New model created and ready to implement in session 2024 with new Education Support Officers leading development work. Our strategic approach to ensuring effective delivery of Gaelic Education within North Lanarkshire. • Parents’ Consultation Group will meet termly with key officers to consult and report on the plan. • Continue to work with Comann nan Pàrant (CnP), to increase Gaelic opportunities for children, young people and their families. • Increase the number of primary schools in North Lanarkshire that deliver Gaelic as an L3 • Increased uptake of Gaelic education • Almost all tasks are ongoing, with a minority completed. Some key actions were paused due to a live statutory consultation, which concluded at E&F Committee in May 2024. • Curricular Pathways created for Early, First and Second level. Work with CnP is Page 20 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights Strategic development work, aligned to key actions outlined within the GLP: increasing the use of Gaelic • Increasing the learning of Gaelic • Promoting the positive image of the language. Approaches taken to ensure that Gaelic continues to be a vibrant modern language which enables our young people to develop wider routes to learning life and work. Statutory consultation results. • Increase opportunities for children and families to engage with Gaelic music and culture through a range of activities. • Work with colleagues in EY to promote GME as an option to parents. • Develop progressive pathways. • Continue to link with colleagues in Community Learning and Development to strengthen opportunities for children and families. • Increase in the number of schools delivering Gaelic as an L3 ongoing and there is continued effort to encourage family engagement opportunities. CnP engagement will be continued around NL standalone provision discussions. Capacity to improve the quality of children and young people’s learning experiences through authority led Learning, Teaching • Re-launch Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA: Assessment and Moderation) to strengthen rigour and consistency across NLC. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities. (attendance/opportunities) • Stakeholder feedback re new LTA policy. • 33 schools/staff participated in a LA moderation event. A further 29 took part in a West Partnership event with 97% of successful outcomes. • 27 senior leaders received VSE Champions training to allow them to support our Page 21 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights and Assessment (Moderation) improvement activity. • Implement processes to increase moderation across clusters, secondary departments and ASN networks. • Creation of North Lanarkshire – LTA (Moderation) policy. • Work with West Partnership to lead Improving Our Classrooms (IOC) and Improving our Departments (IOD). • Organise a robust programme of training for LTA leaders, QAMSO and HTs etc. to disseminate key messages across all establishments and improve understanding of the learning, teaching and assessment cycle. • Almost all establishments will have an identified LTA coordinator who attends training. • Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing. • Improvement in accuracy of teacher professional judgement (TPJ) and attainment as evidenced in Core and Core plus stretch aims. wider quality assurance/validated self- evaluation processes. • 1906 teachers participated in LTA sessions • 75% of primary, and 78% of secondary schools regularly attended LTA Coach sessions to strengthen approaches and disseminate key messages. Impact of Learning Hub operating model on building staff capacity and improving attainment in literacy, numeracy, STEM and LTA. Strategic deployment of Pedagogy Practitioners to build capacity and improve • Develop and implement a robust referral system for the deployment of additional resources to support excellence and equity, maximising outcomes for learners. • Develop a robust system for tracking, monitoring, and reporting impact. • Dyscalculia – Work with educational psychologist to • Improvement in attainment as evidenced in Core and Core plus stretch aims. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. impact of pedagogy team. • Increased use of new referral process to provide targeted support. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL • Work has been ongoing with the TPAG and DYW team to strengthen the universal delivery of Financial Education. A programme of activity to strength universal approaches and provide targeted support has been created for implementation in session 2024-25. • Following a literature review by the Robert Owen Centre, a test of change research pilot with 4 establishments has been set up to explore Expressive Language Page 22 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights outcomes for learners. launch new Dyscalculia guidance. • Work with partners (TPAG) to develop a financial education programme that supports young people to develop financial awareness. • Work with colleagues from the Robert Owen Centre and Psychological Services to develop a test of change initiative re. strategies that can be used to support young children to develop their Expressive Language skills. (Early Identification and Intervention.) opportunities (attendance/opportunities). • Data and findings of Expressive Language Test of Change. development. This will be implemented in the new session. • Following consultation with Education Scotland and Educational Psychologist the new dyscalculia guidance has been finalised and will be launched in the new session. Transformation of the digital infrastructure and connectivity across the school estate including project management of devices and immersive classrooms. Strategic approach to developing a high- quality, aspirational digital learning • Continue to use procurement framework to manage device deployment and refresh programme. • Strategic Deployment of Pedagogy Practitioners to build capacity and improve outcomes for learners. • Comprehensive programme of CLPL to empower and upskill staff and ensure sustainability of digital developments. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities (attendance/opportunities). • Increased Digital Schools Award Scotland (DSAS) awards. • Digital device inventory. • CLPL data (qualitative and quantitative). • SCQF levels 3-7 Digital Award data. • Over 1400 devices successfully refreshed as part of phases 3 and 4 of the refresh plan. • Throughout the session the 15 Digital Pedagogy Practitioners worked across all 23 clusters to provide technical support and to build staff capacity to embed quality digital pedagogy. • The creation of recorded CLPL content increased availability of support for establishments. 25 sessions of additional bespoke CLPL for schools and clusters was also delivered. 9 candidates successfully Page 23 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights environment across all establishments and sectors. (Transformational change) Approaches to building staff capacity through a provision of a comprehensive suite of professional learning opportunities that empower staff and ensures a sustainable approach to digital improvement. (Building Capacity) Learning Experience: Development of programmes and processes that maximise the effective use of devices and technologies to ensure equity and excellence and improve outcomes for • Continued promotion of Digital Schools Award Scotland (DSAS) and Microsoft Educator. • Monitor the impact of digital progression pathways to progression, within and across CfE Levels. • Mapping exercise completed for Digital literacy and computing science qualifications across the SQA subjects. • Tracking system developed for attainment and attrition within the digital consortium. • Establish an approved catalogue of software applications which can be used to enhance core digital learning. • Expansion of immersive experiences. • Further installation of digital classrooms. • Increased uptake of Digital consortium data. • Monitoring of Virtual Classroom data. completed the Digital Leadership Course. Universal development sessions delivered to all probationers and digital champions. CLPL also delivered to all schools for digital systems such as ParentsPortal, Glow and NLED account use. • 58 schools are fully accredited DSAS. This is 38% of all NLC establishments and exceeds the previously set target for 40 establishments. A target of 58% schools achieving DSAS has been set for next session (an additional 32 schools). • 75% of all NL schools inspected in this session highlighting good examples of digital practice. • Pathways updated to include core and exemplified learning for 3rd level in both Computing Science and Digital Literacy. • 2 new Immersive Experiences created and installed in Summerlee (Coatbridge) and Motherwell (Library). Airdrie Library site will be completed in session 2024-25. • 9 digital classrooms installed in total - Bellshill Hub (pilot), Airdrie Academy (pilot), Greenfaulds (pilot), St Margaret's, St Maurice's, Chryston, Coltness, OLHS Motherwell and Caldervale. Capital funding removed but will be reviewed again in 2024-25 to support other 14 schools. Page 24 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights children and young people. (Learning Experience) Improve outcomes for learners through the provision of high-quality early years educational provision Impact of implementation of the Early Year Service’s Quality Improvement Framework to provide assurance and support continuous improvement across the Service. Provision of high- quality professional learning opportunities that builds staff capacity, at all levels. Deployment of EY workforce. Impact of 1140 hours on improving outcomes for children and families. • Continued implementation ELC training calendar to empower and build staff capacity. • Expansion of Early Year Leadership Framework. • Strategic deployment of staff to build capacity and to support excellence and equity. • Continued implementation of Early Years Learning, Teaching and Assessment based moderation cycle training. • Development of an EY training tool. • Introduction of EY Heads of Centre (HoC) Mentor Model. • Launch Family Engagement Service to provide further support for children and families. • Continue to offer Solihull Programme to improve consistency across the Service. • Engage in the Scottish Study of ELC with Scottish Government - Phase 4 - (October 2023) to • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities (attendance/opportunities). • By June 2024 all primary schools will have the opportunity to participate in CLPL to enhance the knowledge and skills of staff to provide high quality child centred play pedagogical approaches for children in primary one. • Data re. Impact of Family Engagement services (uptake and impact). • Solihull – attendance data. • 96% of participants from our ELC leadership programme reported that the programme has had a positive impact on them as leaders, in comparison to 94% in 2023. • Since December 2023, 100% of settings have achieved the Gold Award status for ELC Breastfeeding award. • 36 of our support workers have completed the PDA Education Support Assistant course. 14 staff have completed the BA in Childhood Practice. This shows our commitment to build staff capacity. • A pan Lanarkshire Solihull Approach Steering Group has been established to provide governance and co-ordination of the overall programme and monitor impact. To date, the total number of practitioners across Lanarkshire is 3714. • 3583 participants have registered in the online parenting programme with 75% who have actively engaged. 96% report the course is helpful and makes a difference, 94% would recommend this to other parents. Page 25 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights monitor the impact of 1140 hours. • To date 996 practitioners have completed the Breastfeeding Friendly ELC Award Scheme Module. • Investment in our ELC estate: 8 FLC Completed, 7 Nursery Classes completed, 2 new build hubs and adaptations to 103 ELC settings to improve the learning environment. Tackle Poverty and Closing the poverty related Attainment Gap Impact of refreshed Strategic Equity Fund Plan on closing the poverty related attainment gap and improving outcomes for learners. Development of partnerships and synergies between various funding streams to enhance support for vulnerable children and families and close the poverty related attainment gap. Processes and procedures to support • Relaunch SAC/PEF framework following midterm review. • Establish clear procedures for identifying, monitoring, and reporting on Local Authority core and core plus stretch aims. • Deploy Cluster Attainment Teachers (CATs) across the cluster to provide support for identified individuals. • Deploy Curriculum Managers to strengthen improvement work with a specific focus on learners from the lowest deciles (Q1). • Collaborate and work with colleagues across Services to implement North Lanarkshire’s Tackling Poverty Strategy. • Development of an Arts Strategy for North Lanarkshire Council that integrates our arts offer • Stakeholder feedback re. SAC/PEF Framework. • Progress towards core and core plus stretch aims. • Club 365 Attendance and participation data and feedback. • Participation Statistics- School and Community Music Programmes. • Cluster data evidencing impact of CATs. • Progress updates TPAG. • Entry Point 3 for SAC/PEF procurement framework has been concluded and will be issued to establishments in the new session. 20 new suppliers have been added. • Monthly attendance reporting, and bi-annual ACEL data supports progress towards core and core plus stretch aims. All clusters have received input from Curriculum Manager to strengthen focus on equity and excellence. • The attainment gap has reduced from 18.5pp to 15.04pp for literacy at the primary stages. • The attainment gap has reduced from 16.1pp to 13.81pp for numeracy at the primary stages. CATs provided support to 1237 learners to accelerate progress and recovery. 70% of learners supported Page 26 of 364
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Aims for 23-24 Expected Outcomes and Key Actions Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights establishments to maximise use of PEF to improve outcomes for identified learners and close the poverty related attainment gap. Strategic deployment of targeted support and interventions to support equity in education. across targeted council services to engage and work with communities to tackle inequality. • Review current Club 365 operating model to ensure sustainability and inclusivity. were identified as have a poverty- related barrier to learning. • Work has been ongoing across clusters using the established three questions approach to support self- evaluation of the cost of the school day and financial inclusion. • Full review of Club 365 took place last session and was reported to committee on sustainability. • Active and Creative Communities (ACC) are no longer part of the E&F service albeit we continue to work in partnership. ACC will report on the progress of this strategy via their reporting processes. Link to Education and Families Priority: Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing, Vulnerable Groups- improved outcomes for vulnerable groups Link to the Plan for North Lanarkshire: Brighter Futures and Resilient People NIF Priority Improvement in Children and Young People’s health and wellbeing; Placing human rights and needs of every child at the centre of education, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. NIF Driver Parent/carer Involvement and engagement, Performance information, School and ELC improvement. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Key Highlights To improve outcomes for learners through Impact of Empowering Our Cluster Model. • Continue to link with establishments and the inclusion • Cluster dashboard data re. allocation of supports and impact. • FESAs engaged with a total of 416 pupils. Engagements were completed with 192 of these Page 27 of 364
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robust GIRFEC planning processes, collaboration and partnership working. Approaches to promoting wellbeing and ensuring children thrive, particularly those impacted upon by poverty. Deployment of cluster- based resources to improve outcomes for children and young people. Impact of cluster quality improvement framework in ensuring consistency and quality across the clusters. Processes and procedures to improve attendance. team to support North Lanarkshire’s approach to GIRFEC. • Ensure children and families remain at the heart of planning processes and deployment of cluster-based staff (CSTs and CATS) to support children and families. • Enhancement of health, mental health, and wellbeing supports for identified learners. • Deploy Family Engagement Support Assistants (FESAs) strategically to improve attendance for identified learners. • Continue to build effective partnerships to improve locality supports for children and outcomes. • Update Page Tiger resource to ensure all practitioners have access to the most up to date guidance and supports. • Monitor the impact of school- based counselling fund to provide support for learners. • Phased implementation of cluster- based staffing formula. • Continued implementation of the We Aspire model. • GIRFEC CLPL attendance figures. • HMIe Inspection results for QI 3.1. • Quality Improvement feedback/evidence. • Page Tiger data. • School based Counselling data. • Attendance and exclusion figures. • Attendance stretch aims data. • Data re. impact of FESA. families, and attendance for these families improved by 56% on average. Work is continuing with a further 224 families. • 2915 logins and 1567 messages received via our online mental health service, Kooth. 127 young people aged between 10-18 used this service to engage in 1:1 chats to support their mental health and wellbeing. • 1135 Outcome Star completed, with 776 from primary, 210 from secondary, 14 from ELC and 9 from Social Work. Information gained through this was used to support planning processes. To improve outcomes for our most Processes to strengthen Integrated Practice to Improve Outcomes for • Continue implementation of the strategic programme for Trauma Informed Practice Training to • Trauma Informed Practice – CLPL data. • Since 2015 almost two thirds (102) of establishments have completed nurture focussed development Page 28 of 364
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vulnerable children and families, including those at risk of harm. learners, particularly those at risk of harm. Approaches to ensuring children and young people’s voices are at the heart of planning processes. Use of self-evaluation evidence, including data, to support continuous improvement and inform future planning. Deployment of local and cluster-based resources to improve outcomes for children and families. develop shared language and approaches. • Implementation of the Signs of Safety Model to strengthen and ensure children and families are at the centre of planning processes, including safety planning when there is risk. (Linked to the Promise) • Continued implementation of contextual safeguarding, safe and together and Up2U. • Implementation of a ‘whole family support’ approach, keeping children safe and within their families by providing a range of supports including approaches to tackling poverty. • Recruitment of foster carers and supported carers to provide high quality care for children who cannot remain and be safe within their family network. • Ongoing reconfiguration of aftercare services. • Continue implementation of 10- year programme of transformation in the delivery of care and family support in Scotland placing the voice of the child at the heart of planning. • Work with relevant stakeholders to review policies and procedures • Evidence of positive impact of effective implementation of the Corporate Parenting Plan. Improved attendance and positive destination data for CEYP. • Data evidencing number of CEYP being supported ‘Closer to Home’. • Evidence of integration of UNCRC in to processes and procedures. • Data re. whole family supports provided. • Data re. number of fosters carers. • Joint Inspection of Children’s Services – progress through the Action Plan. work with Educational Psychologists. Following input, participants reported a 30% increase in knowledge and confidence. • The current number of schools at the various stages of the RRS awards is as follows: • 14 achieved Gold Awards • 42 achieved Silver Awards • 53 achieved Bronze Awards • 23 are registered and working towards their first award. To date: • 243 members of our workforce have been trained in contextual safeguarding from across the partnership. • 103 members of our workforce have completed trauma informed practice learning module. • 129 members of our workforce have completed the equal protection learning module. • 117 members of our workforce attended robust referral training. • 74 members of our workforce have attended the SCRA Mock children’s hearing training. • 259 members of staff have undertaken the understanding neglect learning module. Page 29 of 364
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to embed legislation incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into Scots Law. • Work with colleagues from across the partnership to create a plan to address action points from Joint Inspection of Children’s Services. • 306 members of our workforce attended the child protection briefing sessions. • 140 young carers are supported at any given time by Action for Children young carers North Lanarkshire. To continue to review processes, practice and infrastructure to ensure effective use of available resources to support and improve outcomes for learners. Continue to develop Quality Improvement processes within ASN sector, with a specific focus on effective use of data to support continuous improvements. Develop an efficient cluster- based resource allocation process which maximises use of local knowledge to deploy resources effectively to meet learners needs. Continue to reconfigure Intensive ASN service to maximise resource and better meet the needs of children and families. Review policies, processes and guidance to ensure compliance with legislative changes and to ensure best practice. • Continue to review strategic workforce planning to develop new roles and allocation processes to support early identification and to empower local clusters to strategically distribute resources to meet the needs of their learning communities. • Monitor the impact of NBPR process. • Update North Lanarkshire’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Practice. • Pilot North Lanarkshire’s Transition Policy. • Engage in a collaborative improvement process (CIR) with ADES to validate self-evaluation and support identification of next steps. • Data evidencing increased access to bespoke HWB supports for learners (quantitative and qualitative data.) • Inclusion Dashboard data to evidence impact of support. • NBPR data evidencing application and placement data. • Stakeholder feedback re. policy updates. • Feedback for CIR. • Over 180 delegates from across NLC Education and Families, partner services and NHS Lanarkshire attended a Child Protection Conference on 21st May 2024 to understand revised approaches to child protection at national, local authority and establishment level. • New processes to assess and plan for additional support needs have been strengthened, with a revised and simplified GIRFEC Pathway established for use by all practitioners. 36 HTs/HoC have had the opportunity to participate in NBPR processes building capacity and developing a shared understanding of processes. • There was an average of 4% attendance increase gain per pupil, supported by We Aspire. • Following training sessions led by the Inclusion Team, ASN recording is now more accurate: Page 30 of 364
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Sep 2023 Sep 2024: 9.7% 31.31% Primary 27.3% 35.16% Secondary • 69 young people were supported through We Aspire outreach. • The incorporation of We Aspire SEBN provisions into new purpose-built facilities within mainstream campuses provides increased opportunities for inclusion and sharing of resources and expertise. • The new Transition Policy provides a comprehensive approach to transition planning, in line with GIRFEC principles. We will continue to review the impact of the Transition Policy to ensure positive outcomes for children and young people. • Continued repurposing of 7 current learning spaces, in addition to incorporating ASN spaces in future builds, is ensuring that North Lanarkshire has fit for purpose, 21st century learning spaces for all learners and supports the realisation of the closer to home agenda. • The Needs Based Pathway Review (NBPR) process has resulted in the number of children/young people Page 31 of 364
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having their needs met within their own locality increase, and the number referred for a placement out with their own community decline. NBPR data is being used increasingly effectively to inform planning for future Service needs, including the provision of targeted support to individual establishments, to build capacity. • The development of a career progression pathway which provides the opportunity for progression from Modern Apprenticeship (SVQ 2 and 3) to Learning Assistant (NLC4 grade), to Enhanced Support Assistant (ESA, NLC7 grade) is beginning to support the Service to build a workforce for the future, creating increased opportunities for young people and new staff members. 5 SVQ3 MAs were supported during academic session 2023/2024. • 5 young people were employed as Learning Support Assistants (NLC2) in session 2023/24. • New processes are supporting a reduction in out of authority placements with a reduction from 45 in session 22/23 to 41 in session 23/24. Page 32 of 364
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• In session 2023/24 a total of 87 National 3 and 4 level qualifications were achieved by 27 young people working individually with Virtual School teachers: 93% achieved a qualification in English and 93% achieved a qualification in Maths. 63% achieved three or more national qualifications, 37% achieved four or more and 19% achieved five or more. • Over the past five school sessions, exclusions of care experienced learners have reduced overall by 93% (158 to 11), learning days lost reduced by 93.5% (339.5 to 22) and the number of care experienced learners receiving an exclusion reduced by 88% (92 to 11). • The development and integration of the We Aspire College demonstrates North Lanarkshire’s creative approach to providing an inclusive educational and vocational experience for young people experiencing adversity who require a more flexible and nurturing approach to learning. The impact of this new model and cultural shift has seen reductions in both exclusions and incidences of physical intervention for these Page 33 of 364
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young people (a reduction of an average of 111 exclusions pre-We Aspire to an average of 5 exclusions post-We Aspire; and a reduction from 26 physical interventions during 22-23 to 1 physical intervention during 23- 24). • The Virtual School team's strong partnership working with key stakeholders across the Service, to support care experienced children and young people, is impacting positively and there has been a significant reduction in exclusions of care experienced young people in the last 5 years. Since session 2019/20, there has been a: • 93% reduction in exclusions for care experienced learners. • 93.5% reduction in days lost due to exclusion for care experienced learners. • 88% reduction in number of care experienced learners excluded from school. • The model used by the Virtual School team supports capacity building across staff teams, which in turn strengthens the sustainability of supports and improves outcomes for identified learners. Page 34 of 364
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Appendix 1: NL Key Performance Measures (Including core and core plus stretch aims and KMS identified in performance management framework) Please note: Attainment data is provisional and may be subject to slight changes following Scottish Government cleansing exercise and confirmation of SQA appeals results. Tolerance Level 0.5pp above or below. Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 % of pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 72.23% 75.47% 75.05% % of Q1 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 63.93% 67.52% 67.73% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 82.94% 86.06% 82.77% Q1 – Q5 Gap (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy) 19.01pp 18.54pp 15.04pp % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 79.38% 81.31% 81.18% % of Q1 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 72.60% 74.80% 74.56% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 89.15% 90.90% 88.37% Q1 – Q5 Gap ((P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 16.55pp 16.10pp 13.81pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 85.14% 84.35% 86.7% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 79.21% 79.50% 79.59% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 93.11% 88.50% 93.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above literacy) 13.9pp 9.0pp 14.10pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 85.34% 85.11% 87.66% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 76.20% 78.13% 79.86% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 95.96% 93.87% 96.85% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above numeracy) 19.76pp 15.74pp 16.99pp Number and percentage of secondary school leavers by total qualifications attained under the All SCQF measure (S2.2a) (Based on leavers data therefore previous year’s data.) June 2022 (20/21 Insight) June 2023 (21/22 Insight) June 2024 (22/23 insight) % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better (All SCQF) 88.55% 87.46% 85.82% % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 81.73% 78.48% 77.09% Page 35 of 364
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Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 97.96% 96.60% 95.59% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 16.23pp 17.52pp 18.5pp % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 67.49% 64.62% 61.89% % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 54.82% 49.13% 48.93% % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 83.67% 81.41% 82.89% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 28.85pp 32.28pp 33.96pp Annual Participation Measure The percentage of young adults (16-19 year olds) participating in education, training or employment in the LA in the year to 31st March. (SDS data) June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 Overall 90.2% 91.0% 91.9% Quintile 1 85.1% 85.7% 87.2% Quintile 5 95.5% 96.0% 96.4% Q1 – Q5 gap (APM) 10.4pp 10.3pp 9.2pp Core Plus Stretch aims June 2023 June 2024 % Attendance Primary 91.16% 91.61% % attendance Q1 Primary 88.52% 89.15% % attendance Q5 Primary 94.50% 94.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap Primary 5.98pp 5.54pp % Attendance Secondary 85.54% 85.72% % Attendance Q1 Secondary 81.57% 81.21% % Attendance Q5 Secondary 90.41% 91.23% Q1- Q5 Gap Secondary 8.84pp 10.02pp % of leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) (Excludes ASN schools) Seemis BI (*1) 57.5% 53.36% 53.2% % of Q1 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 40.6% 36.84% 37.7% % of Q5 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 74.8% 77.58% 72.6% Q1 – Q5 gap leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 34.2pp 40.74pp 34.9pp % of P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 70.90% 73.45% 73.89% % of Q1 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 62.53% 66.35% 67.06% % of Q5 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 81.21% 83.91% 84.40% Page 36 of 364
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Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 Q1 – Q5 Gap for P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 18.68pp 17.56pp 17.34pp NLC Performance Management Target (Result collated from HMIE questionnaires distributed over 11 inspections published over session 2023-24.) Parent satisfaction - % parents agree or strongly agree that the school is well led and managed 88.8% 77% Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing. 85.8% 72.2% Parent Satisfaction –% of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school. 91.0% 78.8% HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using previous measure– satisfactory or above) 100% 100% HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 66.67% 50% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using previous measure – Satisfactory or above) 100.0% 81.2% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 71.0% 45.45% *Final SCQF for 2024 leavers will be reported when the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations 2024 data is published in February 2025 *1 For reference, SEEMIS BI does not provide the S4 roll figure for Q1 or Q5 so this information has been taken from Insight (i.e. for 2024 – taken from 2023 S4 on Insight). The 2024 percentages are then a comparison of the number of pupils that got an A-C pass in the SEEMIS BI data with the S4 roll figures from Insight. Page 37 of 364
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DRAFT North Lanarkshire Council Education, Children and Families Standards and Quality Report Full Version 2023-2024 Page 38 of 364
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DRAFT Foreword from Education, Children and Families Convener I am pleased to introduce this Standards and Quality Report for 2023 – 2024. This report demonstrates the progress made across the education service. There are many examples of improvements and successes, which is testament to the excellent work that goes on in our schools, centres, and other establishments. The report concludes with our planned next steps, to ensure there is sustained improvement. I am delighted to commend this report to all stakeholders. In my role as Convener of Education, Children and Families, I am in the privileged position of hearing and seeing first-hand the excellent work that is going on in our schools and establishments. Councillor Michael McBride Convener (Education, Children and Families) Message from Depute Chief Executive There were many successes in Education, Children and Families last session, including the successful conclusion of the Children’s Service’s Inspection, highlighting many strengths in the system including ‘effective leadership, with clear strategic direction and focus.’ We also had a positive Collaborative Improvement Visit for Inclusion, and this report highlighted North Lanarkshire’s progress to significantly improve outcomes for learners with additional supports needs within specialist provisions, as well as the creative ways to engage staff with continuous lifelong professional learning. We must also acknowledge the hard work and effort which surrounds ACEL data and SQA results, from staff and, of course, young people themselves. ACEL data indicates that levels of attainment in literacy and numeracy in the primary sector continue to improve steadily. There was an increased number of young people being presented for qualifications in National 5 and Higher, and improvement in several key measures relative to 2019 (pre-pandemic). We are delighted that further community hubs opened last session (Riverbank and Chryston) and that our Empowering Clusters model continues to grow and develop, ensuring our children and young people are supported well. This report outlines the impact of key programmes of work and initiatives that have had a positive impact on our learners. Andrew McPherson Depute Chief Executive Page 39 of 364
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DRAFT Contents 1. Our Context 1.1 North Lanarkshire Context 2. Our Plans Priorities 2.1 National Improvement Framework 2.2 Plan for North Lanarkshire 2.3 Strategic Equity Fund 2.4 Improvement Planning Processes 3. Leadership of Change 3.1 Building Leadership Capacity 3.2 Inclusion Transformation Change 3.3 Empowering Cluster Model 4. Ensuring Wellbeing, Inclusion and Equality 4.1 Educational Psychology Services 4.2 Health and Wellbeing 4.3 Community Learning and Development 4.4 Pupil Equity Funding 4.5 The Virtual School 4.6 Keeping the Promise 5. Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment 5.1 Redesigning the Curriculum 5.2 Further Developing Our Music Service 5.3 Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment 5.4 Developing the Young Workforce 5.5 Pathways 5.6 Future Fridays 5.7 Vocational Education & HNC 5.8 Gaelic 5.9 Active Schools 5.10 Digital Transformational Change 6. Our Achievements in 2023-24 6.1 Raising Attainment Strategy 6.2 Attainment in BGE 6.4 Attainment in the Senior Phase 6.4 Early Learning and Childcare 6.5 HMIe and Education Scotland 6.6 North Lanarkshire Validated Self-Evaluation Visits 6.7 North Lanarkshire Statistics 7. Next Steps: Planning for the Future 7.1 Key Strategic Developments for Session 2024-25. Page 40 of 364
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DRAFT 1. Our Context 1.1 North Lanarkshire Context North Lanarkshire occupies around 181 square miles in the Central Belt of Scotland. The area is mainly urban with some rural areas. There are three main urban areas in North Lanarkshire: Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Airdrie and Coatbridge, and Motherwell and Wishaw. The council area, at the 2022 Census had a population of 341,000, which is a 1% increase since the 2011 Census. It is less than the surrounding local authorities and is Scotland’s fourth largest local authority. The population density is 725.5 per sq.km, making it the 5th highest in Scotland after Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. In 2017, the council established the North Lanarkshire Fairness Commission to develop policy recommendations aimed at tackling poverty and inequality in the area and the recommendations have been reflected in ‘The Plan for North Lanarkshire’. Our Local Area There are 9 community areas: • Airdrie • Bellshill • Coatbridge • Cumbernauld • Kilsyth • Motherwell • Northern Corridor • Shotts • Wishaw Educational Estate • 118 primary schools, 10 of which have attached support centres. • 79 primary schools offer Early Years provision. (58 Term Time and 21 Full Time) with 3 ASN linked nursery classes. • 23 secondary schools, 4 of which have an attached support centre. • 23 council managed Family Learning Centres, 6 with ASN Provision. • 13 additional support needs establishments. • 16 North Lanarkshire schools are recognised as Rural Schools. Our Children and Young People • North Lanarkshire has circa 8200 children in early years placements and 48,300 children in primary and secondary education. • 32% of our young people living in SIMD groups 1-2 and circa 11, 800 have clothing grants. • 18.3% of our children are registered for Free School Meals. • 20.3% of our children are entitled to a clothing and footwear grant. • 13, 377 children are registered with an additional support need. • 2,741 children are registered as having English as an additional language. • 1,989 children are care experienced (either currently or previously). Page 41 of 364
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DRAFT 2. Our Plans and Priorities 2.1 National Improvement Framework Education, Children and Families is committed to promoting excellence; in terms of ensuring children and young people acquire a broad range of skills and capacities at the highest levels, and equity; removing barriers and implementing strategies to ensure every child and young person has the best opportunities to succeed and thrive, regardless of their social circumstances or additional needs. We have a particular focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. Our key improvement priorities are underpinned by the National Improvement Framework (NIF) Priorities. In December 2021 the NIF priorities were updated to reflect legislative changes incorporating the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into law. This ensures that practitioners at all levels are aware of their responsibilities in relation to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): • Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. • Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy. • Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. • Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. • Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school leaver destinations for all young people. The 6 drivers were also updated. Key changes include closer alignment of curriculum and assessment and integration of early years terminology throughout the drivers. This provides increased cohesion and reflects the progressive nature of the 3-18 Curriculum for Excellence. 2.2 The Plan for North Lanarkshire The Plan for North Lanarkshire sets the direction for the council and partners. Its purpose is to communicate the shared priorities and provide a focus for activities and resources. This high-level strategic document outlines a long-term vision for North Lanarkshire - a vision where North Lanarkshire is the place to Live, Learn, Work, Invest, and Visit. The Plan is supported by a Programme of Work developed by the council, partners, and other relevant agencies. The seven priorities of the Programme are: • Transforming Places - To better plan and co-ordinate public and private sector investment to deliver transformational change across town centres and local communities at pace. • Invest in North Lanarkshire - Accelerated outcome delivery and investment via a more streamlined advisory service and aligned operating model and infrastructure plan. • Sustainable Futures - Focus commitments to Net Zero Carbon and climate resilience and the associated energy solutions and investments required to make it a reality. • Resilient People - Deliver whole family support locally, when families need it, in a way that addresses the impacts of poverty and reduces inequality. • Brighter Futures - Support and improve educational attainment, employment opportunities, entrepreneurship, and volunteering. • Digital North Lanarkshire - Develop a skilled digital workforce, promote an innovative, sustainable culture and be the Digital Leader for a transformed North Lanarkshire. • One Service - Ensure services are delivered, regardless of owner, in a streamlined, efficient, and supportive model, with the overall vision of inclusive growth and prosperity for all. Page 42 of 364
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DRAFT 2.3 Strategic Equity Fund The Strategic Equity Fund provides funding for all 32 local authorities to invest in approaches to achieving the refreshed mission of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, “to use education to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty, with a focus on tackling the poverty related attainment gap.” For session 2023- 24, NLC received £5,431,037 Strategic Equity Funding. £3 million of this allocation was used to develop a core programme to strengthen fundamental activity to raise attainment and provide meaningful actions to address the poverty related attainment gap. The additional £2.4million was used to further enhance partnerships to support children and families and increase the level of direct support for learners in schools, for example through the provision of Cluster Attainment Teachers. Throughout session 2023-24, we have continued to work towards achieving our Core and Core Plus Stretch aims raising attainment and working towards closing the poverty related attainment gap. Our work has continued to focus on accelerating progress through strengthening our universal offer and through the provision of targeted improvement activity in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. A summary of our progress towards our stretch aims is included in the Key Performance Indicators at the end of this document (Appendix 1). Page 43 of 364
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DRAFT 2.4 Improvement Planning Processes Local Authorities have a duty to improve standards in education, challenging and supporting educational establishments to ensure continuous improvement. North Lanarkshire’s quality improvement framework is based upon the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) approach. It empowers school leaders to secure continuous improvement while providing assurance to stakeholders on the quality of education provided for learners. Establishment Annual Planning and Improvement All establishments produce Annual Improvement Plans (AIPs) which outline their key priorities for progress as part of the Annual Improvement Calendar. A central improvement calendar provides a clear improvement planning timeline, so all Heads of Establishments and central officers understand their roles and responsibilities in supporting continuous improvement. Integrated into improvement planning processes is SAC/PEF planning, which enables establishments to strategically target key priorities and to use robust, evidenced-based approaches to secure improved outcomes for learners and close the poverty related attainment gap. Annual Improvement Reports (AIRs) summarise establishments’ progress against identified improvement plan priorities and include key data (attendance, exclusion, attainment and wider achievement). AIRs include progress made toward closing the attainment gap between the most and least deprived children. Evaluative statements included within AIRs are based on rigorous, collaborative self-evaluation. Establishments grade their performance against the four identified Quality Indicators, linked to the National Improvement Framework (NIF), using the six-point scale from How Good Is Our School? 4 (HGIOS?4) and How Good Is Our Early Learning and Childcare? (HGIOELC?). To complete the improvement cycle, establishments identify next steps and new priorities to be included in the following session’s AIP. Priorities are then broken down into specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART) targets outlining outcomes/expected impact, measures of success, tasks, roles and responsibilities. AIPs and AIRs are submitted for scrutiny, with checkpoint AIR submissions planned across the year. Reviewing Attainment and Improvement Chief Officers for Education, Education and Families Managers (EFM) and Quality Officers for Early Learning and Childcare play a key role in supporting authority wide improvement. They line manage Head Teachers and Heads of Centres, and monitor the implementation of North Lanarkshire’s quality improvement calendar and processes, as outlined above. They provide essential support and challenge, in all aspects of the improvement cycle, to ensure improved outcomes for learners. They lead and coordinate internal and external scrutiny activities including attainment reviews, Validated Self Evaluation (VSE) visits and His Majesty’s Inspectors for Education (HMIe) Inspections. They contribute to authority wide self-evaluation and reporting processes including Standards and Quality reporting. Cluster Improvement Plans Cluster Improvement Plans are the responsibility of all Head Teachers and are coordinated by Cluster Chairs. Cluster Improvement and Integration Leads (CIILs) also contribute by working with Cluster Chairs to analyse data from across the cluster, identifying priorities to create a Cluster Improvement Plan (CIP). The CIP provides a focus for planned interventions and facilitates effective collaboration and sharing of expertise and resources across the cluster. Page 44 of 364
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DRAFT Validated Self Evaluation Processes Validated Self Evaluation visits (VSE) are an integral part of our improvement process. They provide an additional layer of support and challenge to facilitate continuous improvement. Education and Families Managers (EFMs) are responsible for ensuring that all establishments are included in a cyclical process for VSE. The frequency and format of the VSE visit reflects context, the purpose of the visit, and the level of support required by the establishment to secure sustainable improvements. At the universal level, a VSE can be used thematically to highlight and share good practice. At the intensive level it can be used to provide immediate intervention and support to facilitate improvement. All VSEs are planned and implemented in line with our agreed VSE protocol. Engagement with Education Scotland Education Scotland colleagues are engaged in supporting our improvement journey in a number of ways. Examples include: provision of continuous lifelong professional learning (CLPL) opportunities, leading inspection and review activity and advising on curriculum development and innovation work through Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs). Our allocated Attainment Advisor (AA) has a key role in building the capacity of leaders and practitioners by supporting efficient self-evaluation processes. How are we doing? How do we know? What are we going to do now? Page 45 of 364
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DRAFT 3. Leadership of Change Effective leadership has been, and will continue to be, fundamental to improvement. We have well established leadership programmes at every level that empower leaders, build individual and collective capacity which, in turn, improves outcomes for learners. NLC Programme of Work All service improvement activity at a strategic level is incorporated within The Plan for North Lanarkshire, Programme of Work. The Programme of Work is key to achieving the shared ambition set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire. Leadership of Change • To what extent are our tools for change impacting positively on staff and improving outcomes for all learners? • How effective are our approaches to planning for continuous improvement? Page 46 of 364
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DRAFT 3.1 Building Leadership Capacity Early Years’ Leadership Programme Over the past 3 years, 198 participants in total have attended the Early Years’ Leadership Programme. The Leadership programme continued this year with a total of 41 participants across all 3 cohorts. 25 (61%) completed at least 70% of the programme however 13 (52%) completed half or less. Course 2024 Total Number registered 2024 % of total in local authority % of total in partner settings % completed 70% and over HOC/Managers 15 6% 94% 53% DHOC/PL/Depute Managers 8 88% 12% 75% Lead Practitioners 18 56% 44% 61% This is an equally high level of uptake as compared to last year’s programme which demonstrates that there continues to be a requirement to provide a leadership programme for all senior leaders within ELC.Evaluations across all 3 cohorts show that the programme is continually highly rated by participants in relation to the number and content of the sessions provided. This year (96%) reported that the programme has had a positive impact on them as leaders, in comparison to 94% in 2023. When asked to rate the impact the programme had on knowledge, skills and abilities, participants rated an average of 8.7 out of a possible 10. This evidences that the programme is having a positive impact on leadership skills, knowledge and ability, meeting the needs of the participants through a well-balanced and relevant programme. Principal Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and Head Teacher Leadership A suite of leadership programmes, developed within North Lanarkshire and endorsed by Education Scotland continue to receive very positive feedback through evaluations. Last session, 17% of participants joined from other local authorities. Innovation and Improvement Hub Interest and activity on the Innovation and Improvement Hub remained high during session 2023-2024, with a total of 26,798 views across the session. “I feel I now have a better understanding of leadership and how to lead and encourage others to become leaders.” Page 47 of 364
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DRAFT 3.2 Inclusion and Transformational Change Collaborative Improvement Visit The Collaborative Improvement is a national approach to bringing about improvement through shared work involving staff from a local authority, Education Scotland and ADES. The Council identified the Inclusion Service as an area that it wished the Collaborative to critically review and evaluate outcomes. The Service provided a range of evidence, underpinned by a self- evaluative statement, to highlight what works well, and areas requiring improvement, within an agreed area of focus: To what extent are we developing inclusive practice in North Lanarkshire Council that improves outcomes for learners with Additional Support Needs, enabling them to thrive within an appropriate learning environment? The following four key themes were identified and explored in depth: The Service found participation in the collaborative improvement process extremely beneficial in terms of validating self-evaluation processes and outcomes and supporting and challenging thinking to accelerate future progress. Through robust professional dialogue and creative, solution focussed discussions, the Service is in a strong position to drive forward further improvements. We Aspire College- Outreach Team The development and integration of the We Aspire College demonstrates North Lanarkshire’s creative approach to providing an inclusive educational and vocational experience for young people experiencing adversity who require a more flexible and nurturing approach to learning. The impact of this new model and cultural shift has seen reductions in both exclusions and incidences of physical intervention for these young people. Recent expansion of the We Aspire College to incorporate an Outreach Team will allow where possible children and young people with social and emotional needs to be supported to maintain their mainstream placement within their own communities. Additional support can be provided to children/young people and to schools to support individual needs. This will ensure only those pupils who are most at risk are transferred to a “We Aspire” establishment, where intensive support can be provided. The Service will now maximise the use of the newly formed Outreach team to create further opportunities for staff to collaborate, and share expertise and knowledge, to improve outcomes for learners. Partnerships How effectively are we deploying resources and using partnerships to promote inclusion? Places How effectively has the repurposing of education provision improved outcomes for ASN children across our estate? Pathways To what extent does our pathway planning ensure ASN learner needs are met? People How effectively are we empowering our workforce to improve outcomes for ASN learners? Building Inclusive Practice Impacts of We Aspire Outreach 4% average increase in attendance 42% decrease in exclusions for Outreach pupils 65 hours of CLPL delivered 122 hours added to pupils education each week 69 pupils supported Staff collaboration Page 48 of 364
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DRAFT Inclusion Dashboard The Service aims to continue to develop Quality Improvement processes within the ASN sector, with a specific focus on effective use of data to support continuous improvements. Development of an Inclusion Dashboard, to measure impact of targeted work with identified children and young people has been undertaken. This work is ongoing with continued collection of data throughout 2024 and beyond. We will be using the data to understand trends in outcome measures over time and across different demographic groups. The Service will continue to use a range of qualitative and quantitative data to track and measure progress and inform our evidence-based quality-improvement planning processes. Out of Authority Placement Reductions The council’s ambition of having children closer to home and attending NL schools is being realised through alignment of a number of key processes and partnerships. These include Curriculum and pedagogical development work with NLC’s Learning Hub staff, and close partnership working between the Virtual School Team, We Aspire staff and social work colleagues. In addition, the Service has utilised the Needs Based Pathway Review process to help ensure that robust, reliable and transparent decisions are reached for placement of children and young people in specialist NL provisions. There is an increased emphasis on the careful use of assessment information and detailed profiling of the child and young person, which in continually reviewed and refined. The NBPR process articulates with Empowering our Clusters and the principles of Universal, Additional and Intensive support to ensure the right placement is identified for children and young people. The chart below shows the reduction in Out of Authority placements for NL children and young people since 2020/21 to date. Ukrainian Families The Inclusion Team continues to help support 111 (May 2024) Ukrainian children and young people across a number of schools and Early Learning and Childcare settings. In September 2023, a total of 10.0FTE teachers were recruited, on a temporary basis, to support resettlement across North Lanarkshire. These staff members have worked across a number of our clusters on a needs/intelligence based approach, under the direction of Cluster Improvement and Integration Leads (CIILs). Page 49 of 364
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DRAFT 3.3 Empowering Cluster Model The Empowering Clusters model aligns with the Scottish Government's commitment to empowerment and cluster-based approaches, emphasising collaboration among schools, school leaders, and central staff to drive positive change for families and communities. Key drivers for Empowering Clusters include equity, improvement, curriculum, additional support needs, and Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), ensuring early and effective intervention to improve outcomes for children, young people, and families. The Empowering Clusters model has continued to evolve throughout session 2023-24 with stakeholders identifying further opportunities to strengthen and align approaches to integrated services for children, young people and families, in synergy with The Plan for North Lanarkshire and the Programme of Work. The impact of the Empowering Clusters Model was recognised during the recent Care Inspectorate Joint Inspection. The report noted in their key messages that there was: “a strong multi-agency approach to early intervention, collaborative working and information sharing . . . and children and young people had early access to services to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing, before concerns escalated. Partnership approaches were helping to identify need and to secure support earlier”. Average of 51% of learners supported were living in SIMD 1-3. This equates to approximately 1099 pupils. 2, 151 supports provided by a CST in 2023-24. 56, 156 additional sessions provided across the year. Average attendance rate for support sessions was 86%. Average termly success rate of 83%. Page 50 of 364
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DRAFT 4. Ensuring Wellbeing, Equality and Inclusion Vision, Values and Rationale from Health and Wellbeing Roadmap to Recovery “Our rationale is to improve the wellbeing of all children and young people, ensuring they are loved, nurtured and empowered to thrive in all aspects of their lives. We will work collaboratively with children, their families and our partners to ensure our children have the best start in life and are supported to fulfil their potential. We will do this by making sure we have the right supports available, at the right time and delivered in the right places to ensure equity for all.” Ensuring Wellbeing, Equality, and Inclusion • How well do all staff know and understand GIRFEC, the wellbeing indicators and the UNCRC? • How well do we know the steps we have taken have improved outcomes for children? • To what extent do our schools celebrate diversity? • How well do we demonstrate improved attainment for groups and individuals facing barriers to learning, including poverty? Page 51 of 364
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DRAFT 4.1 Educational Psychology Service North Lanarkshire Council Educational Psychology Service (NLCEPS) is a statutory Service. In session 2023-24 NLCEPS provided a wide range of psychological offers to children and families, establishments and partners. Full impact data can be found in Educational and Psychology Standards and Quality Highlights 2023-24. Range of work covered by the Educational Psychology Service in 2023-24 • NLCEPS provided a link Psychologist and a regular visiting pattern to NLC establishments • In session 2023-24, Educational Psychologists delivered training, conducted research, undertook casework, and provided consultation and advice at all levels of the system. • Educational Psychologists delivered input at the Cluster level and undertook key functions at an Authority level e.g., Fostering and Adoption, Out of Authority casework. • Intensive work accounted for the largest proportion of service delivery (e.g. partnership work to support our most vulnerable children). • Approximately 1650 children’s cases are currently open with the majority located in SIMDs 1-4 (63%). • The EPS delivered a significant amount of training in session 2023-24 e.g. over 1,200 training evaluations were returned. Impact data is found in figure 1. Some highlights from 2023-2024 include: Embedding whole establishment nurture/trauma informed approaches: Since 2015 almost two thirds (102) of establishments have completed nurture focussed development work with Educational Psychologists. Following input, participants reported a 30% increase in knowledge and confidence. These approaches have a positive impact on children e.g. case study data from a primary school implementing nurturing approaches revealed: • a significant increase in attendance for individual pupils (e.g. 44% to 78% for one pupil) • significant gains in attainment: an increase from 50% to 70% in ACEL data for literacy and numeracy. Critical Incidents and Suicide Prevention • Overall, 541 staff from Education, Health, Community Learning and Development and Social Work (SW) have now attended Critical Incidents and Lifelines Lanarkshire workshops since 2022. • In 2023-24, 43 staff attended 4 Critical Incidents and Lifelines Lanarkshire workshops. Confidence ratings for staff in responding to children and young people at risk of suicide and self-harm showed a 21% increase and a 77% increase for responding to Critical Incidents. • Sessions were rated highly effective with 90% staff indicating a high rating for Lifelines Lanarkshire and 87% for Critical Incidents workshops. • The Lifelines Lanarkshire workshop was also delivered to 35 staff from the 5 Children’s Houses and 28 staff from the Fostering and Adoption and Kinship Care panels and associated SW teams. Evaluations were very positive, and staff felt it would support practice. Over 1,200 Evaluations Returned Staff from over 150 separate Establishments involved Staff reported increase in confidence following CLPL offer Staff rated CLPL offers as 9/10 for overall effectiveness 58% Service Offers 42% Bespoke Offers Figure 1: Training delivery and evaluation data Page 52 of 364
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DRAFT Supporting children and young people with grief, loss and change (Seasons for Growth) • Since 2010, over 550 Companions have been trained to deliver Seasons for Growth to support children and young people, parents/carers, and adults experiencing significant change or loss. Pupils have seen gains in their ability to build positive relationships and manage emotions. Children also noted improvement in their confidence levels. Assessing Children’s Development (using Teaching Talking resource) • In 2023-24 152 practitioners from 33 establishments were provided with training & coaching sessions to assist them in assessing child development. • Across all CLPL models, practitioners' confidence in assessing children’s development increased from 3.7 to 8.5 (out of 10) following Psychologists’ input. Autism – Supporting Neurodiversity • Recent research shows the that 86% of autistic children attend mainstream schools in Scotland (Maciver et al, 2023). • NLCEPS have a range of offers from authority, establishment and individual level to support the presumption of mainstream. In 2023-24 328 participants across 57 establishments have participated in NLEPS offers supporting neurodiversity. See NLCEPS Standards and Quality Report Highlights Report for full details of the work conducted by Educational Psychologists and the associated impact data. Page 53 of 364
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DRAFT 4.2 Health and Wellbeing ‘The full range of activities and interventions to promote the health and wellbeing of children and young people are contained within the Education and Families Strategic Health and Wellbeing Plan –‘The Roadmap to Recovery’. This section will highlight some of the key progress made this session. Outcomes Star Outcome Start has been used over the year as a measuring tool for changes in wellbeing where children have been receiving targeted interventions under the GIRFEC pathway. The results show: • 1135 stars have been completed • 776 from primary school • 210 from secondary school • 14 from Early Years • 9 from Social Work (other measures are used) Results are depicted below: Rights Respecting Schools Award A cornerstone of our work with health and wellbeing is a rights-respecting approach. Over the last two years schools have been working with UNICEF towards the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA). Staff from the SAC team have been working with schools and UNICEF to maximise uptake of this award. RRSA recognises the work that schools are doing to offer a rights-based approach in all their dealings with children, young people and families. The current number of schools at the various stages of the award is as follows: • 14 Schools hold Gold Awards • 42 Schools hold Silver Awards • 53 schools hold Bronze Awards • 23 schools are registered and working towards their first award • 4 schools hold awards but are in the process of reaccreditation. Active Schools The Active Schools Team provided a range of sessions to secondary school girls and ASN pupils, funded through SEF. Total Session delivered 1, 775 Active Distinct Participants 1,300 Total Participant Visits 8292 Family Engagement Support Assistants Family Engagement Support Assistants (FESA) were introduced to address attendance issues through targeted family support approaches. During session 2023-2024, FESAs engaged with 416 pupils and completed work with 192. Results from those that work was completed with shows that 56% showed improved attendance. KOOTH KOOTH is an on-line mental health service which offers 10–18-year-olds (or up to 26 with care experience) access to free and anonymous support. This has been added to the range of services to help children’s mental health. Through the website young people can access counselling, self-help tools and community spaces to safely seek mental health support. The service can be accessed 365 days a year, 24/7 and is an important complement to other services giving young people more choice and control about how they seek Page 54 of 364
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DRAFT help. The service was launched in North Lanarkshire in early 2023 with 23/24 being the first full school year of operation. Over 2023/24 the following activity has been seen: • 833 registrations • 2,915 logins • 3.5 average logins per user • 68% logins out of office hours • 18.6% of these registrations were 11 years old • 15.6% of these registrations were 15 years old • 494 journals created • 1,567 messages exchanged with practitioners • 127 1:1 chats with practitioners Child Protection Conference Over 180 delegates from across NLC Education and Families, partner services and NHS Lanarkshire attended a Child Protection Conference on 21st May 2024 to understand revised approaches to child protection at national, local authority and establishment level. Senior Education Officer from Education Scotland presented a keynote speech on the recent updates to Scottish Government policy and signposted to many useful support services for children and young people. NLC colleagues introduced a refreshed local authority policy, practice guide and online SharePoint containing relevant links to statutory guidance, mandatory responsibilities, resources, supports and training information. Feedback was highly positive with almost all delegates reporting that the key messages of the conference were clear and most felt supported by new and improved approaches to child protection. 4.3 Community Learning and Development (CLD) - Family Learning Types of supports provided by FESAs: • Poverty, tying in with the cost of the school day • Parental Mental health • Assisting parents with communication with schools, particularly around the additional support needs of their children. Page 55 of 364
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DRAFT Participation and Engagement The figures presented illustrate the participation of parents and children in CLD Family Learning and Parental Engagement projects for the full 2023/2024 reporting year and the subsequent first quarter (April to June). We have seen an increase in the number of distinct learners who are participating in projects and that around 50% of the Families attending live within SIMD 1-2 Data zones. Referral Pathway Our Referral pathway is built around the GIRFEC staged intervention and offers schools an equitable offer to access CLD family Learning and Parental Engagement supports. The data below outlines the figures from to show the distinct number of Referrals we have received to the CLD mailbox from another council service, external agencies and self-referrals. There has been an overall rise from 102 the previous year to 171. Welfare Supports The data below outlines the number of outgoing referrals that our team made from 1st April 2024 until 30th June 2024 highlighting the various types of organisations that parents have accessed over and above their CLD offer of Family Learning and Parental Engagement. From April to June 2024, 100% of outgoing referrals made by the team, have been to organisations that provide supports in relation to disabilities and caring responsibilities. Analysis of the data may indicate that there is a growing demand from families with children who have additional support needs. Page 56 of 364
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DRAFT This increase highlights a trend where CLD Family Learning are receiving more frequent referrals for families who have children with or who are awaiting an ASN diagnosis requiring extra support. This shift has required the CLD Family Learning team to development new approaches including: • Professional Development: Staff undertaken additional training to address complex issues: such as sleep action and Solihull understanding your child’s behaviour, LIAM, Autism & Neurodiversity Training. • Continue to build strong partnerships: Collaborations with a range of other agencies (e.g. HOPE for Autism, The Disability Forum, Early Intervention CAMHS, Neurodevelopment Service for Children and Young people, Education) are crucial for effective support and signposting and ensure that families are receiving the right support at the right time. • Inclusive Practice: Existing programmes have been modified and new ones developed to meet the evolving needs such as, Mood for Food and ASN support groups for parents. 4.4 Pupil Equity Fund In session 2023-2024, Pupil Equity Funds of £9,682,080 were distributed to all primary, secondary and ASN schools across North Lanarkshire. The majority of North Lanarkshire schools continue to prioritise spending on additional teaching staff (63.2%) to lead interventions and support activities aimed at closing the poverty related attainment gap. School leaders are empowered to make decisions on available spends based on robust self-evaluation data. All schools report on the impact of Pupil Equity Funding within their annual improvement report. Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) Highlights for NL Schools Schools continue to use Pupil Equity Funding to identify activities, approaches or resources targeted at improving outcomes for those children, young people and families, most impacted by poverty. Overall, most schools fund additional teachers and promoted posts to support PEF priorities. - 63.2% of funding was used to appoint additional teaching staff to deliver additional activities and interventions with a focus on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. - 9.3% of funding was used to create promoted posts to support equity and excellence. - 4.5% of funding was used to invest in digital devices. - 9.1% of funding was used by school to invest in additional resources for literacy, numeracy and wellbeing, to support interventions. - 2.9% of funding was used to appoint additional support needs assistants. - 5% of funding was used to engage with other agencies to support learning and wellbeing. Page 57 of 364
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DRAFT Sharing Good Practice – HMIe In the most recent HMIe inspections, good practice has been identified at St. Ignatius Primary School, Wishaw and Stane Primary School, Shotts. Both reports have highlighted how well staff are able to use data to prioritise high-quality, targeted interventions to improve outcomes in attainment and achievement, attendance and engagement. Both schools also share a strong focus and commitment on ensuring equity and excellence for all learners. At St. Ignatius Primary School staff have developed bespoke programmes such as Forest School and music tuition to meet the social and emotional needs of individual children. At Stane Primary School, staff are committed to reducing the cost of the school day through initiatives such as ‘No Snack, No Problem’, toy swaps and the coordination of a ‘pre-loved’ clothing bank. Additional staffing at Stane Primary School, has also been used to improve attendance for targeted learners. Evidence in both schools indicates that the attainment gap in reading, writing and numeracy is closing between those living in the lowest and highest quintile. Collaborative Work with SEF and Tackling Poverty Team In October 2023, the SAC Lead Officer and Curriculum Manager for Excellence and Equity, collaborated with the Tackling Poverty Team to support a self-evaluation exercise aimed at supporting families impacted by poverty. The Clyde Valley Cluster was chosen as the pilot cluster for this initiative, involving all stakeholders in responding to three key questions: • How is the cost-of-living crisis affecting you? • How is the cost-of-living crisis affecting others in your community? • What would you like us to do about it? The Tackling Poverty Team collected and analysed the responses, sharing key insights with Head Teachers. This contextualised analysis will be used by all schools in addressing the financial challenges faced by learners and families during the school day. The successful approach will be replicated across all 23 clusters. The self- evaluation exercise has also highlighted financial education as an additional priority area. This is an overarching priority across all sectors in line with the Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire strategy. As a result of this partnership, the ESO Numeracy will work collaboratively with the Tackling Poverty Team to raise awareness and profile of financial education for learners and families across all schools. 4.5 Virtual School Page 58 of 364
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DRAFT Ongoing partnership work across our schools and wider services to support care experienced learners and reduce school exclusions, continues to move forward positively with significant improvements recorded. Over the past five school sessions, exclusions of care experienced learners have reduced overall by 93% (158 to 11), learning days lost reduced by 93.5% (339.5 to 22) and the number of care experienced learners receiving an exclusion reduced by 88% (92 to 11). This is an area of work we continue to prioritise in line with our commitment to fulfilling the ambitions of The Promise. Planning in partnership with schools, families and young people, Virtual School Care Experienced Support Teachers, work with young people to achieve a variety of qualifications. For young people who are at significant risk of leaving school without formal qualifications, individual teaching input is provided. Supported by curricular leads, this session, Virtual School teachers were able to extend the range of subject areas they could support young people to achieve in beyond English and Mathematics. National qualifications have been achieved in History, Modern Studies, Media, People in Society, Hospitality and PE. In session 2023/24 a total of 87 National 3 and 4 level qualifications were achieved by 27 young people working individually with Virtual School teachers: 93% achieved a qualification in English and 93% achieved a qualification in Maths. 63% achieved three or more national qualifications, 37% achieved four or more and 19% achieved five or more. Over the past five sessions, 128 young people who struggled to attend and engage in learning in school, achieved 327 national qualifications, boosting their confidence in their learning abilities and improving their future career prospects. Additional teachers for session 2024/25 (2.0 FTE – one primary, one secondary through the Strategic Equity Fund) will expand the capacity of the Virtual School to be able to offer a minimum of two teaching sessions per week to each learner, which will increase opportunities for further learning and achievements. 4.6 Keeping the Promise Page 59 of 364
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DRAFT As part of the ongoing work of the Virtual School, the original Keeping the Promise Award was created to raise awareness of The Promise and piloted within North Lanarkshire. The original materials have since been updated by The West Partnership Promise Working Group, Education Scotland, and the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (known as CELCIS) to create an accessible resource for all local authorities. 1. To highlight the particular needs of our care experienced learners; the challenges they face and how this impacts learning. 2. To highlight our corporate parenting responsibilities to ensure the best for care experienced learners. 3. To support our workforce to consider how they can contribute to positive changes – individually and collectively. 4. To provide formal recognition for individuals and settings who successfully complete this professional learning. These aims exemplify how participation in the award programme will improve outcomes for care experienced learners through increased staff understanding and knowledge of The Promise. Following approval by Education and Families committee, undertaking the Keeping the Promise Award has been included as a priority in all cluster improvement plans for session 2024/25. Through funding from the Strategic Equity Fund, a principal teacher has been appointed from within the Virtual School to lead on this project and enable support to be provided to all establishments across NLC to achieve the award. Furthermore, the funding has allowed for a protected time allocation of one day per week including teacher backfill which will ensure no disruption to the ongoing service of the Virtual School. This whole school community approach will ensure consistency of service delivery and experiences for care experienced learners. 5. Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment Page 60 of 364
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DRAFT Learning, Teaching and Assessment • How well do we motivate and engage learners in all aspects of school life? • How well are we enabling learners to become independent learners and develop the four capacities? Curriculum • Does the curriculum experienced by our learners reflect our rationale? • How effective is the leadership of curriculum development at all levels? The need for a National Discussion to establish a compelling and consensual renewed vision for the future of Scottish education was recommended by the Muir Review. This was a generational opportunity for children, young people, and those who support them to have their voices heard. The guiding question was, "What kind of education will be needed by children and young people in Scotland in the future and how do we make that a reality?" Page 61 of 364
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DRAFT 5.1 Re-designing the Curriculum Curriculum Rationale & ‘Curriculum Content Creation’ Toolkit In session 23-24, further work was undertaken to develop training begun in the previous session with the ‘Curriculum Content Creation’ (CCC) Toolkit. Year one training was repeated and delivered by our four Curriculum Managers, and year two training was developed and delivered by Education Managers, following the established model of a ‘spotlight on success’ and an opportunity to discuss and share thought and practice. This allowed year one and year two adopters the facility to continue their curriculum journey, supported by authority staff. Feedback on these sessions continues to be very positive. Improving outcomes through provision of a curriculum that reflects the design principles of CfE and meets all learners’ needs. Curriculum Managers (BGE and Senior Phase) are developing a skills framework across the BGE into Senior Phase that provides a progressive pathway linking meta-skills, wider achievement, and opportunities for accreditation from 3-18. This framework will provide schools with support when developing refreshed approaches to curriculum through the four contexts for learning. Community Learning and Development (CLD) within NLC and partners from out with the local authority will provide support for schools to improve skills, accreditations, and outcomes for all learners. North Lanarkshire Council Curriculum Showcase Curriculum managers have been working closely with schools on the development of their curriculum rationale via the school improvement planning cycle. This has led to the organisation of an innovation in curriculum showcase which is planned to take place in September 2024 during the Learning, Teaching & Assessment conference. . Improving outcomes by building staff capacity and leadership skills Professional discussions with Education Scotland and Robert Owen Centre in Glasgow University are continuing to facilitate planning refreshed approaches to developing leadership within schools through the lens of increasing agency, a priority within national guidance to curriculum innovation and change. On-going partnership working between NLC, and professional agencies is intended to lead to a model of support for school leaders that is research informed and provides them with the knowledge, skills, and framework to lead change effectively and show improved outcomes through 1.3 Leadership of Change. S4/5/6 Combined Timetable Schematic Braidhurst High School have consulted on a combined S4-6 schematic and are considering moving to this model this year. Kilsyth, Brannock and Calderhead are also considering this model which is beneficial in terms of efficiency of staff which can allow schools to widen their curriculum offer. This initial pilot was previously approved by the curriculum design board and will act as a small test of change for curriculum models within North Lanarkshire Council. Page 62 of 364
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DRAFT Pupil Curriculum Conference The Curriculum Manager team are planning a conference for young people to take place in September, entitled ‘What Matters to Us?’, to engage with pupil voice concerning curriculum matters. The Children’s Commissioner is scheduled to attend to give the keynote speech. Faculty Head sessions: Attendance: • High attendance with approximately 77% of Faculty 7Heads participating across all schools. Focus Areas: • Sessions addressed critical aspects of teaching and leadership: o Data analysis for informed decision making o Effective learning, teaching, and assessment practices o Curriculum development and rationale building o Developing Young Workforce (DYW) integration o Interdisciplinary Learning (IDL) opportunities o Utilising effective pedagogy Outcomes and Future Plans: • Faculty Heads expressed strong interest in collaborative work within teams to: o Establish consistent approaches to curriculum planning and delivery. • Key areas for future focus were identified: o Sharing and implementing examples of best practice o Strengthening curriculum planning and leadership skills o Providing effective feedback to students o Developing departmental improvement plans o Implementing effective behaviour management strategies o Utilising data analysis for continuous improvement Feedback: • The sessions were positively received by faculty heads: o Some participants reported the sessions fostered innovative curriculum design approaches. o Others valued the opportunity to network and share ideas with colleagues. This summary highlights the high engagement of faculty heads, the focus on key educational practices, and the collaborative approach planned for future professional development. Page 63 of 364
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DRAFT 5.2 Further Developing our Music Service Education and Families Instrumental Music Service has a long-established presence within school establishments and across the council. Strategic use was made of funding from the Scottish Government and Creative Scotland to ensure a high-quality Service delivery. The Instrumental Music Service delivered lessons across education establishments, engaging with over 3,875 young people during session 2023- 2024. Our young people have received increased opportunities and access to a wide range of instrumental music tuition that includes brass, woodwind, drum kit, percussion, guitar, strings, bagpipes and pipe band snare drumming. The annual Scottish Government funding that sustains free instrumental music lessons should see a further rise in engagement in session 2024-2025. An additional 4,869 mainstream and ASN pupils were engaged in the 23/24 YMI initiatives, allowing larger groups of pupils to be introduced to music. The reviewed programme of North Lanarkshire Music Groups is in the process of being relaunched and participation is organically increasing. The instrumental music service is committed to ensuring appropriate measures are in place to provide equity of access for our learners from our most deprived areas (SIMD Data). 27.5% of pupils registered for individual music tuition live in Quintile 1. Further exploration of the total group of pupils engaging in the wider projects from the Instrumental Music Service will be undertaken to assist with tracking of equity across the service. Measures are now in place that will enable the instrumental music service to track access participation within North Lanarkshire schools more accurately now and in the future. We continue to provide targeted support as necessary, to remove any barriers to participation, whilst supporting continued engagement with instrumental musical tuition. 5.3 Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment Learning Hub The Learning Hub provides evidenced based CLPL in key areas of Literacy, Numeracy, STEM, Curriculum Development and Learning, Teaching and Assessment through the work of a team of Education Support Officers. They continually review, develop and update training linked to their key areas for staffs’ professional development. They also continue to implement its GTCS award winning coaching model. During session 2023-2024, the Literacy ESO: During session 2023-2024, the Numeracy ESO: In addition, establishments submit an annual tracker of approaches and interventions promoted through the Learning Hub and evidence of positive impact in both literacy and numeracy is evident. delivered CLPL to 850 practitioners delivered monitoring and tracking CLPL to 77 senior leaders on worked with coaches in 75% of establishments delivered 47 bespoke training sessions delivered to wider LA teams and two other local authorities delivered CLPL to 700 practitioners delivered monitoring and tracking CLPL to 50 senior leaders worked with coaches in 64% of establishments delivered 40 whole school engagements across Primary, Secondary and ASN Page 64 of 364
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DRAFT STEM The STEM ESO has been instrumental in creating an interactive STEM curricular resource to support establishment development this area. This will be rolled out next session. Furthermore, there has been support for Future Fridays through STEM Leadership Academy and Young STEM Leader Programme with 125 primary pupils taking part in workshops. Additional key highlights include: Curriculum The CD ESO worked with: • 4 primary schools, involving 67 pupils, modelling literacy teaching • 12 practitioners and 6 SLT via professional dialogue on best practice in literacy pedagogical approaches • 40% of children and young people supported live in Q1. Learning, Teaching and Assessment The LTA ESO worked with: • 27 senior leaders, delivering VSE Champs training • 1223 teachers through LTA sessions • 73% of primary, and 78% of secondary schools through LTA Coach sessions Pedagogy Team The Pedagogy Team were deployed at universal, additional and intensive levels during session 2023-2024. In total, they worked with: • 101 classes • 105 practitioners • 1990 children On average, 35.6% of the children they worked with live in Q1. The team were asked to intensively support a primary school, in 3 infant classes every morning for six weeks, modelling high-quality, research-based literacy and numeracy pedagogical approaches. The average mathematical age gains, in the six-week period were: • +7 months in an early level class; • +12.7 months in a first level class; • +8.8 months in another first level class. In literacy, the average increase in phonic/phoneme recognition, in the six-week period were: • +35% in an early level class; • +26.9% in a first level class; • +34% in another first level class. Improving Our Classrooms (IOC) North Lanarkshire continued to participate in the West Partnership’s Improving Our… Programmes. Last session, NL was well represented across the programmes, with 88% of participants successfully passing their case study of improvement, evidencing impact on classroom practice and attainment. 689 practitioner CLPL engaged with 2013 through high-quality STEM lessons 8917 partnership engagements with pupils “Participation in the IOC Programme has really made me reflect on my classroom practice. As a result of this programme, I am now much more confident in all aspects of LTA and have become a much more effective practitioner.” IOC Participant Page 65 of 364
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DRAFT 5.4 Developing the Young Workforce In November 2022, an updated Developing the Young Workforce Delivery Plan for 2022-2025 was published and approved by the Education, Children and Families Committee. The plan set out the universal entitlements and additional and intensive supports available to North Lanarkshire children and young people in this area of work. Ambitious improvement targets were identified in areas including school leaver destinations, Pathways Programme for winter and summer leaving young people, Future Fridays and Vocational Education. School Leaver Destinations In February 2024, our 2022-23 school leaver destinations were published. 4007 North Lanarkshire young people left school and entered a positive post-school destination. Key successes were: • 94.7% left school and entered a positive post school destination. An increase on the previous year and the highest percentage achieved. • 68.4% of young people progressed on to Higher or Further Education. A 2.4% increase on the previous year and above the national average. • 24.3% entered employment. • Our annual participation measure (percentage of young people 16–18-year-olds in education, training and employment) was 92.8%. This was the highest percentage achieved since the measure was introduced in 2017. • The establishment of a multi-agency and cross-council Developing the Young Workforce Taskforce continued to support schools and families with those young people with multiple barriers and most at risk of entering a negative post-school destination and long-term unemployment. UK Shared Prosperity Funding allowed a Post-School Destinations Project Manager to be appointed in a collaboration between the council’s Education and Families Service and Skills Development Scotland. 5.5 Pathways Pathways Outcomes 2023-24 The Pathways programme was launched in 2019 as part of North Lanarkshire Council’s commitment to ensuring all young people have access to a rich curriculum where there is excellence and equity leading to positive outcomes for every young person. The programme has evolved to provide support to summer and winter leavers who face multiple barriers to education and employment with 606 young people accessing the programme to date. In 2023-24 109 young people enrolled on the programme with 15 returning to school having not sustained engagement. Of the 94 who completed the programme 98% entered a positive destination. 73% entering further education, employment, apprenticeships or other formal training, 27% remaining with the Pathways programme to access support from the Pathways team, Routes to Work and SDS to identify the next step on their career pathway. Further information on the initial destinations for each cohort is provided in the tables opposite. Destination Count College - Full Time 44 Pathways - Cont. Support 25 Training Provider 10 Employment - Full Time 9 Returned to School 15 Activity Agreement 3 Apprenticeship 1 Disengaged 2 Total 109 NL Enterprising Pathways The North Lanarkshire Enterprise Pathway was launched in August 2023 to support the entitlement set out in the Career Education Standard and DYW Delivery Plan that all children and young people from Early Level through the Senior Phase of learning are entitled to ‘develop an understanding of enterprise, entrepreneurship, and self-employment as a career opportunity’. Page 66 of 364
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DRAFT The group lead by North Lanarkshire Council Education and Enterprise staff, in partnership with Young Enterprise Scotland, Social Enterprise Academy, Youth Philanthropy Initiative, Prince’s Trust and SmartStems worked in partnership to make enterprise activity and support easily accessible through the creation of new resources, CPD opportunities, celebration week and an award scheme to recognise and reward the range of enterprise and entrepreneurship activity taking place across our schools. Some key highlights from this academic year are below: 5.6 Vocational Education and HNC Foundation Apprenticeships Level 4/5 and 6: Foundation Apprenticeships are delivered in partnership with New College Lanarkshire, Tigers Ltd, NHS Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Council’s Early Years and Locality Social Care. For 2024/25 the Health & Social Care programme pupils will split their work experience between NHS clinical placements and North Lanarkshire Locality teams. On successful completion of their course, they will be offered the opportunity to register with NHS Lanarkshire’s nurse bank. In partnership with Active Schools and the NHS, Social Services Children & Young People pupils will be trained to deliver a Motor Schools Toolkit to early years children to support development of Motor Skills and referral to Occupational Health Services if needed. Full mentoring & training is being provided by Active Schools and will fit perfectly with their Foundation Apprenticeship and skills development, making them more experienced and employable. The Vocational Education Team continued relationships with several external employers to create employer engagement sessions with the Level 5 Construction and Level 6 Civil Engineering cohorts. A series of Build Your Future events were arranged in partnership with the Scottish Traditional Building Forum, North Lanarkshire Council and Local Employers with more events planned. Strong relationships have been built with employers for 2024/25 with Laing O’Rourke, Morgan Sindall, Keir and Bam providing support for work-based challenges, activity challenge sessions, mock interviews, and Modern/Graduate Apprenticeship application process sessions as well as work experience opportunities. Vocational Education The 2024/25 session will introduce a Level 4 NPA in Auto Mechanics delivered by REMIT Training in Motherwell. Four schools have been able to access this training for 32 pupils at their purpose-built site in Motherwell. REMIT deliver excellent training covering all aspects of automotive repair and have direct employer links for Modern Apprenticeship recruitment for pupils that are interested in a career in auto mechanics. Delivery is a full day on a Friday, it is anticipated that this model be rolled out to more schools in 2025/26. Laing O’Rourke will support a girls only vocational programme to take part in a work-based challenge and be offered practical inputs from staff working in the different areas across Laing O’Rourke. The intention is to encourage the girls to consider completion of the Construction or Engineering FA or one of the Construction HNC programmes during S5/6. This will roll out across all programmes during 2024/25. 353 pupils have applied for Foundation Apprenticeship course in 2024/25 with a further 152 applying for Vocational programmes. HNC 89 pupils have applied for a place, this can lead to year 2 of the HND with New College Lanarkshire and then on to year 3 of a degree course within UWS, effectively allowing young people to achieve a degree one year earlier. 34 schools achieved NL Enterprising Schools Award 138 school engagements 78 individual schools participating 9297 pupil engagements 407 staff engagements Page 67 of 364
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DRAFT 5.7 Future Fridays Future Fridays sessions are led in all secondary school by Principal Teachers. Through a wide range of programmes offered on Friday afternoons, young people will gain additional accreditation, enhance their CVs/personal portfolios and develop skills for learning, life and work. 2023/24 academic has seen continued growth in Developing the Young Workforce including through Future Fridays. Attendance: Average attendance at Future Fridays sessions has doubled since January 2022 and increased by 5% compared to the previous academic year. This translates to an impressive 6,200 (29.03%) young people participating each week. Equity and Inclusion: this year there have been an emphasis on targeting young people with multiple barriers to learning and employment: ▪ 40.03% (3618 pupils) of attendees came from SIMD 1-3 ▪ 29.28% (1694 pupils) of participants had additional support needs. ▪ 33.11% (248) of attendees were from a care-experienced background. Accreditation opportunities saw a significant rise, with 2,873 accreditations awarded across SCQF levels 2-7. The launch of the inaugural Leadership Academy was a key strength with over 70 young people attaining level 5 /6 qualifications and improving local cluster P7-S1 transition programmes. Partnership Development: Future Fridays fostered new partnerships with New College Lanarkshire and University of the West of Scotland. Strengths • Gaining qualifications • Wide range of opportunities for all • Engagement of target groups • Leadership academy • Career recognition via work placements, college and Universities • Horizontal peer support for young people across all year groups Areas for development • More work with local business • Increased consistency of offer and attendance across all schools • Further engagement of target groups Future Fridays has continued to grow in 2023/24. This has been highlighted through the views of stakeholders. “Gave my child an opportunity she might not otherwise have had. She has gained her bronze and silver DofE award and now working on gold. These awards have been a fantastic opportunity and to see how much she has flourished is amazing. She’s met lifelong friends through these awards and learned so many new skills whilst also boosting her self-confidence, belief and skillset.” Greenfaulds parent “I am a part of a club that I really enjoy and it suits my interests. I really like the teacher who leads FF. I love what's on offer. I can hang out with friends in a cool setting. I don't want to go straight home on a Friday. I have gained the NL Challenge award & Dynamic Youth Award. I feel more confident with people in my year because I have gotten to know them better. I can talk to a lot more people across different year groups. This has helped me and made me feel more confident in school.” Cardinal Newman pupil. Page 68 of 364
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DRAFT 5.8 Gaelic North Lanarkshire Council delivers Gaelic Medium Education (GME) at Tollbrae Gaelic Nursery, Condorrat Gaelic Nursery and Primary, and Greenfaulds High School. The number of children currently accessing Gaelic Medium Education is 221. During 2023-2024, young people at all GME provisions were provided with opportunities to participate in activities where they were able to use and hear Gaelic in an environment other than the classroom. Young people at Greenfaulds High School were provided Gaelic music sessions and visited Flodigarry on the Isle of Skye. Condorrat Primary School hosted a Gaelic Drama event, bringing together eight different primary schools from six local authorities. Tollbrae Gaelic Nursery was successful in delivering a family ceilidh as part of Seachdain na Gàidhlig (Gaelic week). This event included performances from Gaelic pupils from Greenfaulds High School, and parents and children came together to learn the Gaelic language and participate in Gaelic culture. Work on Gaelic Learner Education (GLE) progressed with Greenfaulds High School delivering pilot sessions for L2/L3 delivery through the digital classroom. This incorporated primaries in the Greenfaulds High School Cluster, and now being offered to all schools in the authority in session 2024-25. After the Tha Gàidhlig Dhuinn Uile (Gaelic for all) conference in February 24, there were 21 Gaelic language workshops delivered in primary schools across North Lanarkshire. As a result, a number of schools have indicated that they would like to incorporate Gaelic into their 1+2 offer. Whilst the main aim of the conference was to increase the offer of Gaelic learners as part of 1+2, the workshops also met key targets of the National Gaelic Language Plan and the North Lanarkshire Gaelic Language Plan, increasing the learning of Gaelic and promoting a positive image of Gaelic. Progression pathways for Gaelic Learners have also been created for early, first and second level as well as resources to support learning about Gaelic Language and Culture. 5.9 Active Schools During the 2023-2024 session, the Active Schools Programme has built on the success of the previous year, continuing to prioritise the provision of high-quality opportunities for young people to engage in sport and physical activity before school, during lunchtime, and after school. Strengthening pathways between schools and local sports clubs remains a key focus, ensuring seamless transitions for students into community sports. In the 2023-2024 period, we expanded our events and training programmes, further engaging schools and enhancing the overall impact. Our commitment to these core aims has resulted in several significant achievements: • 20,730 attendees recorded in active schools training programmes. This is an increase of 9,212 (46%) compared to 2022-23. • 390,050 attendances at the extra-curricular programme. This is an increase of 77,006 (19%) compared to 2022-23. • Inactive Girls Programmes delivered in 18 high schools. There were 514 session, 855 S1-3 Girls participated, 7,851 participant visits. • Leadership Programmes delivered in 23 high schools, plus 3 Future Friday Leadership Academies. • Student Placement partnerships in place with 2 colleges. • 85 primary and secondary sports festivals delivered with over 13,000 participants The continued support and active participation of schools have laid a robust foundation for the ongoing success and growth of the programme in the 2023-2024 academic year. We look forward to another year of achievements and increased engagement in physical activity for young people in North Lanarkshire. Page 69 of 364
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DRAFT Outdoor Education Building on the strengths from the 2022-2023 session, the Strathclyde Park Outdoor Education Programme has continued to thrive in 2023-2024. All Primary Schools and ASN Schools were once again invited to the park, with an impressive 74.5% uptake. Thanks to improved infrastructure, additional activities, and more trained staff, we were able to deliver a programme that both pupils and schools thoroughly enjoyed. In addition, funding from Cycling Scotland, allowed more pupils to engage in the Bikeability programme within the school environment, which saw strong participation and completion of the different courses. In the secondary sector, we sought and successfully accommodated young people for work placements, providing valuable opportunities for them to develop skills and gain experience, thus enhancing their future job prospects. This initiative aligns with the Service’s broader Developing the Young Workforce Strategy. Pathways pupils, university students, and high school pupils have all benefited from this support, furthering their personal and professional development. • 5 young people from the pathways programme completed a 50 hour work placement. • 3 students from the University of the West of Scotland completed a 60 hour work placement. Collaborative working between Active Schools, Sport Development and the Countryside Parks team has ensured the programme has flourished. We look forward to building on these successes in the 2024-2025 session, continuing to provide high-quality outdoor education and skill-building opportunities for all participating pupils. 5.10 Digital Transformational Change Immersive Classroom This session saw a complete overhaul of the Immersive Classroom in Muirfield as well as the addition of 2 new Immersive experiences in Motherwell Library and Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life. This upgrade has improved the interactivity as well enabled more functionality to create bespoke Immersive content. The NL Digital School continued to support establishments at the Immersive Classroom in two workstreams – targeted intervention blocks (in line with SIP targets) and experience days (to enhance a context/theme for teaching and learning). There were seven different intervention blocks planned for this year with a focus on Writing and Health and Wellbeing and 35 different experience days planned. There were 15 schools across ASN, FLC, Primary and Secondary establishments within North Lanarkshire who accessed the immersive classroom this year. 32 different classes experienced the room through a combination of experience days and intervention blocks. 708 pupils took part in the experience days and 161 in targeted intervention blocks, meaning 869 pupils have accessed the immersive classroom this year. The total number of children who have access the room since the pilot began in 2021 is 2,662. Adult learning groups, local community groups and the Virtual School also used the space on a regular basis and were supported by Digital Pedagogy Practitioners throughout. Page 70 of 364
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DRAFT Device Refresh Phases 3 and 4 of the device refresh were launched in session 2023-2024. A total of 4500 aged devices were successfully disposed of via the WEEE process with over 3000 new devices deployed. Schools also purchased over 3500 new devices, spending a total of £1,670,000. This ongoing refresh work will help prepare the service for the oncoming rollout of Windows 11 by October 2025. NLED Switchover The NL Digital Schools supported business and digital with the implementation of the NLED account project for all non-secondaries. This has allowed all staff and pupil users with their own unique sign on, creating a secure and seamless solution for cloud-based work and collaboration. This change affected over 25000 users and provided the details needed for staff and pupils to have an active A3 Microsoft License. This was perfectly timed to coincide with Glow and Microsoft’s decision to remove O365 access on the A1 plus license. This meant that there was no loss of service to any stakeholder Connectivity Upgrade Replaced infrastructure in 181 North Lanarkshire primary, secondary, nursery and additional support schools with new full-fibre internet connections. Connections are up to 20 times the previous capacity in primary (now 1Gb) with secondary school connections (now 5Gb with a second resilient 5Gb connection) five times faster than the current service. Building Digital Capacity CLPL The Digital Team delivered support in a number of areas last session, including parent drop-in sessions/clubs, team teaching in Computing Science and Digital Literacy aligned to AIP, staff twilights, self-evaluation toolkit guidance, ‘Digi Dip’ days, Future Fridays sessions and Digital Schools Award Scotland (DSAS) support. The CLPL input last session was more bespoke in nature, and popular webinars were recorded so that staff could access these, ensuring a more sustainable approach to digital teaching and learning. The Digital School team worked with Headteachers across 48 schools to co-create annual improvement plans which featured digital learning to provide bespoke offerings through EFM requests, VSE or HMie support. Local and National Code-alongs Continued delivery of national and local code-alongs, in conjunction with Education Scotland, developing computing science skills across more than 100 schools, all 23 clusters and for over 8500 pupils (6500 in NLC and 2000 nationally). Create-alongs planned for 2024/25 to develop digital literacy and digital creation skills. Digital School Awards Scotland (DSAS) The North Lanarkshire Digital School team has tracked all establishments in which schools have already successfully been validated for DSAS Accreditation as well as schools that are working towards this award this session. At close of session 2023-2024, 58 establishments had achieved Digital Schools Award status and 3 schools had achieved Digital Wellbeing Award on Cyber Resilience and Internet Safety. North Lanarkshire currently is joint highest number of schools with DSAS accreditation out of all 32 local authorities. Page 71 of 364
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DRAFT Digital Pedagogy Practitioners have been involved in the pilot and writing of 3 NEW awards - Computing Science Award (ECCA Equitable Creative Coding Award) NL Schools involved in pilot of Award- Tollbrae, Glenboig achieving award 2024. DPP Team are currently working with Education Scotland to refine the Early Years award (Digital learning through play award). Finally, we created the core targets for the new Teacher Awards (Digital Leader, Digital Influencer)12 DPP's gained successful recognition in session 2024 again taking part in pilot and creation of award, showcasing sustainable practices across our establishments and recognising sector leading practice. Learner Experience NL Digital School - Digital Pedagogy Practitioner led Projects The NL Virtual Classroom continued to build on the success of its launch in January 2021. There have now been over 1,180,000 visits to the SharePoint (averaging 10,000 visits per week) from 2021 to June 2024. A total of 18,349 unique users have also accessed the site, 42% of all NLC staff and pupil users from P4 and above. June 2024 saw a national pilot with digital resources across the curriculum that were focused on the Euro 2024 tournament. There were over 12000 visits and 1064 unique visitors across the month – the majority of them being teachers from all 32 LAs across Scotland. The NL Digital School continued to add to the Universal offering of Tech Tuesdays, Three Reads (a digital resource to support our Early Years establishments) and Sensory Stories (a digital resource to support our ASN establishments). A relaunch and rebrand of the Virtual Classroom took place in session 2022-2023 and was launched in Session 2023-24. This created a ‘one- stop-shop’ for both teacher and learners to access high quality learning, teaching and assessment materials to enhance their practice. Every experience and outcome and overarching organiser had 3 progressive lessons for Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing, with new interdisciplinary learning materials launched to support project-based learning approaches across the curriculum. There are now over 6000 resources on the site, covering all sectors and all areas across the BGE. Progression pathways – Core Learning and Exemplified Learning were launched for Third Level and shared with establishments. A new layer of Exemplified Learning was created to provide challenge for ‘Digital Across Learning in Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing ’. These documents were designed to support teachers and Digital Champions in embedding high quality digital learning, teaching and assessment effectively and creatively into their classroom. 2023-24 Continuation of the successful Intergenerational Project to residential complexes in partnership with local primaries to upskill residents to get the best out of their device. A further 3 complexes were targeted in session 2023-24, with feedback from both pupils and residents overwhelmingly positive. Click here for more information: Intergenerational Project 2023-24 Page 72 of 364
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DRAFT 6. Our Achievements in 2023 – 2024 Across the Service, staff collaborated and adopted creative ways of engaging with children and families to raise attainment and recognise wider achievements. Learners were supported to develop their skills, attributes and capabilities to achieve and attain across the 4 Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) contexts for learning. Raising Attainment and Achievement • How well are we removing barriers to learning and ensuring equity for all? • How well does our work with partners and businesses ensure positive outcomes for our young people? • How well are our approaches to raising attainment improving outcomes for children and young people? Page 73 of 364
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DRAFT 6.1 Raising Attainment Strategy Raising attainment is complex and requires a multi-faceted strategic approach. As such, during session 2023-24 the Service developed a robust Raising Attainment Strategy. This strategy aligns approaches and informs strategic decision-making processes around the strategic deployment of resources to raise attainment and improve outcomes for learners. It brings together aspects of several plans, including the Service Improvement Plan, Strategic Equity Fund Plan and HWB: Roadmap to Recovery – to create a shared and cohesive approach across all parts of the Service. Self Evaluation Intelligent use of data Clear identification of improvement priorities Raising attainment strategy with clear governance Page 74 of 364
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DRAFT 6.2 Attainment in 2023 – 2024 (Broad General Education) Overall Attainment Level Trends This section reports on teacher professional judgement of pupil Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL), against expected levels of national progress. This data is collected at P1, P4, P7 and S3 stages. Combined P1, P4 and P7 attainment levels in literacy and numeracy have remained broadly in line with last year’s data (<0.5% difference). Numeracy attainment levels continue to exceed combined literacy attainment levels overall (combination of reading, writing and listening and talking figures). Encouragingly, this year’s P1, P4 and P7 combined ACEL data, within primary sector, continues to exceed pre- pandemic (2019) figures. Achievement of a Curriculum for Excellence Level Data (ACEL) North Lanarkshire’s data for session 2023-2024 shows that attainment has increased at P4 and S3, across all organisers. At the P1 stage attainment is broadly in line with only marginal decreases of <0.5pp. Notably, at the P1 stage, attainment across all organisers remains above 80%. At the P4 stage attainment has improved across all organisers. The largest improvement in P4 is in numeracy, with a 2.14pp increase from 2023. At P7, attainment has dipped slightly across most organisers, however attainment levels remain higher than the 5-year average figures, across all organisers. At the P7 stage attainment in listening and talking, increased by 0.85pp since from 2023. Although writing continues to be the lowest attaining organiser in primary, there are improvements when comparing from 2018-2022. At S3, attainment has increased across all organisers when comparing 2023- 2024 data. Listening and Talking is the highest attaining organiser at the S3 stage. Numeracy is the lowest attaining organiser at S3, however notably attainment levels for numeracy have had the largest increase from 2023, rising by 2.56pp. 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 P1 L&T 84.1% 84.59% 81.06% 85.65% 87.38% 87.41% Reading 76.7% 80.14% 75.00% 77.59% 80.63% 80.76% Writing 74.1% 78.57% 73.99% 76.50% 80.40% 80.04% Numeracy 83.4% 85.00% 82.60% 84.60% 86.60% 86.20% P4 L&T 81.6% 81.88% 80.10% 83.68% 86.99% 87.99% Reading 73.6% 73.96% 72.60% 75.30% 78.47% 80.19% Writing 68.6% 70.29% 67.17% 70.90% 73.45% 73.89% Numeracy 73.1% 75.70% 72.20% 76.80% 77.30% 79.44% P7 L&T 79.5% 83.25% 81.42% 85.04% 86.86% 87.71% Reading 75.8% 78.21% 76.21% 80.89% 83.17% 81.95% Writing 71.9% 74.05% 71.27% 75.68% 79.07% 76.73% Numeracy 71.4% 75.80% 74.00% 77.10% 80.30% 78.56% S3 - 3rd level or better L&T 91.1% 90.77% 88.57% 88.08% 90.14% Reading 88.7% 90.09% 87.91% 87.57% 89.01% Writing 88.3% 89.09% 87.06% 87.65% 88.44% Numeracy 90.1% 85.00% 85.30% 85.10% 87.66% Page 75 of 364
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DRAFT Closing the Poverty Related Attainment Gap – Trends Over Time In North Lanarkshire a significant number of children and families live in areas of high deprivation with over 32% living in Quintile 1, equating to approximately 15,600 pupils across our primary and secondary schools. Data is analysed and compared for learners living in the most deprived and least deprived areas (Q1 and Q5) to calculate the attainment gap. The table shows that:- • across the primary stages and across all organisers the gap decreased during 2023-2024. • The biggest reduction in the attainment gap was in P7 writing where the gap reduced by 3.33pp from 2023 to 2024. • At the P4 stage, attainment for learners from Q1 has risen across all organisers. • At all stages, the attainment gap is lowest within the listening and talking organiser. • At the primary stages the largest gap is in P7 for numeracy. • Reducing the gap at P4 for writing was one of our ‘core plus’ stretch aims. Last session we reduced this gap by 1.39pp. • At the S3 stage attainment has increased for Q1 and Q5 learners. • However, the rate of improvement for learners from Q5 has exceed the rate of improvement for our Q1 learners and this has impacted on our ability to close the attainment gap. • Largest attainment gap at S3 stage is 16.99pp for Numeracy. We have improved outcomes for Q1 (most deprived) learners for literacy, across almost all stages. Page 76 of 364
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DRAFT Cluster Attainment Teachers Between August 2023 and June 2024, Cluster Attainment Teachers (CATs) worked with a total of 1237 children and young people. The table below shows the number of ‘new’ children and young people supported between each tracking people, however some children particularly between August and Christmas were supported for two terms. Approximately, 63% of the overall supports delivered across the year were targeted literacy, including writing, reading or spelling. 26% were numeracy or mathematics and 11% were health and wellbeing focussed. 551 (45%) of the 1237 children supported lived within Quantile 1 post code and a further 280 children who were supported matched at least one of the indicators of the Scottish Attainment Challenge with a rationale recorded by the CAT, meaning that 67% (831) of the overall supports were targeted to closing the poverty related gap. 60% of these supports were recorded as successful by the CAT based on their teacher professional judgement. There also a further 32% of children receiving additional support and making up group numbers, but outside of the parameters of the Scottish Attainment Challenge focus. The majority (90%) of children were supported as part of a small group setting, with the other 10% being supported either 1-2-1 or a blended approach between 1-2-1 and in class. The CAT teachers on average moved children being supported with their comprehension from ‘not on track’ to ‘on track’, as standardised scores around the 100 mark are considered as ‘average’ by GL Assessments. Progress was also made with mathematics and numeracy, as indicated within the average MALT scores for pre and post assessments. 428 154 372 283 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 Aug Dec Mar une New children supported per term Page 77 of 364
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DRAFT 6.3 Attainment in 2023 – 2024 (Senior Phase) This year saw the return of full course assessment in National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher courses, following consultation with learners, teachers and lecturers and their representative groups, parents, carers, education partners and the Scottish Government. Coursework and exams for some practical subjects were removed temporarily during the pandemic. SQA’s chief examiner commented that the body had now returned to normal awarding procedures this year and that the national performance was ‘variable’. The national performance in 2024 at both National 5 and Higher levels is lower than in 2023 and described as disappointing. The SQA noted that there had been different approaches to awarding in each year since 2019 which do not allow for "meaningful conclusions to be drawn on changes in education performance". For this reason, the 2024 exam results data has been compared with the 2023 and 2019 exam results data, as this was the last year that the traditional exam system was applied prior to the pandemic. The following information is based on SQA Results issued to candidates in August 2024. The percentages are based on the S4 roll at the start of the Senior Phase for each year group. These results may change following the results of the SQA appeals process. Exam Results Summary Local Authority (excluding ASN Schools) Level and awards 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Change 2023vs2024 Change 2019vs2024 S4 Nat 3 (5+) 72.3 84.1 81.5 79.3 81.7 79.4 -2.3 7.1 Nat 4 (5+) 67.9 79.6 77.8 75.0 77.3 74.0 -3.3 6.1 Nat 5 (5+) 39.4 48.9 47.8 43.2 42.6 41.5 -1.0 2.1 S5 Highers (1+) 57.0 60.8 61.0 57.5 53.5 53.2 -0.3 -3.8 Highers (3+) 32.9 38.1 41.9 37.6 33.6 31.0 -2.7 -2.0 Highers (5+) 11.9 16.1 16.8 15.8 14.4 13.4 -1.1 1.5 S6 Highers (3+) 41.3 44.7 47.6 47.8 44.1 39.4 -4.7 -1.9 Highers (5+) 27.3 29.6 33.8 31.3 29.3 26.6 -2.7 -0.7 Adv. Highers (1+) 14.4 19.0 15.5 14.8 15.7 13.9 -1.9 -0.5 Exam Results Summary The table above shows that North Lanarkshire 2024 attainment has dropped against all key measures, in comparison with 2023 attainment data. This is concordant with the national picture comparator of 23 v 24. Relative to 2019 performance, 2024 data has shown improvements in all S4 measures and 5+ at Higher. Importantly, there is also Improved progress made relative to our stretch aim for 1+ Higher in 23/24 Page 78 of 364
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DRAFT Senior Phase Attainment ASN Sector The tables show improved performance at level 3, 4 & 5 in 2024 Key messages 2024: • Increased number of young people being presented for qualifications in National 5 and Higher in North Lanarkshire • Improved on several key measures relative to 2019 pre-pandemic with a 2.1% increase in S4 learners achieving 5 National 5 passes and a 1.5% increase in S5 learners achieving 5 Higher passes. • In this year, 41.5% of young people achieved 5 A-C passes at National 5; 13.4% achieved 5 A-C passes at Higher in S5 and 26.6% in S6. • Curriculum reform advocating increased vocational and practical based subjects, particularly in areas of deprivation. • North Lanarkshire position: 409 Foundation Apprenticeships, 89 HNC, 152 Other Vocational Education courses and 2783 Level 2-7 Wider Achievement accreditations in 2024. • Broadening the range of opportunities available to pupils. • Improved leaver destination stats – 2024 our best % National vs. North Lanarkshire • National 5 performance dipped for both national and local • Higher performance dipped for both national and local Page 79 of 364
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DRAFT Gap Analysis There is an improved picture for N3 gap analysis data The gap has widened for all other measures. This is concordant with the national picture where the gap is at its highest level since the equality measures were first taken. 6.4 Early Learning and Childcare Care Inspectorate In the year 2023 - 2024, the Care Inspectorate carried out unannounced inspections in 53 local authority and partner early learning and childcare settings. Scrutiny results show that there is a higher percentage of settings inspected this year who have been graded as adequate, therefore not meeting the national standards. As a result, all these settings are placed on an improvement period with action plans introduced to support improvement. The graph above outlines the overall current Care Inspection grades to date of all ELC settings in North Lanarkshire. There is a total of 12% of all settings not meeting the national standards. Commendably, as of June 2024, the inspectors graded that 88% of all ELC settings as good or above. This positively reflects on the quality of care and learning provided for children and families within North Lanarkshire. 2023/24 Care Inspection Grades Setting No. Adequate 3 Good 4 Very Good 5 Excellent 6 Local Authority FLC 8 2 4 2 0 Local Authority Nursery Class 28 8 13 7 0 PVI 17 7 6 4 0 Total 53 17 23 13 0 Page 80 of 364
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DRAFT Early Learning and Child Care Interventions Family Engagement Service The Family Engagement Service (FES) was established in July 2023 and is jointly funded by ELC and CORRA. There have been 81 requests for assistance (RFA) with 60 of these meeting the criteria and been allocated a family engagement practitioner. The target to respond within two weeks to all RFA has been fully met. A multi-agency steering group provides governance and monitors the impact of the service on outcomes for children and families. To date, 29 families out of 60 allocated have engaged in 3 monthly reviews using the Family Outcome Star. 100% of these families have shown an improvement in their score. In addition, a random selection of 4 families have been considered by social work who concluded that the early intervention provided by FES has prevented escalation to more statutory measures. Solihull Approach The Solihull programme has been continuously delivered since 2014 with a strong evidence base. Practitioners report an increase on their knowledge and understanding which impact their practice resulting in positive outcomes for children and families. A significant development this year has been the creation of a pan Lanarkshire Solihull Approach Steering Group. The Steering Group provides governance and co-ordination of the overall programme and monitor’s impact. To date, the total number of practitioners across Lanarkshire is 3714, (as of 27/624). There is a continued focus to increase the number of Solihull trainers to maintain the capacity of the training programme with an additional10 trainers trained in 2024, resulting in a total of 92 trainers. However, it is recognised that not all are actively delivering training thereby a support pathway has been introduced to reengage their role in delivery of the programme. The online parenting programme and additional professional courses continue to be accessed on a regular basis. 3583 participants have registered in the online parenting programme with 75 % who have actively engaged. 96 % report the course is helpful and makes a difference, 94 % would recommend this to other parents. 2041 have accessed the online professional courses, 99% rated as good or excellent. “I want to thank the family engagement practitioner and all other staff involved for their input, love and care they have shown to my wee family. I would love to continue working with them and keep working on building up my confidence and having their positive influence and support. “ Parent 2024 “This is a fantastic resource. Great course and very informative” Parent April 2024 Page 81 of 364
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DRAFT Breastfeeding Friendly ELC Award Scheme The Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Early Learning Scheme set an aspirational aim that 80% of our 103 local authority ELC settings would achieve accreditation for becoming a breastfeeding friendly establishment. In collaboration with NHS colleagues, NLC have exceeded this target with 100% of the settings being accredited. To date 996 practitioners have completed the module with 850 completing the evaluation form. This has provided evidence around expectations of the course, practitioners ability to apply what they have learned and if the module could be improved. A recent submission to COSLA Awards has been successful with the NLC Breastfeeding Friendly Award Scheme now shortlisted as one of the finalists under category 3, “Tackling Inequalities and Improving Health and Wellbeing”. Do-BeMindful Programme Over the past 2 years, ELC have invested in the Do-BeMindful Programme to support the wellbeing of both staff and children. Representatives from settings participated in online modules, however their feedback established that a whole nursery approach with peer support would provide a greater impact. As a result, this year a whole nursery approach has been tested in 2 Family Learning Centres. (FLC) Almost all staff have completed the online module and are using Do-BeMindful approaches which are delivered through targeted intervention groups. The graphs below from one FLC show that engagement in Do-BeMindful experiences have a positive impact on children’s result when measured using the Leuven Scale of wellbeing and involvement. “This course gave me better understanding of trauma and I am now more informed. I feel more confident in going forward in my role as ASNA” April 2024 Page 82 of 364
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DRAFT 6.5 HMIe and Education Scotland North Lanarkshire Council’s governance is based upon the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) approach which describes the Vision and Values, Key Systems and Processes; and the Outcomes and Outputs that are desired from our activities. The EFQM criteria have been embedded within How Good is Our School 4? (HGIOS?4) so that each criterion is reflected in a number of quality indicators. To support continuous improvement, we regularly engage Education Scotland and HMIe for improvement work and for external scrutiny. The report below summarises our performance in inspections and validated self-evaluation visits, during session 2023-2024. Inspections In session 2023-2024, a total of eleven inspection reports were published for North Lanarkshire establishments. Of the eleven establishments reported on, two included Early Years provision. 82% of establishments received a positive report, using the current criteria which categorises a grading of satisfactory or above as positive. Our 5-year improvement cycle indicates that from session 2023 onwards, there have been increased expectations during the inspection process: • Pre-covid: 61% good+ inspection gradings (106 grades awarded 2018-2020) • 2022 – 2023: 82% good+ inspection gradings (56 grades awarded, including grades from 5 nursery classes) • 2023-2024: 56% good+ and 91% satisfactory+ inspection gradings (34 grades awarded Sept – April 2024, including grades from 2 nursery classes) Four establishments were awaiting further engagement (partial or full) with HMIe, following inspection, during session 2023-2024. All establishments have now been fully signed off and verified progress reports have now been published. 6.6 Validated Self Evaluation Visits (VSE) During session 2023-2024, officers completed 11 Validated Self Evaluation Visits. They focused on the 4 core quality indicators used in HMIe inspections. The graphs below outlined some key strengths and areas for development. 2 schools were graded as ‘Very Good’ for learning, teaching and assessment and 1 school was graded ‘Very Good’ for raising attainment and achievement. Summary of School Inspection Gradings: September 2023 - April 2024 (Based on reports published at time of writing.) Page 83 of 364
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DRAFT 6.7 North Lanarkshire Statistics Attendance rates continue to be impacted by repercussions of the pandemic on many fronts. Robust systems are in place across all clusters to support at both establishment and individual level. The service has implemented a range of strategies to minimise impact on learners and to build resilience in the system. Due to the pandemic, and related societal shifts, our attendance profile remains a priority. Local Government Benchmarking Framework Local Government Benchmarking Framework data show North Lanarkshire figures against a Scotland and family group average. The Improvement Service have created a new set of online dashboards that are more visually pleasing and more easily accessible. The Improvement Service collate these for all 32 councils from already published national sources. The data is published in March each year, therefore the 2023-2024 data isn’t available until March 2025. Data for session 2023-2024 will be available using the following link: https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/benchmarking/explore-the-data Page 84 of 364
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DRAFT 7. Next Steps: Planning for the Future Key Strategic Developments for Session 2024/25 The new Programme of Work was approved in March 2023 and establishes the priorities for delivery in support of the Plan for North Lanarkshire. The five-year Programme of Work to 2028 comprises of seven priorities for delivery: • Transforming Places - To better plan and co- ordinate public and private sector investment to deliver transformational change across town centres and local communities at pace. • Invest in North Lanarkshire - Accelerated outcome delivery and investment via a more streamlined advisory service and aligned operating model and infrastructure plan. • Sustainable Futures - Focus commitments to Net Zero Carbon and climate resilience and the associated energy solutions and investments required to make it a reality. • Resilient People - Deliver whole family support locally, when families need it, in a way that addresses the impacts of poverty and reduces inequality. • Brighter Futures - Support and improve educational attainment, employment opportunities, entrepreneurship, and volunteering. • Digital North Lanarkshire - Develop a skilled digital workforce, promote an innovative, sustainable culture and be the Digital Leader for a transformed North Lanarkshire. • One Service - Ensure services are delivered, regardless of owner, in a streamlined, efficient, and supportive model, with the overall vision of inclusive growth and prosperity for all. The Education and Families Improvement Plan for session 2024-25, outlines key priorities across the Education workstreams and highlights key measures for the year ahead linking to the refreshed Programme of Work. The priorities identified within the Service Improvement Plan align with four strategic workstreams below: Improving Leadership • Building staff capacity • Empowering local decision making • Deploying resources to those in most need • Developing systems that support effective data driven improvement Improving standards across our schools and centres • Raising attainment and closing the gap • Improving learning and teaching • Improving curricular progression • Improving routes to achievement and employability • Improving outcomes from inspection Improving wellbeing and ensuring children and young people thrive • Improved engagement of most vulnerable groups • Improved balance of care • Reducing the impact of trauma • Improving the impact of GIRFEC • Improving attending • Reducing exclusion Supporting families through effective partnership working • Strengthening whole family support, incl. kinship carers and adopters • Protecting children (Signs of safety and contextual safeguarding) • Tackling poverty and access to economic opportunities • Improving support to care experienced young people Page 85 of 364
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DRAFT Appendix 1: NL Key Performance Measures (Including core and core plus stretch aims and KMS identified in performance management framework) Please note: Attainment data is provisional and may be subject to slight changes following Scottish Government cleansing exercise and confirmation of SQA appeals results. Tolerance Level 0.5pp above or below. Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 % of pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 72.23% 75.47% 75.05% % of Q1 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 63.93% 67.52% 67.73% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 82.94% 86.06% 82.77% Q1 – Q5 Gap (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy) 19.01pp 18.54pp 15.04pp % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 79.38% 81.31% 81.18% % of Q1 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 72.60% 74.80% 74.56% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 89.15% 90.90% 88.37% Q1 – Q5 Gap ((P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 16.55pp 16.10pp 13.81pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 85.14% 84.35% 86.7% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 79.21% 79.50% 79.59% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 93.11% 88.50% 93.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above literacy) 13.9pp 9.0pp 14.10pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 85.34% 85.11% 87.66% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 76.20% 78.13% 79.86% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 95.96% 93.87% 96.85% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above numeracy) 19.76pp 15.74pp 16.99pp Number and percentage of secondary school leavers by total qualifications attained under the All SCQF measure (S2.2a) (Based on leavers data therefore previous year’s data.) June 2022 (20/21 Insight) June 2023 (21/22 Insight) June 2024 (22/23 insight) % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better (All SCQF) 88.55% 87.46% 85.82 % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 81.73% 78.48% 77.09 % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 97.96% 96.60% 95.59% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 16.23pp 17.52pp 18.5pp % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 67.49% 64.62% 61.89% % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 54.82% 49.13% 48.93% % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 83.67% 81.41% 82.89% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 28.85pp 32.28pp 33.96pp Page 86 of 364
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DRAFT Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 Annual Participation Measure The percentage of young adults (16-19 year olds) participating in education, training or employment in the LA in the year to 31st March. (SDS data) June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 Overall 90.2% 91.0% 91.9% Quintile 1 85.1% 85.7% 87.2% Quintile 5 95.5% 96.0% 96.4% Q1 – Q5 gap (APM) 10.4pp 10.3pp 9.2pp Core Plus Stretch aims June 2023 June 2024 % Attendance Primary 91.16% 91.61% % attendance Q1 Primary 88.52% 89.15% % attendance Q5 Primary 94.50% 94.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap Primary 5.98pp 5.54pp % Attendance Secondary 85.54% 85.72% % Attendance Q1 Secondary 81.57% 81.21% % Attendance Q5 Secondary 90.41% 91.23% Q1- Q5 Gap Secondary 8.84pp 10.02pp % of leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) (Excludes ASN schools) 57.5% 53.36% 53.2% % of Q1 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 40.6% 36.84% 37.7% % of Q5 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 74.8% 77.58% 72.6% Q1 – Q5 gap leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 34.2pp 40.74pp 34.9pp % of P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 70.90% 73.45% 73.89% % of Q1 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 62.53% 66.35% 67.06% % of Q5 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 81.21% 83.91% 84.40% Q1 – Q5 Gap for P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 18.68pp 17.56pp 17.34pp NLC Performance Management Target (Result collated from HMIE questionnaires distributed over 11 inspections published over session 2023- 24.) Parent satisfaction - % parents agree or strongly agree that the school is well led and managed 88.8% 77% Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing. 85.8% 72.2% Parent Satisfaction –% of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school. 91.0% 78.8% HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using previous measure– satisfactory or above) 100% 100% HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 66.67% 50% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using previous measure – Satisfactory or above) 100.0% 81.2% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 71.0% 45.45% *Final SCQF for 2024 leavers will be reported when the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations 2024 data is published in February 2025 Page 87 of 364
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DRAFT *1 For reference, SEEMIS BI does not provide the S4 roll figure for Q1 or Q5 so this information has been taken from Insight (i.e. for 2024 – taken from 2023 S4 on Insight). The 2024 percentages are then a comparison of the number of pupils that got an A-C pass in the SEEMIS BI data with the S4 roll figures from Insight. Page 88 of 364
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2 2024-25: Year 2 of our strategic 3-year plan Planning Context The Plan also reflects key National Policy drivers such as: • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill • Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) ‘Delivering Excellence and Equity in Scottish Education: A Delivery Plan for Scotland’ • The Promise Scotland— findings of the Independent Care Review •Putting Learners at the Centre: Towards a Future Vision for Scottish Education •Early learning and childcare: statutory guidance - July 2021 •Realising the Ambition: Being Me Local Policy Drivers • North Lanarkshire CP Business Plan • Children’s Services Plan 2021-2023 (northlanarkshire.gov.uk) • The current North Lanarkshire context • Delivering the Programme of Work to 2028 • Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire Tackling Poverty Strategy Page 90 of 364
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3 NLC Planning Context Priorities identified within the Service Improvement Plan are linked to the following drivers. Page 91 of 364
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4 The priorities within the Service plan align with the following 4 workstreams: The Education and Families Plan contains key priorities from several underpinning plans and programmes of work including The Plan for North Lanarkshire. It incorporates the service’s priorities from the core Scottish Attainment Challenge plan and Raising Attainment Strategy. This demonstrates NLC’s commitment to simplifying planning processes and aligning resources and efforts to reach overarching goals. As part of our local and national reporting processes, the Service reports on several key performance indicators, including stretch aims. Appendix 1 highlights our agreed Service key performance main measures and provides baseline data, where applicable. Improving leadership Improving standards across our schools and centres Improving wellbeing and ensuring children and young people thrive Supporting families through effective partnership working Page 92 of 364
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5 Developing Leadership Capacity and Empowering Our Staff Aim: Establishment of a more empowered and collaborative system that will maximise use of available resources to raise attainment, improve outcomes and close the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: In line with National Guidance, NLC is committed to creating an empowered, connected, self-improving education system to achieve excellence and equity for all children and young people, as set out in the National Improvement Framework (NIF). The Central team provide strategic leadership and direction to support NLC’s leaders to effectively raise attainment, close the poverty related attainment gap and improve outcomes for children and families. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people. Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Leadership, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Improve outcomes for children and families by building staff capacity and leadership skills. Effective use of rigorous self- evaluation processes, at all levels, in order to raise standards, across establishments. Increased ability to plan strategically ensuring outcomes and measures facilitate effective tracking of progress. (Baseline Majority 50-75%) Improved leadership capacity, across all establishments. • Continued implementation of NLC’s quality assurance framework. • Provision of high-quality professional learning opportunities to build staff capacity, at all levels. • Phase 2 of strategic roll out of SECI training focusing on Middle Leaders and Central Officers. • Year 2: Implementation of Primary and Secondary Inspection Support package. • Development of Inspection support Package for EY and ASN establishments. • Establishment of an NLC Associate Assessors Network to build capacity across NLC and provide targeted support to identified establishments. • Year 2 Implementation of VSE Programmes. • Refresh secondary attainment review processes to support continuous improvement. • Continued use of 2023-2026 stretch aims, with 3-year trajectory, to support planning for excellence and equity, at cluster and school level. • Universal, additional, and intensive support from Attainment Advisor and SAC team. • Development of a Targeted Improvement Group (Pedagogy Team) to strategically deploy central staff to raise attainment and improve outcomes. • % of Positive HMIE results (QI 1.3) • % of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school. (HMIE questionnaires.) • Qualitative feedback from VSE and Care Inspectorate • Qualitative and quantitative feedback from leadership programmes • HT Mentor Returns • Qualitative data from Empowering Clusters Meeting. • Most (75-90%) AIPs/PEF plans contain SMART Targets – Oct. 24. • Qualitative and quantitative feedback from HMIE target group (2009 - 10 Primary Schools, 1 Secondary 2010 and 1 ASN). • HMIe outcomes – Good or above analysis • Uptake within West Partnership – Improving Our…. Programme. Page 93 of 364
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6 Developing Leadership Capacity and Empowering Our Staff Aim: Establishment of a more empowered and collaborative system that will maximise use of available resources to raise attainment, improve outcomes and close the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: In line with National Guidance, NLC is committed to creating an empowered, connected, self-improving education system to achieve excellence and equity for all children and young people, as set out in the National Improvement Framework (NIF). The Central team provide strategic leadership and direction to support NLC’s leaders to effectively raise attainment, close the poverty related attainment gap and improve outcomes for children and families. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people. Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Leadership, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Improve outcomes for learners through effective collaboration, CLPL and strategic use of resources. Increased use of research-based approaches to structure enquiry projects to refine and improve pedagogical approaches, within NLC. • Work with colleagues from the Robert Owen Centre and Psychological Services to develop test of change initiatives re. strategies that can be used to support young children to develop their Expressive Language skills. (Early Identification and Intervention.) • Pilot dyscalculia guidelines • Collaborate with West Partnership links on identified shared priorities e.g., learning, teaching and assessment, tracking and monitoring. • Collaborate with colleagues in Psychological Services to ensure new approaches and tests of change are underpinned by appropriate methodologies: Expressive Language, Writing and secondary raising attainment pilot. • Liaise with colleagues from psychological services and National bodies with a focus on improving children’s expressive language, literacy and numeracy. • Promote and engage with West partnership leadership opportunities i.e. Thinking About Headship • Support central level collection, analysis and presentation of data to inform service improvement planning processes (RDOs) • Identification of strategies to accelerate expressive language progress for young children. (Year 1: Baseline collection of data) • Guidelines developed that will support early identification and support - Dyscalculia (Baseline) • Better alignment and coordination of West Partnership engagement to support impact. (Target 12 PS and 10 HS identified as top engagers to track impact). • Data re effective deployment of Attainment Advisor to support middle leaders Page 94 of 364
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7 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Ensure all learners benefit from a curriculum that reflects the design principles of CFE and meets all learners’ needs. Learners will benefit from consistently high-quality learning experiences, delivered by a highly skilled workforce. Improved staff capacity; knowledge and skills, through effective collaboration and partnership working to ensure best pedagogical practices. Access to a relevant curriculum and learning pathways that meet learners’ needs and maximise opportunities for attainment and achievement. Increased attainment in literacy and numeracy through implementation and design of relevant curriculum progression pathways and pedagogical approaches (yr3). • Strategic deployment of Curriculum Managers to lead identified improvement activity including creation of a skills framework, innovative timetabling and option choices – Senior Phase, continued promotion of Future Fridays including maximisation of opportunities for achievement. • Capture feedback from pupils and parents through Pupil Curriculum Conference to inform the vision for NLC’s Curriculum. • Celebrating Success and sharing good practice event incorporated into Learning, Teaching and Assessment (LTA) conference to align and exemplify interconnected development work that supports system level improvements. • Increased use of National Network groups including West Partnership and Education Scotland’s Curriculum Innovation team to capture and accelerate best practice. • Monitor the impact of literacy and numeracy progression pathways to progression, within and across CfE Levels. • Steering group established to create a CfE 4th level pathway. • Creation of further progression pathways to support consistency across NL. (Expressive Arts) • Work with Psychological Service to develop support, advice and guidance re. literacy and numeracy programmes and interventions. • Qualitative and quantitative data to evidence the number of establishments engaging with the Curriculum Toolkit. (Baseline: 77% of Primary Establishments have already engaged and 87% of secondary establishments.) • Evaluation of Pilot BGE & Senior Phase models • Presentation data evidencing widening the range of SCQF courses available to learners. • SEF Stretch aims: • Increased number of young people achieving- • 1+ SCQF Level 5: Overall - 88.50%, Q1 - 81.50%, Q5 - 97.20%. • 1+ SCQF Level 6: Overall - 66.0%, Q1- 52.6%, 83.10%. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. the impact of Future Fridays. • Pre and Post engagement data for pedagogy team. Page 95 of 364
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8 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Further development of progressive learning pathways to support consistency and quality across the service. • Co-delivery of training and programme development: Literacy (Psychological Services) • Increased integration of digital pedagogy practitioners into wider pedagogy team to build staff capacity and improve outcomes for learners. Improvement in attainment and achievement through refreshed curriculum pathways at the senior phase, enhancing opportunities for completion of a range of award bearing courses. Implementation and advancement of NLCs Pathways programme and success in supporting our young people to achieve sustained positive destinations. Success of our Developing the Young Workforce (Pathways, Packages and Partnerships) approach in improving outcomes for learners. Universal provision of a progressive pathway that • Implementation of progressive pathway (3-18) • Embedding skills framework across early years, primary, secondary and ASN schools in line with Career Education Standard • Broaden Foundation Apprenticeship (FAs) Frameworks in line with local drivers. • Increase the number of HNC programmes delivered in schools. • Increase uptake of Foundation Apprenticeships. • Increase overall participation in Future Friday programme. • Continue to develop partnership work with the supported employment team to support senior phase pupils with ASN. • Core primary engineering and fundamental outdoor skills will be offered across the primary estate. • Further develop employer partnerships to support vocational learning. • Continue to work towards targets set in DYW delivery plan. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. FAs, HNCs, etc. • Future Friday quantitative data – overall and Q1 • Data evidencing increased partnership programmes • School Initial Leaver Destination Data • SEF Stretch Aim: • -Annual Participation Measure • -Improvement in Initial Leaver destinations • Participation Measure: Overall 93.60%, Q1- 89.0%, Q5- 96.80%. • Target of 3200 accreditations supported through Future Fridays from a baseline of 2879 (2023-2024). Page 96 of 364
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9 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success supports all children and young people to develop an understanding of enterprise, entrepreneurship, and self- employment as a career opportunity. Enhanced levels of employer engagement through formalised partnerships. Increased enterprise activities across all establishments. 3-18 skills framework shared with early years, primary, secondary and ASN establishment. • Implementation of Secondary Improvement Cycle with a clear focus on supporting secondary schools to maximise opportunities in the senior phase for ungraded attainment e.g Foundation Apprenticeships, HNC, qualifications levels 4-7 and wider achievement tracking and monitoring. • Focus on in-house delivery of Foundation Apprenticeships in key growth sectors. • Introduce Curriculum Pathways Project team to analyse curriculum in NLC, research curriculum models and strategies to define the vision for NLC, with an emphasis on interpreting the evolving National guidance. • Steering group established to develop pilot BGE timetabling models for BGE/Senior Phase evaluation. • Pilot timetable model for S4, S5, S6 (combined) in smaller secondary schools to create more efficiency and to widen the offer at senior phase. • Develop catalogue of wider achievement accreditation for BGE/Senior Phase. • Accreditation Pathway 3-18. • Increased accreditation opportunities through Future Fridays. Developing best pedagogical practice within all Capacity to improve the quality of children and young peoples’ learning • Re-launch Learning, Teaching and Assessment (Assessment and Moderation) to strengthen rigour and consistency across NLC. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities (attendance/opportunities) Page 97 of 364
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10 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success establishments across North Lanarkshire experiences through authority led Learning, Teaching and Assessment (Moderation) improvement activity. • Implement processes to increase moderation across cluster, secondary departments and ASN network. • Finalisation and launch of NL – LTA (Moderation) policy • Work with West Partnership to lead Improving Our Classrooms (IOC) and Improving our Departments (IOD) • Continue to implement a robust programme of training for LTA leaders, QAMSO and HTs etc. to disseminate key messages across all establishments and improve understanding of effective moderation processes and core principles of LTA. • Organise sharing practice sessions based on LTA policy and core principles for senior leaders. • Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing. • Improvement in accuracy of teacher professional judgement (TPJ) and attainment • HMIe inspection results – QI 2.3 • Improvement in ACEL data • Stakeholder feedback re new LTA policy • Almost all establishments will have an identified LTA coordinator who attends training • Improvement in accuracy of teacher professional judgement (TPJ) and attainment as evidenced in Core and Core plus stretch aims. Improve the quality of children and young people’s learning experiences through development of authority level progressive planners and Interdisciplinary Learning approaches, • Develop and launch Expressive Arts Progressive Pathways and engage in a consultation process, including creating CLPL training opportunities for staff. • Develop and launch HWB Progressive Pathways and engage in a consultation process, including creating CLPL training opportunities for staff. • HMIe inspection results – QI 2.3 • HMIe inspection results – QI 3.2 • HMIe inspection results – QI 3.1 • Improvement in ACEL data • Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that the school supports their child’s emotional wellbeing Page 98 of 364
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11 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success focusing on skills development and application of knowledge and skills. Effective deployment of central teams to build capacity and improve outcomes for learners. • Implement the trial of the new Non-Fiction Literacy and Science resource to raise attainment in First and Second Level Reading • Work with colleagues from Psychological Services to develop a trial of the Non-Fiction Literacy and Science resources. • Further develop progressive pathways for Technologies to include Food and Textiles, Craft, Design Engineering and Graphics, and Technological Developments in Society. • Expand the Young STEM Leaders programme, working with partners to develop leadership skills in S5 and S6 pupils. • Deploy the targeted improvement team to build staff capacity and improve outcomes for learners. • Improvement in attainment in reading at P4 and P7 • Qualitative and quantitative data re. impact of support teams including TIG, CRT etc. • Data and findings of Non-Fiction Literacy trial • Improvement in % of young people pursuing careers in STEM subjects. • Qualitative and quantitative data re confidence levels of S5 & S6 pupils leading workshops. Gaelic Approaches taken to ensure that Gaelic continues to be a vibrant modern language which enables our young people to develop wider routes to learning life and work. • Consultation Group will meet termly with key officers to consult and report on the plan. • Continue to work with Comann nan Pàrant, to increase Gaelic opportunities for children, young people and their families. • Continue to increase opportunities for children and families to engage with Gaelic music and culture through the range of activities. • Work with colleagues in EY to promote GME as an option to parents. • Implement progressive curriculum pathways to increase update of Gaelic as L2 and L3 and review uptake. • Increase the number of primary schools in North Lanarkshire that deliver Gaelic as an L3 • Increased uptake of Gaelic education • Increase in the number of schools delivering Gaelic as an L3 Page 99 of 364
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12 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Strategic development work, aligned to key actions outlined within the GLP: • Increasing the use of Gaelic • Increasing the learning of Gaelic •Promoting the positive image of the language. • Continue to link with colleagues in CL&D to strengthen opportunities for children and families. • Further consultation around GME provision to explore opportunities for learners to engage in GME within and out- with mainstream. Improved staff capacity to deliver high quality play learning experiences through effective development of an NLC Play Strategy. Increased opportunities for children and young people to learn through high quality play experiences. • Audit existing approaches to play based learning to inform planning. • Collaborate with relevant partners to create an authority wide Play strategy. • Create research project brief to measure impact of play in targeted group of P1 classes. • Develop suite of CLPL to promote consistent messages and approaches to play, initially targeted at end of early level. • Qualitative and quantitative data showing the impact of new approaches on children’s engagement, learning and motivation (Pilot) • Analysis of stakeholder feedback re. Play Strategy • P1 ACEL data/NSA data Page 100 of 364
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13 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Continued transformation of the digital infrastructure and connectivity across the school estate including project management of devices and immersive classrooms, is leading to improved experiences for learners. Increased staff capacity to use digital devices and pedagogical approaches to improve experiences and outcomes for learners. Programmes and processes are improving our use of devices and technologies to ensure equity and excellence and improve outcomes for children and young people. • Continue to use procurement framework to manage device deployment and refresh programme. • Monitor the impact of digital progression pathways to progression, within and across CfE Levels. • Developing and implementing innovative approaches to data- driven decision-making for school leaders and HQ staff. • Establishment of consistent tracking and monitoring approaches across all schools and sectors. • Ongoing resource creation and exemplification on the NL Virtual Classroom. • Aligning with the One Service approach to Digital 1st operations • Ensuring the review of digital contracts and efficiencies within the Education and Families Service • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities (attendance/opportunities) • Increased Digital Schools Award Scotland (DSAS) awards form 58 to 90. • Digital device inventory • CLPL data (qualitative and quantitative) • SCQF levels 3-7 Digital Award data • Increased uptake of Digital consortium data • Monitoring of Virtual Classroom data Page 101 of 364
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14 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Improving outcomes for learners through effective parental engagement. Awareness and Impact of NLC’s Parental Engagement Strategy. Procedures in place to collaborate with, and empower, parent/carers to support and engage with their child’s learning journey. • ESOs to lead literacy and numeracy sessions for parents/carers to raise awareness of current strategies and approaches • Continue to liaise with colleagues from psychological services to support parents and practitioners with key areas identified through collaborative self-evaluation such as such as sleep workshops, neurodiversity. • Quantitative and qualitative feedback from Parental Engagement sessions. • Information re. referrals and supports provided to ASN children and families. Embed financial education within NLC’s core curriculum to support NLC’s wider Tackling Poverty Strategy . All learners will have an improved understanding of financial education. Impact of increased support from the Tackling poverty officer to provide financial support and guidance across our ASN estate. • Collaborate and work in partnership with the Tackling Poverty Team to track and monitor the impact of bespoke support for learners and their families. Develop Financial Education CLPL for probationers and numeracy coaches. • Develop bespoke cluster Financial Education CLPL • Pilot participatory budgeting within 10 establishments to mitigate against the Cost of the School Day. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities (attendance/opportunities) • HMIe inspection results – QI 2.3 • Qualitative and quantitative data from participatory budgeting pilot. Page 102 of 364
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15 Curriculum and Pedagogy Aim: Develop a strategic approach that supports and empowers school leaders to raise attainment and close the poverty related attainment gap through high quality pedagogical approaches and appropriate curriculum pathways. (Excellence and equity). Rationale: Working with colleagues from across the Service, we are continuing to develop and embed effective pedagogical approaches and curriculum pathways for North Lanarkshire schools. Furthermore, central officers co-ordinate, lead and manage delegated staff, effectively deploying them to support curriculum development work and staff professional learning programmes to ensure the pedagogy used in North Lanarkshire meets the needs of children and young people, supporting them to achieve and attain. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education, Improvement in achievement, particularly in literacy and numeracy, Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people, Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school- leaver destinations for all young people NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement, Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism, Curriculum and Assessment, Performance Information. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Early Years: Improve outcomes for learners through the provision of high- quality early years educational provision. Impact of implementation of the Early Learning and Childcare Service’s Quality Improvement Framework to provide assurance and support continuous improvement across the Service. Provision of high-quality professional learning opportunities that builds staff capacity, at all levels. Deployment of EY workforce. Impact of 1140 hours on improving outcomes for children and families. • Continued implementation ELC training calendar with a focus on an effective induction programme for new practitioners at all levels. • Continuation of the Early Learning and Childcare Leadership programme focussing on leadership at all levels. • Strategic deployment of staff to build capacity and to support excellence and equity. • Continued implementation of Learning, Teaching and Assessment, play based moderation cycle at the early level. • Introduction of ‘Quality Office Network Meeting’ with Heads of Centre to support leadership for improvement. • Continuation of Family Engagement Service with clear impact on outcomes for children and families. • Continue to offer Solihull Programme to support a trauma informed, relational approach across the service. • Collaborate with psychological services to build practitioners capacity to assess children’s development to support practitioners understanding of children’s needs (planning) • Work with colleagues from psychological service to continue to implement VERP. • Qualitative and Quantitative data re. CLPL opportunities • Database to track and monitor all ELC setting grades in line with the National Standard • Attendance at leadership programme, including completion of Inquiry Project by all participants • Data re. Impact of Family Engagement services (uptake and impact). • Solihull – attendance data, large scale evaluation, self-evaluation toolkit. Page 103 of 364
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16 Attainment, Achievement and Improvement Aim: To develop robust processes and strategies to raise attainment and achievement and to secure continuous improvement for learners. Rationale: We are developing clear processes, at local authority and establishment level that enable us to define and measure success in attainment, across all areas of the curriculum. We are supporting school leaders to provide a range of experiences that enable learners to develop their skills and attributes and to celebrate achievements. Ensuring continuous improvement or sustained high standards over time is a key feature. NIF Priority: Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people. Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy NIF Driver(s): Curriculum and Assessment. School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success To improve outcomes for learners by providing high quality support and governance that supports them to maximise use of PEF funds to raise attainment and to Close the Poverty Related Attainment Gap (CPRAG). Effective analysis and use of data to support excellence and equity at local authority and establishment level, ensuring continuous improvements. (Tracking and Monitoring) • Review Seemis Tracking and Monitoring procedures to ensure a consistent approach across all establishments. • Refresh current educational dashboard, linking with West Partnership. • Create a new performance management tool that will support establishments to track learners’ progress and plan for continuous improvements. • Implementation and use of cluster dashboard and attendance MAP reports. • Implement new secondary attainment review process • Refine use of LA/National Data sets to support evidence- based improvement activity, at LA and School Level • Strategic training to upskill leaders in use of SEEMIS BI • Develop an NLC approach to strengthen supported study at the senior phase. • Deploy FESAs strategically to support improved attendance and outcomes for children and families. • Feedback on the impact of the performance management toolkit. • % of Positive HMIE results • % of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school. (HMIE questionnaires.) • Qualitative feedback from VSE and HMIe re tracking processes (QI 3.2) • Attendance and exclusion figures • Attendance stretch aim data • Qualitative feedback that AIPs included measurable improvement priorities • Data re. impact of FESA in improving attendance Page 104 of 364
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17 Attainment, Achievement and Improvement Aim: To develop robust processes and strategies to raise attainment and achievement and to secure continuous improvement for learners. Rationale: We are developing clear processes, at local authority and establishment level that enable us to define and measure success in attainment, across all areas of the curriculum. We are supporting school leaders to provide a range of experiences that enable learners to develop their skills and attributes and to celebrate achievements. Ensuring continuous improvement or sustained high standards over time is a key feature. NIF Priority: Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people. Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy NIF Driver(s): Curriculum and Assessment. School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Increased attainment and progress towards North Lanarkshire’s core and core plus stretch aims. • Effective analysis of data to identify the poverty related attainment gap and to track progress made to reduce this gap. • Agreed criteria used to deploy the targeted improvement team to support the equity and excellence agenda. • Deploy cluster resource staff effectively to raise attainment and improve outcomes. • Develop a system to strategically deploy staff, track impact and report on progress. • ACEL Literacy P1, P4 and P7 Combined: Overall (24-25)-76.50%, Q1 – 68.90%, Q5 – 86.60%. • ACEL Numeracy P1, P4 and P7 Combined: Overall -82.00%, Q1 – 76.50%, Q5 - 91.10%. • 1 or more at SCQF Level 5: Overall – 89.46%, Q1 – 80.98%, Q5 - 97.10%. • 1 or more at SCQF Level 6, Overall – 67.62%, Q1- 52.13%, 85.41% • Participation Measure: • Overall 94.60%, Q1- 92.00%, Q5- 98.00%. • HWB Measure: Primary Attendance: Overall 92.40%, Q1 89.6%, Q5- 94.90%. • HWB Measure Secondary attendance: Overall 87.40%, Q1- 84.40%, Q5 – 91.30%. Improved ability to evaluate and evidence the impact of Pupil Equity Funding, at local authority and establishment level. • Develop self-evaluation resources for schools to use to refresh their approaches in using Pupil Equity Funding. • Develop suite of support sessions for school staff to reflect on the rationale, planning and implementation for Pupil Equity Funding. • Additional support offered to schools across all sectors, in developing their rationale based on a robust contextualised analysis. • Continue to strengthen approaches to quality assurance, governance and management of Pupil Equity Funding. • % of HTs attending training and % of evaluative data leading to impact. • Analysis of ACEL data Q1 vs Q5. • Most schools developing a clearer rationale using a range of data to inform change. • Positive feedback from HMIe reports. Page 105 of 364
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18 Attainment, Achievement and Improvement Aim: To develop robust processes and strategies to raise attainment and achievement and to secure continuous improvement for learners. Rationale: We are developing clear processes, at local authority and establishment level that enable us to define and measure success in attainment, across all areas of the curriculum. We are supporting school leaders to provide a range of experiences that enable learners to develop their skills and attributes and to celebrate achievements. Ensuring continuous improvement or sustained high standards over time is a key feature. NIF Priority: Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people. Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy NIF Driver(s): Curriculum and Assessment. School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success • Roll out of PEF PT/DHT network sessions to identify good practice and encourage greater collaboration and sustainability of initiatives. To use the Strategic Equity Fund to raise attainment and improve outcomes for learners’ impacted upon by poverty. Refreshed Strategic Equity Fund Plan is impacting positively by providing targeted support to establishments to help them to close the poverty related attainment gap and improving outcomes for learners. Development of partnerships and synergies between various funding streams is enhancing support for vulnerable children and families and closing the poverty related attainment gap. Strategic deployment of targeted support and interventions is impacting positively and supporting equity in education. • Relaunch SAC/PEF framework (V3) following midterm review. • Establish clear procedures for identifying, monitoring, and reporting on Local Authority core and core plus stretch aims. • Deploy CRTs across the cluster to provide support for identified individuals. • Support schools/clusters with self-evaluation including stakeholder consultation using approaches such as participatory budgeting. • Deploy Curriculum Managers to strengthen improvement work with a specific focus on learners from the lowest deciles (Q1). • Deploy FESAs strategically to improve attendance for identified learners. • Collaborate and work with colleagues across Services to implement NL’s Tackling Poverty Strategy. • Support establishments to review their poverty proofing policies. • Stakeholder feedback re. SAC/PEF Framework • Progress towards core and core plus stretch aims • Club 365 Attendance and participation data and feedback • Cluster data evidencing impact of CATs • Progress updates TPAG • Qualitative and quantitative data re. number of establishment with updated poverty proofing policy and evidence of impact for families. To improve outcomes for learners through the development of a skills framework. New NLC skills framework that supports a range of skills and attributes • Develop a skills framework (3-18) to support practitioner knowledge and understanding of skills progression across CfE levels and ensure consistency of learner experiences within establishments across North Lanarkshire. • Number of establishments using frameworks within planning of CfE • Recording of achievements/accreditations on Seemis Page 106 of 364
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19 Attainment, Achievement and Improvement Aim: To develop robust processes and strategies to raise attainment and achievement and to secure continuous improvement for learners. Rationale: We are developing clear processes, at local authority and establishment level that enable us to define and measure success in attainment, across all areas of the curriculum. We are supporting school leaders to provide a range of experiences that enable learners to develop their skills and attributes and to celebrate achievements. Ensuring continuous improvement or sustained high standards over time is a key feature. NIF Priority: Closing the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged children and young people. Improvement in skills and sustained, positive school-leaver destinations for all young people. Improvement in attainment, particularly in literacy and numeracy NIF Driver(s): Curriculum and Assessment. School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2024-25 How will we measure our success Increased opportunities for personal achievement and accreditations that will lead to success now and in the future. • Monitor learners’ progress and opportunities for personal achievements including accreditation from early level to senior phase. • Evidence of links with DYW and Pathways team as part of corporate Brighter Futures POW. To improve outcomes for learners by supporting establishments in curriculum making processes to raise attainment. Strengthening approaches in schools towards curriculum design Improving curriculum development through collaborative enquiry approaches • Support establishments in developing their curriculum to improve learner agency and outcomes. • Develop approaches to engage in enquiry research for establishments to improve curriculum and raise attainment for learners. • Number of establishments supported • Evaluations • Establishment data pre/post- attendance, engagement, attainment • New enquiry programme for curriculum development To improve outcomes for learners through an expressive language project. Improve language and communication skills of targeted groups of early years children. Develop training offer to support the development of language and communication in the early years setting. • Undertake a pilot research project in four early years establishments to improve expressive and receptive language skills. • Provide training in Video Enhanced Reflective Practice (VERP) and Three Read approach to Early Learning Practitioners from identified establishments to build capacity and improve outcomes for children. • Pre/post data (Renfrewshire Action picture test) • Number of practitioners trained/evaluations Page 107 of 364
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20 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Empowering Clusters: To build effective processes and strong networks of practice that put children and families at the centre, ensuring equity and excellence. Further enhanced partnership working across the empowering cluster model, which improves outcomes for children and young people. Data informed deployment of cluster- based resources to improve outcomes for children and young people. Impact of cluster quality improvement framework in ensuring consistency and quality across the clusters. All clusters to use the new Attendance Matters operating policy, with SMART attendance targets set to improve attendance rates. Refreshed cluster improvement and integration leads (CIIL) remits to strengthen the universal offer, through increased provision of provision of • Continue to link with establishments and the inclusion team to support North Lanarkshire’s approach to GIRFEC. • Ensure children and families remain at the heart of planning processes and deployment of cluster-based staff (CSTs and CRTS) to support children and families. • Deploy Family Engagement Support Assistants (FESAs) strategically to improve attendance for identified learners. • Track interventions and measures of improvement. • Embed the approaches and guidance within the Attendance Matters Operating Policy and further develop reporting to SMT. • Further develop the use of Wellbeing Bases and locality partnerships to meet the needs of children and young people. • Update Page Tiger resource to ensure all practitioners have access to the most up to date guidance and supports. • Develop strategic roles of the CIILs to strengthen the inclusive partnerships of the empowering cluster model. • Monitoring and tracking of cluster resource interventions. • Attendance tracking across all sectors, clusters and establishments • Utilisation of the cluster resources to support integrated practice • Evaluation of the current CLPL offering to all practitioners within wellbeing and measured impact in practice • Data on wellbeing base use and integrated service offers from the spaces. Page 108 of 364
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21 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? strategic leadership at cluster and authority level. • Phased implementation of cluster-based staffing formula. • Continued implementation of the We Aspire model. • Continued development and tracking of EAL/resettlement support To improve outcomes for learners through robust GIRFEC planning processes, collaboration and partnership working. Development of a HWB Strategy for Children and Families to align approaches and resources to improve outcomes for children and families. Improve processes for planning and tracking the impact of partnership working to maximise impact for children and families. • Support development of approaches based on Nurture, Resilience and Trauma Informed practice in schools. • Support development of approaches based on Nurture, Resilience and Trauma Informed practice in social work teams. • Enhancement of health, mental health, and wellbeing supports for identified learners. • Continue to build effective partnerships to improve outcomes for children and families. • Refreshed remits for Police Scotland – campus police officers to improve capacity to measure impact and inform wider locality supports and plans for young people. • Targeted use of Fire Reach Programme to support identified learners • Continue to collaborate with colleagues from psychological services to support service level policy • Qualitative and quantitative data re impact of the HWB strategy. • Qualitative and quantitative data re uptake and impact of CLPL • Evidence from CSP task groups will include representation of the views of children, young people, parents and families • Evidence from assessment tools such WITT, Outcome Star etc • Refreshed Police and Fire Reach remits and qualitative feedback re. impact. • Monitoring of empowering cluster model, GIRFEC pathway and whether planning for wellbeing is universal, additional or intensive level. • Evidence from the framework developed to measure the impact of trauma informed approaches. Page 109 of 364
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22 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? develop work – co-developing key policies including critical incidents and suicide prevention. • Engage with colleagues form psychological services to provide direct support to establishments, building staff capacity around HWB offers including resilience toolkits, nurture, trauma informed practice, critical incidents and suicide prevention grief loss and change. To improve outcomes (attainment and HWB) for Care Experienced Children and Young People. Improved attendance levels, by June 2025. • Implementation of robust attendance tracking and monitoring systems that supports early identification and intervention. • Strategic use of establishment and cluster resources to support improved attendance. • Review and evaluate work of the FESAs in increasing attendance in line with the POW: Family Supports • Continued use of Attendance MAP to identify trends and patterns and to support authority planning and resourcing decisions. • HWB Measure: Primary Attendance: Overall 92.40%, Q1 89.6%, Q5- 94.90% • HWB Measure Secondary attendance: Overall 87.40%, Q1- 84.40%, Q5 – 91.30%. Increased understanding of corporate parenting responsibilities evident through improved GIRFEC planning. • Keeping the Promise Award implemented across all clusters. • All clusters (23) have engaged with the Keeping The Promise award. Almost all schools will achieve the award at We Promise level. Page 110 of 364
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23 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? CECYP will have increased opportunities to achieve N3/4 level Level qualifications. Robust transition planning and maximisation of partnership links to improve outcomes and positive destinations for young people engaging with Virtual School. • Strategic use of additional staffing to support further attainment and achievement opportunities for care experienced children and young people. • Strategic use of Virtual School staff to coach, model and collaborate with mainstream staff to support planning processes for CECYP. • Bespoke CLPL to build staff capacity across schools and settings. • Sustain reduced levels of exclusion for care experienced learners through ongoing work with school and cluster staff. • Enhance links with DYW Taskforce and associated partners to improve post school leaver destinations for care experienced young people. • Secondary VS staff to collaborate with Senior phase curriculum lead to deliver an enhanced range of SQA qualifications at N3/4 level • All school-based staff will have an increased knowledge of their corporate parenting responsibilities • At least 60% of young people supported by Virtual Schools teachers for SQA awards will achieve a minimum of five national qualifications at level three or above and be accredited. • Level of exclusions of care experienced learners to remain static or reduce further. • At least 70% of senior level learners working with Virtual School will have secured a positive post school destination. No young people who have worked with Virtual School will be “unknown”. Improve wellbeing and ensure children and young people thrive particularly those Increased engagement from most vulnerable groups is supporting improved planning processes. • Enhancement of health, mental health, and wellbeing supports for identified learners. • Continue to build effective partnerships to improve locality supports for children and outcomes. • Cluster dashboard data re. allocation of supports and impact • GIRFEC CLPL attendance figures • Improving HMIe/VSE Inspection results for QI 3.1 Page 111 of 364
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24 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? impacted upon by poverty. Improving mental health: Strategies to reduce the impact of trauma and improve children and young people’s mental health are impacting positively. Improved balance of care is improving and supporting GIRFEC planning processes. Improving attendance rates and reducing exclusion rates is impact positively on outcomes for children and families. • Continue to use school-based counselling to support children and young people’s wellbeing. • Support and increase awareness of the poverty referral pathways and actively encourage uptake. • Work with relevant partners to adopt a “Cash First” stance in relation to tackling food and fuel poverty. • Continue to use school-based counselling to support identified young people. • Promote the Kooth App which provides information on mental health for children and young people. • Qualitative and quantitative data re. impact of school-based counselling • No. of Rights Respecting Schools being assessed at gold, silver and bronze. • Number of benefit checks for families and CYP • Numbers of volunteers; parents carers achieved employment • Qualitative and quantitative data re. impact Kooth App Supporting families through effective partnership working. Strengthening Whole Family Support, incl. kinship carers and adopters. Increased understanding and use of strategies/approaches to protect children and young people. (Signs of Safety and Contextual Safeguarding) • Embed a rights-based approach across all services and make children’s rights visible in policy, culture and practice. • Increase family involvement the design, delivery and evaluation of support, by listening to the experience of families, involving families as key contributors. • Almost all stakeholders (including, staff, partners, and the public) are aware of these rights and understands what they are, as expressed in the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child. • Increasing numbers of CRWIA are undertaken and published. • Increase in whole family support provision available across North Lanarkshire Page 112 of 364
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25 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Improved partnership working to tackle poverty and increase access to economic opportunities. Improving support to care experienced young people. • Feedback form staff indicates that they have an increased understanding of what is important to children, young people and families. Inclusion To continue to review processes, practice and infrastructure to ensure effective use of available resources to support and improve outcomes for learners Continue to develop Quality Improvement processes within ASN sector, with a specific focus on effective use of data to support continuous improvements. Develop an efficient cluster-based resource allocation process which maximises use of local knowledge to deploy resources effectively to meet learners needs. Continue to reconfigure Intensive ASN service to maximise resource and better meet the needs of children and families. • Evaluate the impact of professional learning and current staffing resources to ensure that these are having the expected impact. • Continue to strengthen inclusive approaches within mainstream settings to enable and empower staff to develop appropriate curriculum pathways, within and out with the traditional learning environment. • Review the current NBPR process. • Review HI and VI service provision and identify action points to be included in the program of works. • Review and evaluate the implementation of NL Transition Policy. • Reflect on the collaborative improvement process (CIR) to plan next steps identified. • Data evidencing increased access to bespoke HWB supports for learners (quantitative and qualitative data) • Inclusion Dashboard data to evidence impact of support. • NBPR data evidencing application and placement data. • Stakeholder feedback re. policy updates. • Feedback for Cluster Improvement Report • Evaluation of ASN Outreach teachers supporting mainstream settings. Page 113 of 364
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26 HEALTH AND WELLBEING Aim: Improve outcomes for children, young people and families, through effective implementation of a range of health and wellbeing strategies and approaches that support and empower young people and families, increasing attainment and achievement, and reducing the poverty related attainment gap. Rationale: Removing the barriers to achievement and ensuring excellence and equity for all is a key priority for North Lanarkshire Council. Improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing is a key element in enabling us to achieve this objective. The expectation is that all children and young people will benefit from strong universal provision and curricular experiences which will promote health lifestyles, choices and wellbeing. However, we acknowledge that, at times, young people and families required additional or intensive support. Within NLC we have developed processes that enable this support to be delivered through effective partnerships and integrated cluster working. This ensures that our children and families have access to the correct supports, at the correct time, in their local community, placing children at the heart of our planning processes. NIF Priority: Placing the human rights and needs of every child and young person at the centre of education. Improvement in children and young people’s health and wellbeing. NIF Driver(s): School and ELC Improvement. Performance Information. Teacher and Practitioner Professionalism. Aim Expected Outcomes (What we will measure and report on) Summary of Key Actions Session 2023-24 How will we measure our success? Review policies, processes & guidance to ensure compliance with legislative changes and to ensure best practice. • Review HI and VI service provision and identify action points to be included in the program of works. Page 114 of 364
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27 Appendix 1: NL Key Performance Measures (Including core and core plus stretch aims and KMS identified in performance management framework) Please note: Attainment data is provisional and may be subject to slight changes following Scottish Government cleansing exercise and confirmation of SQA appeals results. Tolerance Level 0.5pp above or below. Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 % of pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 72.23% 75.47% 75.05% % of Q1 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 63.93% 67.52% 67.73% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy 82.94% 86.06% 82.77% Q1 – Q5 Gap (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy) 19.01pp 18.54pp 15.04pp % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 79.38% 81.31% 81.18% % of Q1 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 72.60% 74.80% 74.56% % of Q5 pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 89.15% 90.90% 88.37% Q1 – Q5 Gap ((P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 16.55pp 16.10pp 13.81pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 85.14% 84.35% 86.7% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 79.21% 79.50% 79.59% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening (Core Plus) 93.11% 88.50% 93.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above literacy) 13.9pp 9.0pp 14.10pp % of S3 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 85.34% 85.11% 87.66% % of S3 Q1 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 76.20% 78.13% 79.86% % of S3 Q5 pupils achieving third level or better in numeracy (Core Plus) 95.96% 93.87% 96.85% Q1 – Q5 Gap (S3 3rd level or above numeracy) 19.76pp 15.74pp 16.99pp Number and percentage of secondary school leavers by total qualifications attained under the All SCQF measure (S2.2a) (Based on leavers data therefore previous year’s data.) June 2022 (20/21 Insight) June 2023 (21/22 Insight) June 2024 (22/23 insight) % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better (All SCQF) 88.55% 87.46% 85.82 % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 81.73% 78.48% 77.09 % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 5 or better 97.96% 96.60% 95.59% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 16.23pp 17.52pp 18.5pp % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 67.49% 64.62% 61.89% % of Q1 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 54.82% 49.13% 48.93% % of Q5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 83.67% 81.41% 82.89% Q1 – Q5 gap SCQF 5 28.85pp 32.28pp 33.96pp Page 115 of 364
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28 Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 Annual Participation Measure The percentage of young adults (16-19 year olds) participating in education, training or employment in the LA in the year to 31st March. (SDS data) June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 Overall 90.2% 91.0% 91.9% Quintile 1 85.1% 85.7% 87.2% Quintile 5 95.5% 96.0% 96.4% Q1 – Q5 gap (APM) 10.4pp 10.3pp 9.2pp Core Plus Stretch aims June 2023 June 2024 % Attendance Primary 91.16% 91.61% % attendance Q1 Primary 88.52% 89.15% % attendance Q5 Primary 94.50% 94.69% Q1 – Q5 Gap Primary 5.98pp 5.54pp % Attendance Secondary 85.54% 85.72% % Attendance Q1 Secondary 81.57% 81.21% % Attendance Q5 Secondary 90.41% 91.23% Q1- Q5 Gap Secondary 8.84pp 10.02pp % of leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) (Excludes ASN schools) 57.5% 53.36% 53.2% % of Q1 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 40.6% 36.84% 37.7% % of Q5 leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 74.8% 77.58% 72.6% Q1 – Q5 gap leavers achieving S5 1+ Higher (A-C passes based on all candidates) 34.2pp 40.74pp 34.9pp % of P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 70.90% 73.45% 73.89% % of Q1 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 62.53% 66.35% 67.06% % of Q5 P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 81.21% 83.91% 84.40% Q1 – Q5 Gap for P4 learners achieving expected level for writing 18.68pp 17.56pp 17.34pp NLC Performance Management Target (Result collated from HMIE questionnaires distributed over 11 inspections published over session 2023-24.) Parent satisfaction - % parents agree or strongly agree that the school is well led and managed 88.8% 77% Parent Satisfaction - % of parents that agree that they receive helpful, regular feedback about how their child is learning and developing. 85.8% 72.2% Parent Satisfaction –% of parents that agree/strongly agree that overall they are satisfied with the school. 91.0% 78.8% Page 116 of 364
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29 Key Performance Measure June 2022 June 2023 June 2024 June 2025 HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using previous measure– satisfactory or above) 100% 100% HMIe Inspection Results, early years- % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 66.67% 50% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using previous measure – Satisfactory or above) 100.0% 81.2% HMIe Inspection Results, schools - % positive reports (Using new measure – good or above) 71.0% 45.45% *Final SCQF for 2024 leavers will be reported when the Summary Statistics for Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations 2024 data is published in February 2025 *1 For reference, SEEMIS BI does not provide the S4 roll figure for Q1 or Q5 so this information has been taken from Insight (i.e. for 2024 – taken from 2023 S4 on Insight). The 2024 percentages are then a comparison of the number of pupils that got an A-C pass in the SEEMIS BI data with the S4 roll figures from Insight. Page 117 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref BS/AG/AGi/AMcG Date 19/11/24 Resilient People: Improving Health and Wellbeing, Family Support and School Attendance From Barry Smedley, Chief Officer (Education South) Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Education, Families, Justice, and Integrated Practice) E-mail GordonA@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Executive Summary This report sets out for committee progress in the delivery of a range of services to support families as part of the Resilient People Programme of Work. As with the report provided to committee in May of this year, it is wide in scope as it seeks to illustrate how strategic decisions to integrate and align approaches within the context of the council’s Programme of Work and the wider Children’s Services Plan 2023-2026 are improving service delivery and, in turn, outcomes for children. A key strand of the Resilient People Programme of Work is to improve the outcomes for children and their families through a long-term shift in resources to preventative support that gets the right support to families at the right time. This report provides an update to committee on actions to achieve these aims, including how we are using investments through the Whole Family Being Fund (WFWBF), Scottish Equity Fund (SEF) and the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Support and Services Framework grant (CMHWBF) to innovate and realise the ambitions of Resilient People. The report will set out these approaches at the levels of universal, additional and intensive supports in line with our staged intervention model. We reported to committee in May 2024 the improvement in our school attendance figures and this report provides a further update to the end of last school session (23/24). At that meeting Committee endorsed our approach to sustaining improvement through a focus on whole family support, in recognition of the importance of the need for bespoke and trauma-informed interventions to address the complex issues affecting attendance. This report provides some specific examples of these approaches. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the approach to supporting children and young people and families as outlined in the report. Item 4 Page 119 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 Our strategic approach to ensuring we have the right supports in place at the right time is to put in place a range of services at universal, additional and intensive levels. The range of these supports reflects the GIRFEC staged intervention model allowing for levels of support to be stepped up or stepped down as families’ needs change. As first reported to committee in September 2023, these supports are being developed in collaboration with families and staff. It is therefore a dynamic and evolving picture and Figure 1 below updates committee on the current developments: Figure 1. 1.2 Given the range and diversity of these services, responsibility for the delivery of whole family supports sits across a range of partners. The Children’s Services Planning Partnership, with strategic alignment to the Resilient People Programme of Work, provides coherence and governance around this complex landscape to ensure that family support is experienced by families as integrated and responsive to need. The key areas of change are mapped out below: The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe Programme of Work Resilient People Page 120 of 364
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Figure 2. 1.3 To this end, the Resilient People Programme is taking forward the commitment the council made in August 2020 to keep The Promise and in particular the ambition of The Promise to upscale accessible family support and move away from patterns of crisis intervention. 1.4 To support local partnerships deliver on these ambitions and innovate around need, the Scottish Government announced the WFWB in 2022 (see section 5.2 for details of the allocation to North Lanarkshire). A significant proportion of the WFWB has been used to commission an early help and support service which can be accessed directly by families across North Lanarkshire as well as by referral from agencies. 1.5 Members will recall the significant amount of temporary money supporting service provision in this area and this is a potential risk for long term service delivery. Different funds such as the health and wellbeing elements of the Scottish Equity Fund, the CMHWBF, Best Start Bright Futures and ADP funded projects share the objectives of the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund (WFWF) and are being used to support the Resilient People Programme of Work (PoW) to test changes and align this activity as part of system change and to maximise impact for families. The Resilient People Programme Board has also now commenced a review all our family support activity in North Lanarkshire with a view to recommending a sustainable and affordable model of support by end of the PoW period aligned to the council’s financial strategy. The Board is also working with the national Promise Team to apply Human and Economic Cost Modelling to evaluate and cost family support to help us implement the strategic ambition of Resilient People to move funding towards prevention. 1.6 Attendance at school is a national and local priority following a national decrease in attendance post Covid, most notably by 1.8% from 20/21 to 22/23 across Scotland. In North Lanarkshire, the need for whole family support to address attendance through the integrated approaches to planning support is well established, using core and temporary funds to promote and sustain improved engagement with school. Page 121 of 364
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2. Report Whole Family Support – Universal Level 2.1 As agreed by committee in February of this year, a partnership of providers, led by Barnardo’s Scotland, was successfully commissioned to deliver early help to families across North Lanarkshire and reach into the local community through engagement to identify needs and ensure the development of the service is responsive to local circumstances. The partners comprise Barnardo’s, Action for Children, Impact Arts and Home-Start to give a breadth of complimentary support bespoke to families’ needs. The service was launched in April from the Newmains and St Brigid’s community hub to align with developments to integrate services around the new operating model. The service has now been named the Families Here and Now Service (FHANS) by some of the first families to use the service. To date they have provided direct 1:1 support, practical help, group support, a drop in Newmains and St Brigid’s hub, family days out and activities during school holidays. Appendix 1 gives an example of how a family has experienced support and a leaflet designed with families to publicise the service. 2.2 Between April and July 2024, the service worked with 24 families (note recruitment of staff only commenced following award of contract), successfully diverting 9 families from social work intervention. Two early themes have emerged. First, for 12 of the families using the service school attendance and relationships with school was a difficulty and second, the impact of poverty. The service is therefore working closely with schools and the Family Support Engagement Workers to get the right help to families. We are also introducing the capacity for Barnardo’s to make direct payments to families as part of the ‘cash first approach’ within the tackling poverty strand of the Resilient People Programme of Work. A summary of the first quarter’s activity is illustrated below: Page 122 of 364
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Figure 3. Page 123 of 364
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Next Steps 2.3 The partnership with Impact Arts is being used to facilitate community engagement and co-production activity. The partnership with Home-Start will create peer mentoring opportunities for families and reduce stigma. Over the autumn, The Families Here and Now Service will expand across, Coatbridge and the Northern Corridor working around the Riverbank and Chryston Hubs. Subject to successful recruitment, the service will be operational across the whole of North Lanarkshire at the beginning of 2025. The service will be evaluated to measure the extent to which this early help prevents difficulties for families increasing and the need for more intensive supports. Supporting School Engagement and Attendance – Additional Level Support 2.4 Attendance rates increased across all sectors in academic session 2023/24. The largest increases were in ASN provision (2.5%) and Early Years (2.41%). Overall, across all sectors there was a 1.35% increase in attendance. 2.5 There was no real difference in gender in session 2023/24. Attendance for care experienced young people remained higher all session with overall improvement of 1.65%. The gap between care experienced young people and those not care experienced was 6.09%. This is a decrease in last session’s gap. 2.6 There continues to be an attendance gap between the Quintile 1 and the Quintile 5. The table below shows, however that in three sectors this reduced within academic session 2023/24: Gap Q5 - Q1 2021 2022 26-Jun Gap diff 23-22 ASN 7.24 7.04 5.29 -1.75 Early Years 8.61 8.84 7.50 -1.34 Primary 6.12 6.16 5.54 -0.61 Secondary 9.03 9.62 10.02 0.40 Figure 4. 2.7 Establishments have taken significant steps to ensure robust attendance tracking is in place and are making good use of this data to examine attendance levels at each school and stage to determine the root causes of absence and build an evidence base of effective and better practice which can be shared across clusters. Alongside the work and initiatives within schools paragraphs 2.8-2.17 below illustrate some of the family support approaches that are being taken to support children and young people engage with school and address the underlying barriers. Family Support Engagement Workers 2.8 As previously reported to Committee, the service is using Scottish Equity Funding to invest in Family Engagement Support Assistants (FESAs) to take a family support approach where there is a concern about attendance, with a focus on those families Page 124 of 364
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living in SIMD 1 and 2. The FESAs offer practical family support such as routines, linking with the Tackling Poverty Team and facilitating communication with schools. 2.9 Over 2023/24, the FESAs completed work with 192 children and their families. As illustrated in figure 5 below, attendance improved for 56% of these children. Figure 5. 2.10 What we have found is that the approach of the FESAs has most impact where children’s attendance sits between 30-60% on referral and for children of primary school age. For example, 2 children’s attendance improved from 37.5% to 100%. As with the Families Here and Now Service, the most common themes impacting on attendance are poverty (cost of school day); parental mental health and communication/engagement with schools. 2.11 As the data illustrates, earlier intervention both in terms of age and attendance level is crucial. Further work to understand the issues impacting on children with very low attendance has been carried out starting with an audit of the 21% of children whose attendance reduced. This audit shows that for the 40 that showed a reduction in attendance: • 13 (32%) ended their contact with the service • 11(28%) moved home and ended contact • 9 (22%) reached school leaving age • 7 (18%) moved to receiving a higher level of intervention, either through social work services, and/or referral to the children’s reporter 2.12 The next step is to undertake case evaluations of the children whose attendance decreased, as part of the wider work in analysing attendance issues, to understand the issues in more depth and ensure we develop the right kind of support at the right time. We expect, however, that the preventative work of the FESAs and other supports (see below) will reduce the number of children whose non-school attendance becomes entrenched. Page 125 of 364
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2.13 As part of this strategy we have enhanced and aligned resources from across Education and Families to create a flexible family support offer across 7 days that can respond to the needs of families whose children attend our Additional Support Needs schools, including We Aspire, with a particular focus on issues of mental health, neurodiversity and engagement with education and the community. Project Officers have now been recruited to offer community based whole family support for children as part of a ‘one service’ approach working with the FESAs, managed within the CLD Family Learning Service, and working closely with other health and community-based resources. We will report on the impacts of this in 2025. Figure 6. Neurodevelopmental Family Support Workers 2.14 We know that children and young people who are neuro divergent may experience difficulties engaging with school. This is compounded by the stress experienced by families waiting for formal assessment. Through a combination of the CMHWBF and WFWBF we have funded neurodevelopmental family support workers based in North Lanarkshire Carers Together, who offer a range of 1:1 and family-based supports at home, in the community or in school. The full range of activity for 2023/24 is outlined in Figure 7 below. Page 126 of 364
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Figure 7. 2.15 The success of this preventative approach is indicated by the low level of need for onward referral to social work or CAMHS and evaluation from families and referrers is positive (see Appendix 2) Page 127 of 364
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2.16 An increasing number of requests for assistance are for children who are either school refusers (35) or have anxiety about going into school. A key focus is therefore bridging home and school support. As part of this work, NHSL Neurodevelopmental Service, Educational Psychology and Carers Together have begun a project in 2 clusters to support children over from P7-S2 in recognition of the support needs of children with neurodevelopmental needs through transition from primary to secondary school and help prevent an emerging trend of some of these young people disengaging with school over this period. Participating children in the clusters are assessed by the NHSL team and supported by Carers Together and nearly all the children have made a successful transition from primary to secondary school. Wellbeing, Resilience and school engagement 2.17 19 Empowering Clusters identified emotionally based school avoidance and through the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund worked with local community and voluntary sector organisations to create specific supports to address this issue. These supports have included art therapy, outdoor experiences, equine therapy and promoting emotional wellbeing through sport. Last year just over 1,000 children and young people accessed these supports with just 61% experienced improved outcomes, including improved engagement with education. As a basis for ensuring maximum impact, the next step is to align this outcome data with attendance within the cluster dashboard. 2.18 Building on the positive impact of the Living Life to the Full Programme delivered by CLD (funded by the CMHWB), the programme has focused on young people where attendance has been a concern. The programme builds relationships with young people by engaging them in the community and build confidence (see Appendix 3 as for case examples). As the table below illustrates, this programme has had a positive impact, particularly for young people with very low poor attendance. Young Person Month One % Month One % & change from last month Month Two % & change from last month Month Three % & change from last month Month Four % & change from last month Overall Change from Month One A 13 67 +54 80 +13 68 -12 89 +21 +76 B 58 74 +16 74 - 95 +21 97 +2 +39 C 42 47 +5 56 +8 62 +6 72 +10 +30 D 77 70 -7 90 +20 86 -4 92 +6 +15 E 90 88 -2 100 +12 92 -8 92 - +2 Page 128 of 364
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Whole Family Support – Intensive Level Kinship Care 2.19 Kinship carers care for children who have often suffered trauma and have additional needs. Kinship carers often have their own needs, are older, and are supporting other family members. In recognition of these specific challenges, we have used the WFWBF to increase family support to kinship carers within the kinship care team and within the Virtual School. Additional capacity has enabled the Virtual School to support 38 learners in 23/24. This has improved school engagement and educational outcomes. Only 1 young person in kinship care was excluded from school in session 23/24 (see figure 7) and the 5 S4 learners achieved 12 National 3 and 4 awards. 2.19.1 Additional capacity for family support in the kinship team has afforded specific support to 26 families. The worker has provided intensive work with kinship carers and young people around areas of need through emotional, practical and therapeutic approaches, on a consistent and regular basis. Based on feedback from those kinship carers, we know excellent relationships have been established and in two situations have prevented placements ending. Figure 8. Social Work Intensive Services 2.20 Our intensive services have provided intensive family support where children may be at risk of experiencing care or have left care to 450 children and young people and their families and carers over the year. In line with the principles of family support outlined in The Promise, they offer family support 7 days a week in way that is flexible, relational and focuses on families’ assets. The service also supports some young people in care to help sustain care situations and prevent breakdown. From a sample 89 pieces of work which concluded April 2024-September 2024, the desired outcomes were achieved or partially achieved in 77 cases. This included enabling 45 children to remain at home, or return home, with parents and 19 children remain safe in their care placement. The following table shows an overview of the work. Page 129 of 364
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Figure 9. Family Group Decision Making and Lifelong Links 2.21 As reported to committee in September 2023, we are using the WFWBF to strengthen our Family Group Decision Making Service, which is an integral part of our intensive services to support children at risk of harm or in significant need remain within their families. A Family Group Meeting builds on family assets and strengths by helping key family members come together to create a plan which protects and supports the child and or young person. Over 2023/24, 70 referral progressed to a family meeting where a family plan was devised. Of these, 22 meetings were held to prevent a child coming into care resulting in 21 children remaining in their families. In addition, 9 children were supported through the FGDM process to return to their parents from care. While prevention of care is a priority, family group meetings were also held to discuss family support, contact arrangement and transitions. Details about the impact and outcomes of this approach are contained with the 2023/24 annual report (Appendix 2) and the outcome of referrals detailed in (Appendix 4). 2.22 As well as achieving positive outcomes for children, the approach represents best value in financial terms. Work with finance colleagues estimates that over 2023/24, the approach avoided costs of approximately £1.65 million. 2.23 Many care experienced young adults have told the Independent Care Review that they felt abandoned and ill prepared as they moved from childhood into adulthood. To help address this, we have used WFWBF to invest in Life Long Links work (developed by The Family Rights Group) which uses principles of the family group decision making approach to build positive, lasting relationships with and for children and young people in care and care leavers. Starting from a full understanding of the young person’s life story, the young person decides who and how they wish to reconnect with. Over 2023/24, 16 young people were referred, and 14 lifelong connections were established with important people such as brothers, sisters, grandparents or workers. The outcomes are long term but the feedback from young people has been very powerful: “The best think about lifelong links was meeting my grandad and seeing that he was happy about seeing me too. I now know what happened in my life.” young person. Page 130 of 364
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0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Family Swim Pass Family Swim & Skate Pass Cinema Treat Five Sisters Zoo M&D’s inc Adventure GolfNo. of Families No of Tickets Summer Programme Activities 2.24 Our approach to Family Group Decision Making and Life Long Links has been independently assessed by the Family Rights Group against key standards and North Lanarkshire is now an accredited family group decision making service. The Family Rights Group stated, ‘there is a particularly strong commitment to utilise the experience and learning from Lifelong Links to improve practice across children's services based upon the core commitments contained within the Promise’. Support to Families Over the Summer 2.25 The service delivered a range of activities over the summer targeted to support children and their families during the holidays. There were three main strands: • Strengthening Families Summer Programme delivered by the Virtual School • Intensive Services Summer Programme • Family Learning (CLD) Summer Programme 2.25.1 The Strengthening Families Programme was targeted at those children and young people in most need and risk living at home or with kinship carers, supporting families address the cost of the school holidays. As such a variety of activities were offered to keep children entertained and to enhance relationships through having fun together whilst minimising the financial impact on families. The breath of programme is illustrated below. Figure 10. 2.25.2 The Intensive Services summer programme targeted 47 families of children under 12 (Families First) and 30 young people (12-18) where there was a risk of children coming into care. The range of activities is illustrated below. The Families First (FF) 20% 56% 17% 7% Criteria for Referral Looked After at Home Kinship Child Protection Other Circumstances Page 131 of 364
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summer activities focused on whole family activities to encourage play and learning as well as building resilience in the children and confidence in the parents. This included Messy play, Tye-Dye day, Making Music day and Canvas painting and finished off with a ‘Grande finale’ fun day and Strathclyde Park. Appendix 3 gives feedback from parents and young people. Figure 11. 2.25.3 Over the summer, 798 families participated in CLD Family Learning summer programme which completed the more targeted programmes delivered social work intensive services. The offer included outdoor learning, baby massage, book bug sessions and visits to parks, outdoor spaces and places of interest both within and out with North Lanarkshire and 97 parents took part in parenting programmes. A number of positive outcomes were reported by parents: 100% of participants said the programme program led to significant improvements in family relationships; 55% of parents experienced notable improvements in their personal well-being and 45% of parents felt the programme reduced isolation. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Improved health and wellbeing of children and their families 3.2 Reduction in need for crisis services and requests of assistance to social work 3.3 Progress in improving attendance is maintained. 3.4 Outcomes for children, young people and there are improved through positive relationships with staff and with trauma-informed approaches. 3.5 Supports will become easier to access and responsive to need – the ‘no wrong door approach’ – through integrated working within the new operating model, supported by the GIRFEC pathway. 3.6 Reduction in number of children being cared for outside of their family. Page 132 of 364
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Families Here and Now Service (FHANS) Case Study and Leaflet 4.2 Appendix 2: Parental Feedback & child case study on Neurodevelopmental Family Support Workers 4.3 Appendix 3: Living Life to The Full Case Study 4.4 Appendix 4: Family Group Decision Making and Life Long Links Annual Report 4.5 Appendix 5: Parental and young people feedback on the intensive services summer programme Alison Gordon Barry Smedley Chief Social Work Officer Chief Officer (Education South) Page 133 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? As noted within the body of the report the operational delivery of these activities is supported through core Council funding, directed Scottish Government funding and grants. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 134 of 364
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? There is a risk in maintaining some of the services and approaches discussed in the report. Some of the work being carried out is funded through temporary funding which raises a risk about long term sustainability. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Page 135 of 364
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A CRWIA has been undertaken in respect of Children’s Services Planning Partnership and the focus on family support within the CSP upholds the interlinked rights of children. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? A CRWIA has been carried out for the commissioned family support service. Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 136 of 364
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Appendix 1: Families Here and Now Service (FHANS) Case Study and Leaflet Page 137 of 364
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Appendix 2- Parental Feedback & child case study on Neurodevelopmental Family Support Workers Page 138 of 364
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Appendix 3 Page 139 of 364
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Appendix 4: Family Group Decision Making and Life Long Links Annual Report Annual Report Family Group Decision Making and Lifelong Links April 2023 to March 2024 Contents Introduction What is family group decision making (FGDM)? What is lifelong links (LLL)? Page 141 of 364
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FGDM/LLL Legislative Framework Family Group Decision Making in North Lanarkshire FGDM Aims and Objectives FGDM progress and The Promise Feedback from family Lifelong Links in North Lanarkshire Lifelong Links Aims and Objectives Our Lifelong Links journey through The Promise Children and young people referred Next Year and Beyond Appendices • All examples have been anonymised for confidentiality Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Lifelong Links (LLL) Introduction Our Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Lifelong Links service have strengthened their approach to listen and support children, young people and families in North Lanarkshire. The service has become an integral part of Education and Families, Intensive Social Work Services, supporting children, young people and families build on their family’s assets to maintain family care. Page 142 of 364
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FGDM and Lifelong Links service recognise that children are not always able to remain within their family. A core component is our commitment to improve culture and practice, to support rehabilitation back to family, where possible, and to promote and maintain important relationships when children and young people become care experienced. What is family group decision making? Since the mid 1990’s Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) has been used as an effective way of working with children, young people, unborn babies and their families in Scotland. FGDM can be used on a continuum from early support to situations where there is significant risk and/or complex needs. FGDM is a family led decision making process where a child and/or young person’s and their family and friends are supported and prepared to come together in a family meeting. The key aim of the meeting is for the family to develop a plan which protects and supports the child and/or young person. Families find this process to be an inclusive, enabling, and empowering process, which places the child and/or young person and family at the centre of decision making in relation to plans for their children. FGDM National Standards FGDM in North Lanarkshire is committed to the FGDM National Standards for Scotland, its key principles: • FGDM is strength based, future focused and blame free. • The focus is on the voice and safety of children and young people. • FGDM recognises that families are the experts in their own lives. • The FGDM Coordinator should always be independent of any other professional involvement with the family. • FGDM recognises the child’s and families right to be involved in their future planning. • Private family time is an essential element of Family Group Meeting. Page 143 of 364
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FGDM Animation Over the past year we have used our FGDM animation to illustrate the strength of the FGDM approach. The animation has received positive recognition at a European and National level, as an inclusive, honest and inspiring local story, with a young boy and his papa sharing their views on how FGDM brought them back together. It is now used as part of the Family Rights Group (FRG) National Family Group Conferencing training programme. Please scan the QR code to watch our animation. What is lifelong links? Lifelong Links is a service that was developed by Family Rights Group (FRG). Its key aim is to support care experienced children and young people to maintain a natural network of support. A trained Lifelong Links coordinator engages with the young person to identify people that are important to them and seeks ways to maintain connections which are often lost in the process of their care journey. These can be anything from direct lifelong commitments or to indirect answers to questions a child or young person may have. Over 2000 young people throughout Britain have benefitted from Lifelong Links. Key findings from the Family Right Group (FRG) Lifelong Links research shows that 78% of the young Page 144 of 364
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people felt an improved sense of identify and placement stability after taking part in lifelong links. (FRG, 2023). Lifelong Links is now recognised nationally, as a vital service for young people who have care experience. There is a recommendation in England’s Independent Review of Children’s social care that “all local authorities should have skilled family finding support equivalent to or exceeding, the work of Lifelong Links in place by 2024 at the very latest.” (McCallister, 2022). Lifelong Links in North Lanarkshire In North Lanarkshire the implementation of our Lifelong Links service has been supported by the Family Right Group (FRG) and our service has adopted the aims and objectives of their original Lifelong Links model. However, as our service has developed, we have extended our support to meet the needs of our young people. All the young people who received support from Lifelong Links have sought answers to their care journey. There have been key things they have wanted to know, such as information on their birth family and their experiences, an understanding of why they became care experienced, and clarification on specific events in their life. They have requested time to reflect and understand their care journey, in addition to considering who they want to connect or re-connect with and who they want to have as part of their ongoing support network. FGDM/LLL Legislative Framework There are clear legislative and policy drivers for the development and expansion of FGDM and Lifelong Links. The duties placed on local authorities within Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 2014 to support to children where they may be at risk of coming into care underpins Family Group Decision Making. The Children (Scotland) Act 2020 emphasises the importance of family involvement in decision making for children and young people and legislative changes have added the importance of siblings. Please scan to see our Lifelong Links Animation . Page 145 of 364
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The FGDM approach aligns with to the principles of GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child, 2006) and is rights-based in accordance with The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which has been implemented into Scottish Law. It puts the views of children and families at the centre and supports multiagency working by providing professional support to the family. In August 2020, North Lanarkshire Council made a commitment to keeping The Promise, Scottish Independent Care Review for children and young people in care, ensuring family support services were reviewed and developed. This included FGDM and Lifelong Links. The Promise Plan 21 - 24 made a commitment to children and young people who are care experienced in Scotland will grow up loved, safe and respected by 2030. The Promise acknowledges that too often the care system has failed to work effectively with families when children enter care, or when they leave care as young adults. The Promise (The Scottish Government, 2020) The promise plan for 24 – 30 confirms that the promise plan must be kept in full. It must build on the progress with a clear breakdown on changes that need to be made in the care system. The plan achieves this through the 5 foundations of voice, family, care, people and scaffolding. Which links with the key principles of FGDM and Lifelong Links. Family Group Decision Making in North Lanarkshire FGDM Aims and Objectives Our Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) service is a strength-based approach which seeks to work in partnership, ensuring children, young people and their families remain central to the decision-making process. FGDM supported the interface between the relationships between professionals and family and creates an opportunity to improve Bridging the gap between organisation and families (Re-imaging child welfare: Learning from Family Group Conferencing, Mary Mitchell, 2019) Page 146 of 364
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outcomes for children and make supportive family plans to keep children safe. Our long term FGDM aims • To recognise families as the experts in their own life and to empower children, young people and their families to be at the centre of decision making for their children or young people. • To improve the longer term emotional and mental well-being and stability for children and young people. • Identifying and maximising the network of support around children and young people, so they will be able to successfully maintain and / or reconnect with the important people and family in their life. Key Objectives • Children and young people’s networks are strengthened with important people in their life. • Children and young people are reconnected, have sustainability with and/or understand of the significant people in their life. • Where children are looked after by the local authority and not able to live with their family, family time (contact) arrangements are place for those relationships important to the child. • Children and young people will have an increased sense of identity, are supported to build their own narratives, safe connections, and restore damaged relationships. FGDM progress Between April 2023 and March 2024, we have been working to achieve our key objectives to strengthen children's and young people's support networks. The pillars of the promise, A Managed Interface Family Group Decision Making Meeting Independent Coordinator Family World Dynamic loosley Organised Free Discussion Understandin g A plan that is supported by everyyone through the co-operation and dialogue Professional World Structured Organised Rule Based Formal Page 147 of 364
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voice, family, care, people and scaffolding are integral to service provision and will be illustrated throughout our annual report. We have increased the number of children, young people and families referred to our FGDM service. The chart below shows a steady pace of referrals over the past 3 years and demonstrates the FGDM teams continued commitment at promoting the FGDM service across North Lanarkshire. The referrals to the FGDM service have come from all the 6 social work locality teams, Airdrie, Bellshill, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Motherwell and Wishaw. The chart demonstrates the peak referral times are after the school holidays. The 2023-24 projected annual cost of avoidance of circa. £1.65M. This figure represents a ‘minimum’ cost avoidance based on the cheapest form of alternative care provision (provided foster care provision). It does not include on costs associated with transport and worker's time. The costs only relate to accommodation costs for these children, which clearly is only part of the financial cost involved in supporting vulnerable or children in care and their families. It is thus a ‘minimum’ cost avoidance, but also one that is verifiable and not an estimated cost. Nonetheless, the projections demonstrate best value through the FGDM approach. It is important to note that as FGDM is a voluntary process not all referrals will progress to a family meeting. FGDM in North Lanarkshire are like the UK average of referral progress to a meeting which is at 55%. Prioritisation of Referrals Over the past year we have prioritised referrals to the FGDM service to ensure we can target the service to children who most need it, in line with the priorities of Keeping the Promise, Close To Home and The Children’s Services Plan 17 9 12 4 1 8 3 26 10 7 7 58 17 6 18 17 27 18 11 4 5 29 110 20 40 Number Of Young People Referred 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Cost Avoidance - Where a Meeting Took Place 23/24 Potential total costs (annual) £1,849,356.60 Current total costs (annual) £ 206,456.12 Saving (annual) £1,642,900.48 Page 148 of 364
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Prioritised Groups where a FGDM must be offered and explored with the family: Un Born Babies All unborn baby referrals, where there are concerns raised and a decision has been made for a social work assessment to be undertaken. Child Protection Opportunities to create of a family plan to inform a Child Protection Plan. And, following a Child Protection Conference to include wider family in the plan. Edges of care When a child or young person’s care placement is at risk. Rehabilitation/leaving Care Where there is consideration for rehabilitation or where young people are leaving care. Our collated statistics have confirmed that we have prioritised the right identified groups as these prioritised referrals have evidenced as having the greater success. 56% of our referrals have come from our prioritised groups and of these referrals, 74% went to a family meeting or a significant piece of work. Family Support continues to be our biggest referral request at 44 % and has been evidenced as more difficult to progress to a family meeting. A key improvement required is increasing our unborn babies’ referrals, numbers continue to remain low at around 5 %. However, of the 9 referrals, 7 referrals progressed to a family meeting, one referral the family made their own plan and only one declined service. Work over the next year will continue to promote FGDM to all our prioritised groups and throughout all 6 social work locality teams. Voice The FGDM process has confirmed that the voice of the children and young people and families have been heard and family members have been active in decision making. Over the past year 67 children had a full family meeting and 26 significant pieces of work where children, young people and families engaged in planning before the meeting and developed a family plan. Following a family meeting families can choose to have a review of their family plan, to ensure the plan is working. From the families who participated in the FGDM evaluations, 77% chose to have a review meeting. 58 99 93 0 50 100 150 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Number of Families Supported Page 149 of 364
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The following example demonstrates how the benefits of including children’s voices and the extended family networks in the decision making can ensure safe planning. Feedback from a family that attended a family meeting…. Aunt “Keep doing this to help the kids stay in their own environment” Gran “Bringing together family can benefit the group and the young person. Concerns, solutions and compromises can be addresses. Allows everyone to be involved and heard.” Family Our approach has a strong focus on family care to progress and improve a child and young person's wellbeing. Over the past year we have supported families build on their strengths, improve natural support networks and work towards addressing the risks held by social work or other professionals. A family meeting ensures that all options to keep families together have been explored before any decisions are made for children to be removed from family care. In all families who progressed to a family meeting, a family plan was developed which held the children’s views at heart of the plan. The outcome for most of these plans was for the child to remain at home safely with parents or family and friends. The family plans further confirmed that change in stability of placements and an increase in family support or family links can be to support children. A FGDM meeting establishes routines and practicalities on how to make this work. An example was an uncle continuing to take a young person to their weekly football game or a support worker providing transport for a young person to continue to attend a family dinner A referral was made to FGDM when parents had separated and were experiencing challenges with addiction. The children were living in kinship and the placement had broken down. The children views were central, and they expressed that they were happy to live with their dad and that they wanted to spend more time with their mum. The extended family were able to come together and thinks creatively on how they could support and ensure this could happen. The family developed a comprehensive family plan to keep the children safe and how they could support the family. In addition, the family supported contact with mum until social work felt this could progress to unsupervised. The social worker presented the family plan at the Children’s Hearing and the children were returned to dad’s fulltime care, where they continue to reside. Dad confirmed he was delighted to be caring for his children. Page 150 of 364
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once a week. As this plan is made by the family there is a shared understanding of the important factors that keep a child or young person involved in family life. • Central to our family meetings are children’s and young people’s family members and important relationships. Below is an example of a young person’s and a young child’s drawing of her family and who should attend her family meeting. • Parents and carers can confirm who they believe are important to attend the family meeting. The co-ordinators ensure they have spoken to all family members and all voices have been heard, even if there have been barriers to attend. FGDM is sometimes the only way extended family members become aware of issues. The FGDM expands the support network as more people can contribute to the family plan. This further strengthens a child or young person’s support network and ability to remain either within the family, or at a minimum, involved in family life. The example demonstrated the importance of family for a new baby to stay in Mum’s care and rehabilitation plan for older sibling. Page 151 of 364
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All our family meetings have followed the FGDM National Standards and have adhered to the key principles of a family meeting. Key to FGDM is that meetings recognises that families are the experts in their own lives and there has been an opportunity to have private family time during the meeting. Over the last year we have ensured that all meetings have had private family time and that all family plans created by family’s have been child centred and demonstrated extended family involvement in decision making for children. There was an opportunity to increase family networks in most referrals we progressed with an average of 7 family members attending meetings. FGDM works on a consent basis, not only from the parent but from the child or young person where appropriate. This ensures that the child is involved in decision making and it is the right time for the service to be provided. The Example demonstrates FGDM supporting an extended family network as natural supports: Guardianship Order: Self Directed Support / Transition Plan when a young person has addition support needs, A referral was received around seeking FGDM support around pre-birth concerns. Mum was pregnant and Mum’s older child (7) had been living in Kinship placement for several years. A family plan was created around the unborn baby going home to Mum’s care with support of the extended family. The baby was born and went home with a FGDM family plan in place. There were no concerns around Mum’s ability to manage baby safely. A further FGDM meeting was held, and the family created a plan around Mum’s older child returning to her care. Both children are now in Mum’s full-time care and are closed to Social Work. Page 152 of 364
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Care A referral was received for a 17-year-old man to support the family to explore and consider Guardianship Order in respect of 17-year-old young person who has a diagnosis of Autism: Learning Disability and has non-verbal communication. He required a high level of support and had been assessed as having no capacity to make decisions about his future. He lived with his maternal grandmother. However, plans needed to be made for his future. The family developed a plan to meet his future health and wellbeing needs. The family agreed to apply for a Joint Guardianship Order with an appropriate contingency plan made if this was to fail. Through FGDM, additional service needs were also explored, and the family agreed that service provider should be identified for the young person and that family would educate them on Young Person Cultural Beliefs and needs. This was agreed by social work who recognised the positive progress for the young person’s future. FGDM family plan was then presented at young person’s Education Transition Meeting.(For more details please see Appendix 2) Feedback from family Parents and Family provided verbal feedback following the FGDM meeting where they felt they now had a ‘better’ understanding of the legal process for Guardianship Order and young person’s future. They identified that sitting together as a family in ‘family time’ was one of the most positive aspects of the process and would recommend FGDM to other families. Page 153 of 364
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Our FGDM team continues to promote the service to all children who are care experienced, including those in Kinship placements, to promote positive, future focused decision making and maintaining family relationships which can sometimes become strained through the kinship process. The below is an example of a family networks coming together to supports young person from a Children’s House to a move to family in a Kinship placement. People We are a small experienced, trained and skilled team comprising a senior social worker and 5 full time coordinators. Over the past year one of our long standing and dedicated FGDM co- ordinators has reduced their hours through flexible retirement, and this has given an opportunity to employ a new member of staff. Her first task was to shadow our experienced workers and complete the Robert Gordon University Family Group Decision Making Training. We have prioritised training to make sure all our coordinators are trained in Community Mediation, life story work and safe & together approach around domestic abuse, to offer these skills as a precursor to attending a family meeting, where there is tension and conflict preventing a family from creating a positive and effective plan for the future. “Kinship family decision making must be supported by – and characterised by – family group decision making to explore the breadth and consequences of decisions about where children should live.” The Promise, Plan 24-30, 2024 A referral was received around looking at possible rehabilitation plan for 14-year-old young person who had been accommodated and was living in a Children’s House. The parent did not want to engage to look at plan for young person to return home however consented to looking at family options. Through FGDM a Kinship Placement was identified with the maternal Grandmother and the Family Plan (see appendix 5) incorporated agreed boundaries, routines for the young person and support from the extended family. The young person successfully moved to her Grandmother’s home and has been settled since move.(For more details, please see Appendix 1) Page 154 of 364
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In 2023-24 we had the opportunity to successfully complete the Family Rights Group (FRG) Accreditation Framework and are awaiting the outcome. The accreditation is self-evaluation framework, to ensure that our FGDM service meets a standard of practice and that our co- ordinators are trained to meet the requirements of facilitating an effective family meeting. The process has given us the opportunity to gather evidence, reflect on our practice, highlight examples of good practice but also an awareness of our developmental needs. The FRG accreditation is a pledge by NLC and our FGDM coordinators are working to the 7 FRG key standards. During this process we created a Practice Guidance for FGDM in North Lanarkshire to ensure our standards are kept. Family Members Evaluation Statistics and Quotes Hearing the voices of family members is important to us and receiving feedback from families is part of our evaluation process. Our original method was for independent member of the FGDM team to complete a telephone evaluation, however due to the low response rate and to promote independence, we adopted a new approach in July 2023 of using online evaluations. After a FGDM family meeting has been completed, we seek consent to send a text to involved family members with a link to our anonymised questionnaires to gather feedback on families’ experiences of the FGDM process. The feedback from family members is essential to helps us to continue to reflect on and improve the service we provide. This is a voluntary survey that families complete in their own time without input from a coordinator. If support is required, the referring social worker can support the completion of the form. FRG Key Standards Standard 1 The FGC coordinator is independent. Standard 2 The family’s decision to participate in the FGC is voluntary. Standard 3 The FGC should be family-led and include ‘private family time’ for the family to make a plan in response to concerns. Standard 4 The referred child or adult should be the central focus of the FGC and they should be offered support, including advocate. Standard 5 The FGC service should ensure that the family has all necessary resources, including adequate preparation, relevant information, and a safe and appropriate environment, to make their plan. Standard 6 The FGC should respect the family’s privacy and right to confidentiality. Standard 7 The FGC service should work to the principles of equality and inclusivity, promoting diversity including respecting and being sensitive to the family’s culture and individual identities. Page 155 of 364
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Below we have highlighted some of the statistics and quotes from the evaluations. Please scan our online evaluation: 32 people have provided feedback through this online survey at the time of writing. On average, family report feeling very positive about their family plan, with a score of 8.13 out of 10. 93% of responders would recommend FGDM to other families. What families said…. Mother “ it is very good thing to do because it made me, and my partner realise that this is no longer something we can put off all the time” Maternal Grandparent “Excellent support service facilitating a way to move forward, make changes and accept what cannot be changed.” Great Aunt “ The family meeting let all of the family speak openly without feeling stressed with authority figures in the room” What a social worker said…. Social Worker “Great way to bring families together to make decisions about their own lives.” Page 156 of 364
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Lifelong Links in North Lanarkshire Our priority over the past two year has been supporting young people who have care experienced and, in the transition, out of care and into adulthood, ensuring they could reconnect with important people in their network, including brother and sisters. The Promise documented: “Many care experienced young adults have told the Care Review that they felt abandoned and ill prepared as they moved from childhood into adulthood” (The Promise, 2020, pg.92). Aim of FGDM Lifelong Links • To improve the longer term emotional and mental well-being and stability for children and young people in care and after care. • To Identify and maximise the network of support around children and young people, so they will be able to successfully maintain and / or reconnect with the important people in their life, including family. Objectives • There will be clarity over the existing relationships and important people in children and young people’s lives to ensure these relationships are supported and sustained in care and into adulthood. • Children and young people with care experience will be supported to identify or reconnect with important people and family, to expand their network in a supportive and sustainable way. • Children and young people will have better understanding of their family life, an increased sense of identity, and be supported to build their own narratives and address their needs to build safe connections, restore damaged relationships or to achieve closure. • A Lifelong Links service will be established to promote systems, practice and culture change around the importance and sustainability of relationships for care experienced children and young people. Page 157 of 364
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Our Lifelong Links journey. Lifelong Links service has developed and grown in importance and has proven to be an essential support that should be available to all young people with care experience in North Lanarkshire. The support offered by Lifelong Links connects with the wider work in North Lanarkshire to improve the engagement and participation of young people with care experience. We continue to primarily focus on young people over the age of 16, however we will consider all referrals if appropriate for the young person. There have been 30 referrals to Lifelong Links service, consisting of 14 males and 15 females. Children and young people referred. The majoirty of the young people requesting support have been over the age 16. We are currently supporting 18 young people through the LLL process. LLL service works with each individual young person and works around their needs. Age and gender of children and young people referred Age Male Female 16 and Under 5 5 17 1 2 18 2 - 20 - 3 21 - 2 22 3 - 23 2 3 24 - 1 Over 25 1 - Total 14 16 Of the young people referred, 11 were living independently, 8 were living with family, 4 were in supported care, 1 was in a children’s house, 3 were in foster care, 1 was in secure care and 1 was in prison. Page 158 of 364
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Lifelong Links and The Promise Foundation: Voice Young people are at the core of every decision in Lifelong Links. The service is offered to all young people who are care experienced, but when they feel that it is right for them. This may be when they are asking questions about their past to their allocated worker, or when they request access to their social work files to learn about the decisions that were made about them. The LLL coordinator have spent time getting to know the young person and what they are looking for from the service. Some young people have a clear objective regarding who and what they want to achieve through Lifelong Links, for some this requires to be established. All young people have had significant care experience and gaps in their knowledge about their family, identity and care experience. Many are experiencing the impact of adversity from their childhood, with presenting issues relating to their emotional wellbeing and mental health. The work is long term and provides a safe and structured space for young people to explore their network and plan in a safe way. When completing lifestory work with a child or young person, it is done at a level and at a pace which suits them. Pior to starting the young person and coordinator agree the best way of communicating, so the young person can fully engage and understand the information that’s being shared. The work is bespoke to each person to support and identifying their needs and exploring new ways of meeting these. Young people’s views of Lifelong Links: “Lifelong Links works. The workers are nice and explain what the service can do for you. I have had a positive experience and would recommend that other young people do it if they want.” Anonymous young person. “The best think about lifelong links was meeting my grandad and seeing that he was happy about seeing me too. I now know what happened in my life.” Anonymous young person. Page 159 of 364
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Foundation: Family Lifelong Links is focused primarily on connections that the young person’s believes are significant, whether it is their birth family or chosen family along their care journey. The aim of the service is to support young people to have a natural network of support, filled with people who have had positive roles in their lives. Lifelong Links helps to identify these links for young people through genealogy searching. There is always the opportunity for young people to explore these connections and consider their future relationship with an individual. The young person firstly completes a Genomap to identify known connections and relationships. Example of a Genomap: Further exploration is developed through a tool known as “mobility mapping.” The young person draws and reflects on their journey to think about people, places and memories. By doing this it can help a young person remember and consider connections. The process can support maintain connections or reconnect any that have been broken. Example of Mobility Mapping: Research into Lifelong Links highlights that familial relationships are often lost when a family is unable to offer a kinship placement and the child is placed out with the family network. Lifelong Links can support a long-term plan to reconnect lost connections. Page 160 of 364
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An example reconnecting with birth family: Anna Anna was referred by her counsellor as she was seeking information about her life prior to being adopted at age 6. Anna was supported to complete Genomap, mobility mapping and life story work, exploring her birth family and reflecting on what she could remember. She has been supported through the process by her LLL coordinator and her adoptive mother to reflect and understand her care journey and consider possible connections. Initially this was a difficult process to hear about the death of her birth parents. Anna has since made connections with both of her paternal and maternal grandfathers, a grandmother, brother, half-sisters and aunt who she likely wouldn’t have known without Lifelong Links. Anna continues to explore her future connections at her pace with the supportive of her family.(Appendix 3: case study) Anna and her family’s Feedback on Lifelong Links: Anna has advised she feels engaging with Lifelong Links has allowed her to make peace with the past and feel more secure in the present. Prior to engaging with Lifelong Links, Anna had felt a sense of ‘what if’ and sadness around special occasions wondering how her birth family may be feeling. Anna is aware she was never forgotten by her birth family, and she has always been loved. Anna’s Paternal Grandfather is delighted to be back in contact with Anna. He advised that he has prayed for Anna and her adoptive parents on a weekly basis and that he is eternally grateful to her adoptive parents. After meeting Anna for the first time with her adoptive Mother he advised that he is able to sleep easy at night now that he knows Anna is well and happy. Anna’s adoptive Mother advised she feels Lifelong Links has been extremely successful for Anna. Anna’s adoptive Mother feels there is a sense of the weight of the world being removed from Anna’s shoulders now she no longer lives with the ‘what if’ questions. Anna’s adoptive Mother recognises that Anna could have had contact with her Paternal Grandfather throughout the adoption and that he poses no risk to her. Anna’s adoptive Mother has agreed to participate in adoption preparation groups for future prospective adopters. Feedback from Anna’s Aunt “Thanks for coming back to me and going out to see my mum and dad. I spoke with my mum and dad this morning we are all delighted to know that Anna has had a great life she has never been far from our thoughts. We’ve all waited so long for this day to know she is okay, and l just want to say thanks for everything. Thanks” Page 161 of 364
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Foundation: Care With the young person’s consent, the coordinator undertakes a “deep dive file search” which involves reading through the individual’s social work records to identify any important people or places that could support making a connection. This can include everyone from birth families, previous foster carers or social workers to neighbours, teachers or anyone else that the young person feels were significant to them. Often the young people have forgotten the carers or other significant people from their early years, yet these people can provide a rich history and understanding of this period of the young person’s life. This stage could take months to complete, particularly if the young person had several moves or lived out with North Lanarkshire, as files need to be sourced from other local authorities. Other options and resources are available, such as National Birth, Death and Marriage Records, Ancestry, Census submissions and social media, which can all be used where appropriate to identify and contact people. Example of Ancestry Tree: A placement timeline is compiled. This is used to map the moves that a young person has had throughout their care journey. Young people have said that the placement timeline has helped them clarify the sequencing of events in their life as they have been unclear due to being a young child and changes in placements. For some young people, a placement timeline is where the journey ends for Lifelong Links, but for many it is just the beginning of the process. Many of the young people we work with have questions about why important decisions were made in their life and what steps were taken to support them to stay in their families and communities prior to or just after becoming accommodated. There is an option to explore a young person’s social work involvement through a Subject Access Request (SAR) of social work case files. However, Lifelong Links offers a structured and supportive approach that encompasses a trauma informed model of life story work with young people. Page 162 of 364
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Example Placement timeline While all important relationships are recognised in Lifelong Links, there is a particular emphasis on brothers and sisters and how these relationships have been supported. Many seperated sibling groups do not know why they did not grow up together, or in some cases, that they had siblings at all. Siblings may be in a very different place and not be able to manage this new relationship. A coordinator supports the young person to manage the expectations and emotions and to explore a positive way forward. An example of the impact on sibling seperation: Daniel Daniel requested a referral to LLL as he wanted to know the reason why he was cared for separately from his sisters, although at that time he did not want contact with his siblings. He had a concern that it was his actions that had led him from being separated and that he was assessed as a risk to his siblings. When Daniel was younger, he experience further trauma and disclosed physical and emotional abuse whilst in foster care. Daniel wanted to know how his disclosure of abused was manged by social work. His coordinator spent time with Daniel, linking with his support from counselling and aftercare services. The LLL coordinator completed a deep dive search into his social work case files and compiled a comprehensive chronology to try and answer the questions he had about his care journey. The LLL co-ordinator supported Daniel understanding the information from social work records. Feedback from Daniel informed that this gave him an understanding of his care journey, that he wasn’t responsible for his siblings being separated and made him open to contacting his siblings. Daniel now has contact with two of his sisters and has met a previous foster carer who he sees as his only positive experience in foster care. The work undertaken with Daniel highlighted to Daniel that he had many more care placements in his life (24 moves) and that event he thought happened in a particular home actually happened elsewhere. (See full case study: Appendix 4) With Parents from birth Kinship with Gran 26/10/02 With Parents 14/2/03 Kinship with Aunt 8/5/04 With Parent 12/5/04 Kinship with Brother 1/6/04 Respite Care 4/6/05 Respite Care 18/6/04 With Parent 27/1/05 Kinship with Uncle 2/9/04 With Parent 5/7/04 Respite Care 31/1/05 With Parents 2/2/06 Weekly Respite Care 14/3/06 Respite Care 20/4/06 Kinship with Aunt and Uncle 24/5/06 Foster care 13/5/06 Foster Care 13/7/07 Respite Care 3/9/08 Returned to Foster Carer 20/11/08 Respite Care 27/10/09 Returned to Foster Carer 20/12/09 With Parent 17/6/17 Independent Living 12/9/19 Page 163 of 364
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Daniel’s Feedback: Daniel has found the process to be really positive. He feels that now he understands his story, he is able to connect with his family without feeling angry about the different directions their lives took. Daniel is now looking to use his experience to support other young people who are experiencing similar circumstances. Daniel believes that all young people who have questions about their past should do lifelong links. Daniel is happy that he now knows his story and how his childhood experiences have shaped his future. After life story work some young people work with the coordinator to identify anyone they would like to contact. The co-ordinator carefully plans and contacts each identified person. This process can take time and can start and end in written form. The aim is to bring everyone together to create a plan on how to maintain the support network for the young person in the future with their “lifelong links”. The facilitator ensures that people are supported to only commit to what they are comfortable with and manages the individual’s expectations through open and honest discussions. Foundation: People Lifelong Links is often the only way that other relationships are often identified and supported. Such as important teachers, neighbours or other significant people who are willing to be a part of the young person’s support network. Lifelong Links supports this through rebuilding these links that may have been lost. Reconnecting carers has shown to be very successful in our service, with young people being reclaimed and welcomed back into realtionships that have been lost. Page 164 of 364
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An example of the importance of young people knowing their narrative and reconnecting with a foster carer. Stephanie: Stephanie had requested access to her social work case files but had agreed to try Lifelong Links instead as a more supportive input, having been through the care system and experiencing trauma in her life. Through mobility mapping, Stephanie was supported to reflect on her time in care and identified people she would like to reconnect with, including a previous worker and foster carers. Stephanie was supported by her coordinator and has made a Lifelong link connection with a previous Foster Carer, they have been able to share memories and photographs when they cared for her and slowly developed a long term commitment to each other. This has given Stephanie a support network to people she feels care about her that she was never aware of. Stephanie’s feedback: Stephanie has found the experience positive with Lifelong Links and feels this should always have been made available to her. Stephanie feels that links should be allowed to continue with workers and previous carers and is happy that this is being embedded into policy with the promise (See full case study: Appendix 5) Foundation: Scaffolding Lifelong Links has achieved it key aims and objectives over the past 2 years. There continues to be a clear focus on supporting young people and improving our understanding of young peoples care journies. We have had the opportunity to promote systems, practice and culture change around the importance and sustainability of important relationships for care experienced children and young people. We continue to look at creative ways to meet individual requests, including navigating other countries’ legal systems and the complexities of navigating General Data Protection Regulation. At times we have worked closely with the legal department to ensure we are adhering to local and national guidance regarding information sharing while meeting the needs of the people we support. However, more importantly, our learning from what young people tell us about their care experienced journey and how the service can be improved in the future. The examples below demonstrate some of the ways we have promoted our learning from Lifelong Links: Page 165 of 364
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• Training to workers around lifestory work and language awareness sessions on what and how information should be recorded as an important event in a young person’s life. • Awareness raising sessions to Foster Carers and preadoption support groups on our experiences of LLL and what young people feel is important to remember on their care journey. • Providing key learning from LLL to social work locality teams, local and national events and inputs to university and newly qualified workers training. • Supporting the development of the North Lanarkshire Aftercare Website, including strories from the young people we have worked with from LLL. • Informing Social Work recording system, giving space to record important relationships, which should be maintained throughout a young person’s care journey and into adulthood. • Promoting the use of the counselling service within Intensive Services to ensure that young people are able to explore and process their care journey. • Continribute to the National Lifelong Links support network, exploring learning and reflection on practice experience. There are regular meetings with the Family Rights Group to discuss and explore issues and support embedding the Lifelong Links service it on practice. This has provided the team with ongoing advice, support and guidance as issues have arisen through service delivery. This includes legal complications, cross boundary access to records and general practice issues. Statement from FRG: “Family Rights Group has been impressed with the appropriately paced and thorough approach North Lanarkshire has taken to developing a new Lifelong Links service within the authority over the last year. The implementation and development of the new service has been strongly supported by senior leaders with impressive efforts made to include colleagues from across the full range of children and family services in North Lanarkshire. There is a particularly strong commitment to utilise the experience and learning from Lifelong Links to improve practice across children's services based upon the core commitments contained within the Promise”. Page 166 of 364
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Next year and beyond …. The report has evidenced the positive service development of the FGDM and Lifelong Links service. The model has been strengthened over the past year and has had the opportunity to provide the service across the 6 North Lanarkshire children and families locality teams. Over the next year we will continue to reinforce our key objectives and work towards our long-term goals. FGDM has helped support social workers recognising families are the experts in their own life. The FGDM and LLL service will continue to work hard to ensure children and young people’s voices are heard and work towards empowering children, young people and their families to be at the centre of decision making. Through our Lifelong Links service, we will continue to work towards improving the longer term emotional and mental well-being and stability for young people. Using the FGDM service and Lifelong Links service, we will continue to identify and maximising the network of support around children and young people, so they will be able to successfully maintain and / or reconnect with the important people and family in their life. By completing the Family Rights Group accreditation process and our yearly evaluation report, we have identified key areas for service development. We have reflected on the work we are doing and the positive impact it has had on families. Over the next year we will building on this year's success, identifying key areas for development. 1. We will confirm our Practice Guidance for FGDM in North Lanarkshire to ensure our standards are kept and comply with FRG and the Scottish national FGDM standards. 2. We will continue to use the same referral criteria for FGDM, prioritising unborn babies, child protection, edges of care and rehabilitation/leaving care. 3. We will continue promoting our service delivery and ensuring the 6 social work localities prioritise our key referrals, providing ongoing information raising sessions. 4. We will continue to raise the FGDM and lifelong links profile to our local community to ensure a rights-based approach to FGDM and lifelong links is delivered throughout North Lanarkshire. 5. We will continue to work creatively with children and young people to ensure that their views can be gathered in whatever way they feel most comfortable, ensuring their views are included in decisions which affect them. 6. We will continue to promote parents/carers and extended families’ voices in decision to ensure that we can keep children within their families wherever possible. 7. We are working on developing new ways of recording children, parents and family’s views, particularly when the individuals are unable to attend the family meetings to ensure their views are accurately shared within the family plan. 8. We plan to review our recording processes, including how we record significant pieces of work and FGDM review meetings. Page 167 of 364
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We will continue to expand and learn from the children, young people and families receiving support from the FGDM and Lifelong Link service. We hope our learning will continue to help improve social work practice and make it an easier journey for children and young people within the social work service. Page 168 of 364
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Appendix 5: Parental and young people feedback on the intensive services summer programme “My daughter learned a life skill. I can’t swim so I’m glad she had the chance to learn” “Thanks for taking him as it has given him something to do with other children his age” “Can’t believe how relaxed he was, he’s talked about it non-stop” “The time let me sort some stuff out, without having to worry about him” “Could not afford to take her away on something like that, so I’m pleased she got to go” Page 169 of 364
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“I’m going to take them back there because she had so much fun” “Helped bring my family together in a way I had not seen in a while as I’m always on high alert thinking that the police are going to chap the door anytime and this causes anxiety and friction in the house”. “All he does is sit in his room. I’m surprised he went but, he seems to have enjoyed it” Page 170 of 364
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“Who knew I could swim” “The staff are alright too” “Amazing, favourite group of 2024” “I’ve got a bestie” “Banging” “I want to come again next year, or I am going to cry” “Loved the paddleboarding and kayaking cause I never thought I could it” “I liked being out for the full day, it kept me distracted” Page 171 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children & Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref MOH/CMcD Date 19/11/24 Petition for Immediate Action on School Transport Cuts and Public Safety Concerns in North Lanarkshire From Michelle O’Halleron, Acting Chief Officer (Education - North) E-mail ohalleronm@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Executive Summary A petition has been received regarding the changes to school transport distance eligibility criteria which came into effect for Secondary School pupils from August 2024 and is due to come into effect for Primary School pupils from August 2025. This report outlines the petition request, the service consideration of the petition and proposes a response. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee:- (1) Acknowledge the contents of the petition. (2) Note that the decision to move to the statutory distance criteria was taken by the Council on 23 February, and as a consequence the report be remitted to the next meeting of the Council The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Programme of Work Sustainable Futures Item 5 Page 173 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 The following petition was received by Education, Children & Families, Chief Officer (Education - North) with 1724 signatures recorded via the change.org website. The petition was initiated on 16th August 2024 by Councillor Greg Lennon. “We, Councillors from Progressive Change North Lanarkshire, have been approached by our constituents to initiate this petition. We, the undersigned, express our deep concern over the recent decision to cut school transport services in North Lanarkshire, which parents report has resulted in significant and detrimental impacts on their children’s journey times to and from school. The abrupt cessation of school transport provisions has extended the daily commute by 2 hours for many children, forcing them to endure longer, more arduous journeys, ultimately affecting their ability to arrive at school on time and ready to learn. This situation is further compounded by the severe lack of public transport options available in many areas, leaving parents and students with few, if any, viable alternatives. Parents are particularly alarmed by the actions of certain Labour MPs who, rather than addressing the broader issue and vote in favour of parents, sought to capitalise on the situation by proposing limited private transport provisions. These proposals have been implemented in only one or two select areas, leaving the majority of affected families without any form of relief. Even in the areas where additional provision has been made, the services are woefully inadequate, often leading to overcrowding on the provision and further impacting public bus services, which fails to meet the needs of our communities. Furthermore, parents are gravely concerned about the so-called “safe walking routes” that many children are now being forced to use. Parents across the district have raised legitimate and urgent concerns regarding the safety of these routes, particularly for younger children. Despite their concerns, parents have advised that the local authority has provided little to no information to parents on the criteria used to deem these routes as safe. This lack of transparency only heightens parents fears for our children's well-being and safety, especially as we approach the winter months and darker evenings. In light of these issues, we, the signatories, demand that North Lanarkshire Council take the following actions immediately: 1. Pause the current school transport cuts until a thorough review can be conducted. 2. Initiate a comprehensive review of the safe walking routes, including input from parents, schools, and independent safety experts, to ensure that all routes are genuinely safe for children. 3 Provide clear and detailed information on the decision-making process that led to the designation of these routes as safe. 4. Schedule a full debate at the next meeting of North Lanarkshire Council to discuss these issues, with a roll call vote on the necessary mitigations the council can introduce to ensure the safety and well-being of all children affected by these transport cuts. This petition is a call to action for the Council Members to take immediate steps to address the serious and widespread concerns of parents and community members. The safety and education of our children must be prioritised over any short-term cost- saving measures introduced at the last full council meeting of North Lanarkshire. We Page 174 of 364
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urge the Council to listen to the voices of its constituents and take the necessary steps to protect our children's futures.” 2. Report 2.1 On 23 February 2023, as part of the budget setting process, the council decided to consult on changes to the existing qualifying mileage limits for free mainstream school transport as a way of saving up to £3.6 million against a backdrop of having to save £65 million over the next three years. 2.2 Prior to the consultation, North Lanarkshire Council provided free school transport for: • Any primary pupil who lives more than one mile from their catchment school • Any secondary pupil who lives more than two miles from their catchment school 2.3 The law states that councils must provide free school transport for: • Any child under 8 years of age who lives more than two miles from their school • Any child over 8 years of age who lives more than three miles from their school 2.4 The changes bring the council’s school transport policy closer to legislative requirements, and other councils, by providing free school transport for: - Any primary pupil who lives more than two miles from their catchment school. - Any secondary pupil who lives more than three miles from their catchment. 2.5 The consultation was conducted in accordance with the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010 and carried out over the period 27 February 2023 to 1 May 2023 during which time all interested parties were invited to submit comments via an online questionnaire. In addition to online digital engagement nine public meetings were held across the authority as follows: • Tuesday 14 March - Airdrie Academy • Wednesday 15 March - St Andrew’s High • Thursday 16 March - Chryston High • Monday 20 March - Calderhead High • Tuesday 21 March - Bellshill Academy • Wednesday 22 March - Our Lady’s High (Cumbernauld) • Tuesday 28 March - Our Lady’s High (Motherwell) • Wednesday 29 March - Clyde Valley High • Thursday 30 March - Kilsyth Academy The public meetings allowed stakeholders to attend in person and discuss specific issues directly with council officers. 2.6 A full consultation report, including detailed analysis of the responses received was submitted for consideration by Policy and Strategy Committee prior to approval on 8th June 2023. 2.7 Following approval at Policy and Strategy Committee a programme of walking route assessments was undertaken by independent Roads & Infrastructure Specialists for secondary school transport routes. 2.8 Walking Route Assessments are undertaken in accordance with North Lanarkshire Council’s “Walked Routes to School” Policy which utilises guidance form the West of Scotland Road Safety Forum. The methodology identified within the guidance and Page 175 of 364
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used when conducting assessments has been adopted by Local Authorities across Scotland. 2.9 As part of the review process, walking route assessments provided by the independent Roads and Infrastructure Specialists were reviewed by Officers from Education & Families and the Roads and Infrastructure Team. 2.10 Parents and carers of secondary age children were also given the opportunity to request a review of their child’s eligibility as part of the review process. 2.11 The petition requests that the council “pause the current transport cuts”. The Service would advise that the changes to eligibility criteria were approved by the full Council and any changes to this decision can only be made by the full Council. 3. Measures of success N/A 4. Supporting documentation N/A Michelle O’Halleron Acting Chief Officer (Education North) Page 176 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Financial savings of £3.6m has been approved for home to school transport to be achieved by August 2025. Potential changes to walking route assessment criteria could impact on the achievement of these savings. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The changes to school transport distance eligibility criteria bring North Lanarkshire School Transport provision closer in line with statutory requirements 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Page 177 of 364
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Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 178 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: GS/GMcL Date 19/11/24 Regional Improvement Collaborative Improvement Plan From Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education – North) E-mail mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01236 812269 Executive Summary The purpose of the report is to inform the Committee of the evaluation of work undertaken by the West Partnership Regional Improvement Collaborative during 2023/2024. The West Partnership is required to produce an annual report, outlining the vision, purpose and key activities of the collaborative for the year ahead. In November 2023, the Scottish Government announced that it would no longer fund Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RIC). Given the strong impact of the partnership working, it is the intention of the West Partnership to continue to collaborate beyond 2025 and to jointly resource some region wide improvement actions. Recommendations It is recommended that the Committee: (1) Endorse the contents of the progress report. (2) Endorse the improvement plan. (3) Approve that North Lanarkshire Council will remain as part of the West Partnership RIC beyond 2025 and contribute towards funding. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe Programme of Work Brighter Futures Item 6 Page 179 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) were established in 2017 as a national initiative to bring about improvement for all schools in Scotland. They are intended to bring together local authorities and Education Scotland, facilitate collaborative working and provide educational support to practitioners. The Glasgow City Region Education Improvement Collaboration, known as the West Partnership, brings together authorities from across the Glasgow City Region; East Renfrewshire is a member of the West Partnership. 1.2 On 22nd June 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills announced that there would be a rapid Review of the impact that Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) have had on supporting pupils and practitioners. 1.3 Initially, Scottish Government (SG) funding to RICs during session 2018-2019 was circa £5 million pounds. This then moved to a financial year model, and RICs have received a total of £6 million annually from SG. 1.4 The West Partnership’s allocation of this funding amounted to £1,515,500 during session 2023-2024. 1.5 Following the aforementioned review, the Cabinet Secretary announced plans for tapered funding on the 7th of November 2023, with ceased funding thereafter. During the current session, West Partnership funding has reduced by circa 50%, equating to £757,750. 1.6 Having taken account of the impact of the collaborative programmes and networks currently supported by the West Partnership Core team and the added value to each local authority, directors have agreed to consider proposals for future joint funding of staffing. North Lanarkshire’s contribution to this joint funding for session 2024-2025 is circa £26,000. 2 Report 2.1 Appendix 1 of the report outlines progress over the academic year 2023-2024 towards achieving each of the associated target outcomes and expected impacts as detailed in the West Partnership Improvement Plan. 2.2 Each year, the growing benefits of working collaboratively are increasingly evident in the West Partnership annual reports. This is testament to the dedication and commitment of all staff who have worked together to support children and young people. 2.3 The report highlights significant growth in practitioner engagement; during session 2022-2023, there were circa 4,500 participants, versus circa 10,000 participants during 2023-2024 (an increase of approximately 120%). This equated to engagement with 92% of the region’s schools across primary, secondary and ASN sectors. 2.4 The 2024-25 Improvement Plan (Appendix 2) was considered at the last Glasgow City Region Education Committee on 17 September 2024 with the recommendation that each Council area approves the report through its own local governance arrangements. Page 180 of 364
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2.5 Taking account of all consultation to date, there is clear consensus that existing programmes and activity are broadly meeting the needs of officers and practitioners across the West Partnership. It is suggested most programmes continue, following review and in some cases, augmentation. The three main workstreams will continue to be: Wellbeing for Learning; Leadership, Empowerment and Improvement; and Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment. The approach towards Specialist Networks that was introduced in 2022-23 will also continue. 2.6 Following the Cabinet Secretary’s announcement to cease funding for regional improvement collaboratives in March 2025, a new collaborative framework has been agreed across the West Partnership. Transition activities will take place to ready the system to support ongoing collaboration by this point. 2.7 The Directors of Education, comprising the West Partnership, are of the opinion that the value gained by the collaborative working has been strong and the West partnership has added value to the region’s improvement journey. The qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the West Partnership give credence to the strong working relationships that have been built up over time and the focussed work that has been able to progress. 2.8 As a result, each authority will contribute resource to help co-ordinate partnership working beyond 2025. The cost to North Lanarkshire will be £26,000 and this money will be allocated from existing budgets. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Progress will be made toward achieving the outcomes and measures set within the West Partnership Improvement plan. 3.2 Improved outcomes for children, young people and families. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - West Partnership Evaluation Report 2023-2024 4.2 Appendix 2 – West Partnership Improvement Plan 2024-2025 Gerard McLaughlin Chief Officer (Education – North) Page 181 of 364
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5. Impacts ( http://connect/report-template-guidance ) 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? As outlined in the report, the additional funding will be found by repurposing existing budget lines to ensure the continuity of the West Partnership work. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Page 182 of 364
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Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Support from Digital Team to upload pathways onto Glow is ongoing. Paper and web-based platforms are available for all schools. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Risks associated are included within the Service Risk Register, and managed accordingly. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Page 183 of 364
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If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 184 of 364
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Appendix 1 Page 185 of 364
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Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 10 Vision ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Context .............................................................................................................................................. 10 West Partnership Reach – Who did we engage with? .......................................................................... 11 Evaluation Framework – Three Drivers of Improvement ..................................................................... 13 Driver 1: Facilitating various forms of collaboration. ....................................................................... 13 Driver 2: Enhancing practitioner knowledge, understanding and confidence. ................................ 13 Driver 3: Supporting practice change at various levels. ................................................................... 13 Practitioner Enhancement – Evaluation Evidence ................................................................................ 15 Workstream Illustrations ...................................................................................................................... 16 Curriculum, Learning, Teaching & Assessment Illustration – Pedagogy Partnerships ..................... 16 Leadership, Empowerment & Improvement Illustration – Improving Our Programmes and Change to Practice ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Wellbeing for Learning Illustration – Improving Attendance via Collaborative Action Research (CAR) ................................................................................................................................................. 21 West Partnership Research and Knowledge Exchange......................................................................... 25 Evaluating the impact of 1140 Hours ................................................................................................ 25 Artificial Intelligence – Implications for our system ......................................................................... 25 How did the West Partnership compare?............................................................................................. 26 Broad General Education (BGE) ........................................................................................................ 26 Senior Phase ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Leavers Destinations ......................................................................................................................... 32 Critical Indicators .................................................................................................................................. 34 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 36 Page 186 of 364
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Foreword I am delighted to present the West Partnership Regional Improvement Collaborative Evaluation Report for 2023-24. This report outlines the progress made over the academic year toward achieving the outcomes and expected impacts detailed in the West Partnership Improvement Plan. The West Partnership has a clear vision: to embed the values of equity, excellence, and empowerment in everything we do. By fostering a culture of collaboration across our eight local authority areas, we aim to build a Networked Learning System that continuously enhances learning experiences and outcomes for every learner in the Glasgow City Region. This year, we have broadened our reach to include a wider range of staff teams within the partnership: senior and middle leaders, teachers, practitioners, support staff, central teams, CLD colleagues, and more. We are increasingly recognising the added value that the West Partnership Regional Improvement Collaborative brings and the positive impact our activities are having in classrooms and playrooms. The report highlights significant and sustained improvements in learning and teaching through the Improving Our programmes, the benefits experienced by participants of the Pedagogy Partnerships programme, and the progress of responses to decreases in attendance via our attendance collaborative action research work. Our research into the impact of 1140 hours in early years education and artificial intelligence shows that the partnership has matured into knowledge generators as well as a vehicle for sharing expertise around the system. Our work continues to be recognised by external evaluations conducted by the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change at Glasgow University, and we use this feedback as part of our self-evaluation and planning process. Our work is organised across three workstreams: Wellbeing for Learning; Leadership, Empowerment, and Improvement; and Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment. We develop programs to add value to local and national initiatives and avoid unnecessary duplication. Designing offerings that meet the needs of colleagues, and consequently children and young people, is paramount. This report demonstrates significant progress across all three workstreams this year - especially in substantially growing the reach of our work. This session we engaged with 92% of all West Partnership establishments and around a quarter of all practitioners across our region. Whilst the 23-24 session saw more than double the sign ups of 22-23, the work of the partnership has not been diluted. Practitioners’ evaluations continue to suggest that almost 9 in 10 participants feel they have benefitted from engaging with the West Partnership. Long term signs of improvement are beginning to rise to the surface. BGE attainment across our region is the highest it has been in the last 5 years, whilst attainment gaps between the 20% most deprived and 20% least deprived have fallen for two years in a row. At senior phase level, attainment is in line with pre-pandemic levels whilst attainment gaps are below 18/19 figures in all measures. This improvement at senior phase has fed through to positive destinations, where the West Partnership continues to improve whilst at the same time reducing the gap between most and least deprived. Mark Ratter, Regional Lead Officer West Partnership Page 187 of 364
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Introduction Our evaluation report provides an overview of the collective impact and added value of the West Partnership annual activity which is delivered through three core workstreams. These are: • Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment; • Wellbeing for Learning; and • Leadership, Empowerment, and Improvement. The report first details the reach of regional activity using sign up data before detailing specific activities from each workstream. Later in the report we explore areas of research/knowledge generated by the partnership before looking at how the West Partnership compares across several outcome measures. The full suite of comparative measures are provided in our critical indicators at the end of this report. Vision The West Partnership has a clear vision: to embed the values of equity, excellence, and empowerment in everything we do, building a collaborative, networked learning system to improve learning experiences and increase attainment for every learner across the region. Context • 8 local authorities across the West of Scotland; East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire. • 35% of Scotland’s school population attend a West Partnership school. • Over 1000 nurseries, primary, secondary, and special schools. • More than 246,000 children and young people. • Over 50% of all West Partnership pupils reside in SIMD quintiles 1 and 2. • Data from the Children In Low Income Families (CILIF) dataset suggests that 40% of Scotland’s children living in low income families reside in West Partnership local authorities Quintile 1 35% Quintile 2 20% Quintile 3 12% Quintile 4 16% Quintile 5 17% West Partnership Pupils by SIMD Quintile Page 188 of 364
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West Partnership Reach – Who did we engage with? To explore engagement patterns across our activities, we have analysed all sign-up data received from activities within the 23/24 academic session. Our sign-up process captures routine information on those who register for most of our professional learning events. However, there are instances where standard sign-up information is unavailable. For example, several of our more hands-on, in- person sessions are organised via a school leader or local authority central team member but delivered to a larger number of practitioners. In these cases, it is not always practical to collect exact names and establishments. Consequently, overall numbers are included here but excluded from the data where information is missing. Key highlights and insights are detailed below: In the 23/24 academic session, our sign-up data was the following: • Our offering has generated 10,443 sign-ups/engagements. • Where name information is available, we have engaged with 5,536 practitioners. • Just over 1600 practitioners (1619) have signed up for more than one of our events. • We have engaged with practitioners from 954 different organisations. This includes: o 266 early years establishments o 497 primary schools (91% of all West Partnership Primary Schools). o 108 secondary schools (100% of all West Partnership Secondary Schools), and o 38 special schools (78% of all West Partnership Special Schools) o In total, we have had engagement with 92% of all West Partnership schools. Below is a geographical representation of our current outreach, covering primary, secondary, and special schools along with their practitioners. This visualisation does not include the early years, central teams, and family learning centres that have also participated in our programmes during the 2023-24 period: The visual below provides an overview of the number of known participants by sector. The numbers here are smaller than the true figure due to the issues around data collection detailed at the start of this section. Page 189 of 364
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Primary practitioners make up most of our participants (60%). A quarter of participants come from the Secondary (21%) and Special (4%) sectors. We also had over 600 practitioners from early years and family learning centre settings. Just under 150 local authority central team staff engaged with the West Partnership this session. The table below provides an approximate calculation of what proportion of all staff in each sector engaged with the West Partnership this session. Sector Number of West Partnership Practitioners Number of Unique Sign Ups Known Percentage Engagement Primary 8896 3167 36% Secondary 8717 1130 13% Special 1060 221 21% All exc ELC 18673 4518 24% The figures presented in the table are minimum figures. In addition to these figures, we also have 140 named individuals with no establishment, and therefore no sector, as well as approximately 2000 unnamed engagements. These figures also count whole school programmes such as Improving Our School as a single count of the person who signed up. West Partnership primary and secondary schools have, on average, 16 and 80 members of staff respectively. The limitations and nuances of sign-up data means that the measure with the least caveats remains total number of sign-ups. The visual below shows the progress in sign up numbers over the last four sessions: Page 190 of 364
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The 23/24 figure of 10443 marks an increase of 134% on the previous session and 227% on the figure achieved in 20/21. Evaluation Framework – Three Drivers of Improvement In previous sessions, the evaluation framework was enhanced to better showcase the added value and collective impact of the partnership activities. By establishing clear outcomes and measures for various workstreams, three common themes emerged from the evidence. These themes led to the creation of the three drivers of the improvement evaluation framework. These drivers of are defined below and summarised in diagram 1. Driver 1: Facilitating various forms of collaboration. We acknowledge that while collaboration is essential in our system, its forms must necessarily vary. Some collaborations may involve brief interactions, while others require ongoing collaborative efforts in specific areas of interest. This variation is crucial to meet the diverse needs of practitioners. Some prefer relatively light-touch associations and networking opportunities, while others need more intensive, sustained co-production activities on important shared topics. Driver 2: Enhancing practitioner knowledge, understanding and confidence. Our region includes over 19,000 practitioners, accounting for about 36% of all practitioners in Scotland. We aim to enhance the knowledge, understanding, and confidence of practitioners at all levels, from newly qualified teachers to those in senior positions. This enhancement is inherently tied to our collaborative efforts. With a wealth of expertise and experience across our eight authorities, the partnership plays a crucial role in facilitating the exchange of knowledge and sharing of best practices. Driver 3: Supporting practice change at various levels. Our collaborative efforts and goal to drive practice change are supported through partnership activities. Influencing practice change at all levels of the system is a key aspiration for the West Partnership. This includes how teachers deliver in the classroom and how local authority central teams interact across our region. Consequently, we view partnership activities as enabling practice change through a dynamic approach that targets all practitioners, regardless of their role. Page 191 of 364
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[insert drivers model that was used in the 22/23 report] Page 192 of 364
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Practitioner Enhancement – Evaluation Evidence As detailed above, enhancing practitioner knowledge, understanding and confidence is a key process in our approach to improvement. Each of our programmes has clearly outlined outcomes which set out the purpose of the work and, where appropriate, the measures used to understand if the purpose of the work has been achieved. At times this is about improving practitioner knowledge in an area of emerging interest. At other times it is about enhancing confidence in a particular area. The table below highlights the evaluative evidence gathered this year and the numbers of practitioners noting an improvement in one or more of the areas (knowledge, understanding or confidence): Workstream Session Name Number of evaluations No Improvement Improvement Percentage Improved Assessment and Moderation (Various) 304 151 153 50.3% Higher Applications of Maths CLPL 50 1 49 98.0% Pedagogy Partnerships 68 5 63 92.6% Primary Curriculum 36 9 27 75.0% Principles of Effective Practice (4 Sessions) 318 65 253 79.6% Secondary BGE 15 6 9 60.0% Spolight on Effective Practice (4 Sessions) 159 39 120 75.5% West Partnership Maths Conference 119 2 117 98.3% CSI Essay Submission 80 0 80 100.0% CSI Presentation Submission 16 0 16 100.0% Differentiation 71 12 59 83.1% Effective Feedback 71 8 63 88.7% Effective Questioning 89 2 87 97.8% IOC Assessment 81 18 63 77.8% IOC Day 1 118 4 114 96.6% Learning Intentions and Success Criteria 70 10 60 85.7% Metacognition and Creative Classrooms 54 2 52 96.3% Thinking About Headship Final 25 0 25 100.0% Towards CSI 76 1 75 98.7% ADHD Strategies 189 32 157 83.1% ASN BGE 16 3 13 81.3% ASN HT 13 5 9 69.2% ASN Senior Phase 21 1 20 95.2% Assessment ASN 32 4 28 87.5% Attendance CAR (3 sessions) 129 12 117 90.7% Children's Rights - What, Why, How 53 8 45 84.9% Co-Reg and De-esc 125 14 111 88.8% Digital Strategies 68 4 64 94.1% Developmental Language Disorder 145 5 140 96.6% Family Learning ASN 35 9 26 74.3% Family Learning Enquiry 53 6 47 88.7% Family Learning ESOL 16 0 16 100.0% Foundations of Family Learning 30 9 21 70.0% IMP LP 44 3 41 93.2% Inclusion in EY Settings 27 3 24 88.9% Keeping Trauma in Mind CAR 9 1 8 88.9% KTPA 46 2 44 95.7% Play in Response to Trauma 159 10 149 93.7% Primary Circle (3 sessions) 86 4 82 95.3% Rights and Resources 39 3 36 92.3% Secondary Circle (3 sessions) 35 1 34 97.1% YA Leaders Training 28 0 28 100.0% YBM 38 0 38 100.0% Young Leaders of Learning 104 3 101 97.1% West Partnership Totals 3360 477 2884 85.8% Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment Leadership, Empowerment and Improvement Wellbeing for Learning Page 193 of 364
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In total we received just under 3400 evaluations where pre-post style questions were asked on the impact of the session on knowledge, understanding or confidence. Just under 2900 evaluation respondents said they had experienced an impact – meaning that 86% of all respondents said the session had had an impact. Of the 46 programmes in the table, many of which had more than one associated session or activity, 24 had over 90% of their respondent’s claiming improvement. Workstream Illustrations In the sections below, we present an illustration of work undertaken in each workstream. These illustrations demonstrate elements of the three drivers through projects delivered by the workstreams. Both quantitative and qualitative data is presented as well as suggested next steps. Curriculum, Learning, Teaching & Assessment Illustration – Pedagogy Partnerships This session, the CLTA Workstream facilitated the delivery of a professional learning activity dedicated to enhancing pedagogical approaches across our eight Local Authorities. Pedagogy Partnerships was developed in response to a request from Workstream colleagues. Underpinning this ask was a focus on features of highly effective practice as outlined in the ‘Spotlight on Effective Practice’ series and examined more deeply in ‘Improving our Classrooms’. The programme was written and developed by the Workstream Lead Officer and an Education Scotland colleague. The activity leans on the work of Simon Breakspear and Bronwyn Ryrie-Jones’ ‘Teaching Sprints’ framework. Essentially, the activity is a mentored approach to developing highly effective learning and teaching practices in a particular area using a model of practitioner enquiry. In terms of reach, 122 practitioners from across the West Partnership signed up across 3 Cohorts of Pedagogy Partnerships. Participants were evenly spread across both Primary (45%) and Secondary sectors (48%), with the remaining 11% of participants coming from other sectors. Participation by role shows that the programme was of interest to mainly classroom teachers. However, participation of Principal Teachers and Senior Leaders shows the flexibility of the programme in promoting, not only pedagogical approaches in individuals but at departmental/faculty level and across the whole school. Evaluation Data Evaluation data indicates that practitioners have significantly improved their understanding of the framework and pedagogical strategies for high-quality learning and teaching as a result of participating in the programme. Practitioners also reported increased confidence in the process and the features of highly effective practice. Page 194 of 364
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An impressive 100% of respondents across the three cohorts stated that the knowledge gained from the sessions would lead to changes in their practice. Additionally, 100% of respondents expressed that they would recommend West Partnership professional learning events after participating in the programme. Participants also provided qualitative feedback. Consistent with the quantitative data, many practitioners noted how the sessions had positively impacted their knowledge and confidence. Practitioners were asked how the learning from this event would allow you to alter your practice. Below is a selection of feedback from a range of practitioner types: ‘The useful and informative information learned on this training has allowed me to make small changes to my practice, with great results and positive impact. The learning has motivated me to carry out teaching sprints beyond the training and hopefully carry out CLPL sessions with staff members within my establishment.’ ‘It has given me the confidence to try new things. Hearing from colleagues about what works gives me the confidence and willingness to try it. I feel that knowing what works makes me more likely to try it.’ ‘It has been incredibly useful to work collegiately with practitioners in other subjects and from the primary sector, to learn about different approaches. Although I focused on questioning in my sprint, I have taken note of activities to adapt and use in relation to retrieval and differentiation.’ ‘Pedagogy Partnerships has reignited my love for teaching. Allow me to re-focus on most important aspect of job, pupils, L&T and have confidence to make changes’ Case Studies Two of our participants have offered testimonials of how their engagement in the programme led to impact on their practice. Deborah Robertson – Principal Teacher from Glasgow City Council I attended the Sprints West Partnership training in November 2023 and started my first Sprint with a focus on Learning Intentions and Success Criteria. The process seemed so achievable and the idea that you focus on the tiny shifts made for success in the middle of the busy and chaotic school calendar. My personal sprint process went well I could see those tiny shifts but the biggest learning experience was the engagement in professional dialogue, learning from other colleagues’ honest experiences is true professional learning. I, with my other colleagues involved went on to lead the Sprints process across the school, training 12 teachers who then went on their own ‘sprint’ again the evaluations demonstrated that staff felt empowered by the process and almost everyone agreed that it was achievable alongside the busy work day. The impact on our young people was evident in our school classroom observations, learner conversations and SIP monitoring paperwork, but also in what staff in the school said about the sprints process. We have now trained over 100 members of staff in the Sprints process and all have completed their first ‘Sprint’. Moving forward we have started preparing for our next sprinting session in the new term, where staff can choose their focus from Glasgow Pedagogy. Through my experience leading sprints across the school, it was evident it allows Page 195 of 364
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staff to work collaboratively and engage in professional discussions and observations that get us talking about and improving learning and teaching. Lauren Baillie – Secondary Practitioner from East Renfrewshire Council As a practitioner involved in the first cohort of the West Partnership’s Pedagogy Partnerships programme, I selected retrieval practice as my area of focus for a ‘Teaching Sprint’. As retrieval practice is largely based on improving knowledge, I discussed with colleagues about what ‘knowledge’ we consider to be important for success in Higher English. We concluded that improving their knowledge of language techniques would be most beneficial and I subsequently created a list of thirty techniques that I wanted them to learn. I started off with the creation of a knowledge organiser which outlined all the key information they needed – this was the knowledge I wanted them to learn and then retrieve. Over the course of the next six weeks, I then incorporated retrieval practice tasks regularly into my lessons, including challenge grids, retrieval pyramids, cloze passages, retrieval relays, and brain dumps. Before I started the ‘Sprint’ I quizzed the pupils in the class on the thirty language techniques. The class average was 41%. I then asked them to complete the same quiz at the end of the six weeks (having completed a wide variety of retrieval practice activities) and the class average had increased to 81%. Pupils demonstrated more confidence and a greater ability to identify and analyse these language techniques. With such astounding results, my department have now created knowledge organisers for all year groups and have incorporated regular retrieval practice tasks into our curriculum. I am grateful for the opportunity the Pedagogy Partnership has afforded me as it encouraged me to focus on an aspect of my teaching practice that might have otherwise been neglected in the busy school year. Although it was a small change I made in terms of my day-to-day teaching, it had a massive impact on the confidence and attainment of the young people in my class. Next Steps In Session 24/25, we are facilitating two cohorts of Pedagogy Partnerships, prioritising the sustainability of the activity. We invite past participants to deliver sessions to new cohorts, a highlight that is always welcomed. The willingness of participants to return, coupled with the positive quantitative and qualitative data, underscores the high regard for the programme. As evidenced in the case studies above, schools are adopting this framework as a sustainable approach to enhancing pedagogy and promoting short-term, manageable practitioner enquiry, which has been met with enthusiasm by practitioners across the West. Leadership, Empowerment & Improvement Illustration – Improving Our Programmes and Change to Practice The West Partnership’s Improving Our… set of programmes and activity is developed by and for teachers and leaders across the eight local authorities (LAs). All the programmes and groups that drive them have the same focus on improvement through: • the effective use of evidence and enquiry to drive change; • high quality self-evaluation undertaken collectively and individually; • improving learning and teaching; • a relentless focus on equity and excellence for all children and young people; and • developing networks and working collaboratively across boundaries. Page 196 of 364
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The programmes and groups that are included in the Improving Our… improvement activity are: 1. Improving Our Classrooms (IOC) IOC is for teachers in the primary, secondary and ASN sectors. It is the only remaining free Masters’ Level provision for teachers in Scotland. Those who successfully complete the year- long programme are awarded 30 Masters’ Credits and/or General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) Professional Recognition. IOC is driven and delivered by a group of experienced headteachers and local authority officers. Over 100 teachers participated in IOC in 2024-25. 2. Delivering Mentorship (DM) This programme is a year-long Masters accredited module (15 Credits). Participants who have successfully completed IOC can become mentors for the programme and undertake this professional learning module focused on group mentoring theory and practice. DM is supported and driven by a cross-authority group of experienced IOC mentors. IOC participants had over 40 mentors work alongside them in trios in 2024-25. IOC participants had over 40 mentors work alongside them in trios in 2024-25. 3. Improving Our Schools (IOS) IOS is an establishment level programme for primary schools. This 15 month programme works across the whole school and has a much greater degree of flexibility than IOC. The focus is driven by each school’s self-evaluation and data. The programme then becomes a priority in the school improvement plan for the coming session. There are inter-authority networking and sharing opportunities throughout. IOS is currently lead by two experienced primary headteachers. A reference group of headteachers is being set-up to drive and shape the programme. A total of 19 schools, with just under 300 teachers, participated in IOS in 2023-24. 4. Improving Our Departments and Faculties (IODF) IOD/F is a 15 month programme for any department or faculty in the secondary sector. Department / faculty teams use self-evaluation and data to identify an aspect of learning and teaching and a course/level/ skill component from the BGE or Senior Phase to focus on. This is built into the improvement plan. There are inter-authority networking and sharing opportunities throughout. IODF is developed and driven by a cross-authority, multi-subject group of depute heads, principal teachers, and faculty heads. A total of 22 Principal Teachers and Faculty Heads took part in the pilot. Collectively they lead around 175 teachers. 5. Leadership of Learning Groups (LOLG) These teacher led groups are cross-sector and cross-authority. Group members share relevant and recent expertise and experience in high-quality learning and teaching. This includes taking a critical eye to relevant policy, practice and research in specific areas of learning and teaching and ensuring the high quality of materials that support the suite of Improving Our… professional learning activities. There are three main themes that emerge across the 2023-24 Improving Our… evaluation evidence. This would suggest that the work impacts in consistent ways for individual teachers, across whole departments and faculties and schools. Page 197 of 364
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1. Networking Developing networks and working across boundaries is one of the central tenets of this work. This is a consistent theme in the evaluations. Participants highly value the opportunities to work with others, share experiences and practice, and find solutions to common challenges. This may be beyond their classroom, school, sector and/or local authority. For example, it is common for IOC trios to still be in touch three or more years after completing the programme. There is scope to develop a stronger approach to networking across this work. It is a key factor in maintaining the relevance, quality and consistency of all the Improving Our… work. “Delivering Mentorship gave me opportunities to work across LAs which was invaluable. I got so much out of those opportunities. Mentoring is difficult, it’s a trial run for leadership. It lets you find out if that’s the kind of thing you want to do with a wide network of support.” Delivering Mentorship participant 2. Improved use of data This is both a consistent and very strong theme in the evaluation evidence across IOC, IOS and IOD/F. This year 93% of the teachers in IOC reported both increased confidence and use of data, last session this number was 94%. Headteachers who have had multiple teachers go through the programme over a number of years described this as an empowering experience for teachers who were much more able to actively ask and answer ‘so what?’ and bring the solutions. The Fact, Story, Action approach to tracking is included in all the programmes. Almost all participants stated they intended to keep using it. This applies to individual teachers, whole departments/faculties, and schools. This will continue to be a focus. It would now be beneficial to expand the examples of this framework in use. 'Teachers’ participation in the IOS professional learning initiative enables them to carefully analyse their class data and plan children’s next steps in learning well. Teachers are growing in confidence using the effective ‘fact, story, action’ approach to identifying the learning needs of individual children.' St John the Baptist Primary School inspection report, IOS participant 3. Focus on improvement in the classroom Participants in IOC, IOS and IOD/F very frequently described the programmes as being built around a strong focus on direct impact in the classroom that is based on local self-evaluation evidence and data. They stated that this gave a very high level of relevance, practicality and impact to what they did as a result of taking part. The self-reported IOC evaluation data from the last two years (see tables below) demonstrates participants’ perspectives on the impact on their practice and the learners they work with. This correlates with the case studies and presentations they submit. Page 198 of 364
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“The ownership for improvement now goes back to the department so it's more real. We're still trying to make it more relevant. We have a bit to go with this. There is a clear link between our self-evaluation, learning teaching assessment and professional learning.” Principal teacher, IOD/F IOC has been developed over a period of more than ten years and delivered exclusively across the West Partnership for the last five years. Focus groups with past participants, including headteachers, mentors and teachers suggest that the impact in the classroom can also be seen over the longer term. “The skills from IOC are not optional, it was needed in my school, teachers felt empowered in their own classrooms as a result. They were able to talk robustly about what they had planned and trialled. This has given me a school of leaders. Staff have blossomed in terms of their pedagogy and their leadership.” Headteacher of a school where all staff have done IOC over the last 5 years The data suggests that the balance between programme structure and local flexibility is working well. The further development of the groups to develop and drive the programmes should be a priority over the coming months to maintain this when the funding comes to an end in March 2025. There is also scope to further develop explicit connections with both the Spotlight Sessions and Pedagogy Partnerships. This has the potential to build a strong, coherent professional learning offer for pedagogy that can: • meet a range of different requirements over the short and longer term; • work flexibly for the range of contexts across the eight West Partnership local authorities; and • provide networked learning opportunities for teachers, middle and senior leaders. In summary, the Improving Our programmes are supporting practitioners to make changes to practice at classroom, department, and school level. Evaluative data continues to suggest that almost all participants benefit from engaging with the programmes. Qualitative data suggests that these benefits are stimulated through programme facilitated networking, improvements in the use of data and ultimately in improvements within the classroom. Wellbeing for Learning Illustration – Improving Attendance via Collaborative Action Research (CAR) According to the Scottish Government (2022), regular attendance is strongly correlated with higher attainment levels, an ongoing focus for all local authorities and their establishments across the West Partnership. Regular school attendance helps pupils build critical social skills and relationships, fostering a sense of community and belonging (Reid, 2017). Absenteeism can lead to social isolation, Page 199 of 364
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making it harder for students to reintegrate and engage with their peers. We know that schools provide a structured environment where children can access mental health resources and support systems. Regular attendance ensures that pupils benefit from these services, helping them to manage stress and emotional challenges (Kearney & Graczyk, 2020). Efforts to improve attendance rates should be multifaceted, reflecting the wide range of contributory factors experienced by our learners and their families. The challenge for resource limited establishments is to select the most appropriate intervention/strategy to have the desired impact. Kearney et al (2019) states that full attendance through to school refusal can be considered as a spectrum that can be used as an early warning system to initiate support. This means that establishments must be responsive to the evolving nature of pupil presentation, with robust processes in place to target and support families. The Wellbeing for Learning workstream created a collaborative action research project focused upon bringing together research, data, and evaluation expertise to inform and support establishments in making such an informed decision. Collaborative action research was selected as the most appropriate vehicle for this professional learning activity because it enabled establishment leads to work together to identify, implement, and evaluate strategies that would refine their processes, procedures and practices, tailored to their context and community. In terms of reach, 64 participants who signed up represented 7 out of the 8 local authorities within the West Partnership. For 21 of these participants, this was the first West Partnership event they had attended. Primary and Secondary sectors were evenly represented, with 52% of participants from Primary and 44% from Secondary. Local Authority leads made up the remaining 5% of participants. The programme was aimed at practitioners who had a responsibility for attendance and/or pastoral care, many of whom also held remits which focused upon family engagement or learning. The format of the programme included in-person and online sessions and ran from the end of November 2023 until May 2024. The in-person sessions took place over 1 full day and 2 morning sessions. Day 1 introduced the national picture, data analysis, self-evaluation and the process of collaborative action research. Morning 2 developed this professional learning by providing targeted support in each of these areas to establishments as required to further their research. Morning 3 provided those in attendance with a chance to share their learning and the impact upon learners and their families. Optional online check-in sessions were available throughout the programme, providing participants the opportunity to sense check their research, to review interventions and to share good practice with others. Evaluation Data Of those attending the in-person sessions: • 100% found them to be useful; • 100% stated they were well organised; • 98% found the duration to be sufficient. Those who found it insufficient, wished for it to be longer, with more time to discuss with colleagues; and • 100% stated they supported them to change their practice. How did the professional learning support alterations to practice? To have a more robust attendance policy - filter this throughout the school so all staff are following the same procedures. Pupils and families will be aware of policy and procedures. I will now be able to analyse data more thoroughly to find trends and to target interventions more accurately to make best use of limited resources. Page 200 of 364
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Reflecting with colleagues in other local authorities has helped highlight some gaps in the attendance procedures/policies in my own local authority. A focussed idea to address target group attendance. It’s been great to get that focus for such a potentially overwhelming issue. What was most beneficial? The data spreadsheet was fantastic, with all the slicers. A great piece of work which will be such a great help moving forward. Good to talk to colleagues in other schools and local authorities. Networking with teaches from different and authorities and the information presented by the different speakers. The speakers and sharing the resources available - interactive attendance guide, self- evaluation and all the links within this. Time to discuss and share with colleagues. Being able to clarify my thinking around my project and identify a target group. Professional dialogue with colleagues across the West Partnership and sharing good practice. Case Study – St Brides Primary School, Glasgow The school community of St Bride’s Primary School in Glasgow experiences high levels of poverty, with 54% of learners living in SIMD deciles 1 and 2. Most pupils have English as an additional language, with 16 different languages spoken, and 46% are from the Gypsy/Traveller Community. Depute Head Teacher, Fiona Buchanan, attended the CAR programme and worked through the Assess, Plan, Do, Review process. 1. The Assessment phase began by analysing a whole school attendance report, where overall attendance was 84.24%. From this they: • Identified pupil groups with attendance below 90%; • Identified pupils with attendance between 60% - 80%; and • Identified classes with highest % of pupils with attendance between 80% - 90%. 2. The Planning phase triangulated data from the wider school community, including: • Attendance Cards – shared with teaching staff, clerical staff and parents/carers; • Creation of pro forma to gather and monitor data; • Use of knowledge and insight of families working with Family Support Worker; • Phone calls/meetings with parents and carers; • Using Forth Valley West Lothian RIC Toolkit for School Evaluation; • Data analysis from SEEMiS – Codes; • Pupil conversations supported by use of the Glasgow Motivation and Wellbeing Profile; and • Weekly 100% Attendance recognition. Fiona and her school team noted lowest and highest attendance months, looking for trends in relation to cultural or home circumstances. Unauthorised absences were significantly higher than those that had been authorised and these were further analysed. 3. Within the Doing phase, pupil attendance was labelled Red, Amber and Green by attendance percentage, and a range of actions were used to support pupils in these groups. These included: Page 201 of 364
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parental meetings, pupil meetings, bespoke interventions, telephone calls, home visits, and regular communication with parents. As recommended by the CAR programme, Fiona selected the ‘amber’ cohort, those with 80% - 90%, for the Targeted Intervention Group (TIG). Through their interventions, such as music lessons during school day, after school clubs and improved parental understanding of procedures for daytime appointments, they have seen: • 50% of TIG pupils have increased attendance; • 1 pupil has achieved over 90%; • Increased understanding of reasons for absences; and • Increase in parents informing school of absences. 4. Moving into the Review phase, the team are going to focus upon: • Identifying the ‘pull factors’ – Pupils – Staff – School age childcare project - Pilot • Parental Communication – Focus on August attendance – Expectations for 24/25 session – Xpressions App • Class Timetables – Reasonable adjustments to motivate and encourage attendance • Nov/Dec and March dips and what can be done to avoid these End of Programme Evaluation Nineteen participants attended the final sharing learning session and 100% strongly agreed that they had learned from speaking with colleagues that day. When considering their attendance target group pupils, quantitative data found that: • 100% had experienced improvements in wellbeing outcomes; • 95% had improved relationships with families; • 95% had improvements in learning experiences.; • 95% perceived increases in attainment and/or achievement; • 100% had improved attendance rates; and • 100% stated that the Attendance CAR project supported them to create a robust, intelligence-driven plan to tackle attendance concerns. Concluding qualitative statements highlighted what made the programme so effective: The ideas and resources generated by the West Partnership CAR project have been really useful in our focus on improving attendance. A really worthwhile opportunity to access high quality CLPL and link with colleagues from other authorities. The collaboration and the pace was very helpful. The support given helped with the success. Participating in the CAR project has been so beneficial in providing time to plan and organise interventions. Page 202 of 364
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West Partnership Research and Knowledge Exchange In addition to supporting the dissemination of knowledge and expertise around our system, the West Partnership has also played a key role in knowledge creation itself. In 2023/24 we completed two pieces of work which address emerging issues in our system. Firstly, we completed our two-year project in evaluating the impact of the 1140 hours policy on children, young people, families and practitioners in our region. Secondly, we completed an overview of Artificial Intelligence and its potential impacts on education. Evaluating the impact of 1140 Hours In the 2022/23 session we also saw the commencement of research into the impact of the 1140 hours early years policy at a West Partnership level. The project aimed to understand what impact the policy has had within our region. Aside from understanding the impact on children and their families, the research also aimed to gather insight into the experience of practitioners in the area and central authority teams who are involved in the delivery of early learning at a local authority level. The research is now complete and will be launched in August 2024. The infographic below provides an overview of the key qualitative findings from the research. [INSERT Appendix 1 here] Artificial Intelligence – Implications for our system Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application in education has become a growing concern and source of interest for schools worldwide. Research and feedback from teachers indicated a need for support in understanding how AI works, its potential uses, and the issues that both teachers and pupils must consider. During the 2023/24 academic session, the West Partnership conducted a pilot programme with teachers across the region to demonstrate how this technology can enhance learner experiences, manage teacher workload, and highlight key issues such as bias, accuracy, and data protection. Before this academic session, a review of the literature on AI in education, specifically aimed at teachers, was produced. The findings from this review emphasised the importance of both educators and pupils developing AI literacy to ensure this technology can be used safely and effectively. This led to the creation of an AI toolkit, structured similarly to the review, which would enable practitioners to identify their strengths and areas needing further development as a department or school. Between November 2023 and February 2024, a total of 27 schools participated in this pilot programme. Each local authority within the West Partnership was represented, as well as the primary, secondary, and ASN sectors. After delivering sessions 1 and 2 in November and December, all participating teachers were given access to the AI review and toolkit. The West Partnership sought feedback after each session and conducted a follow-up survey in February to measure the overall impact of each resource. Key findings from the feedback gathered from practitioners are as follows: o Prior to attending the first AI session, practitioners rated their understanding of AI at 4.3 on average (1 being poor, 10 being excellent). After attending the second session, this increased to an average of 7.7. o When asked to rate how beneficial each session was on a scale of 1-10 (1 being not beneficial, and 10 being very beneficial), practitioners rated session 1 at 8.9 and session 2 at 8.7 on average. Page 203 of 364
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o After attending session 2, 100% of practitioners either agreed or strongly agreed that they can better define what AI is, they have improved their knowledge of how they can use AI in the classroom to support learning experiences, and that they hope to explore this technology further both individually, and with their colleagues. o By the end of session 2, 81% of practitioners had explored or researched AI and its use in education further. This included testing resources cited during the sessions such as Quizalize and ChatGPT, to see how these would fit in their class, and using pupil voice to evaluate how these resources could enhance learning experiences. o Qualitative feedback from these surveys indicated that practitioners felt more prepared to implement and discuss AI with their class, and that the review and toolkit would be useful to support them with exploring this technology further as a school/department. Some examples of feedback from teachers can be seen below: Brilliant session. New ideas. Walking away with things to try/share. Always a positive. Great introductory session and the emphasis on AI literacy at the start is so important to drive home the importance of seeking to develop in this area further. Very insightful- I came in a sceptic and now going to look at ways I can use it! o Several schools have experienced difficulties with accessing AI resources due to restrictions within their local authority. Discussions with one school also highlighted differences across subjects, with some AI tools being more effective in certain subjects than others. How did the West Partnership compare? The sections below draw on several of our critical indicators to evaluate progress in key outcome measures. These indicators are broken into three sections: 1) Broad General Education (BGE), 2) Senior Phase and 3) Leavers Destinations. Broad General Education (BGE) Page 204 of 364
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Data from 22/23 shows an increase in the number of primary pupils meeting their expected literacy levels at P1, P4 and P7. The percentage of West Partnership pupils meeting the expected level increased from a low of 69.7% in 20/21 to 74.5% in 22/23. This figure is now above the last pre- pandemic session (18/19) the highest it has been in the last 6 sessions. West Partnership BGE literacy rates continue to be higher than national figures – an outcome replicated in each of the last 6 sessions. Whilst both groups improved on 21/22 figures, the attainment gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils in literacy remains at 22.6% points. This is down from an attainment gap high of 26.1% points experienced in 20/21 but remains higher than the pre-pandemic low of 22.4% points in 18/19. Both Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 learners achieved their highest level of performance over the last 6 sessions in 22/23. Page 205 of 364
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Data from 22/23 shows an increase in the number of primary pupils meeting their expected numeracy levels at P1, P4 and P7. The percentage of West Partnership pupils meeting the expected level increased from lows of 77.3% in 20/21 to 81.1% in 22/23. This figure is above the last pre- pandemic session (18/19) and the highest it has been since 16/17. West Partnership primary pupils continue to be more likely than all Scottish pupils in meeting the expected level for Numeracy. The attainment gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils in numeracy has fallen 0.1% points to 18.2% points. This is down from an attainment gap high of 21.7% points experienced in 20/21 but remains higher than the pre-pandemic low of 17.5% points in 18/19. Quintile 5 learners achieved their highest level of performance over the last 6 sessions in 22/23 whilst Quintile 1 learners matched their best performance (18/19). Senior Phase Performance at senior phase has been impacted by a number of factors in the last few sessions. For example, a variety of assessment models have been used over the previous four academic sessions. As such, caution should be noted in making year on year comparisons. Furthermore, indicators which use leavers cohorts have also been impacted by the changing nature of when our young people have left school. The visual below shows how the number of S4 and S5 leavers has changed considerably over the last 5 sessions: Page 206 of 364
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Between 18/19 and 20/21, approximately 1.5k S4 leavers and 4.0k S5 leavers left school each year. This has increased considerably over the last 2 sessions, with 2.2k S4 leavers and 5.0k S5 leavers in 22/23. This marks an increase of 46% for S4 leavers and 25% for S5 leavers. The effect of the increase in S4 and S5 leavers has meant that the proportion of all leavers who left after S6 has fallen to 62% in 22/23 from 68% in 20/21. The increase in the proportion of leavers from S4 and S5 means that our Level 6 measures in particular are impacted as these learners have had less time to accumulate Level 6 awards. The percentage of leavers achieving 1 or more passes at SCQF Level 5 decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 88.8% from 89.4% in 20/21. The 22/23 figure continues to be higher than the average of 88.5% over the last 6 sessions. The West Partnership continues to have a higher percentage of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at this level compared to Scotland as a whole. This outcome has occurred in each of the last 6 sessions. Page 207 of 364
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Progress is being made in closing the gap between SIMD quintiles 1 and 5 leavers achieving 1 or more passes at SCQF level 5. The attainment gap of 15.6% points is the lowest it has been across the last 6 sessions and marks a fall of 3.7% points on the highest gap recorded in 19/20. The West Partnership has a smaller attainment gap than the national figure (16.6% points) in this measure. The percentage of leavers achieving 1 or more passes at SCQF Level 6 has fallen by 1.3% points. The figure of 68.1% is now below with the last session which had a traditional model of assessment (18/19). It should be noted that the leavers cohort of 18/19 had a higher proportion of its leavers finishing school after S6 than the 22/23 leavers cohort. West Partnership school leavers continue to outperform the national figure on this measure. Page 208 of 364
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Progress is being made in closing the gap between SIMD quintiles 1 and 5 leavers achieving 1 or more passes at SCQF level 6. The attainment gap of 32.6% points is the lowest it has been across the last 6 sessions and marks a fall of 5.3% points on the highest gap recorded in 17/18. The West Partnership has the same attainment gap than the national figure in this measure. Nevertheless, both Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 groups outperform the national figures (Q1 = 55.0% West Partnership and 51.5% Scotland – Q5 = 87.6% West Partnership and 83.1% Scotland) As in other measures at Level 6, the percentage of leavers achieving 5 or more passes has decreased against 21/22 figures. The figure of 40.6% for 22/23 is a 3.7%-point decrease from the high of 44.3% in 20/21. The 22/23 figure remains higher than the last pre-pandemic session of 18/19. As in other senior phase attainment measures, a higher percentage of West Partnership leavers achieving this standard than their national peers. Page 209 of 364
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Progress is being made in closing the gap between SIMD quintiles 1 and 5 leavers achieving 5 or more passes at SCQF level 6. The attainment gap of 43.1% points is the lowest it has been across the last 5 sessions and marks a fall of 2.2% points on the highest gap recorded in 19/20. The West Partnership has a smaller attainment gap than the national figure (47.9% points) in this measure. Both Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 groups outperform the national figures (Q1 = 24.9% West Partnership and 22.0% Scotland – Q5 = 68.0% West Partnership and 59.9% Scotland) Leavers Destinations The percentage of West Partnership leavers entering initial positive destinations is at the highest it has been since records began. This continues a trend of year-on-year increases that was only interrupted in 19/20, when pandemic related disruption significantly reduced the percentage of leavers entering employment. The figure of 96.8% continues the progression from 88.3% in 2010. For Page 210 of 364
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the fifth year in a row, West Partnership leavers were more likely than their national peers to be in an initial positive destination. The percentage of West Partnership leavers entering Higher Education has fallen to 45.3% in 22/23, down from historic highs of 49.3 in 20/21. This is likely to be a result of a higher proportion of leavers coming from S4 and S5. Furthermore, when looking at S6 leavers only, the percentage entering HE increased from 65.2% in 21/22 to 66.2% in 2023. Nevertheless, the overall figure of 45.2% is higher than all pre-pandemic leavers cohorts and remains above the average figure of 43.3%. West Partnership leavers have consistently been more likely to enter Higher Education when compared to their national peers. The percentage gap between SIMD Q1 and Q5 leavers entering a positive destination has decreased in comparison to 21/22 and is the lowest it has been in the last 6 years. The West Partnership destinations gap of 3.5% points is very slightly below the national figure of 3.6% points. Page 211 of 364
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Critical Indicators Our critical indicators below serve as benchmarks to evaluate the collective impact of the West Partnership. They should be considered as measures that, if our efforts are successful, will improve due to our interventions. Our drivers of improvement describe the mechanisms through which we aim to influence our system, while our critical indicators reveal if we are making an impact. Last session, we made several small changes to better align our critical indicators with our values as a Regional Improvement Collaborative. First, in this evaluation report, we have themed our critical indicators around our values of excellence, equity, and empowerment. Although many of our measures could fit more than one of these values, we have labelled each by what we believe is their primary value. Second, we reinforced our commitment to equity by adding a few key measures. Critical indicators related to the poverty-related attainment gap and the educational outcomes of looked after young people were added last year. Updates to all these indicators can be found below: Indicators Excellence, Equity or Empowerment 2018-19 Value 2019-20 Value 2020-21 Value 2021-22 Value 2022-23 Value % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening) Excellence 73.0 ** 69.7 72.4 74.5 % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 80.3 ** 77.3 79.6 81.1 % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 69.3 70.4 72.8 69.4 68.1 % of leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 38.3 42.1 44.3 41.5 40.6 % of leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy 82.6 83.1 84.6 82.7 82.3 % of leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or beter in numeracy 69.2 70.8 72.8 71.3 71.5 Primary Attendance Rates 94.2 N/A 93.4 N/A 91.7 Secondary Attendance Rates 90.3 N/A 88.4 N/A 87.4 Initial School Leaver Destinations (Positive) 95.2 93.6 95.8 96.3 96.8 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy Equity 22.4 ** 26.1 22.6 22.5 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 17.5 ** 21.7 18.3 18.2 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 39.6 36.9 34.8 33.4 32.6 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 48.1 42.5 44.0 44.7 43.1 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy and numeracy 34.7 35.7 34.4 34.0 33.5 Page 212 of 364
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% point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers entering initial positive destinations 4.8 6.6 5.1 4.2 3.5 % of looked after school leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better N/A N/A 29.8%1 N/A % of looked after school leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better N/A N/A 8.9% N/A Number of Practitioners accessing professional learning opportunities provided by the West Partnership2 Empowerment TBC 3185 3137 4467 10443 Percentage of practitioners reporting an increase in their knowledge following participation in West Partnership activities NA NA 85.1 85.3 85.8 % of establishments evaluated as good or better for leadership of change 73 * * 91 813 % of establishments evaluated as good or better for learning, teaching, and assessment 71 * * 88 854 1 In 2023, the West Partnership board agreed to include two measures which look specifically at the outcomes of looked after children. These values will only be updated biannually, with 2 years of data combining to form a more reliable sample. 2 Whilst attainment figures are always a session behind, figures for accessing professional learning are presented for current sessions. For example, the 22/23 figure of 10443 above is for those who attended in 23/24 – the reporting period of this annual report. 3 Based on 31 inspections taking place between June-23 to July-24 4 Based on 65 inspections taking place between June-23 and July 24 Page 213 of 364
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Conclusion This year, the Partnership has made significant progress in promoting equity, excellence, and empowerment across the West, as demonstrated throughout this report. We observed a notable increase in sign-ups for our activities, indicating a strong demand for professional learning opportunities and suggesting that West Partnership activities continues to meet these needs. Our comparison visuals and critical indicators show progress in most areas across our system. Positive destination figures have reached their highest levels, and attainment across all measures is as good as or better than pre-pandemic levels. However, further work is needed to address the decline in attendance across all sectors, an issue being tackled through our CAR projects on attendance. School inspection data also continues to outperform pre-pandemic results. Our progress has also been recognised externally by research from the Robert Owen Centre (ROC) for Educational Change. In their Phase III Reflections on the Partnership Recovery to Renewal: Reimagining the Future (2022) report, ROC findings complement our internal evaluation, providing a robust, triangulated approach to assessment. Key findings included: • A strong culture and ethos of collaboration; • Demonstrable transformative system change; • Networks building collective agency and capacity at all levels; and • Added value to local authorities, resulting in significant leadership and learning and teaching developments. Collectively, we continue working towards ensuring the best outcomes for every child and young person in the West. Equity, Excellence, and Empowerment encapsulate the culture we aim to embed, enhancing the efforts of each local authority to continuously improve our schools and outcomes for our learners. Page 214 of 364
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CONTENTS NOT YET UPDATED CONTENTS AND PAGE NUMBERS TO BE ALIGNED TO FINAL FORMAT CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 WEST PARTNERSHIP VISION .............................................................................................................................................. 4 GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONAL STRUCTURES ............................................................................................................. 5 OVERVIEW ...........................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. REGIONAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE ..................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. WEST PARTNERSHIP BOARD ............................................................................................................................................. 6 WEST PARTNERSHIP IMPLEMENTATION GROUP ................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. FINANCE SUBGROUP ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 THE WEST PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY MODEL ..................................................................................................................... 7 THE WEST PARTNERSHIP APPROACH ................................................................................................................................ 7 THE ROLE OF THE WEST PARTNERSHIP CORE TEAM ........................................................................................................ 7 THE ROLE OF CENTRAL OFFICERS, TEACHERS AND PRACTITIONERS ................................................................................ 7 THE ROLE OF EDUCATION SCOTLAND’S REGIONAL IMPROVEMENT TEAM .......................Error! Bookmark not defined. SPECIALIST NETWORKS ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 DEVELOPING THROUGH CONSULTATION ...........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE IMPROVEMENT PLAN ..................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. CRITICAL INDICATORS 2020-21 ...........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. The West Partnership Plan on a Page 2022-23 ............................................................................................................... 12 WEST PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY MODEL ........................................................................................................................... 12 KEY ACTIVITIES & PROGRAMMES 2022-23 ..................................................................................................................... 13 Page 216 of 364
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INTRODUCTION As the Regional Lead Officer, I am pleased to introduce the West Partnership Improvement Plan which sets out our priorities and key activities in 2024-25 and how we will continue to support a networked learning system going forward. In our plan last year we set out to strengthen our collaborative working and increase the number of staff and learners benefitting from our shared endeavours – our focus was on ensuring impact in all of our playrooms and classrooms. Our Evaluation Report 2023-24 highlights the very good progress we have made as a partnership in improving learners’ experiences, attainment and achievement across the 8 Local Authorities. For example, over the last 12 months, over 10,000 practitioners accessed professional learning opportunities provided by the West Partnership, an increase from around 4,500 the previous year. As a result, we reached at least 24% of all practitioners with 643 schools and 266 ELC centres benefiting from our professional learning. Of the staff engaging with our offer, 86% reported that an increase in their knowledge or confidence. The impact of these leadership and curricula achievements permeates into our pupil-focused indicators, with a record 96.8% of school leavers entering a positive destination. The percentage gap between our 20% most deprived and 20% least deprived school leavers who enter a positive destination is also at a record low of 4.2%. In addition, we have continued to see an increase in the percentage of primary pupils (based on P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving the expected levels in literacy and numeracy to 74.5% and 81.1% respectively, in both cases above the latest national values. At the same time, there has also been a small decrease in the primary attainment gap between our Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 learners in both literacy and numeracy. The evidence is clear, by working in partnership, collaborating across our authorities we are able to add value, enhance our own individual efforts and achieve outstanding results. As we look forward, challenges do exist as we seek to continue to collaborate, learn from one another and provide support for practitioners across the partnership. Our challenge, is to ensure that we focus on the priorities and programmes that will add the most value and that we prepare the networks well to support collaborative activity in 2025-26 once the Scottish Government funding has ceased. To support this transition the Improvement Plan is structured around our three main workstreams - Wellbeing for Learning; Leadership Empowerment and Improvement; and Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment. It continues to be underpinned by our values of equity, excellence and empowerment and reflects three strategic drivers of improvement ensuring we: 1. Foster collaboration on a variety of levels; 2. Provide professional learning and specialist network opportunities for practitioner which increase knowledge, understanding, confidence and deliver improvement; and, 3. Stimulate change to practice, impacting positively on children, young people and their families. The West Partnership Improvement Plan enables each of us to look beyond our own establishment and local authority to foster a culture of collaboration, learning and innovation that empowers and enables our children and young people to achieve and flourish. In doing so, we will continue to work in partnership with colleagues from Education Scotland and other Regional Improvement Collaboratives to achieve our key objectives and continue to improve outcomes for all our staff and learners. Mark Ratter, Regional Lead Officer, West Partnership Page 217 of 364
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WEST PARTNERSHIP VISION AND CONTEXT The West Partnership has a clear vision: to embed the values of equity, excellence and empowerment in everything we do, building a collaborative, networked learning system to improve learning experiences and increase attainment for every learner across the region. The West Partnership sets an ambitious and aspirational agenda to close the poverty-related attainment gap (equity) and improve attainment and achievement for all (excellence). By creating the conditions for authentic empowerment, the ownership of change can be shifted and enable all staff to take collective action to deliver this ambitious vision. As the largest of Scotland’s Regional Improvement Collaboratives, with approximately one third of Scotland’s school population, to truly deliver sustainable improvement, change needs to be driven collectively. This means ensuring that every stakeholder is empowered to address the needs of each individual learner, design experiences which will enthuse and engage them and support them to lead their own learning. This will in turn, lead to improvements in learners’ achievements and attainment. In the West Partnership, building collective agency to improve results and supporting individuals to work together to secure what they cannot accomplish on their own is a key focus. Our purpose, therefore, is to establish and facilitate networks of professionals to work collaboratively to achieve our vision of equity, excellence and empowerment. Page 218 of 364
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GOVERNANCE AND OPERATIONAL STRUCTURES CONTEXT The West Partnership (WP) Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC) has been established since 2018 and received Scottish Government funding to support the staffing and resourcing of a core team who plan, facilitate and evaluate the work of the RIC. In November 2023, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills announced the intention to taper funding for the six RICs during the 2024-25 financial year. Thereafter, funding from Scottish Government will cease. This has prompted an early and thorough evaluation and review of programmes, networks and structures, to identify what can add the most value during the 2024-25 year of tapered funding. We have also considered how the remaining core team support local authority colleagues and collaborative activity beyond Scottish Government funding. REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE AND OPERTIONAL STRUCTURES The West Partnership core team and directors have taken time to review and reflect on the effectiveness of the existing governance and operational structures, to ensure the Partnership continues to operate efficiently, while adding value to the provision of the eight partner local authorities. Changes to the structures were identified as necessary due to several key factors: The reduction of Scottish Government funding to 50% of the previous year’s grant; The reduction of the personnel in the WP Core Team, from 15 full and part time officers to 7; The demanding financial context in local authorities and implications for staffing; and The changing role of Education Scotland and its relationships with regional activity. For the year 2024-25, it has been agreed that the following structure will support ongoing regional collaborative activity: West Partnership Board 8 Directors / Chief Education Officers Senior Partnership Officer Professors Chapman and Donaldson, Glasgow University Wellbeing for Learning Workstream Leadership, Empowerment & Improvement Workstream Curriculum, Learning Teaching & Assessment Workstream Planning, Evaluation and Reporting Support and Challenge Finance Group Central Officer / Practitioner Reference Groups* *A range of practitioner reference groups have been established in the last year. These will be strengthened and augmented to allow the continued activity of the partnership and to ensure the work stays as close to the learner as is possible. Page 219 of 364
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WEST PARTNERSHIP BOARD The West Partnership Board (the Board), has responsibility for the strategic overview of the work of the West Partnership, with overall responsibility for the development and delivery of the West Partnership Improvement Plan, including overall responsibility for the finance and resources for the Partnership. The Board is made up of the Director of Education/Chief Education Officer of each of the eight partner authorities which make up the West Partnership. In addition, the Board is advised by the West Partnership’s Senior Partnership Officer and has professorial representation from the University of Glasgow. Staff supporting the work of the West Partnership also attend by invitation. Specific, identified Board members link with each workstream as sponsors, and have responsibility for the strategic direction of that workstream and for reporting to the Board on its progress. Workstream Lead Officers support Board members with this work and provide leadership for all aspects of the operational activity of the workstream including: planning, implementation, evaluation and reporting. FINANCE GROUP The West Partnership Board continues to be supported very well by the Finance Sub-Group. The Finance Group meets quarterly and includes senior representatives from all eight local authorities, providing additional rigour and accountability, as well as streamlining financial procedures across the partnership. They also provide advice on staffing and other resource issues, as required. The partnership is supported further by a local authority finance officer who advises and assists with the operational management of the grant award from the Scottish Government. Page 220 of 364
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THE WEST PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY MODEL THE WEST PARTNERSHIP APPROACH Our approach within the West Partnership is underpinned by the development of a Networked Learning System; a system that enables collaboration, encourages ‘connectedness’ and supports practitioners at all levels. Our work is built around collaborative learning and practitioners are supported to develop ways of working together that are effective and build upon well-established research based models of delivery. The work of the West Partnership is predominantly delivered through the structure of three key workstreams, each led by a Workstream Lead Officer (WLO), seconded to work with The West Partnership core team. For 2024-25, the three workstreams continue to be: Wellbeing for Learning; Leadership, Empowerment and Improvement; and Curriculum and Learning, Teaching & Assessment. These workstreams provide ‘umbrella themes’ for the programmes and activity of the West Partnership. Regular opportunities are provided to link the work of the workstreams and ensure connectivity and cohesion. THE ROLE OF THE WEST PARTNERSHIP CORE TEAM A small core team, led by the Senior Partnership Officer, has been appointed to lead and facilitate the West Partnership Improvement Plan. This team has reduced in size by more than half for the coming year, to reflect the tapered Scottish Government funding. They work collaboratively to ensure that the Improvement Plan is based on strong self- evaluation, implemented timeously, rigorously evaluated and reported upon to the Board. Impact on leaders, practitioners and, most importantly, on learners is paramount and rigorously measured. They ensure that all activities and opportunities for colleagues across the collaborative, provide added value to what is on offer both locally and nationally. THE ROLE OF CENTRAL OFFICERS, TEACHERS AND PRACTITIONERS There is clarity that all colleagues who support learning across the eight connected local authorities are defined as The West Partnership, and not simply the core team. As such, all central officers, teachers and practitioners networking & sharing, collaborating and changing practice together are working towards the values and purpose of The West Partnership. A primary function of the core team is to provide systematic and supported opportunities to work collaboratively with colleagues. The West Partnership Improvement Plan provides opportunities for colleagues to co- create programmes and activities, as well as participate in those planned and delivered by the core team. This provides a unique setting for collaboration, builds capacity and grows connection, all leading to our vision of a networked learning system. In the coming year, the role of central officers and practitioners will also strengthen and grow further as we plan for 2025-26, when the collaborative work of the partnership no longer receives Scottish Government funding. SPECIALIST NETWORKS Specialist Networks, comprise of representatives from across the eight local authorities, and meet with a common purpose and remit. Each Specialist Network creates its own short action plan containing 2-3 priorities which have been self-generated from existing local authority focus areas. This allows the work of the West Partnership to support ongoing local authority priorities, avoiding additional workload for central officers. The West Partnership core team support this collaborative approach to overtaking the action plan. The WLOs are responsible for supporting evaluation and reporting on progress and impact as part of governance procedures. This work is also supported by the partnership’s data officer. Specialist Networks have been reviewed and again been planned across all three workstreams. Some additional networks have been requested from central officers which are already producing fruitful discussion and change. Page 221 of 364
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The groups planned for 2024-25 include networks for: Over the course of 2024-25 session, changes to the strategic and operational model used to support the work of the partnership will take place. The role and purpose of Specialist Networks, may also change and grow. These changes will be made collegiately with those involved and the Board. DEVELOPING THROUGH CONSULTATION The West Partnership remains committed to ensuring that it reflects the views and ambitions of the workforce, parents and learners across the eight partner authorities to achieve our vision of equity, excellence and empowerment. The West Partnership is home to over one third of Scotland’s school population, with more than 25,000 headteachers, teachers and support staff working in around 1000 schools and early learning centres, in some of Scotland’s most diverse and challenged communities. Taking account of the on-going pressures on stakeholders, the West Partnership has had to be flexible and agile in its approach to stakeholder engagement as part of the improvement planning process. While regular evaluations are undertaken at the end of professional learning sessions or programmes, a programme of forensic self-evaluation was undertaken during 2023-24 following the announcement of tapered funding. It has been even more important than ever to identify what is working well and adding value, to allow us to effectively streamline the WP offer. The Senior Partnership Officer and three Workstream Lead Officers spoke with a wide range of stakeholders and undertook a series of self-evaluation activities to allow a set of scenario planning documents to be created. These were explored in depth by the Directors of Education / Chief Education Officers during a development day, at a number of Board meetings, and for the basis of the Improvement plan for 2024-25 and beyond. Feedback has been synthesised, analysed and shared with the Board and the Glasgow Regional Education Committee. It informs the plan for session 2024-25. Gaelic Officers and HTs ASN HTs Senior Inclusion Officers Community Learning & Development Officers Home Education Officers English as an Additional Language Co-ordinators Literacy Officers Assessment Co-ordinators Maths Officers Page 222 of 364
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EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF THE IMPROVEMENT PLAN The Evaluating and Reporting Lead Officer retained overall responsibility for evaluating and reporting on the progress and impact of the West Partnership’s Improvement Plan during 2023-24. This work, supported by the data officer, is crucial in supporting the West Partnership to evaluate its activities and programmes, as well as using the quantitative and qualitative evidence to identify future priorities. Regular highlight and evaluation reports include updates on the progress and impact of each workstream, as well as more holistic evaluations. Tools to systematically evaluate the quality of West Partnership professional learning events / programmes, and the important longer term impact on participants and learners allow us to gather evidence to demonstrate the added value of collaboration. To assist in this process, workstream planning processes focus more acutely on outcome-based planning and reporting, not only on progress, but specifically on impact in the classroom or playroom. Evaluation strategies and approaches planned by the Workstream Lead Officers at the start of each professional learning session/ programme, ensure appropriate and robust evidence is gathered systematically and evaluated. From exploring qualitative feedback data from our professional learning, collaborative enquiry, and specialist networks this session, the Partnership’s work is now conceptualised as being driven by three holistic drivers: The first driver, collaboration, is at the heart of the partnership’s work. As such, collaborative working and the exchange of expertise and practice around our system is a key mechanism for improvement and also a broad term which captures interactions that differ in depth. From exploring our qualitative feedback data from our professional learning, collaborative enquiry, and specialist networks, the partnership’s collaboration is conceptualised as occurring on a three-point continuum. The continuum is based on the available data and is presented below: Page 223 of 364
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The continuum, with three overlapping concepts, is designed to describe the different ways in which collaborators interact. The partnership provides a range of opportunities which differ in terms of how ‘deep’ collaboration is. As such, this continuum is not intended to be a scale from ’ineffective’ to ‘most effective’, but instead one that recognises different levels of collaboration as a positive. The development of these drivers allow the partnership to report more effectively, more holistically and to crystallise the key purposes of the West Partnership’s work. The West Partnership continued to engage the services of the Robert Owen Centre for Educational Change, University of Glasgow (ROC), as external evaluators during 2023-24 and external research was carried out by ROC. It offered insight into the progression of the West Partnership Regional Improvement Collaborative. The extremely positive, evidence-based findings and recommendations in the report, have been discussed fully by the West Partnership core team and the Board and have influenced the Improvement Plan for session 2024-25. CRITICAL INDICATORS Critical indicators tell us if we are having an impact on the system. Last session we made a number of small changes to better link our critical indicators to our values as a Regional Improvement Collaborative. We strengthened our commitment to equity through the addition of a few key measures. These related primarily to the poverty-related attainment gap, which we had included in previous evaluation reports but not formally through our critical indicators. To demonstrate our commitment to The Promise, we also included new measures on looked after young people. Collaborative Working Knowledge exchange Association and Networking Page 224 of 364
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West Partnership Critical Indicators 2018-2023 1 In 2023 the West Partnership board agreed to include two measures which look specifically at the outcomes of looked after children. As this is a smaller population within the West Partnership, these values will only be updated biannually, with 2 years of data combining to form a more reliable sample. As such, the latest data is a combination of 20/21 and 21/22 academic sessions. 2 Based on 31 inspections taking place between June-23 to July-24 3 Based on 65 inspections taking place between June-23 and July 24 Indicators Excellence, Equity or Empowerment 2018- 19 Value 2019- 20 Value 2020- 21 Value 2021- 22 Value 2022- 23 Value % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy (based on reading, writing and talking and listening) Excellence 73.0 ** 69.7 72.4 74.5 % of primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 80.3 ** 77.3 79.6 81.1 % of leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 69.3 70.4 72.8 69.4 68.1 % of leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 38.3 42.1 44.3 41.5 40.6 % of leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy 82.6 83.1 84.6 82.7 82.3 % of leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better in numeracy 69.2 70.8 72.8 71.3 71.5 Primary Attendance Rates 94.2 N/A 93.4 N/A 91.7 Secondary Attendance Rates 90.3 N/A 88.4 N/A 87.4 Initial School Leaver Destinations (Positive) 95.2 93.6 95.8 96.3 96.8 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in literacy Equity 22.4 ** 26.1 22.6 22.5 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 primary pupils (P1, P4 and P7 combined) achieving expected levels or better in numeracy 17.5 ** 21.7 18.3 18.2 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 39.6 36.9 34.8 33.4 32.6 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better 48.1 42.5 44.0 44.7 43.1 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers achieving SCQF Level 5 or better in literacy and numeracy 34.7 35.7 34.4 34.0 33.5 % point gap between Quintile 1 and Quintile 5 leavers entering initial positive destinations 4.8 6.6 5.1 4.2 3.5 % of looked after school leavers achieving 1 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better N/A N/A 29.8%1 N/A % of looked after school leavers achieving 5 or more awards at SCQF Level 6 or better N/A N/A 8.9% N/A Number of Practitioners accessing professional learning opportunities provided by the West Partnership Empowerment TBC 3185 3137 4467 10443 Percentage of practitioners reporting an increase in their knowledge following participation in West Partnership activities NA NA 85.1 85.3 85.8 % of establishments evaluated as good or better for leadership of change 73 * * 91 812 % of establishments evaluated as good or better for learning, teaching and assessment 71 * * 88 853 Page 225 of 364
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The West Partnership Plan on a Page 2024-25 Our Vision: By building a networked learning system, improve the learner experience, attainment and achievement across the West Partnership. Our Values: Equity Excellence Empowerment Our drivers: To achieve our priorities, we will: provide support to practitioners facilitate collaborative working learn from each other To develop readiness for learning with learners and families To build capacity in leaders at all levels To support innovation in curriculum design and promote high quality approaches to pedagogy To promote practice-based research and innovation To build networks Practitioner Development Knowledge & Understanding Confidence Collaboration Association & Networking Knowledge Exchange Collaborative Working Practice Change Practitioner SLT Local Authority System Support Develop Facilitate Connect Collaborate Empower Our Purpose: Our Priorities: Page 226 of 364
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WEST PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY MODEL KEY ACTIVITIES & PROGRAMMES 2024-25 Wellbeing for Learning Programmes / Activities Specialist Networks Supporting Learners: - Keeping Trauma IN Mind –CAR - Inclusion in Mainstream – series - Attendance – CAR - Inclusive Practice in Early Learning and Childcare Settings UNCRC (by sector) Youth Participation: - Young Leaders of Learning - Youth Participation Training Families and Communities - Youthlink Scotland Enquiries - Family Learning ASN Headteachers CLD Lead Officers Senior Inclusion Lead Officers PSE Secondary Officers Home Education Officers Attendance Rights Education Leadership, Empowerment & Improvement Programmes / Activities Specialist Networks Thinking About Headship Improving Our Classrooms Improving Our Schools Improving Our Departments / Faculties FOCUS tool and CLPL Delivering Mentorship Leadership of Learning Groups Digital Officers (led by Evaluation Officer) Curriculum, Learning, Teaching & Assessment Programmes / Activities Specialist Networks Secondary BGE Curriculum Primary Curriculum Spotlight on Effective Practice Pedagogy Partnerships Tracking and Monitoring Assessment and Moderation WEST OS and Digital Pedagogy Research on Impact of 1140 hours Assessment and Moderation ASN Assessment and Moderation Literacy Numeracy Early Years EAL Gaelic Page 227 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: AH / BS Date 19/11/24 A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments – Policy into Practice From: Alan Henry Senior Education & Families Manager/Barry Smedley- Chief Officer (South) E-mail: henryal@Northlan.gov.uk Telephone: 01236 812287 Executive Summary This report provides Education, Children and Families Committee with the draft policy on Reducing Violence in the Workplace. The Policy document is known as “A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice” and is designed as a supportive guide to all staff working within our establishments. The Policy document recognises the Council’s responsibility to keep everyone safe and acknowledges that some children and young people can present with distressed and dysregulated behaviours which may require those staff working with them to intervene to keep themselves and others safe from serious injury. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Endorse the “Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice” (Appendix 1) (Reducing Violence in the Workplace document) (2) To recognise the partnership working of the sub-group and that a sub-group will be commissioned to further develop Violent Incident recording and systems. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Support all children and young people to realise their full potential Ambition statement (7) Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 7 Page 229 of 364
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1. Background 1.1. Within all our schools and early years establishments, there are children and young people who can display distressing and dysregulated behaviours. 1.2. In 2022, the then Assistant Chief Executive commissioned a working group to develop a clear and consistent guidance/process document that underpinned the approaches that will reduce violent incidents across the educational estate, in addition to supporting staff both from a health and wellbeing perspective and through a suite of training & development opportunities linked to PRD/CLPL processes as appropriate. 1.3. The group, led by the Senior Education & Families Manager for Inclusion, included representatives from our Head Teacher cohort, senior trade unionists from both teaching and Single Status employees, Health and Safety, Health and Wellbeing and Continuous Improvement Officers, and advised by the Educational Psychology Service. (Terms of Reference appendix 2) 1.4. The group ensured that the approach was coordinated, integrated, and led in accordance with the ambitions of Included Engaged & Involved 3, the Plan for North Lanarkshire, the priorities of the NL Children’s Services Plan and requirements of the Promise Plan 21-24. 2. Report National Context 2.1.1. Significant consideration was given to a range of policy frameworks, which whilst not exhaustive included: o Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 o Education (Scotland) Act 1980 o The Children (Scotland) Act 1980 o The Children (Scotland) Act 1985 o UNCRC o Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc (Scotland) Act 2000 o Education (Additional Support for Learning) Scotland Act 2004 o Included Engaged and Involved Part 2 Local Context 2.1.2. In our schools and establishments, children and young people can display particularly distressing and challenging behaviours that may require adults to physically intervene to keep everyone safe. Currently in North Lanarkshire, only ASN schools are able to engage with Physical Intervention training and the decision is left up to individual schools which system for De-escalation and Physical Intervention they use. 2.1.3. All policies related to this area are coordinated, integrated, and led in accordance with the ambitions of Included Engaged & Involved 3, the Plan for North Lanarkshire, the priorities of the NL Children’s Services Plan and requirements of the Promise Plan 21- 24. Key Policy Points 2.2.1 North Lanarkshire Council recognises its responsibility to keep everyone safe and also acknowledges that some children and young people can present with distressed and Page 230 of 364
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dysregulated behaviours which may require those staff working with them to intervene to keep themselves and others safe from serious injury. An establishment’s approach to prompting positive relationships and behaviours should be welcoming and nurturing, ensuring that the safety and wellbeing of all members of the establishment is prioritised. 2.2.2 The Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice aims to: o outline the role of positive relationships in supporting young people in schools and recognise the importance of early intervention, o provide clarity and guidance on actions of staff at all levels in the event of an incident of a physical nature, verbal abuse or threat, o signpost staff to welfare and wellbeing supports. o provide updates on policy context, legislation and national guidance, o define de-escalation, physical intervention and seclusion, o clarify for staff the situations where physical intervention is used, o outline training offers available, o provide information on how to report an incident of a physical nature, verbal abuse or threats, o outline staff expectations and current rationale on supporting dysregulated and distressed behaviour, o recognise that whilst establishments focus on the development of positive relationships it is understood, that on some occasions an escalated approach, in consultation with senior leaders, may be required in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all members of the establishment. Next Steps 2.3.1 The sub-group intends to reform during the session 2024 to further develop the Violent Incident forms and system, to ensure that all Violent Incidents are recorded accurately and that appropriate supports are provided for both staff and children and young people. 3. Measures of success 3.1. The service ensures implementation of the Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1: “A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice” (Appendix 1) (Reducing Violence in the Workplace document) Barry Smedley Chief Officer (Education – South) Page 231 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? As stated within the main body of the report. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 232 of 364
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The approach outlined in this report supports the Council’s actions in managing financial sustainability and financial management risks. Financial pressures and risks are reviewed on a regular basis by the Service Management Team (SMT), Business Management Team (BMT), Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Committee. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Page 233 of 364
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 234 of 364
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1 A Guide to Supporting Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour in Establishments: Policy into Practice Page 235 of 364
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2 Contents: • Section1: Introduction • Section 2: Staff expectations • Section 3: Policy Context and Legislation • Section 4: The role of positive relationships • Section 5: De-escalation and Building Relationships • Section 6: Training Supports available • Section 7: Physical Intervention and Seclusion • Section 8: Physical Restraint • Section 9: Withdrawal • Section 10: Reporting Incidents and Recording Violent Incidents • Section 11: Debriefing • Section 12: Wellbeing Supports for Staff • Appendix 1: Responding to Dysregulated or Distressed Behaviour Flowchart Management • Appendix 2: Responding to Dysregulated or Distressed Behaviour Flowchart Staff Guide • Appendix 3: Guidance for Working Out with the School Building • Appendix 4: Recent National Drivers • Appendix 5: Staff Leaflets Available- PDF full size copies available Page 236 of 364
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3 Section1: Introduction North Lanarkshire Council recognises its responsibility to keep everyone safe and also acknowledges that some children and young people can present with distressed and dysregulated behaviours that may require those staff working with them to intervene to keep themselves and others safe from serious injury. An establishment’s approach to prompting positive relationships and behaviours should be welcoming and nurturing, ensuring that that the safety and wellbeing of all members of the establishment is prioritised. This policy aims to: • to outline the role of positive relationships in supporting young people in schools and recognise the importance of early intervention, • to provide clarity and guidance on actions of staff at all levels in the event of an incident of a physical nature, verbal abuse or threat, • to signpost staff to welfare and wellbeing supports. • provide updates on policy context, legislation and national guidance, • define de-escalation, physical intervention and seclusion, • to clarify for staff the situations where physical intervention is used, • to outline training offers available, • to provide information on how to report an incident of a physical nature, verbal abuse or threats, • to outline staff expectations and current rationale on supporting dysregulated and distressed behaviour, • to recognise that whilst establishment focus on the development of positive relationships it is understood, that on some occasions an escalated approach, in consultation with senior leaders, may be required in order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all members of the establishment. Page 237 of 364
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4 Section 2: Staff expectations: • Staff are expected to work positively and confidently with children and young people, building relationships of trust and understanding. • In responding to distressed or dysregulated behaviour, it is important to remember that all behaviours are a form of communication. • The foundation of good practice is understanding the child or young person’s needs, understanding the causes of their behaviour and finding solutions. • Staff are always expected to find the least intrusive way possible to support, empower and keep children, young people and themselves safe. Managing Distressed and Dysregulated Behaviour Positive relationships Positive behaviours Nuture CommunicationSafety Wellbeing Reporting Page 238 of 364
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5 Section 3: Policy Context and Legislation: The European Convention and Human Rights (ECHR) and United Nations on the Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) The European Convention on Human Rights sets out fundamental human rights and political freedoms and these have been incorporated into domestic law by the Human Rights Act 1998. U.K. law must be interpreted, so far as possible to do so, in a way that is compatible with the Human Rights Act. In the context of seclusion and physical intervention, the following rights are of particular relevance: It is unlawful for any public authority to act incompatibly with ECHR rights (unless under a statutory duty to act in that way), and anyone whose rights have been violated can bring court proceedings against the public authority. •The Health and Safety at Work act 1974 requires every employer to ensure, so far is reasonably practicable, the health and safety and welfare at work of all employees and also the provision of information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far is reasonably practicable, the health and safety at work of all employees. Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) •The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 recognises that there may be occasions when staff may have to use ‘such force as is reasonable’ to prevent a child or young person causing injury to themselves or others. Despite using preventative and de-escalation strategies, it is recognised that in certain exceptional situations children and young people may continue to exhibit distressed or dysregulated behaviour that will require physical intervention as a last resort to prevent injury or serious harm. Education (Scotland) Act (1980) •The Children (Scotland) Act 1995 places a duty on schools and local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Children (Scotland) Act (1995) •The Universal Declaration on Human Rights states that children and young people are entitled to special care and assistance. This concept is reiterated throughout the UN Rights of the Child. Article 37 states that children and young people have a right to be protected from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and a right not to be deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. UNCRC •Section 16 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc.(Scotland) Act 2000 provides that action taken to avert an immediate danger of personal injury to, or an immediate danger to the property of, any person (including the child or young person concerned) would not be considered as corporal punishment of the child or young person. Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc.(Scotland) Act 2000 TheEducation (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (as amended) defines additional support needs as when “the child or young person is, or is likely to be, unable without the provision of additional support to benefit from school education provided or to be provided for the child or young person”. Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2: Preventing and Managing School Exclusions referenced the use of physical intervention and seclusion in schools (2017). It states that:“it is only acceptable to physically intervene where the member of staff reasonably believes that if they do not physically intervene, the child or young person's actions are likely to cause physical damage or harm to that pupil or to another person”. Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2 Staff should also be aware of the rights of employees under section 44 of this legislationEmployment Rights Act 1996 Page 239 of 364
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6 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international convention which is now incorporated into domestic law b. The principles of which should be followed and include: (1) Article 2: children have the rights the Convention lays out, and that no child should be discriminated against. (2) Article 3: the best interests of a child should always be considered in all actions that concern them. (3) Article 19: children should be protected from all forms of violence and injury. (4) Article 23: children with disabilities should enjoy full lives in conditions that ensure their dignity. (5) Article 29: a child’s education should allow them to develop their personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest potential. Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3: In response to concerns raised about the use of restraint and seclusion in schools in the Children and Young People Commissioner’s 2018 report, No Safe Place, and the subsequent ENABLE Scotland In Safe Hands report, the Scottish Government established the Physical Intervention Working Group to develop new human rights-based guidance. Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3 was published as draft guidance in June 2022 and aims to minimise the use of restraint and seclusion in schools. It includes new definitions, human rights-based safeguards and recording, reporting and monitoring expectations. The draft guidance is focussed on protecting children and young people from harm and promoting rights-based practice in Scottish schools. The advice offered aligns with international and domestic law and standards, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the Human Rights Act 1998 and the Equality Act 2010. The scope of the national guidance includes all local authority, grant-aided and independent schools. The consultation to this draft guidance closed in October 2022 and updates remain pending. As such, Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2 remains the current national policy. During recent HMIe inspections (from January 24 onwards), inspectors are asking schools to consider guidance around Seclusion in Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3. If young people are deciding to leave the classroom on a regular basis and therefore accessing a “time out”, this should be noted by staff and considered in behaviour support planning. The Local Context: Currently in North Lanarkshire, only ASN schools are able to engage with Physical Intervention training and the decision is left up to individual schools as to which system for De-escalation and Physical Intervention they use. All policies related to this area are coordinated, integrated, and led in accordance with the ambitions of Included Engaged & Involved 3, the Plan for North Lanarkshire, the priorities of the NL Children’s Services Plan and requirements of the Promise Plan 21-24. Page 240 of 364
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7 Section 4: The role of positive relationships: Positive relationships and mutual respect between staff, children and young people are essential to an effective care and learning environment. A nurturing climate which focuses on children and young people’s entitlement to be safe, healthy, active, nurtured, achieving, respected, responsible and included is the foundation of North Lanarkshire’s approach to supporting children and young people to realise their full potential. Our schools use a nurturing approach, combined with de-escalation strategies in order to support children and young people in schools. A nurturing approach recognises that positive relationships are central to both learning and wellbeing and helps children and young people to engage with missing early nurturing experiences, helping them to develop social and emotional skills. Developing positive relationships should underpin all our work with children and young people, especially when dealing with distressed or dysregulated behaviour. Section 5: De-escalation and Building Relationships De-escalation is a collective term for a range of staff interventions, comprising verbal and non-verbal communication, self-regulation, assessment, and actions, whilst maintaining the safety of staff and pupils. So far as possible, staff will adopt preventative strategies to avoid behaviour escalating. When a specific behavioural risk has been identified, it is important to adopt evidence-based, positive, proactive and preventive strategies. It is also important to consider the factors impacting that pupil. Building relationships with children and young people Providing a nurturing environment for children and young people Working within a shared set of values Supporting staff knowledge and understandingMake time to listen and identify the needs of young people Understanding nurture principles Using the principles of de-escalation Page 241 of 364
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8 De-escalation is the reduction of the intensity of a conflict or potentially violent situation. All staff working directly with children and young people in our schools and establishments should be aware of the early preventative and de-escalation approaches. Support for staff in using de-escalation strategies and creating a positive ethos and climate forms an integral part of the Policy and Practice Map for Health and Wellbeing. All schools and establishments will have their own relationships and behaviour policy which will set the scene for the culture and ethos for their establishment. The promotion of positive relationships and behaviour in schools is essential to ensuring all children and young people develop the four capacities at the centre of Curriculum for Excellence. Research has demonstrated that investing time and resources into improving relationships in establishments leads to positive outcomes around inclusion, engagement, attainment and achievement in the short term and community safety and cohesion in the longer term. Whilst the authority uses restorative practices, school relationships and behaviour policies should acknowledge that persistent or serious behaviour, resulting in a risk to safety of themselves or others, requires to be acted upon. Schools should have a policy which outlines a clear escalatory set of consequences for pupils, parents and carers who persistently exhibit violence and aggression. The following resource has been created by Education Scotland as an overview of information, resources, and professional learning currently available on relationships and behaviour: Promoting Positive Relationships and Behaviour in Educational Settings All local authorities and education settings have policies related to relationships and behaviour however many are considering refreshing these documents to reflect the incorporation of UNCRC into Scottish law. The document below brings together a summary of the available resources that may support local decisions and approaches to promoting positive relationships and behaviour: Guidance for developing a local relationships and behaviour policy (education.gov.scot) Planning strategies to help the pupil to gain the same response in a more positive and socially appropriate way Providing immediate support to reduce stress & risk Understanding the function of the behaviour Page 242 of 364
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9 In creating a behaviour policy, schools and establishments should endeavour to: Section 6: Training Supports available: A range of supports are also offered to meet the needs of children and young people who, as a result of compromised emotional wellbeing, experience difficulty in settling to learn and participate in educational activities. This framework supports the implementation of staged intervention and the Health and Wellbeing map for GIRFEC planning pathways. A range of training opportunities are available via LearnNL to support staff including the Building Positive Relationships course found at: https://learnnl.learningpool.com/course/view.php?id=1555#section-2 There are a wide range of other training opportunities available on LearnNL in the Inclusion Learning Platform and on the Open University North Lanarkshire Open Learn Platform which can be found here: OLCreate: North Lanarkshire Council Skills Pathway | OLCreate (open.edu) Staff are encouraged to engage with training materials available. Training can also be provided by colleagues in Educational Psychology and from Cluster Integration and Improvement Leads. A range of supports available from the Empowering Clusters Model can be found here: Empowering Our Clusters - 1 (pagetiger.com) The Educational Psychology Service offer a suite of training in the area of Health and Wellbeing and Learning and Teaching. These can be accessed through the school link Psychologist. Examples of these include Whole School Nurture Approaches, Restorative Approaches, Solution Orientated Approaches and Executive Function. Supports for young people: Create a trauma- sensitive environment where students and adults are safe and feel safe Pro-actively prevent and/or de-escalate potential situations with students Manage situations in a therapeutic manner Process the events with students to help improve their coping strategies Use Empowering Cluster and GIRFEC planning to support child-centered planning Page 243 of 364
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10 All children and young people will require support at some time to support their wellbeing and development. By implementing a staged intervention approach we can ensure that children and young people receive the help they need when they need it. The staged intervention processes for identifying, assessing, planning and monitoring in respect of additional support must be an integral part of care and education. The child or young person’s plan should be used to target specific areas within Health and Wellbeing. In North Lanarkshire children and young people will have their additional support needs supported and planned for across three levels:- Universal, Additional and Intensive. Whilst it is accepted that distressed or dysregulated behaviours can present at any of these levels, it is acknowledged that children and young people requiring intensive support, to meet their needs, are both more likely to be educated and cared for outwith universal services and are at a higher risk of requiring physical intervention to keep them safe. This will be particularly challenging for staff working in these settings, however, it is important to ensure that all staff, no matter the setting, have been equipped with the right support/training and feel confident in how to de-escalate difficult and distressing situations. Whilst the authority uses restorative practices, school relationships and behaviour policies should acknowledge that persistent or serious behaviour, resulting in a risk to safety of themselves or others, requires to be acted upon. Schools should have a policy which outlines a clear escalatory set of consequences for pupils, parents and carers who persistently exhibit violence and aggression. Section 7: Physical Intervention and Seclusion: Physical intervention is a serious matter. The emotional and physical impact on the child or young person and the person implementing the intervention can be significant. Consistent implementation of these approaches should prevent the occurrence of behaviours which risk harm to the child, young person or others. However in very exceptional circumstances where safety is at immediate risk it may be necessary to physically intervene. This policy aims to define de-escalation, physical intervention and seclusion and to clarify for staff the situations where physical intervention may be used. These may involve children and young people for whom risks have been assessed and for whom physical intervention strategies have been planned and agreed as well as those whose behaviour is unpredictable and unforeseeable. In the absence of accepted international legal definitions we have based our definitions for Restraint and Seclusion on the Children and Young Peoples Commissioner for Scotland Investigations on Restraint and Seclusion These definitions are based on a number of resources referenced in the above document and can be accessed using the following link https://www.cypcs.org.uk/ufiles/Terms-of- Reference-Restraint-and-Seclusion.pdf Seclusion as a punishment is not acceptable as it contravenes both the ECHR and UNCRC and is therefore prohibited in all establishments as a means of punishment. Very occasionally seclusion may have to be used as a last resort when all other alternatives have been exhausted and it is the safest measure to manage the situation. This should be clearly evidenced with the pupil’s support plan. Seclusion should be used for the shortest time possible and all incidents should be appropriately recorded. Seclusion must not be confused with ‘time out’. Time out is defined as ‘a behavioural intervention of short duration in which undesired behaviours are eliminated by not being reinforced.’ Seclusion in Page 244 of 364
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11 contrast is ‘the restriction of a person’s freedom of association without his or her consent by shutting him or her alone in a room or other area where they are prevented from leaving.’ According to the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland, seclusion ‘can only be justified on the basis of clearly identified and significant risk of serious harm that cannot be managed by any other means.’ During recent HMIe inspections (from January 24 onwards), inspectors are asking schools to consider guidance around Seclusion in Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3. If young people are deciding to leave the classroom on a regular basis and therefore accessing a “time out”, this should be noted by staff and considered in behaviour support planning. Physical Intervention is a term used to cover the use of direct or indirect force, through bodily, physical or mechanical means, to limit another person's movement. This definition can be further expanded to include:- (1) Proximity: A physical presence using no contact such as standing beside or near a child or young person to negotiate with them but allowing them freedom to leave if they wish. (2) Touch Support: This includes minimum contact in order to lead, guide or usher a child or young person applied in a nurturing and secure manner which permits the child or young person some freedom and mobility. (3) Restraint: This includes any measure or technique which involves the child or young person being held firmly or guided away from the situation by one or two trained persons. Physical restraint must be based on the principle of least restriction for the shortest time necessary in order to keep the child or young person safe. Physical restraint of any kind must always be seen as the last resort. Staff should only use physical restraint techniques if they have undertaken approved training and are working within one of the establishments were use of this has been agreed. The only exception to this if it In an unforeseen circumstance, and in a situation where a child or young person is at significant risk of injury or harm, there may be occasion when an untrained staff member may need to intervene physically. The degree of physical intervention used must be proportionate to the circumstances of the incident. Any physical intervention should always be the minimum needed to achieve the desired result and depend on the age, understanding of the child or young person. The law forbids anyone to use any degree of physical intervention which is deliberately intended to punish a child or young person or which is primarily intended to cause harm or humiliation. Only in circumstances where a member of staff reasonably believes that there is an immediate risk of harm to the child, young person or others should physical intervention be considered. The threat of or the damage to property is not a reason for staff to use physical intervention(s). The only circumstance that may be considered as a justification for physical intervention with regard to damage to property would be where the damage could result in harm or injury to a child, young person or a member of staff or endanger lives. Page 245 of 364
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12 Where a child or young person for whom it has been assessed is at high risk of causing serious injury to themselves or others, consideration of interventions and strategies to minimise these risks should be identified and captured within the child or young person’s plan alongside a risk assessment. On the occasions that the assessment process has identified that to prevent the risk of harm physical intervention strategies may be necessary. It is paramount that the circumstances that give rise and the strategies for managing the risks should be outlined in the planning process. The risk assessment and subsequent plans should involve all staff, parents or carers and the child or young person and where appropriate partner agencies. The plan and risk assessment should outline the circumstances and factors that may give rise to the potential need to use of physical intervention, the methods which are known or likely to be effective and other arrangements for its use. It is important to determine whether there are any medical conditions which might place the child or young person at risk, should particular techniques or methods of physical intervention be used. If so, this must be drawn to the attention of those working with or looking after the child or young person and it must be stated in the child or young person’s plan. If in doubt, medical advice must be sought. Where a child or young person has not been identified as at high risk of causing harm but an unforeseen circumstance arises, the absence or existence of a plan or a risk assessment should not prevent staff/carers from intervening within the framework of this policy to ensure the safety of others. This is supported by the following professional bodies; (1) The General Teaching Council Standards for Registration: Section 3.2.2 - Develop positive relationships and positive behaviour strategies, which expects that teachers are “able to recognise when a learner’s behaviour may signify distress requiring the need for further support, and take appropriate action”. (2) Scottish Social Service Council code of Practice for Social Services Workers: Section 1.4 - Respect and maintain the dignity and privacy of people who use services Section 4.3 - Take necessary steps to reduce the risks of people who use services harming themselves or other people Section 8: Physical Restraint: The need for the use of physical restraint techniques as opposed to ‘Proximity’ and ‘Positive Touching’ as a form of physical intervention will only be required in very exceptional circumstances. Staff should only use physical restraint techniques if they have undertaken approved training and are working within one of the establishments were use of this has been agreed. In an unforeseen circumstance, and in a situation where a child or young person is at significant risk of injury or harm, there may be occasion when an untrained staff member may need to intervene physically. Such situations might include: preventing unpredicted physical behaviours towards self and others. In all situations, the physical restraint of a child or young person must not: (1) Impede the process of breathing; (2) Intentionally inflict pain or injury or threaten to do so; (3) Affect vulnerable parts of the body; Page 246 of 364
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13 (4) Extend the joints beyond the normal limits or range of motion (hyperextension or hyperflexion), and pressure on or across the joints. It is expected that compliance with the terms of this policy should provide a measure of protection for staff, who in exercising their duty of care towards others, have had to resort to using reasonable force in physical restraint to prevent significant harm. Staff however, should understand that in making the decision to deploy restraint, the decision to do so, and the particular approach deployed may be subject to challenge through legal process, an employer’s disciplinary procedure and GTC(S) disciplinary investigation. Unreasonable or excessive use of force during any physical intervention may result in criminal proceedings or civil proceeding for damages. Section 9: Withdrawal: A child or young person may find that time on their own or withdrawal from a situation acts as a positive intervention at times of distress, such interventions should form an integral part of the planning for the child or young person. The child/young people and their parents/carers should know where the safe place is and how to access it. Withdrawal involves allowing, assisting or guiding a child or young person to move away from a situation which they are finding distressing to a safer quieter or more comfortable space where they have the time and space to regulate their emotions or behaviours. Withdrawal may be used for a child or young person who has requested time out of their environment whilst in a high state of anxiety or whose presenting behaviours are of a high level of physical threat or danger to themselves or others. Withdrawal should only be used when other less intrusive strategies within the child or young person’s plan have been attempted and the behaviour continues to escalate and there becomes a serious threat of imminent injury. North Lanarkshire Council has a duty to protect the health and safety of their employees and to protect the health and safety of other pupils in class. Where there is a threat of physical violence, a risk assessment should be carried out in accordance with council policy and legislation. Section 10: Reporting Incidents and Recording Violent Incidents: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines work-related violence as: ‘Any incident in which a person is abused, threatened or assaulted in circumstances relating to their work.’ This can include: • verbal abuse or threats, including face to face, written communication, online and via telephone • physical attacks A person at work may be subject to violence from members of the public, parents, carers and pupils, amongst others. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) requires employers and others in control of premises to report certain accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences arising out of or in connection with work. In education establishments, reporting RIDDOR incidents to HSE is the responsibility of the Head of Establishment. Page 247 of 364
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14 Most incidents that happen in schools or on school trips do not need to be reported. Only in limited circumstances will an incident need notifying to HSE under RIDDOR. HSE information sheet EDIS1(rev3) Incident reporting in schools (accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences) Guidance for employers provides guidance on how RIDDOR applies to schools. Some acts of non-consensual physical violence to a person at work, which result in death, a specified injury or a person being incapacitated for over seven days, are reportable. In the case of an over- seven-day injury, the incapacity must arise from a physical injury, not a psychological reaction to the act of violence. Examples of reportable injuries from violence include an incident where a teacher sustains a specified injury because a pupil, colleague or member of the public assaults them while on school premises. This is reportable because it arises out of or in connection with work. Violence between pupils is a school discipline matter and not reportable under RIDDOR, as it does not arise out of or in connection with a work activity. The Council Incident Reporting and Information System (CIRIS) is designed to help the Council record health and safety incidents, and to meet its statutory duty to report certain incidents to the Health and Safety Executive. A CIRIS user guide is available on MyNL. Every employee involved in a violent incident at work, regardless of whether they suffer physical injury, must ensure that their supervisor is informed as soon as possible after the incident. In an effort to ensure accurate, effective recording and investigation of incidents, and to ensure compliance with statutory RIDDOR incident reporting timescales, the following CIRIS incident processing timescales should be considered: • Non RIDDOR reportable incidents – Incident detail input to CIRIS and manager approved within 21 days of the incident date; • RIDDOR reportable incidents – Incident detail input to CIRIS, RIDDOR report made and manager approved within 10 days of the incident date. The CIRIS manager approval process requires that the responsible person outline the measures taken to eliminate, or reduce, the risk of further violent incidents. For this to be effective, responsible persons must investigate violent incidents. The level of investigation should be proportionate to the risk, but should attempt to identify the immediate, underlying and root causes of any incident and appropriate remedial measures. Investigations should be conducted with preventing a reoccurrence in mind, not placing blame. Attempting to apportion blame before the investigation has started is counterproductive, because people become defensive and uncooperative. Only after the investigation has been completed is it appropriate to consider whether any individual behaviour requires to be addressed. Investigations that conclude that human error was the sole cause are rarely comprehensive. Underpinning the ‘human error’ there will likely be a number of underlying causes that created the environment in which human errors were inevitable e.g. inadequate training and supervision, poor equipment design. The objective is to establish not only how the adverse event happened, but more importantly, what allowed it to happen. The root causes of adverse events are almost inevitably management system, organisational or planning failures. Investigations should be thorough and structured to avoid bias and leaping to conclusions. A good investigation involves a systematic and structured approach. Page 248 of 364
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15 Information gathering •explores all reasonable lines of enquiry; is timely; is structured. Analysis •is objective and unbiased; identifies the sequence of events and conditions that led up to the adverse event; •identifies the immediate causes; •identifies underlying causes, i.e. actions in the past that have allowed or caused undetected unsafe conditions/practices; •identifies root causes, (i.e. organisational and management system arrangements – supervision, monitoring, training, resources etc). Risk control measures •identify the risk control measures which were missing, inadequate or unused; •compare conditions/practices as they were with that required by current legal requirements, codes of practice and guidance; •identify additional measures needed to address the immediate, underlying and root causes; •provide meaningful recommendations which can be implemented. Action plan and implementation •provide an action plan with SMART objectives; •ensure that the action plan deals effectively not only with the immediate and underlying causes but also the root causes; •include lessons that may be applied to prevent other adverse events, e.g. assessments of skill and training in competencies may be needed for other areas of the organisation; •provide feedback to all parties involved to ensure the findings and recommendations are correct, address the issues and are realistic; •should be fed back into a review of risk assessments. Apprpved Code of Practice •The Approved Code of Practice attached to the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 regulation 3 (paragraph 26), states that adverse events should be a trigger for reviewing risk assessments; •communicate the results of the investigation and the action plan to everyone who needs to know; •include arrangements to ensure the action plan is implemented and progress monitored. Evidence •All photos, risk assessments, manager investigation reports or similar documents will be attached to the CIRIS incident record. Page 249 of 364
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16 Following any violent incident it is important to support a colleague first and foremost. Later but as soon as possible, the employee should be encouraged to engage in post incident procedures. These should include: All incidents involving physical restraint or violent incidents must be recorded by the following means: (1) Schools – incidents will be recorded on the same day on CIRIS (2) Registered Care Settings – incidents will be recorded on the same day on CIRIS and reported to the Care Inspectorate (as appropriate) in line with the Care Inspectorate notification processes. Each month the findings will be analysed and monitored by senior officers in Education and Families. The flowing diagram should be utilised by Heads of Establishment to support decision making around dysregulated behaviour. (see Appendix 1 and below) CIRIS Requirements Deciding whether or not to involve the Police. In most cases of assault and injury the involvement of the Police is a prerequisite of any later eligibility for Criminal Injuries Compensation; Completion of the RIDDOR Report to the HSE where a reportable injury has resulted or where the employee is then absent for more than seven days; As necessary the completion by the manager of an incident investigation and CIRIS incident manager approval; A debriefing with the employee injured or involved; Provision of details of additional supports available e.g. employee counselling services. Completion of the CIRIS record; Page 250 of 364
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17 Establishments must ensure that parents / carers are informed of the incident on the same day, where appropriate and where it is reasonably practicable to do so. Page 251 of 364
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18 Section 11: Debriefing Incidents where staff have been required to intervene with dysregulated and distressing behaviours is likely to have an emotional impact on the staff involved. Following such an incident, the Head of Establishment should debrief with the member(s) of staff involved. The conversation should involve checking the well-being of the member of staff, talking through the incident and ensuring the incident has been accurately recorded, as appropriate. The affected member(s) of staff should be informed of support available to them through North Lanarkshire and their Professional Association. Following any incident, and at an appropriate time, a member of staff who has a strong and trusted relationship with the child or young person should debrief with them. This may include the parent / carer or other agency involved with the child or young person. The conversation should involve checking the well-being of the child and talking through the incident using a solution focused approach. Section 12: Wellbeing Supports for Staff: • Supporting your staff after a distressing/ dysregulating event. One of the challenges for you as a manager is how to support your employees who have been exposed to potentially distressing situations. During traumatic incidents, an individual is confronted with an extreme situation that presents a direct or perceived threat to their life, safety or wellbeing. The stress, fear, anxiety or shock which is experienced can potentially overwhelm an individual’s ability to cope, leading to physical, emotional or psychological harm and disruptive functioning. Trauma can be momentary or experienced over a prolonged or short period of time. It’s important to consider that individuals directly or indirectly involved in a traumatic incident can be impacted by these events. It can be easy to think that you need to jump in and “do something” following an event, however the best action you can take is to provide calm, compassionate support, focusing first on the practical needs of your team. It is important to recognise and acknowledge that the feelings following an event are a natural response to an occurrence which is atypical. During this period, individuals require time to process the experience in order to work through, manage and make sense of what has happened, enabling them to recover and return to their previous state. Most people will see a decrease in these symptoms over the first two to four weeks. NHS guidelines currently recommend that individuals should wait 4-6 weeks after an incident before engaging in Counselling services. It is important to note that individuals do not require to be absent during this time and may attend work if they feel they are able. Training has been provided to all Heads of Establishment in accessing VITA Health, Employee Assistance package and are able to signpost employees to this service. Page 252 of 364
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19 Debriefing & Reporting Significant incidents involving pupil or staff safety must be reported to a member of Head of Establishment/Line Manager/SMT and it is crucial a de-brief takes place with the child/young person and member(s) of staff at the next available time. The de-brief should take place when the child/ young person and staff members(s) are ready, checking if they have been physically hurt and asking how they are feeling. Incidents where staff have been required to intervene with distressed behaviours is likely to have an emotional impact on the staff involved. Following such an incident a member of the management team should debrief with the member(s) of staff involved. The conversation should involve checking the well-being of the member of staff, talking through the incident to identify anything that could have been done differently and ensuring the incident has been accurately recorded. The affected member(s) of staff should be informed of support available to them through North Lanarkshire and their Professional Association. Head of Establishment/Line Manager/SMT must be made aware of all de-briefs still to take place. If a de-brief has not taken place on the same day or been arranged for the following day, staff members involved must approach a member of management on the same day to organise before leaving school. After a de-brief, all support plan(s) and risk assessments should be re-visited and any relevant updates recorded. Staff should follow the flowchart below in the event of encountering dysregulated behaviour (see also Appendix 2: Responding to Dysregulated and Distressed Behaviour Flowchart Management Staff Guide and below) Page 253 of 364
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21 Helping employees to recover and return to business as usual: Within North Lanarkshire support is available from: • Staff Welfare Officer Nicola Harvie HarvieNic@northlan.gov.uk • VITA HEALTH 0800 111 6387 -see attached staff leaflets in Appendix 5 Contact E-mail Phone Number Education and Families Senior Leadership Team Gerard McLaughlin, Chief Officer (Education – North) mclaughling@northlan.gov.uk Barry Smedley (Education – South) smedleybar@northlan.gov.uk 07720 433118 (01236) 812269 07919 245004 (01236) 812336 Clearly acknowledge that an atypical event has taken place, and that time and support is likely to be required. This will help the employee to deal with the situation and return to normal practice. Show empathy and understanding for those affected you to feel safer or calmer? Listen without judgement and avoid making assumptions, ask open questions, including how are things going at the moment, what would be helpful for you right now and who would help Maintain as normal a routine and structure as possible, making reasonable allowances for those impacted by the incident. Identify support options for the employees, for example, enable them to take a break, provide a period for recovery as appropriate or continue with their work, or seek medical attention. Provide information on the symptoms employees may expect following a traumatic event, including details on how to seek support. Differentiate between what needs immediate attention and what is important. Initiate a plan and clear steps to address urgent issues. This may require you to look at an individual’s wellbeing plan. Maintain professional boundaries and be aware of your own needs and limitations. Make no promises to staff member. Follow policy of recording incident: see followchart and CIRIS recording policy Seek advice and support from other teams and departments in your organisation. Page 255 of 364
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22 Corporate Communications CorporateCommunicati@northlan.gov.uk (01698) 302054 Out of office hours call: 07939 280155 Child Protection Officer Michael Bradley bradleymic@northlan.gov.uk 07939 284756 (01236) 812294 Staff Welfare Officer Nicola Harvie HarvieNic@northlan.gov.uk 07977 060813 Suicide Prevention Officer Ann Marie Darcey DarceyA@northlan.gov.uk 07903 3356506 Education Psychology Service North Area South Area Nancy Ferguson, Principal Psychologist FergusonN@northlan.gov.uk Catherine Cruickshank CruickshankC@northlan.gov.uk Margaret Nash NashMa@northlan.gov.uk Nicola Robertson RobertsonN@northlan.gov.uk Margaret Nash NashMa@northlan.gov.uk (01236) 812603 (01236) 856200 (01236) 856200 (01236) 332850 (01236) 332850 Caring for yourself after a distressing/ dysregulating event: It is important to realise that everyone is different and there is no standard pattern of reaction to traumatic experiences. Some people respond immediately, while others have delayed reactions, sometimes months later. It can be difficult to think about self-care when we are actively supporting children and young people who are at risk; we may automatically put our own wellbeing ‘on hold’. However, without caring for ourselves and considering our own wellbeing, it can be very difficult to continue to offer an appropriate and high level of support to others. There is a significant amount of research into the factors which are thought to promote or strengthen mental wellbeing. One model developed to encourage individuals and communities to build mental wellbeing is Five Ways to Wellbeing (New Economics Foundation, 2008). The premise of this model is to think about following the ‘five ways’ for mental health in the same way as we consider eating five portions of fruit/vegetables a day for physical health. Lifelines Lanarkshire / October 2023 26 NHS Scotland has adapted this model into the Five Steps to Wellbeing, as shown below: Page 256 of 364
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23 When something extra is needed: Generally significant symptoms will subside in a few weeks, however individuals with prolonged reactions or significant symptoms that disrupt their daily functioning should contact their GP and/or consult with a trained and experienced mental health professional. Staff Welfare Officer, Nicola Harvie HarvieNic@northlan.gov.uk VITA HEALTH (Employee Assistance Package) 0800 111 6387 (24/7 HELPLINE) Support for mental health at work | Able Futures Mental Health Support Service (able- futures.co.uk) Breathing Space: Helpline 0800 83 85 87 Local staff association/trade union representative Education Support, supporting teachers and education staff: www.educationsupport.co.uk Page 257 of 364
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24 Appendix 1: Responding to Dysregulated or Distressed Behaviour Flowchart Management Page 258 of 364
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25 Appendix 2: Responding to Dysregulated or Distressed Behaviour Flowchart Staff Guide Page 259 of 364
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26 Appendix 3: Guidance for Working Out with the School Building Rationale When working out with the school building, it is crucial to assess the risks of the service we are providing and make sure that appropriate measures are in place to keep both pupils and staff safe. Health and Safety • Consider the suitability and safety of the setting for pupil(s) and staff, and take steps to reduce any risks identified • First aid kit to hand as well as awareness of what to do in an emergency • Fire safety and evacuation plan • Emergency contact information for each pupil • Awareness of any medical concerns or allergies Planning When working out with the school building, the following must be prepared in advance: • Completed risk assessment for travelling • Completed risk assessment for venue • Individual young person risk assessment revisited and updated • Resources gathered – mobile phone must be accessible at all times • Relevant telephone number – school and member of leadership team • Ensure parent/carer(s) have been notified of pupil working out with the school building • Identification badges should be worn at all times. Medical Emergency In a medical emergency, please call 101 or 999, as appropriate, and inform a member of management straight away. Emergency contact forms must be carried at all times in case of a medical emergency and information can be shared with the emergency services. On return to the school building, an accident form should be completed. Dealing with Incidents The following unsafe situations may arise when working with pupils out with the school building: • Verbally abusing another pupil or member of staff • Threatening another pupil or member of staff • Physical violence • Absconding If a pupil becomes distressed whilst in transport, the following should be considered: • At earliest opportunity, find a safe space to pull over. • If situation allows, make contact with school. • Pupil support plans and risk assessment should be followed. • Provide space and opportunity for pupil to disembark vehicle if appropriate. • In an emergency, call 999. Page 260 of 364
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27 Debriefing & Reporting Significant incidents involving pupil or staff safety must be reported to a member of Head of Establishment/Line Manager/SMT and it is crucial a de-brief takes place with the child/young person and member(s) of staff at the next available time. The de-brief should take place when the child/ young person and staff members(s) are ready, checking if they have been physically hurt and asking how they are feeling. Incidents where staff have been required to intervene with distressed behaviours is likely to have an emotional impact on the staff involved. Following such an incident a member of the management team should debrief with the member(s) of staff involved. The conversation should involve checking the well-being of the member of staff, talking through the incident to identify anything that could have been done differently and ensuring the incident has been accurately recorded. The affected member(s) of staff should be informed of support available to them through North Lanarkshire and their Professional Association. Head of Establishment/Line Manager/SMT must be made aware of all de-briefs still to take place. If a de-brief has not taken place on the same day or been arranged for the following day, staff members involved must approach a member of management on the same day to organise before leaving school. After a de-brief, all support plan(s) and risk assessments should be re-visited and any relevant updates recorded. Page 261 of 364
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28 Appendix 4: Recent National Drivers: In Scotland there has been a parent led campaign, gathering momentum and attracting support from professional organisations such as BILD (British Institute of Learning Disability) and the Challenging Behaviour Foundation, calling for the Scottish Government to provide greater regulation of restraint and seclusion in Scottish Schools. This is an international issue: concerns have been raised in the rest of the U.K., Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and several states in America over the use of restraint and seclusion in schools for pupils with additional support needs/disabilities. In Scotland physical restraint and seclusion practices are monitored and regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Local Authority care settings and in Residential Special Schools but are not subject to the same level of scrutiny in educational establishments. The report from the Children and Young People’s Commissioner: “No Safe Place: Restraint and Seclusion in Scotland’s Schools” (2018) draws together findings with regards to the use of physical intervention and seclusion with children and young people across Scotland. This report found that the lack of clear National Guidance means that restrictive practices in Scotland’s schools are not properly regulated or monitored and focussed on Health and Safety. The Report provides 22 recommendations for Local Authorities and the Scottish Government. In response the Scottish Government, Education Scotland along with COSLA and ADES are currently working with all 32 Local Authorities to produce more robust National Guidance. Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research Report 2023: The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Centre for Social Research to conduct a fifth wave of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research (BISSR) which was first undertaken in 2006. The overall aim of this study was to provide a robust and clear picture of relationships and behaviour in publicly-funded mainstream schools and of current policy and approaches for supporting relationships and behaviour. In conclusion, in 2023 staff perceived that the majority of pupils were behaving well around the school and within the classroom, causing teaching staff few difficulties, and often accepting and mindful of their peers. However, the consensus of headteachers, class teachers and support staff was that there has been a general deterioration in the behaviour of pupils in primary and secondary schools in Scotland since 2016. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was thought to have been partly responsible for this observed deterioration, it was argued that the trend in more negative behaviour among pupils pre-dated the pandemic. All school staff groups reported an increase in low level to more serious disruptive behaviours among pupils. Serious disruptive behaviours had a negative impact as a result of their very nature, but low level behaviours, such as pupils talking out of turn, were more prevalent, were difficult to deal with and caused frustration and fatigue among staff members. Notably, though, there was a reported increase in other serious disruptive behaviours, such as verbal abuse, physical aggression and violence, which were also occurring frequently, with verbal abuse being experienced by 67% of staff in the last week in the classroom. Since 2016, respondents also reported a greatly increased prevalence of pupils using phones/technology when they were not supposed to or in an abusive manner, as well as pupils being under the influence of alcohol and drugs in secondary schools. School staff reported a positive view of the overall ethos of their schools, and teaching staff stated that they were mostly confident in their ability to ‘promote positive behaviour’ in their classrooms Page 262 of 364
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29 and to ‘respond to indiscipline’. Serious cases of disruptive behaviour, though perceived to have increased, were still infrequent. Headteachers and local authority representatives also tended to have a more positive view of pupil behaviour and experiences within school as a whole. In addition, school staff were generally supportive of more nurturing and restorative approaches to managing discipline, with the caveat that time and support were needed to integrate these fully within the school, and that there had to be meaningful consequences within this approach for more serious disruptive behaviour. The majority of school-based respondents reported a positive school ethos and culture which, allied with the fact that most pupils were still perceived to be behaving well within the classroom and the school, suggests that there is a solid bedrock which can be built on if the more frequent low level disruption and the rarer but more serious cases of dysregulated behaviour can be addressed in the future. Suggested changes called for by respondents to approaches and support were: • A greater consistency in relation to approaches to relationships and behaviour • Additional resources • Enhanced support provision for SEBN • Factors which predict experiences of negative behaviours • More support from national and local government bodies • Greater resources needed at LA level • Need for additional staffing at school level • Need for more training/collaboration • Parental and pupil engagement Relationships and behaviour summit on approaches to relationships and behaviour in schools: In June 2023, the Education Secretary convened a headteachers taskforce to hear directly the views and concerns of headteachers from across Scotland on issues surrounding school exclusion. In September and October the Education Secretary chaired behaviour summits focused on recording and monitoring of incidents, with the last summit, yesterday, focused on the outputs from the BISSR research. The Summit sessions and engagement events along with the research evidence informed the announcement made to parliament in November 2023 detailing the areas that needed focus in the forthcoming joint action plan. 1. A national plan for action will be developed in partnership with key stakeholders and informed by headteachers. 2. The new interim chief inspector of Education Scotland, Janie McManus, will ensure school inspections document an “accurate picture of behaviour in Scotland’s schools to help support improvement”. 3. Funding of £900,000 for staff training to allow councils to support their teams. 4. More accurate and consistent reporting of “all incidents of inappropriate, abusive or violent behaviour in our schools”. 5. A dedicated approach to responding to issues surrounding misogyny. Publication of this action plan is pending. Page 263 of 364
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30 Appendix 5: Staff Leaflets Available- PDF full size copies available Leaflet 1: VITA supports Page 264 of 364
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31 Leaflet 2: Supporting Staff It is important to realise that everyone is di erent and there is no standardpa ern of reac on to trauma c experiences. Some people respond immediately,while others have delayed reac ons, some mes months later. You should follow the policy of recording on CIRIS and report the incident toHead of Establishment Line Manager SMT You should expect an ini al care and welfare discussion and a more detaileddiscussion will take place at a designated me You will be referred to further supports as required via VITA Your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT will contact the parents carersand will access further planning and supports. All CIRIS reports connected to violent incidents are reviewed by CIILs and E Mswho may liaise directly with your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT You should expect your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT to check in with you regularly You may be involved in planning mee ngs for the young person There may be addi onal planning put in place for the young person. You may beinvolved in thisplanning but it should be shared with you. The situa on will con nue to be monitored and you should con nue to liaise to your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT urther training program may be o ered Monthly sta dropin so ered for sta to meet with SLT on a one to one basis todiscuss any aspect of Wellbeing. Sta Welfare O cer, Nicola Harvie HarvieNic northlan.gov.uk VITA HEALTH (Employee Assistance Package) I ea et available for sta Support for mental health at work Able utures Mental Health Support Service (able futures.co.uk) reathing Space: Helpline 0800 83 8 8 Local sta associa on trade union representa ve Educa on Support, suppor ng teachers and educa on staff: www.educa onsupport.co.uk There are steps you can take to help restore emo onal well being and a sense of control following a signi cant event, including the following ow should I help myself ive yourself me to heal. n cipate that this will be a di cult me in your life. llow yourself me to process the events you have experienced. Try to be pa ent with changes in your emo onal state. sk for support from people who care about you and who will listen and empathise with your situa on. ut keep in mind that your typical support system may be weakened if those who are close to you were also involved in the incident. ommunicate your experience in whatever ways feel comfortable to you such as by talking with family or close friends, or keeping a diary. ngage in healthy behaviours to enhance your ability to cope with stress. at well balanced meals and get plenty of rest. If you experience ongoing di cul es with sleep, you may be able to nd some relief through relaxa on techni ues. stablish or re establish rou nes such as ea ng meals at regular mes and following an exercise program. Take some me o from the demands of daily life by pursuing hobbies or other enjoyable ac vi es. void major life decisions such as switching careers or jobs if possible because these ac vi es tend to be highly stressful. Page 265 of 364
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32 Leaflet 3: I have concerns about a young person Share your concerns with Headteacher Head of Centre or designated SMT Refer to the Suppor ng ysregulated ehaviour: Policy into Prac ce Speak to your Head of Establishment line Manager about training You should expect your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT to discuss your concerns with you and consider next steps You may be involved in planning mee ngs for the young person There may be addi onal planning put in place for the young person. You may be involved in this planning but it should be shared with you. The situa on will con nue to be monitored and you should con nue to speak to your Head of Establishment Line Manager SMT Page 266 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG/GR Date 19/11/24 Community Payback Order Annual Report 2023/2024 From Alison Gordon, Chief Social Work Officer (Children, Families, Justice and Integrated Practice) E-mail Gordonal@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary This report informs the Committee of the Annual Community Payback Report for the fiscal Year 2023 – 2024 which is attached as Appendix 1. Section 227ZM of the Criminal (Procedure) Scotland Act 1995 places a duty on local authorities to prepare an annual report outlining the operation of Community Payback Orders (CPOs) and to submit this both to the Scottish Government and Community Justice Scotland. The report provides an overview of service delivery, performance, key issues and outcomes relating to Community Payback whilst also providing information on the impact on individuals who are subject to Community Payback Order (CPO)s and on the tangible benefits provided through this Court disposal to our local communities. The Scottish Governments Vision for Justice, and the revised National Community Justice Strategy sets out 4 national aims for Community Justice, and 13 priority actions and provide context for the delivery of justice social work services at local level. During the reporting year, the North Lanarkshire Community Justice Partnership Board (NLCJPB) also published the North Lanarkshire Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan for 2023- 28. This strategy and other relevant supporting documents are attached for reference. Whilst the work described within the report is guided by the national vision and policy as well a core statutory responsibilities in this area, this report reflects also that, the role of Justice Services within North Lanarkshire is aligned to the Programme of Work and supports the wider ambitions of the Council’s vision, key priorities and goals. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee. (1) Endorse this report and the ongoing approach to service delivery outlined within this. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (14) Ensure the highest standards of public protection Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 8 Page 269 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 Community Payback Orders were initially introduced in 2011 and provide an alternative to custody. The intent of this Court disposal is to ensure that people who are convicted of offences make restitution to their community and engage in services which support rehabilitation and social inclusion. 1.2 The attached Community Payback report provides detailed information about the scale and scope of the activities and developments in place for those made subject to a Community Payback Order. It also outlines the range of opportunities for unpaid work within North Lanarkshire Council. The role of unpaid work is to support reparation, rehabilitation, reintegration and restriction. Within those parameters it endeavours to hold individuals accountable for their actions and ensure that they engage in activities which benefit the communities who have been impacted by their offending behaviour. 2. Report 2.1 During the reporting period 2023/2024 the communities of North Lanarkshire have benefited from 92,624 hours of unpaid work delivered by the Restorative Justice Team. This constitutes an increase in activity of just over 20% since the last reporting year. Of note, service activity in this area has risen by 54% over the last 2 years following a fall as the justice system was impacted by and recovered from the COVID pandemic. 2.2 Demand continues to grow and during the period of this report 133,941 hours were imposed by Courts in relation to Unpaid Work and Other Activity, a 69% increase in the hours imposed in this regard over the last 2 years. 2.3 The following paragraphs provide an overview of some unpaid work activities. More detail on specific activities is referenced in the attached Community Payback annual report. Unpaid Work 2.4. The bike recycling workshop refurbishes bikes which are donated by individuals or have been discarded in local recycling centres. The bikes are repaired to a gold standard and are distributed to local community groups, schools and individuals. This helps to maximise opportunities for better health and wellbeing and provides greater transport access. Service users within the workshop also undertake bike repair for individuals who are unable to afford the cost of this. Due to the success of this workshop, a mobile bike recycling trailer has been purchased and this enables the provision of bike maintenance and repair within the local communities. In total 8,746 hours of unpaid work were completed through this initiative in 2023/2024. This represents a significant increase in activity over the last 2 years when 1,075 hours were completed in 2021/2022, and 6,213 hours were completed in 2022/2023. 2.5 The woodwork workshop teaches joinery skills which enables bespoke items to be made from reclaimed wood pallets which were destined for landfill. Partnership working with family learning centres, nurseries, schools and communities have allowed for unpaid work service users to be involved in the construction of outdoor classrooms, and play equipment in the form of trucks, trains, cars. This approach has helped to promote outdoor play for children throughout our community. 2.6 Squad placements have benefited the local communities through activities such as landscaping. The yearly replenishment of grit bins continues to be a feature of squad Page 270 of 364
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work as well as grass cutting and pathway clearances. In total 54 squad projects have been completed within North Lanarkshire. These range from one to two-day pieces of work and larger projects with a duration of four to six months. 2.7. The home improvement workshop provides opportunities for service users to gain experience in decorating, painting and plastering. Once the individuals are proficient in these disciplines, they utilise the skills on projects within the local community. Other Interventions/Activities 2.8 Offence focused work interventions and activities are undertaken on an individual and within a groupwork setting. As part of the Community Payback Order Unpaid Work requirement 30% of the hours imposed or a maximum of 30 hours can be completed through what is termed ‘Other Activity’. Examples of structured work include inputs on handling conflict, tackling impulsivity, risk-taking behaviours and managing strong feelings. 2.9 In addition, the Centre for Clinical Interventions and the NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust resources are used to support service users to address difficulties such as poor mental health, substance misuse and gambling addictions. The Justice Outcome Star is employed to identify the service users priority areas of need, and this also helps to measure progress and outcomes. More specialised individual and groupwork interventions are targeted at those convicted of sexual offending or intimate partner violence through the provision of MFMF (Moving Forward Making Changes) MF2C (Moving Forward 2 Change) and UP2U Creating Healthy Relationships. 2.10 A number of Third sector organisations continue to be commissioned to support the provision of the ‘other activity’ element of unpaid work. The following examples provide an indication of this. 2.11 The Wise Group provided one to one mentoring support for 50 service users. Between 1st June 2023 and 31st March 2024 each of these service users were allocated a mentor for an average of one month and received approximately 12 hours of support throughout that period. As part of their agreed action plan service users can have access to a small discretionary fund to help with their social inclusion through participation in community activities. Following review, an extension to the mentoring period can be provided if necessary. 2.12 Reel Time Music project provides service users with an opportunity to undertake sessions in developing skills in relation to creating and producing music, podcasts, or videos. These groups accommodate 8 to10 service users at a time and their videos, and songs are publicly featured and celebrated. 2.13. SACRO provide practical support to service users which is delivered using a mentoring approach. The workers act as role models and assist individuals to build self-esteem and improved motivation. Examples of the work undertaken includes help to secure and attend appointments with their GP and other relevant agencies together with encouragement to gain more independence in this aspect of their lives. 2.14. Ten for Zen provides service users with options to develop mindfulness techniques and to experience the emotional, mental, psychological, and physical health benefits that can be gained from this. Examples of these sessions include changing unhelpful habits, managing stress, anxiety, or a lack of hope or anger. Page 271 of 364
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Improvement, Development and Partnership Activity 2.15 Ongoing organisation improvement and collaborative working with community partners is an important consideration for the service and some examples of this are referenced below: 2.16 To aid continuous improvement, consultations continue to take place with individuals who are subject to Community Payback Orders. This assists to support and shape the future service delivery model through listening to the voices and perspectives of those with lived experience. In addition, two justice development workers with lived experience of the justice system have been employed and they continue to play a key role in the ongoing improvement of service delivery, it’s culture and practice. 2.17 Progress has been made in sustaining community consultation and evaluation of services. A digitised questionnaire has been designed and this has increased the availability of customer feedback, and opportunities for analysis and service improvement. 2.18 North Lanarkshire Council Justice Services now highlight service development and positive areas of practice through the launch of a dedicated X account. 2.19 In partnership with Community Justice Scotland and two other local authorities, Justice Services in North Lanarkshire have taken part in a test for change aimed at improving the knowledge, understanding, skills and values of para-professional members of staff working within unpaid work teams. Nine ‘taster modules’ in various aspects of social work theory and practice have been completed. Due to the success of these sessions, this training is now being rolled out across all Scottish local authorities. 2.20 The Women’s Community Justice Service have commissioned a new intervention resource entitled ‘Managing Emotions and Relationships. This approach enables staff to utilise Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to facilitate structured conversations that help Women to develop better coping strategies such as mindfulness, and trauma informed techniques. This intervention can be delivered in a group work format or in individual settings. 2.21 In partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and MAPPA partners two multi-agency events were hosted in September 2023. Staff from Social Work, Police Scotland, Housing, and NHS Lanarkshire attended a full day input in relation to Risk Practice which was delivered by Professor Hazel Kempshall. This offered a valuable opportunity for colleagues to reflect on shared responsibilities, joint practice and strengthened collaborative approaches to managing risk and enhancing public protection. 2.22 In March 2024, a further local multi-agency event was held, and this focused-on people being managed and supported under the Justice system with a diagnosed learning disability, or with neurodiversity challenges. This event was provided delivered by NHS colleagues. 2.23 In August 2023, the Bike Recycling team were invited to be part of an open day at Motherwell Police Station. This attracted approximately 5,000 people from our communities. The event provided another opportunity to show case the benefits of unpaid work, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Due to this partnership approach, Police colleagues now routinely provide unclaimed stolen bikes to the Restorative Justice Team for repair and donation to the public. 2.24 The partnership working between the Tackling Poverty Team and Justice Services has generated £714,737.24 for people in the justice system and their families. This Page 272 of 364
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partnership approach ensures that individuals and their families benefit entitlements are fully maximised. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Reduction in re offending. 3.2 Community Benefits from unpaid work. 3.3 Individuals are supported to improve life outcomes and reintegrate into the community (change measured through outcome star). 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1 Annual Community Payback Report 2023-24 Appendix 2 The Vision for Justice in Scotland 2022 Appendix 3 Revised National Strategy Community Justice 2022 Appendix 4 Revised National Strategy Community Justice Plan Appendix 5 north Lanarkshire community justice outcome improvement plan - Search (bing.com) Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer (Children, Families, Justice and Integration) Page 273 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The service supports the council in these duties through its contribution to public protection and community safety. It also impacts on the life chances of those within the justice system who are disproportionately impacted by a range of issues associated with poverty, mental health and addiction. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? There is no direct financial impact as the service is fully funded through Scottish Government Grant Funding. This has included additional temporary Scottish Government monies to support system recovery and service delivery following the COVID-19 pandemic. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Page 274 of 364
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Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Aspects of service delivery such as bike recycling, wood workshops as well as the activity groups have positive impacts on the environmental/carbon targets. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The service supports the overall management of public protection and community safety. Staff retention and difficulty to consistently recruit new staff to existing vacancies has directly impacted service delivery. Despite an improvement on the previous year, the difficulty is attracting experienced professionals. Additionally, the service has seen an increase in imposition of Community Payback Orders this reporting year. The additional temporary pandemic funding from Scottish Government has permitted the service to continue to deliver Justice services. This provides additional support to staff to meet the demand from Court, Parole Board and Procurator Fiscal activity. Withdrawal of this additional temporary funding could negatively impact service delivery. This reporting year has witnessed an 8.4% increase in MAPPA activity from the previous year. Overall, the number of individuals managed under MAPPA have grown significantly since arrangements were established 17 years ago. Page 275 of 364
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These issues remain under review with staff and resources being moved to the most critical area of need. The full implementation of the Home Office Information System (VISOR) and the replacement system MAPPS is a further challenge, and this is fully referenced in the Corporate Risk Register. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The unpaid work service positively impacts the children right’s Article 31 development by enhancing the right to play through the donation of imaginative play items created by the wood workshop and by the donation of bicycles. The offence focused work interventions seek to reduce risk associated with harm which supports the freedom from violence, abuse and neglect of Article 19. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 276 of 364
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Appendix 1 COMMUNITY PAYBACK ORDER (CPO) ANNUAL RETURNS TEMPLATE FINANCIAL YEAR: 2023/24 LOCAL AUTHORITY: North Lanarkshire Council TEMPLATE RETURN DATE: 29th of September 2024 Please return all completed templates to CJS at CJSImprovement@communityjustice.scot and copy the Scottish Government at cpo@gov.scot Page 277 of 364
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Background Under the Community Justice (Scotland) Act (2016), local authorities have a statutory duty to report on the operations of Community Payback Orders (CPO) within their area on an annual basis to Community Justice Scotland (CJS). CJS will then collate these returns and summarise them in a report which is laid before Scottish Parliament. To assist with this reporting duty, CJS, in collaboration with representatives from Justice Social Work, the Scottish Government, and Social Work Scotland, has developed a template of questions for local areas to complete. This template is designed to support the reporting requirement. Completing the template Please answer the following questions contained in this year’s CPO template. When answering the questions, please ensure that all case studies and feedback are anonymised. We understand that maintaining anonymity may be more challenging for some local authorities. If this applies to your area, you may provide a more general response to the questions. Please ensure all answers are relevant to your local area within the 2023 to 2024 reporting year. If you need any support in completing this template and or have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact with CJS. Contact details can be found on the title page of this form. Page 278 of 364
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Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions in this template. Questions to answer 1) Reducing risk of reoffending Please provide a case study or examples of your work with people subject to a Community Payback Order (CPO), focusing on how you work to address their offending behaviours and reduce the risk of reoffending. North Lanarkshire Council’s Justice Service continues to offer individualised support to all service users subject to community supervision. Person-centred case management plans are informed by LSCMI, other relevant accredited risk assessment tools, the service user’s views, and professional judgement. Offence focussed interventions remain a priority area of work. For example, group work and one-to-one sessions seek to facilitate changes in attitude, behaviour, and relationships. This is a crucial element of supervision, particularly for those convicted of sexual offending, physical violence, and intimate partner violence. Such interventions are delivered by a dedicated staff group who work in collaboration with the service user, significant others, and relevant agencies. The following case study seeks to provide an example of the intervention work undertaken with service users in North Lanarkshire: In this instance, a service user had been convicted of assaulting his ex-partner. This occurred within the context of co-parenting arrangement and a number of family disputes regarding this. This service user was supported to consider his behaviour and its consequences not only for his then partner but also for his children. This was facilitated through participation in the UP2U intimate partner violence programme. This approach aligns with the principles of Safe and Together. Consequently, the service user in question was helped to explore the development of the skills he needed to create and sustain healthy relationships, to recognise the thoughts and feelings associated with his intimate partner violence, and to apply consequential thinking and problem solving in these situations. He was also encouraged to accept responsibility for the trauma caused to his ex-partner and their children because of his actions. Through sustained engagement, even when there was some resistance to an acceptance of his offending behaviour and the need for change. some positive outcomes have been achieved. In particular, this service user has since entered another relationship which has required no Justice or wider Social Work involvement. He has also been assessed as co-parenting more effectively than had previously been the case. Page 279 of 364
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The following case study from Women’s Community Justice Service (WCJS) illustrates a further example of work being undertaken to address offending behaviour. A woman was made subject to a community payback order with a supervision requirement because of an assault on her child. This Service User was Initially reluctant to accept responsibility for her involvement in the offence or consider the impact of her actions on her child’s safety, well-being, and development. As a consequence, the child was placed on the child protection register and restrictions put in place in relation to contact with her child which was supervised by Children and Families Social Work. Both the WCJS and Children and Families Social Worker worked collaboratively to build a positive relationship with the woman and her family. Using the Solihull approach and GIRFEC (Getting it Right for Every Child) principles, the allocated workers from WCJS and Children and Families designed and structured conversations that enabled the service user to reflect on her parenting skills, accept responsibility for her actions and gain a better understanding of the impact of trauma and the needs of her child. Regular liaison took place with the child’s kinship carers, school, and other key agencies. This co-working approach formed part of the child protection plan and assisted in monitoring progress and ensuring that the child’s needs and safety were at the forefront of decision making. The structure of the community payback order and the collaborative support and interventions provided by the WCJS and Children and Family colleagues led to notable positive outcomes. Crucially, supervised contact was reduced and eventually removed following evidence demonstrated by the service user of her improved care giving capacity, her increase knowledge of child development, and a reduction in the risk of future offending. 2) Support for underlying needs Please provide a case study or examples of your work with people subject to a CPO, focussing on how you work to address their underlying needs (e.g., mental health, substance use). North Lanarkshire Justice Service retains a strong focus on wellbeing and welfare. Those subject to Community Payback Orders are often significantly affected by drug and alcohol use and fluctuating mental health and emotional wellbeing issues. Justice staff continue to work in collaboration with partner agencies to ensure that individuals are helped to engage with the right supports. The following initiatives show the commitment of North Lanarkshire Council Justice Services to addressing the underlying needs associated with mental health and substance use. Mental Health needs: Page 280 of 364
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Our Health & Wellbeing focus promotes participation by service users in health checks with the Keep Well Nurses, suicide awareness, prevention, and mental health awareness. Service users are also given opportunities to undertaken first aid and naloxone training and have had access to interventions which promote holistic health benefits, such as healthy eating classes and exercise through the provision of leisure passes and bikes from our Bike Recycling workshop. North Lanarkshire Council Justice Services have allotments which are situated locally in both urban and rural areas of the authority. These provide peaceful and therapeutic unpaid work placements and are of particular benefit to those service users with mental health challenges which would prevent them from undertaking more traditional unpaid work assignments. These placements allow for the planting and harvesting of fresh produce. This is given to people in the local community. Because of this initiative service users learn skills associated with growing fruit and vegetables which they are encouraged to use beyond the life of their CPO. A healthy cooking group utilises the fresh produce from our allotments. In that setting our supervisors teach individuals how to batch cook food and provide instruction on safe food storage, all of which ensures cost effectiveness and limits food waste. As a result of this placement service users also can gain food related qualifications. An Unpaid Work Activity Group facilitates the involvement of service users in therapeutic art, creative design, and craft projects. The items made are subsequently offered for sale and the money raised is donated to local charities. This placement was specifically designed to create an environment for those service users who might otherwise struggle to engage with a CPO in a more mainstream group or unpaid work squad placement. In addition, home working is also being utilised for those who struggle physically or emotionally to attend unpaid work. Home working tasks include creating rags to rugs for dog charities, draught excluders which are distributed to care homes etc, and anti-bullying plaques which are fitted and displayed throughout local communities. Our commissioned Other Activity Services provided by The Wise Group includes an online programme which is delivered on a group work basis. This gives information and awareness raising on topics such as, emotional regulation, and maintaining positive mental health, and wellbeing. The Creative Change Collective uses creative arts to support people to explore and address a variety of issues affecting their lives. Those taking part in this activity have written songs, poems and scripts which have been performed to a live audience. Ongoing engagement with third sector and creative arts has led to positive feedback from our Service Users. In particular, people have reported an increase in self-esteem and confidence, as well as a reduction in social isolation. Page 281 of 364
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In addition to the availability of NLC leisure passes the service promotes constructive use of time for service users through community resources such as walk and talk sessions and street soccer. Staff have undertaken training and awareness raising in trauma informed practice approaches and engage with service users using that knowledge and those strategies. Substance use needs Justice Staff undertake brief interventions and awareness raising work. More intensive support is provided by our Addiction Recovery Teams, the Recovery Community, Phoenix Futures, and other substance use support agencies. Staff encourage sustained engagement by service users by going with those who need help to attend meetings as and when required. Support to maintain recovery is also promoted through motivational interviewing techniques, regular discussions about progress or difficulties and at formal service reviews. Collaborative approaches to working alongside Addiction Services is a key feature of this work. Justice staff signpost individuals to the Recovery Cafés which run throughout North Lanarkshire. Collaboration with people with lived experience, including the Recovery Community has further enhanced and supported individuals to develop hobbies, explore pro-social interests, and get ready for employment or further education. Within this area of practice there is a focus on service user empowerment, ownership, and partnership. For example, the support plan which results from an Outcome Star is jointly undertaken and agreed by the worker and service user. Staff and service user feedback suggests that within the context of a CPO this approach helps to create and sustain more consistent and trustful relationships. Other partnership developments that have been progressed throughout this reporting period year, particularly in relation to early intervention include a test for change Alcohol and Drug Solutions Court. In September 2023, NLC Justice Services recruited two Justice Support Workers funded by the North Lanarkshire Drug & Alcohol Partnership (ADP) to provide person centred intervention using Structured Deferred Sentence through the aforementioned Pan Lanarkshire Alcohol & Drug Solutions Court. This 12-month test for change based at Hamilton Sheriff Court adopts a public health approach to working with those who have a drug or alcohol difficulty, and who are in conflict with the law. The target age range for this court is 35 to 55 with plans for a phased extension for individuals aged 21 to 55 When a structured deferred sentence has not been assessed as having achieved a successful outcome for the individual concerned and to better support the journey of change the more robust option of a CPO has been imposed by the Sheriff at a later stage. Page 282 of 364
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In many instances, those who are supported by Justice Social Work Services face a range of challenges in their day-to-day life. Those challenges directly affect the individuals concerned, but also their friends, families, and wider communities. The Community Bridges, voluntary throughcare service, is a longstanding provision funded by NLADP (North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership) and delivered by Justice Social Work for residents of North Lanarkshire serving a short-term prison sentence in HMP Addiewell and who are impacted by drugs and/or alcohol. Many individuals who access this service have previously been subject to CPO and still require support to prepare for reintegrating back into the community following a period of custody. This support is also aimed at trying to ensure that there is no requirement for the imposition of another CPO due to further offending. During the reporting year, Community Bridges have supported 53 individuals in North Lanarkshire providing person centred outreach to support positive community re-integration. In 2024, following more funding from North Lanarkshire’s employability fund this provision was extended and now offers support to North Lanarkshire residents serving short term prisoners in other prison establishments. Evidence of the practical benefits of voluntary support through the Community Bridges service can be seen by accessing the following video link. Community Bridges (youtube.com) Domestic Abuse The following case study from the Women’s Community Justice Service (WCJS) illustrates how the service addresses underlying needs associated with intimate partner violence and safety planning for survivors of domestic abuse. A woman subject to a community payback order with a supervision and unpaid work requirement was supported by the WCJS throughout the period of her CPO. In this instance there was a particular focus on an improvement to her quality of life, self-confidence, and emotional and physical safety. This service user was a survivor of domestic abuse and when the perpetrator of the abuse returned to the local area, she was forced to flee her home and seek a safe refuge elsewhere. The Social Worker involved worked collaboratively with other partners and colleagues to respond to this crisis. Safe housing was timeously found by housing colleagues, a Scottish Welfare fund grant was secured to furnish her new home and provide other essential items. Effective communication with colleagues in Police Scotland enabled the Social Worker to maximise safeguards for the woman at her new property including urgent Police response markers and community police monitoring. An introduction to Women’s Aid led to a long-lasting connection to this service which continues to be a source of support and help. Additionally, the Social Worker and Unpaid work staff were able to adapt a trauma informed plan which enabled continued participation in unpaid work in a Page 283 of 364
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reduced capacity throughout this challenging period. The placement in question was in a local charity shop where this woman remained as a volunteered beyond the conclusion of her CPO. During her involvement with WCJS the Service User was also able to access a family holiday through funding secured through the local authority direct payment scheme. The intervention examples provided by the WCJS in partnership with other agencies led to an improvement in this woman’s emotional and physical safety, an increased sense of self-confidence, a reduction in her feelings of social isolation and barriers to employment. Financial Inclusion Referrals to our Tackling Poverty Team ensures that our service users benefit entitlements are fully maximised. In this reporting period Justice Services have generated £714,737.24 for service users and their families. 3) Unpaid work The communities of North Lanarkshire Council have benefited from 92,624 hours of unpaid work being delivered by the Restorative Justice Team. This activity is an increase of just over 20% on the 75,465 hours delivered during the previous year’s reporting. During this period 133,941 hours were imposed in relation to Unpaid Work and Other Activity which denotes a rise in the hours imposed by Courts from the previous year’s figure of 127,057. North Lanarkshire Council are committed to offering a diverse range of unpaid work placements and programmes available to individuals subject to CPO. The following information details some examples of those initiatives. During the reporting period, the Unpaid work teams have completed 54 squad projects within North Lanarkshire Communities. These range from one to two- day pieces of work to larger projects with a duration of up to 4 to 6 months. The work completed by services users helps them to use skills learned while subject to unpaid work. Throughout the period of unpaid work and at its conclusion people can put into practice the skills learned in our home improvement workshops such as painting and decorating, Mono blocking, slabbing, and fence construction. These abilities are employed in unpaid work activity throughout North Lanarkshire and complement other activities such as ground clearances, grass cutting and hedge trimming when requested. Larger unpaid work projects have involved the renewal of a 400-meter pathway at Auchinloch and a project at Salt Lane Woods which involved the removal of overgrown bushes and rubbish. When completed this allowed local residents to walk in the area safely and without hinderance. Page 284 of 364
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Partnership working with family learning centres, nurseries, schools, and communities have allowed for many garden developments and the construction of outdoor classrooms and play equipment. This has enabled the creation of safe and fun activity spaces for pupils and pre school children. Because much of the material used by unpaid work is recycled before it reaches landfill the work undertaken can be done at a fraction of the cost that might otherwise be expected. Such an approach also has environmental benefits. In total the woodwork workshop has serviced 8746 hours of unpaid work in this reporting period. The bike workshop refurbishes bikes that are donated to community groups, schools, and individuals. Over 304 bicycles have been distributed to aid and support individuals to maximise their health and wellbeing. The people in the local community also benefit from bike repairs if they cannot afford the financial cost of this. Working in partnership with Police Scotland the service has been able to supply replacement bikes for those who have been the victims of bicycle theft. In total the bike workshop has completed 8341 unpaid work hours. The Home Improvement workshop provides opportunities for service users to gain experience in decorating, painting, and plastering. In addition to increasing the opportunities for unpaid work in the community this initiative is intended to give service users with skills that can help them in the labour market. Once the individual is proficient in these disciplines, they utilise the skills learned on a project within the local community. This provides more experience to enhance employment pathways. Accredited training through the auspices of the Unpaid Work Requirement has taken place. Nine sessions of Emergency First Aid at Work SCQF level 5 courses were delivered, and 44 unpaid work students gained certificates in this. A Manual Handling SCQF Level 4 Course was delivered as a new initiative and 3 unpaid work students passed the requirements for this. Garden Machinery Safe Use has also been completed by service users undertaking unpaid work. In terms of employability Justice staff ensure that ongoing discussions take place with all service users about their potential to access employment. The following services are utilised in this regard. • Skills Development Scotland • Enable • Remploy • Routes to Work Service users are encouraged and supported to gain employment qualifications such as CSCS card and Forklift truck qualifications. The healthy cooking group also promotes the use of online courses for food hygiene. In total, 218 individuals supported by justice services received help from Council funded employability programmes in this reporting year. Page 285 of 364
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As highlighted the allotments located in different areas of North Lanarkshire have been instrumental in supporting individuals subject to unpaid work to learn horticultural skills which promotes self-sufficiency. The allotments enable service users to learn how to plant, grow, cultivate, and harvest fresh fruit and vegetables. The fresh organic produce is provided to the community including local foodbanks, sheltered housing complexes, and children’s houses. Individuals can transfer these skills to their own home setting and are provided with the materials to grow their own produce. In total 721 bread baskets filled with fresh produce were donated to the local community. Unfortunately, our Clydeside allotment was out of commission for almost 4 months due to a fire at the site. Despite this set back, staff and the unpaid work service users worked to reestablish the project and ensure that it became fully operational. When harvested some of the vegetables are used in the healthy cooking groups. This promotes healthy diets and cooking on a budget. This provision of fresh fruit and vegetables is intended to assist the health, nourishment, and wellbeing of people who might not otherwise have access to fresh produce. 4) Other activity Please describe the main types of "other activity" carried out as part of unpaid work or other activity requirement. Commissioned Third Sector ‘Other Activity’ Programmes continue which has enabled the service to work in conjunction with third sector organisations to support the ‘other activity element of unpaid work. The commissioned third sector organisations and their interventions are detailed below. Wise Group The Wise Group provided one to one mentoring support for 50 service users in North Lanarkshire between 1st June 2023 and 31st March 2024. Each service user was allocated a Mentor for an average of one month and received 12 hours of support throughout this period. Following an initial discussion the service user’s main support needs are identified, and an agreed personalised action plan is put in place. As part of the action plan service users can have access to a small discretionary fund to help with their participation in community activities. Following review, an extension to the mentoring period can be considered if necessary. Reel Time Music This project provides service users with an opportunity through the creative arts to undertake sessions in a studio/workshop where they can develop skills in Page 286 of 364
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relation to creating and producing music/podcasts/videos. The groups comprise of 8-10 service users and their videos, and songs etc are featured and celebrated. SACRO SACRO provide support to service users which is delivered using a mentoring approach. The workers act as role models and assist individuals to build self- esteem, confidence, independence, and improved motivation. Examples of the work undertaken includes help to secure and attend appointments with GPs or other agencies and attend appointments with support services. Assistance to complete housing applications, referrals for grants and or help with debt issues. Ten for Zen Ten for Zen provides service users with an opportunity to develop mindfulness techniques and experience the emotional, mental, psychological, and physical health benefits that can be experienced from this. Examples of these sessions include changing unhelpful habits, boosting self-esteem, managing stress, anxiety and worry, or a lack of hope or anger. In addition to the above commissioned third sector organisations, Justice Services provides a range of opportunities for service users to engage in Other Activity. The e-learning workbook resource pack provides blended digital learning which can be completed in partnership with staff. The Centre for Clinical Interventions as well as NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust resources are utilised to complete workbooks in the following: • Anxiety, Self-Care, Social Anxiety, Bereavement, PTSD, Self-harm, Sleeping Problems, Depression and Low Mood, Obsessions/ Compulsions and Panic. • Alcohol and You, Cannabis and You, Cocaine, Gambling, Anger Management and Procrastination. • Goal Setting, Self-Development, Writing applications and Interview techniques. 5) Feedback Page 287 of 364
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Please provide a summary of quotes or feedback on the impact of supervision requirements and or unpaid work or other activity requirements from the following perspectives: The following information has been provided through the use of digitised feedback questionnaires. This allows the service to gather information about the service user experience and assists to help shape the future of service delivery. • People subject to a supervision requirement “Can I say that whole aspect of this process has been so helpful to me. It has changed everything for the better and I will miss not having the contact. I was able to discover more about myself through discussions I could never have with friends or family.” “Appreciate everything you have done, and I wouldn’t be where I am without your help.” “The support I have had in the last couple of months since coming on to my CPO has been first class. I was in a very difficult situation with my physical health due to injuries I sustained after being attacked by a dog. I was anxious about the order however everything was explained to me to help me understand what I need to do. I know I need to do work, but I am not anxious as I know I can ask if I need advice.” “I have benefited massively with supervision by discussing any challenges or issues it has also helped me build my confidence and makes me want to better my life.” • People undertaking unpaid work or other activity requirement. “I enjoyed working with the rescue chickens at the Clydeside allotments and learning animal care skills.” “I really enjoyed the home improvement workshop and learning new skills from the helpful, nice Supervisor.” “I worked on really rewarding projects, for myself and the community.” “I found the structure and routine of unpaid work was good for my mental health, it has given me an appetite to get back into employment.” Page 288 of 364
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“I enjoyed completing unpaid work and learning about repairing and maintaining bikes in the bike workshop.” “I found the online information sessions from CPO Connect informative and beneficial.” “I think the quality of the work and the workers are of a high quality and they all treated me with respect.” “At the Clydeside allotments I felt included and part of the team, discussing and making decisions jointly in terms of what would work best.” “Felt I was making a difference and paying back to the community for my crimes, whilst learning new skills.” “I enjoyed seeing the end of projects I started, the satisfaction of completing something.” • The community and beneficiaries of unpaid work The service continues to promote and advertise the benefits of unpaid work to local communities in North Lanarkshire. An example of this was the engagement event held by Justice Staff with local Community Boards on the 27th of March 2024. The breadth of the unpaid work being undertaken by Justice Services in North Lanarkshire was highlighted and examples of this were shown. The pathway for requests for unpaid work was also given. In addition, there was a focus on public protection and the benefits of reintegration not only for the service user and their family, but also to the wider community. These insights were followed by a question-and-answer session. Beneficiary comments are noted below: “It’s a great service and getting our charities grass cut, we appreciate it very much” – Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland. “We are truly grateful for the work that restorative justice has undertaken in our grounds and is ongoing. We are delighted to be able to provide space for private placements and squads and look forward to working with Restorative Justice on an ongoing basis developing our Woodland and Polytunnel areas as a community resource” – Kilsyth Primary School. “At least twice a year a squad from Restorative Justice visits Barnshaugh Old Graveyard & Mausoleum and the Globe Cemetery, carrying out jobs that we would struggle to complete without their assistance, cutting back Page 289 of 364
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overhanging branches, strimming overgrown grass and wild flowers, we are always pleased when we see that the squads have been in and done a fantastic job, please thank the entire team on our behalf, this year we are having a military grave restorer working at Barnshaugh and your timely intervention will make his job so much easier” - Commonwealth War Graves Volunteers. “The workers are hardworking, dedicated and committed to undertaking the tasks that are required to improve the environment, enhance the area and encourage nature” - Coatbridge Locality Support Service (Disabilities), community garden project. “Garden fence completed within good time frames and to a high standard to benefit a family struggling in managing daily living. Youngest child has autism and was placing herself at risk in the back garden. She is now able to play outside safely which is beneficial to her emotional wellbeing, and this also allows mum some respite and will improve the overall home circumstances” – North Lanarkshire Children & Families Social Work. “Workers tidied our communal gardens, weeded etc. What a fantastic job they done. The tenants can now enjoy their outside space, weather permitting. Thank you again” - North Lanarkshire Council Retirement housing complex. “Delighted with the work that has been carried out so far. Recent allotment visit for children and staff was exceptional, with lots of learning opportunities for both staff and children” – Devonview Family Learning Centre. “We are absolutely delighted with the work undertaken; it would have taken us months. It has been very well received in the local community” - Uddingston litter pickers. “Very grateful as NO ONE in our church is fit or able enough to keep the grasses tidy and this makes the building seem so much nicer and more welcoming” - E.U Congregational Church Bellshill. “This project made it possible for more than 90 children to have fun cycling on the day and at least 10 children benefitted from receiving a bike of their own, which they would never otherwise have been able to access. Major thanks to the team, they were fantastic with the children.” – St Dominic’s Primary School Summar Fayre. Page 290 of 364
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Benefits and challenges of other CPO requirements Please mark with a cross the requirements that were imposed by courts in 2023 to 2024. ☒Compensation requirement ☐Programme requirement ☐Residence requirement ☒Restricted movement requirement ☒Conduct requirement ☐Alcohol treatment requirement ☐Drug treatment requirement ☐Mental health treatment requirement For each of the requirements that were imposed (up to a maximum of 300 words) please describe innovative and best practice, challenges, and impact associated with each. Compensation Requirement This requirement offers individuals opportunity to make direct reparation for their offending and is appreciated by some of the victims of crime. However, where payment compliance issues arise this can present challenges both for the individual subject to supervision and for the victim who may feel that they are being denied the compensation directed by the Court. This often happens when financial circumstances which could not have been anticipated at the Criminal Justice Social Work Report writing stage have changed and the compensation requirement becomes unaffordable for the person who has been given such a requirement. One example of this resulted in the need for an additional Court review. This was a stressful for the individual concerned and the victim of the index offence who was frustrated and disappointed at the lack of compensation received. Because of these considerations in North Lanarkshire compensation requirements are only suggested within a CJSW (Criminal Justice Social Work) Report when there is a fair degree of certainty that a victim will not be further let done by a failure to pay. Page 291 of 364
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Restricted Movement The use of RMR will continue to increase over coming years as a means of effectively managing risk in the community. Where supported through electronic monitoring, this can be very effective. Within North Lanarkshire liaison with service providers continues to ensure that future introduction of GPS monitoring is well understood and utilised to its potential when available. Conduct Requirement Conduct requirements are helpful management because they can be varied based on the supervising social workers professional judgement. For example, a common Conduct requirement, particularly where individuals are subject to MAPPA oversight, requires the individual to live only in accommodation as approved by the Supervising Officer. This helps the supervising officer and Police colleagues to effectively manage changing circumstances and dynamic risk without the need to return to Court to vary the order as would be needed had a residence requirement been imposed. Within North Lanarkshire Criminal Justice Social Work Report writers highlight those conduct requirements which will support the effective management of both risk and need. Conduct Requirements can be favoured before an alcohol treatment requirement in situations where there is no evidence of alcohol dependence, but where alcohol use is contributing negatively to an individual’s wellbeing. UP2U – Creating healthy relationships 2 is the updated version of the domestic abuse intervention programme. Staff have begun to use the updated programme with individuals convicted of intimate partner violence and who are subject to a requirement to undertake UP2U. Integral to this intervention is the offer and provision of partner support for those who have been or are still the victims of intimate partner violence. 6) Organisational improvements and ongoing challenges Page 292 of 364
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Looking back at last year (2022-2023), have there been any improvements to the challenges you noted? Are there any challenges you are still facing this year (2023-2024) The recruitment and retention of Social Work staff has been a particular challenge over the last few years. The situation within Justice Services in North Lanarkshire is now more stable and can be partly attributed to the level of support being offered to newly qualified social workers, particularly in their first year of practice. A recent increase in salary entitlement linked to local re- evaluation and modernisation of social worker job roles, and the ongoing training and professional development opportunities available to staff in North the authority has also been helpful in this regard. A further significant challenge, however, has been that the allocation of the section 27 grant has not kept pace with the required salary increases for qualified Social Workers. In addition, the increase in the number of individuals being managed under the MAPPA process with no corresponding increase in resource in funding and staff continues to put pressure on the service. This is a situation which shows no signs of diminishing in the coming years. To meet the increased demand for the provision of unpaid work placements following the Covid-19 pandemic recent recruitment has had a particular focus on the employment of unpaid work supervisors and sessional workers. All posts have now been filled and the service is better placed to continue delivering diverse and effective unpaid work opportunities that benefit the needs of local communities and meet the demands of increased court business. Securing quick access to mental health or psychological services is still a barrier to achieving positive outcomes for many of the service users who are currently within the criminal justice social work system. To mitigate against delay in addressing emotional wellbeing, staff link with the Keep Well Nurse provision and undertake brief interventions. In partnership with the service user staff utilise the suite of Other Activity e-learning associated to support the individual to manage their emotional wellbeing. Uncertainty over the future direction of the National Care Service and the outcome for Criminal Justice Social Work is a challenge in terms of sustaining staff morale. Progress has been made in sustaining community consultation and evaluation of services. A digitised questionnaire has been designed and this has increased the availability of customer feedback, opportunities for analysis and service improvement. Justice Services bought a bespoke trailer in 2024 which allows for further outreach into our local communities, particularly in relation to the offer of bike repairs and maintenance. Page 293 of 364
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7) Collaborative working across justice partnerships Please provide any examples of work with community justice partners, including the third sector, to effectively deliver CPOs (Community Payback Order). In March 2023, the unpaid work supervisors and service users attended Strathclyde Cycle Fest. It was hosted within the grounds of Strathclyde Park and was funded by the council, Event Scotland, Cycling Scotland, and the Community Cycling Fund. This offered an opportunity to promote the benefits of cycling particularly in terms of maintaining good physical and mental health. The unpaid work Team was included in the advertisement of the event and had the opportunity to highlight the availability of the drop-in bicycle maintenance services being provided and how those who cannot afford the purchase of a bike can have one donated. In August 2023, the Bike Recycling team were also invited to be part of an open day at Motherwell Police Station which attracted approximately 5,000 people from our communities. This provided a further opportunity to show case the benefits of unpaid work, rehabilitation, and reintegration. Because of this event Police colleagues now routinely give stolen bikes which stay unclaimed to the Restorative Justice Team to repair and donate to the public. In addition, Network Rail also give the team discarded bikes that are removed from the railway lines. In partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and MAPPA partners two multi- agency events were hosted in September 2023. Staff from Social Work, Police Scotland, Housing, and NHS Lanarkshire attended a full day input in relation to Risk Practice which was delivered by Professor Hazel Kempshall. This offered a valuable opportunity for colleagues to reflect on shared responsibilities and practice and improve on collaborative approaches to managing risk and enhancing public protection. In March 2024, a further local multi-agency event was held, and this focused- on people being managed and supported under the Justice system with a diagnosed learning disability, or with neurodiversity challenges. This event was provided at no cost and was delivered by NHS colleagues. Keep Well Nurses continue to work in partnership with the Restorative Justice service within North Lanarkshire. Service users are offered a holistic health check with a focus on cardiovascular disease prevention. This is followed up by any necessary referral that might be needed because of the results received. 75 people attended the clinic during 2023- 2024 resulting in 168 referrals to other support services. 67% of people were actively helped by Justice staff to aid their engagement with those services. 28% of attendees were referred to their GP practice for further management of the health concerns identified. Page 294 of 364
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48% accepted a referral to leisure services within North Lanarkshire. 20% accepted testing for Blood Borne Virus testing and 3% accepted referral to NHS Lanarkshire’s Harm Reduction Team for more detailed support to help reduce harm from substance use. 13% were referred to Homelessness Cancer Screening and Sexual Health Nurse Specialist. 8% of those who smoked accepted a referral to smoking cessation classes. 8% accepted referral for specialist dietetic support from the Community Dietetic team. Referrals were also made to other services including Bowel Screening Programme, Health and Homeless Team, Addiction Recovery Services, Carer support services, Lanarkshire Weight Management Team, and Practitioner Services for GP allocation. Despite staffing pressures within the NHS, the partnership between the Keep Well Nurses and Justice Social Work continues to be maintained. 8) Additional information Is there any other relevant information you wish to highlight? This may include: • Areas for improvement and planned next steps. • New ways of working and benefits achieved from these. North Lanarkshire Council Justice Services have promoted service developments and positive areas of practice through the launch of a dedicated X account. Staff from Victim Support attended an awareness raising session within Restorative Justice. Information was provided on the work undertaken by justice Social Work across North Lanarkshire. This has resulted in an agreement to jointly develop a victim focused plan of work which will include a Pan Lanarkshire Victim Strategy and the development of learning modules with a specific focus on victim issues. A Community Justice Scotland partnership Board Online Engagement Event was held. This provided an overview of all Justice Services in North Lanarkshire and the work they undertake to support reparation, rehabilitation, reintegration, and public protection. Emphasis was placed on the role of Community Justice Scotland and the local benefits of partnership approaches to providing a partnership approach to rehabilitation and public safety. Page 295 of 364
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To review and improve services consultation continues with individuals who are subject to a Community Payback Order. Two development workers with lived experience of the justice system are employed within Restorative Justice and this consultation work forms part of their remit. In partnership with Community Justice Scotland and 2 other local authorities Justice services in North Lanarkshire have taken part in a pilot aimed at improving the knowledge, understanding, skills, values of paraprofessionals working within unpaid work teams. Nine ‘taster modules’ in various aspects of Social Work theory and practice that are highly relevant to the particularly to Placement Managers and Supervisors. It is envisaged that this pilot will be rolled out to all local authorities. The Women’s Community Justice Service have commissioned a new intervention resource entitled ‘Managing Emotions and Relationships.’ This was created by the author of the UP2U programme. This resource enables staff to utilise Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to facilitate structured conversations that help Women to develop better coping strategies using CBT, mindfulness, and trauma informed techniques. This resource can be delivered in a group work format or in individual settings. Lisa Kaspar Education & Families Manager (Justice) 26 September 2024 Page 296 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref AG/QA Date 19/11/24 Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2023/24 From Alison Gordon, Chief Officer (Chief Social Work Officer - Children, Families, Justice and Integrated Services - Education & Families) E-mail GordonAl@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 Executive Summary In line with Scottish Government guidance the Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) is required to provide an annual report. This report provides an overview of social work service delivery in North Lanarkshire for the period April 2023 to March 2024 and cover the following areas: • Governance and accountability arrangements, including partnership working. • Service Quality and Performance, including service developments. • Resources • Workforce • Future Priorities The North Lanarkshire CSWO Report 2023/24 is attached as an appendix to this report. The report also reflects social work’s contribution to the Programme of Work underpinning the Plan for North Lanarkshire. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Approve the report. (2) Note that approval of the report will also be sought through the Adult Care and Social Work Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work All Programmes of Work Item 9 Page 297 of 364
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1. Background 1.1 The requirement that each local authority appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer is contained in Section 45 of the Local government (Scotland) Act 1994. Statutory Guidance on the role of the Chief Social Work Officer was updated in 2016, to reflect the impact of Health and Social Care integration, extending the responsibilities of the role to provide advice to the Integration Joint Board (IJB). In addition to providing advice both to the Local Authority and IJB in relation to the discharge of statutory social work functions the role continues to carry key responsibilities for professional leadership, values, and standards both for directly provided and commissioned services. 1.2 Social Work Services in North Lanarkshire continue to play a lead role in supporting and safeguarding our communities. Adult Social Work and Social Care Services are delivered through Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (HSCNL) whilst Children, Family and Justice Services are delivered through the Council’s Education and Families Service. 1.3 The CSWO role requires to be undertaken by one designated individual, delegation of responsibilities is permitted where required by the scale of business. In North Lanarkshire this means that the Chief Officer Adult Social Work Services, routinely exercises delegated responsibilities for decision-making and professional standards within adult services as well as providing support and cover with respect to the wider functions of the CSWO role. 1.4 The Annual Chief Social Work Report is intended to provide a key overview of social work service delivery and performance. The Office of the Chief Social Work Advisor (OCSWA) also produces a national report each year which draws on key themes and messages from CSWO reports across Scotland. 2. Report 2.1 Social Work in North Lanarkshire employs around 2,800 staff and in collaboration with commissioned services and third sector partners provides to around 30,000 individuals and families at any one time. Social work also makes a key contribution to wider partnership and community activity. 2.2 As illustrated within the report partnership working is fundamental to social work at every level and a key aspect of the CSWO role involves developing and sustaining partnership working and relationships across a range of organisations and structures. In addition to the specific responsibilities of the CSWO to the Council and HSCNL, the CSWO holds a key leadership role within several local partnerships as well as contributing to the wider national social work community. Social Work also plays a key role within the Council’s Programme of Work in particular, but not limited to, work being progressed under the Resilient People programme. Equally many of the aspirations of the wider programme including the core commitment to inclusive growth are critical to those in our communities most likely to require social work support. 2.3 Whilst the delivery of core statutory responsibilities including for public protection remain a significant part of social work service delivery, social work also plays a key role in early support and both primary and secondary prevention as highlighted within the report. Income maximisation and tackling poverty also continue to be key strands in the delivery of social work and social care in North Lanarkshire. These have become increasingly integrated into day-to-day practice and service delivery and have a strong Page 298 of 364
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fit with the core values of social work. Equally important and threaded through the activity reflected within this year’s report is a commitment to relationship based and trauma-informed practice. 2.4 Demand for social work services has continued to increase across all social work care groups continuing a trend which has seen this increase beyond pre-pandemic levels however as reflected within the report the service has continued to maintain a strong ‘balance of care’ meaning that a high proportion of those receiving support receive this within the context of their own homes and communities. There has also over recent years been an increased focus on the area of ‘transitions’ to ensure those receiving support do not face a ‘cliff edge’ as they move between child and adult life or between services or statutory and voluntary supports. Whilst further work is still required in these areas progress in this is evidenced in the steadily growing number of young people supported in continuing care and in those in receipt of voluntary throughcare from justice services. 2.5 External scrutiny of social work services is undertaken primarily through the Care Inspectorate and its partner agencies. In addition to ongoing inspections of regulated services a Joint Inspection of Services for Children and Young People at Risk of harm in North Lanarkshire took place between April and October 2023 evaluating the impact of services on children and young people as Very Good and identifying a number of key strengths including in respective of collaborative leadership and the strong relational and trauma informed approaches which supported staff form trusting relationships with children, young people and their families. 2.6 Staff commitment and resilience has continued to be strong although as reflected in Section 5 of the report there remain staffing pressures in key areas including with respect to home support services, the mental health officer workforce, administrative support and other social care roles. A range of initiatives to support staff recruitment and retention against a challenging backdrop is outlined within the report and a number of these including the updating and re-evaluation of main grade social worker and occupational therapy roles have contributed to a reduction in vacancies in this critical area of the workforce. 2.7 Both despite and in response to pressures the service has continued to innovate including in the use of digital technology and has also continued to strengthen the involvement of those with lived experience in planning. 2.8 Looking forward the report reflects on future challenges including the likely increase in financial pressures, in part arising from the ending of temporary funding streams. but also identifies opportunities to build on successful areas of practice, and strong partnerships to continue to work holistically and in particular to improve early support to strengthen and empower individuals, families and communities. 3. Measures of success 3.1 N/A – Annual Report to meet reporting requirement. A range of outcome measures, KPIs and specific service standards are applied across social work services. Page 299 of 364
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Annual Report of the Chief Social Work Officer 2023/24 Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer Page 300 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? No direct impact though the report provides key evidence that the effective delivery of social work services supports the Council in their delivery of Fairer Scotland Duty. As this is a retrospective report no EQIA is required If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? All recruitment is in line with our workforce plans and governed through the appropriate routes. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? All statutory requirements are met through the role and function of the CSWO. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 301 of 364
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If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Whilst digital developments are a feature of service improvement and delivery within social work all relevant changes reflected within the report have already been considered through relevant governance processes. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Key risks highlighted within the report are incorporated in relevant risk registers. The report itself is part of a wider framework of reporting which supports the scrutiny of social work services and therefore aids the Council in its duties with respect to the delivery of key statutory functions. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. Where relevant issues are considered in planning for individual’s support, Page 302 of 364
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the service will also continue to consider the benefits of enhanced arrangement for groups of service users. An example of this is within our Restorative Justice Service which has both a veteran’s group and has also previously contributed through unpaid work to linked community projects. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ No direct impact though the report provides key evidence that the effective delivery of social work services supports the Council duty. As this is a retrospective report no CRWIA is required If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 303 of 364
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1 Chief Social Work Officer Annual Report 2023 - 2024 Page 304 of 364
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2 ANNUAL REPORT BY CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER: NORTH LANARKSHIRE 2023-2024 .............................................. 4 THE CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER FUNCTION ............................................................................... 4 ANNUAL REPORT ........................................................................................................................... 4 1. GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ARRANGEMENTS ........................................................................................ 6 1.1 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL AND NORTH LANARKSHIRE PARTNERSHIP ............................ 6 1.2 HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE NORTH LANARKSHIRE .................................................................... 8 1.3 SUPPORT, CARE, PRACTICE AND STAFF GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS ................................. 8 1.4 CARE HOME ASSURANCE ......................................................................................................... 9 1.5 ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO USE SUPPORT SERVICES AND THE COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY SECTOR ........................................................................................................................................ 10 2. SERVICE DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE ...................................................................................... 11 2.1 PERFORMANCE AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT ...................................................................... 11 2.2 SUPPORT TO UNPAID CARERS ................................................................................................ 12 2.3 JUSTICE SOCIAL WORK SERVICES ........................................................................................... 12 2.3.1 COMMUNITY PAYBACK ORDER - INCLUDING UNPAID WORK ................................................................... 13 2.3.2 OTHER ACTIVITY ....................................................................................................................................... 13 2.3.3 DIVERSION FROM PROSECUTION ............................................................................................................. 14 2.3.4 OFFENCE FOCUSED WORK ....................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.5 MOVING FORWARD TO CHANGE (MF2C) ................................................................................................. 15 2.3.6 WOMEN’S COMMUNITY JUSTICE SERVICE (WCJS) AND BAIL SUPERVISION ............................................. 15 2.3.7 NEW DEVELOPMENTS: ENHANCEMENT OF VOLUNTARY THROUGHCARE AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL SOLUTIONS COURT ........................................................................................................................................... 15 2.3.8 THROUGHCARE: ARREST REFERRAL ......................................................................................................... 16 2.4 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SOCIAL WORK SERVICES ................................................................ 16 2.4.1 THE BALANCE OF CARE ............................................................................................................................ 17 2.4.2 MOVING ON: SUPPORTING CARE EXPERIENCED YOUNG PEOPLE ............................................................ 18 2.4.3 A LOVING HOME: ADOPTION, FOSTERING & KINSHIP CARE..................................................................... 19 2.4.4 INTENSIVE FAMILY SUPPORT .................................................................................................................... 21 2.4.5 YOUNG PEOPLE IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW........................................................................................... 23 2.4.6 CHILDREN WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS ....................................................................................... 24 2.5 ADULT SOCIAL WORK SERVICES ............................................................................................. 24 2.6 EARLY AND PREVENTATIVE INTERVENTIONS – RIGHT SUPPORT, RIGHT TIME ......................... 25 2.6.1 GETTING IT RIGHT FOR EVERYONE (GIRFE)............................................................................................... 25 2.6.2 MAKING LIFE EASIER ................................................................................................................................ 25 2.6.3 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TEAM ................................................................................................................ 26 2.6.4 COMMUNITY ALARMS ............................................................................................................................. 26 2.6.5 EQUIPMENT & ADAPTATION SERVICE (EAS) ............................................................................................. 27 Page 305 of 364
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3 2.6.6 INTEGRATED DAY SERVICES (IDS) ............................................................................................................. 27 2.6.7 HOME ASSESSMENT TEAM (HAT) ............................................................................................................. 27 2.6.8 HOME SUPPORT SERVICE ......................................................................................................................... 28 2.6.9 TRANSFORMATIONAL SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT (SDS) AGENDA & INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS ....................... 29 2.6.10 COMMUNITY LIVING CHANGE FUND/COMING HOME ..................................................... 29 2.7 DIGITAL SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION ......................................................................................................... 30 3. STATUTORY INTERVENTIONS ................................................................................................................................ 31 3.1 MENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS SERVICE AND ADULTS WITH INCAPACITY ACT (SCOTLAND) 2000 . 31 3.2 MENTAL HEALTH (CARE AND TREATMENT) ACT 2003 AND MENTAL HEALTH (SCOTLAND ACT 2015) 32 3.3 DEVELOPMENT OF MHO SERVICE TO MEET NEEDS ................................................................ 33 3.4 APPROPRIATE ADULT SERVICES.............................................................................................. 33 3.5 PUBLIC PROTECTION .............................................................................................................. 34 3.5.1 ADULT SUPPORT AND PROTECTION VESTIGATIONS/CASE CONFERENCES AND STATUTORY ORDERS/ FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................................................................................... 34 3.5.2 MAPPA (MULTI-AGENCY PUBLIC PROTECTION ARRANGEMENTS) ............................................................. 35 3.5.3 CHILD PROTECTION INCLUDING CONTEXTUAL SAFEGUARDING ............................................................... 36 3.5.4 GENDER BASED VIOLENCE ....................................................................................................................... 39 4. RESOURCES ........................................................................................................................................................... 40 4.1 FINANCIAL MODELLING FOR SERVICE DELIVERY .................................................................... 41 5. WORKFORCE ......................................................................................................................................................... 41 5.1 WORKFORCE PLANNING ........................................................................................................ 41 5.2 SOCIAL WORK RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION ..................................................................... 42 5.3 SOCIAL CARE .......................................................................................................................... 43 5.4 OTHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CHALLENGES ........................................................... 44 5.5 CARE ACADEMY ..................................................................................................................... 44 5.6 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND STAFF SUPPORT ............................................................... 44 5.7 ASSESSMENT CENTRE AND REGISTRATION ............................................................................. 45 5.8 POST GRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES ......................................................................................... 45 5.9 SOCIAL WORK DEGREE PATHWAY WITH THE OPEN UNIVERSITY ............................................ 45 5.10 STUDENT SOCIAL WORK HUB .............................................................................................. 45 5.11 NEWLY QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMME ................................................................. 46 5.12 OTHER KEY TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ....................................................... 46 5.13 TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICE ........................................................................................... 47 5.14 REVISION OF SUPERVISION POLICY ...................................................................................... 47 5.15 SUPPORT FOR STAFF WELLBEING ......................................................................................... 48 6. LOOKING FORWARD – PRIORITIES FOR 2024-2025 AND BEYOND ......................................................................... 48 Page 306 of 364
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4 ANNUAL REPORT BY CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER: NORTH LANARKSHIRE 2023-2024 THE CHIEF SOCIAL WORK OFFICER FUNCTION Every local authority must appoint a professionally qualified Chief Social Work Officer (CSWO) as reflected in Section 46 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994. The CSWO provides professional leadership, accountability, and governance, for the delivery of social work and social care services, including commissioned services. The CWSO also provides advice on social work service delivery and on related issues to the local authority Chief Executive, Elected Members, and the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) promoting understanding of the range of social work and social care services, and the complexities involved in delivering statutory responsibilities which require both consideration of need and the management of risk and liberties. The then Scottish Office specifically recognized that the need for the CSWO role was driven by “the particular responsibilities which fall on social services in that they affect personal lives, individual rights and liberties to an extent that other local authority services do not.” (Circular: SWSG2/1995 May 1995). Operationally the CSWO also has a direct remit for decisions on specific statutory matters including in relation to secure accommodation, adoption and welfare guardianship as illustrated below. A further aspect of the CSWO role is to inform the delivery of wider services which support or impact on social welfare. The CSWO role within North Lanarkshire is held by the Chief Officer, Children, Families, Justice, and Integrated Services however the CSWO is supported by the Chief Officer, Adult Social Work Services who holds delegated responsibilities with respect to adult social work and social care, deputises in other areas as required and works alongside the CSWO in relation to the other functions of the role. ANNUAL REPORT In line with Scottish Government guidance, the CSWO is required to provide an annual report. This report provides an overview of social work service delivery in North Lanarkshire for the period April 2023 to March 2024 and covers the following areas: • Governance and accountability arrangements, including partnership working and statutory functions • Service Quality and Performance, including key service improvement activity and challenges impacting on service delivery • Resources • Workforce Issues, including workforce planning, training, and development • Future Priorities – Social work landscape and priorities looking forward to 2024/25 Social Work Services continue to play a critical role in supporting communities in North Lanarkshire and in meeting both national and local priorities to improve outcomes and empower those individuals and families who may face exclusion or a range of adversities. Demand challenges driven by societal factors including the legacy of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, demographic change and health inequalities have continued to impact on social work services over the past year alongside the challenging financial context for the public sector and whilst recruitment challenges have eased in some areas of the service they continue to present substantial challenges in others. This is reflected within the report along with our achievements as staff across the service continue to work with resilience and commitment to achieve the best possible outcomes for those we support. Page 307 of 364
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5 I would like to record my thanks and pay tribute to all staff involved in the delivery of social work services in North Lanarkshire for their work over the past year I would also like to thank all internal and external partners, carers, families, and communities who have supported us in our work. Alison Gordon Chief Social Work Officer Page 308 of 364
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6 1. GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ARRANGEMENTS Adult Social Work and Social Care Services are delivered through University Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (UHSCNL) whilst Children, Family and Justice Services are delivered through the Council’s Education and Families Service. Primary reporting and governance arrangements for Adult Social Work are through the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) and its Performance, Finance and Audit Sub-Committee but with local authority oversight and scrutiny also maintained through them Council’s Adult Care and Social Work Committee. Reporting and governance of Children and Justice Social Work Services is in turn primarily exercised through the Council’s Education, Children and Families Committee with reporting also to other council committee’s including Audit and Scrutiny Panel where relevant on specific issues. Social Work Chief Officers are part of the Council’s Corporate Management Team whilst a number a number of joint arrangements support governance, service delivery and practice alignment across all social work care groups, including regular Social Work Solutions (Business) Meetings, the Social Work Leadership Team, and a Social Work Workforce Group. Social Work in North Lanarkshire directly employs around 2,800 staff and in collaboration with commissioned services and third Sector partners, we are involved in providing support to around 30,000 individuals and families at any one time, in addition playing a key role in wider partnership and community planning activity. Partnership working at local level remains fundamental to social work and a key aspect of the CSWO role involves developing and sustaining partnership working and relationships across a range of organisations and structures. In addition to the responsibilities of the CSWO to the Council and UHSCNL, the CSWO holds a key leadership role within several local partnerships, as well as contributing to the wider national social work community, as illustrated below: 1.1 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL AND NORTH LANARKSHIRE PARTNERSHIP The Plan for North Lanarkshire | North Lanarkshire Council sets out the shared priorities of NLC and partners and has a focus on inclusive growth and tackling inequalities. The plan focuses on: • improving economic opportunities and outcomes • supporting all children and young people to realise their full potential • improving the health and wellbeing of communities • enhancing participation, capacity and empowerment across our communities and improving North Lanarkshire’s resource base Social Work continues to play a fundamental role in working towards these aims, notably around supporting children and young people to achieve their potential, improving community health and well-being and in supporting and facilitating engagement and participation. The plan is supported by a five-year Programme of Work, approved in March 2023. The Programme of Work has seven priorities for delivery: • Transforming Places – to deliver transformational change across town centres and local communities. • Invest in North Lanarkshire – Faster delivery of outcomes and investment. • Sustainable Futures - Focus commitments towards Net Zero Carbon and climate resilience and the associated energy solutions and investments required to make it a reality. • Resilient People - Deliver whole family support locally, when families need it, in a way that addresses the impacts of poverty and reduces inequality. • Brighter Futures - Support and improve educational attainment, employment opportunities, entrepreneurship, and volunteering. Page 309 of 364
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7 • Digital North Lanarkshire - Develop a skilled digital workforce, promote an innovative, sustainable culture and be the Digital Leader for a transformed North Lanarkshire. • One Service - Ensure services are delivered, in a streamlined, efficient, and supportive model, with the overall vision of inclusive growth and prosperity for all. Whilst all services contribute and are supported by change activity across these seven priorities, social work’s role is particularly significant within the Resilient People and Brighter Future strands of the programme which have key interdependencies in terms of delivery models with elements of the Digital and One Service programmes. This is reflected in the participation of senior social work managers in the programme boards and the CSWO’s role as SRO for Resilient People. Connections made across the wider range of corporate work programmes, continue to make a meaningful difference to people who use social work services. Examples include employability services, homelessness prevention and community wealth and capacity building with key examples of progress detailed within the relevant sections of this report. Across the service a key focus remains to promote resilience, encourage and support preventative planning and anticipatory approaches and minimise the risk of crisis and the involvement of the Community and Voluntary Sector continues to be an essential strand of our wider approach, in promoting self-help, independence and resilience. The North Lanarkshire Council Equality Strategy 2019 – 2024, sets out key objectives for success with all council services committed to knowing, understanding, and involving our communities and demonstrating leadership in equalities and human rights. There is recognition that the poverty, disadvantage, and inequalities that exist for some people in North Lanarkshire can be further exacerbated due to specific characteristics. Clearly this is a key area for social work and during this period this has also aligned closely with our work to embed trauma informed practice and systems and the strengthening focus around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Adult Services have developed a Service Equality Action Plan which details how the service will meet the objectives identified in the Equality Strategy within Adult Health and Social Care. The plan includes equality actions in relation to the implementation of a new social work information system and the refresh of the Engagement and Participation Strategy. A programme of training in relation to good practice in Equality Impact Assessments has been initiated with around 40 senior staff having participated to date whilst the CSWO has taken on the role of Executive Race Champion for the Council. North Lanarkshire Children’s Services Partnership (CSP) is the structure through which partners provide governance, strategic planning, direction, and delivery of shared priorities for children’s services in North Lanarkshire. The Children’s Service Partnership Board membership includes Elected Members, UHSCNL/NHS Board representation and representation from young people through links with North Lanarkshire Youth Council, and Champion’s Board links. There are developed links and cross over with other strategic partnerships such as NL Child Protection Committee and the Tackling Poverty Strategy. The North Lanarkshire Children’s Services Plan is refreshed every three years and supported through annual reporting: Annual Report 2023-24 Social Work has a key role in all the CSP priorities. The CSWO is lead officer for the CSP and chairs the Improving Children’s Services Group which has oversight of the work of task groups delivering on the priorities in the Children’s Services Plan that are organised under the foundation of The Promise, Voice, Family, Care Scaffolding and People. The Community Justice Partnership, currently also chaired by the CSWO has responsibility for the multi-agency oversight of Community Justice in North Lanarkshire. Page 310 of 364
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8 The partnership has continued to benefit from strong collaboration with a wide range of partners including employability services and the NL Alcohol and Drug Partnership. This has supported continued developments in a range of areas including diversion, throughcare, bail supervision and our local Arrest Referral Pilot initiated in April 2023. Commitment from partners has also ensured a holistic response to the needs, examples being ‘keep well’ clinics for justice service users and a dedicated employability worker Routes to Work. A partnership steering group has also been stood up to support Early Release. NL Community Justice Annual Report 2022-23 and our new CJOIP: Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan 2023 to 2028 was informed by significant engagement including with those with lived experience and a Strategic Needs Assessment and sets the framework for our ongoing activity in this area. North Lanarkshire Partnership (NLP) brings together the major public sector agencies in the area along with Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) the third sector interface in the area. NLP operates as the overarching framework for partnership working and the priorities for delivery across the partnership are included in The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The nine Community Boards continue to support community leadership, involvement, and capacity building, with local outcome and improvement plans (LOIP) guiding this work. Social work services support these local partnership structures. The CSWO continues to have the role of Community Co-ordinator for one of the local boards and the Chief Officer Adult Social Work and Senior Managers for Quality Assurance and Strategy & Performance provide links to the UHSCPNL and its strategic commissioning activity across all Community Boards. Senior Social Work Managers also participate in area-based teams and the sub-groups which support the delivery of the LOIPs (Local Outcome Improvement Plans). 1.2 HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE NORTH LANARKSHIRE UHSCNL adopted its new Strategic Commissioning Plan 2023-26 from April 2023, setting out key priorities for the next three years with the aim of ensuring that people are robustly supported to live in their own homes and lead independent lives in their communities. The plan was developed through a collaborative process with people who use Health and Social Care services, partners, the public, and partnership staff. Key priorities include: • Do the right thing first time • Increased focus on prevention, early intervention and tackling inequalities by working with communities and people • Develop and support a workforce for the future • Improve mental health and wellbeing • Support people through a whole family approach Under each priority area, an agreed set of short- and medium-term goals has been developed underpinned by the Programme of Work which sets out in detail the programmes to be progressed. These are updated on an annual basis to ensure we are able to respond to any new or emerging issues. The plan will be implemented over the next three years, with ongoing monitoring to ensure that services continue to meet the needs and goals of local people. The Annual Performance Report for 2023-24 which will be published later in the year, and this will give further details and achievements of the partnership. 1.3 SUPPORT, CARE, PRACTICE AND STAFF GOVERNANCE ARRANGEMENTS Page 311 of 364
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9 Coherence in practice and staff governance within social work are maintained through a variety of processes and key forums. In addition, the HSCP’s Support Care and Clinical Governance Committee (SCCGC) has met quarterly over the reporting period, currently chaired by the HSCP Medical Director but with the rotational chairing arrangement also involving the CSWO/Chief Officer Adult Social Work. Adult Social Work Governance meetings included a robust programme of assurance and improvement for Adult Social Work Services and feed into the SCCGC framework. Over the 24/25 a review of the current framework will be undertaken by the professional and operational managers supported by our Quality Assurance team. A programme of work to support assurance, performance and improvement in the service delivery is planned. There is a commitment to ensure that practitioners and managers are supported with linked assurance activity which will include. • Introduction of self-evaluation for each of the teams • Audit of key processes including supervision • Feedback from individuals and carers experience • Feedback from staff • Monitoring of regulated services and regulated workforce • Staff/ individuals and carers safety • Review of complaints and compliments • 6 monthly reports on learning and development • Planned programme of review current policies and procedures Our In-House Monitoring Framework was approved, and a test of change has been in progress over the reporting period. A full evaluation is pending and, following refinements, will be rolled out across our adults and children’s services. The Quality Assurance team have also prioritised the review of our contract monitoring processes to take account of multiple reporting requirements for commissioned services whilst information governance, complaints and Duty of Candour activity also continues to be overseen by our Quality Assurance team with key learning and reflections taken forward. This work is reflected in the Quality Assurance Annual Report ADD LINK whilst work over the coming months will further expand on the streamlining and connection of activity to date. 1.4 CARE HOME ASSURANCE A review of the enhanced clinical and care oversight arrangements for care homes took place during this reporting period. The purpose of this was to ensure continued support for care homes supporting adults and older people and improvements in care and outcomes by building upon the learning from the arrangements implemented during the COVID pandemic. It has been widely recognised that although we are post pandemic, significant achievements have been made in maximising opportunities for partnership working and the outcome of the review captures the ethos of collaboration, sector expertise, access to healthcare and support for workforce development. The functions of the refreshed Care Home Assurance and Support Board are to: - • Ensure assurance and support to care home sector continues in the context of Excellence in Care, including Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), direct support and the embedding of the national IPC manual. • Oversee whole system support to care homes to improve the health and wellbeing of adults living in these environments, through implementation of My Health, My Care, My Home – the healthcare framework for adults living in care homes, and Health and Social Care Standards in Scotland Page 312 of 364
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10 • Ensure that a collaborative improvement model is utilised in all developments with care homes • Ensure systems and processes are in place to share intelligence between agencies to identify and allow support to be provided to care homes at risk. • Ensure systems and processes are in place to provide immediate response to serious concerns to mitigate risks • Monitor overall capacity of the sector – identify risks and mitigate where possible • Ensure contingency plans are in place for the sector and regularly updated. Two subgroups, the Care Home Governance Group and Care Home Healthcare Framework Implementation Group have also been established. It is envisaged that following an initial gap analysis of the Healthcare Framework these two subgroups will merge with implementation of the Healthcare Framework continuing to be monitored and evaluated. 1.5 ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE WHO USE SUPPORT SERVICES AND THE COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY SECTOR Engagement and Participation There has been considerable progress in enhancing participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities, in line with Ambition Statement 19, in the Plan for North Lanarkshire - Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves. This also a priority the UHSCNL Strategic Commissioning Plan and is critical to ensuring: • We involve people in the decisions that affect their wellbeing. • Improvement comes from feedback on the experiences of services and supports. • Our services and supports continue to be based on what matters to people. • We have a continued focus on person centred approaches to embed the wider approach to Getting it Right for Everyone (GIRFE). During 2023-24 there was an increased focus on these areas has sought to ensure that the voices of supported people, carers and communities were strengthened. The diagram above depicts the three principal areas of investment that sought to: • Improve communication and increase connections. • Increase awareness of what matters to people • Increase capacity for early intervention and prevention. Page 313 of 364
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11 UHSCNL Engagement and Participation Strategy Refresh 2024-2027 The Engagement and Participation Strategy has been refreshed to cover 2024-27. The approach to the refresh has engaged stakeholders, representatives of community-based organisations, supported people, carers and communities and representatives from UHSCNL staff. Strengthening the voice of supported people and unpaid carers. There have been significant developments to strengthen the voice of supported people through the awarding of a contract, following a tender process, to a consortium bid, headed by North Lanarkshire Disability Forum, alongside Voice of Experience and Lanarkshire Links increasing capacity to include those we need to work harder to reach, for example, people from minority ethnic communities, people from the LGBTQI+ communities and those in more rural communities, including through the recruitment of an Equalities Information Worker in North Lanarkshire Carers Together. This Equalities post augments a similar post that was already in place with Lanarkshire Carers. Extensive engagement and participation activity was also undertaken to inform the North Lanarkshire Carers’ Strategy 2024-2027 with carer feedback has influenced and shaped developments described elsewhere in this work. Within Children’s Services the Voice Task Group supporting the work of the partnership has been strengthened with young people also increasingly involved in planning and commissioning, including having a direct role in the tender for a specific counselling service for care experienced young people and more broadly in decision-making around allocation of funds for community mental health and wellbeing supports. Over two thousand families also participated in a survey which has informed the shaping of whole family supports. In Justice Services two development workers with lived experience have been employed and have supported consultation activity with those involved with the service including the development of a digital questionnaire which has supported more routine gathering of feedback. 2. SERVICE DEVELOPMENT, QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE 2.1 PERFORMANCE AND IMPACT MEASUREMENT Our formal reporting is presented for a variety of audiences, reflecting the scheme of integration and delegation of services to the North Lanarkshire Integrated Joint Board (IJB) and the governance of services within several partnership arrangements. As reflected above there are mature governance frameworks for the Local Authority, the Health & Social Care Partnership, and the other established partnerships, including the North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership and the North Lanarkshire Community Justice Partnership (NLCJP). Performance reporting is presented to the various boards, committees, and groups of these organisations on a cyclical basis, covering the key performance indicators for the relevant services and areas of work. Indicators are in place for core aspects of service, such as access, operational performance, workforce, quality, and outcomes, ensuring that we both monitor and demonstrate how we have met the needs of the community, produced positive outcomes for the supported people and that the work represents best value for the Local Authority. Critically in addition to quantitative data a variety of methods are used to measure impact, outcomes and how people experience our service as reflected throughout this report. In addition to these internal arrangements, performance and quality is both monitored and regulated by several external bodies, including the Scottish Government, the Scottish Social Services Council, and the Care Inspectorate. All Social Work services provide validated performance and demographic data to the Scottish Government and the various agencies who support Social Work development in Scotland. This data supports the creation of national Page 314 of 364
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12 indicator sets, such as the Local Government Benchmarking Framework and the Integration Indicators. North Lanarkshire provides annual returns for several national datasets, which can then be used for benchmarking purposes. 2.2 SUPPORT TO UNPAID CARERS Unpaid carers continue to provide the vast majority of support to people who need it, across North Lanarkshire. Estimates vary as to the number of unpaid carers in our area, but we believe there could be as many as 50,000 or so unpaid carers, with about 13,000 of these being known to services and the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS). We have a robust carer support infrastructure in place, with three commissioned carer focused organisations: • North Lanarkshire Carers Together (NLCT) • Lanarkshire Carers • Action for Children Young Carers Project All of whom provide a wide range of carer focused support or information. There is also a broader range of other CVS organisations with a direct, or indirect, role in supporting carers. These, and many other carer focused organisations are part of a wider Carer Support Network (CSN), where caring related topics and issues of common interest can be raised, discussed and actions taken to improve carer experiences. Alongside ongoing carer support, our focus during 2023-24 was engagement with carers (to augment ongoing day to day carer engagement) to help inform and develop the North Lanarkshire Carer Strategy for 2024-27. Engagement activity, facilitated by the commissioned carer organisations and the wider CSN, meant that a wide range of carers helped to inform and shape the new strategy; offering feedback relating to a range of topics of interest to carers around what was working well, not so well, and suggestions for improvement. There was recognition through this work, that many carers experienced disappointment or frustration – citing not being listened to, or having to tell their story multiple times, experiencing an inconsistent approach, or poor outcomes. Our intention is to use such instances to inform and drive improvement, through what is, a carer led and carer informed Carer Strategy, to be launched in May 2024. Conversely, there was also a wide range of examples that demonstrated that when carer support is done well, outcomes can be very positive. Such was the wealth of information provided, that alongside the strategy itself, consideration has been given to publication of some of the positive stories that we heard- to help promote awareness of preventative and anticipatory approaches leading to good outcomes, imaginative and creative use of carer budgets, or the enabling role that assistive technology can play. 2.3 JUSTICE SOCIAL WORK SERVICES Justice Social Work Services have seen demand relating to core statutory responsibilities increase as the justice system continues to address the backlog of COVID impacts with, for example, a 69% increase in hours of unpaid work requirements imposed over the past two years. Alongside this service delivery has been shaped by key priorities set out in both our new Community Justice Outcome and Improvement Plan (2023-2028) and the Scottish Government’s Vision for Justice published in February 2022, and its supporting strategy published in June 2022, with an increased focus on areas such as diversion from prosecution and bail supervision. The service continues to promote a holistic approach to working with people with convictions to ensure that in addition to robust risk management, support is offered to address the range of issues, such as health and employment barriers, which can inhibit rehabilitation and inclusion and in turn better lives and safer communities. Page 315 of 364
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13 2.3.1 COMMUNITY PAYBACK ORDER - INCLUDING UNPAID WORK The communities of North Lanarkshire have benefited from 92,624 hours of unpaid work delivered by the Restorative Justice Team. This constitutes an increase in activity of just over 20% since the last reporting year. Of note, service activity in this area has risen by 54% over the last 2 years. Demand continues to grow and during the period of this report 133,941 hours were imposed by Courts in relation to Unpaid Work and Other Activity, a 69% increase in the hours imposed in this regard over the last 2 years. The following paragraphs provide an overview of some unpaid work activities. More detail on specific activity is referenced in the Community Payback Annual Report. The bike recycling workshop refurbished bikes which are donated by individuals or have been discarded in local recycling centres. The bikes are repaired to a gold standard and are distributed to local community groups, schools and individuals. This helps to maximise opportunities for better health and wellbeing and provides greater transportation access. Service users within the workshop also undertake bike repair for individuals who are unable to afford the cost of this. Due to the success of this workshop, a mobile bike recycling trailer has been purchased and this enables the provision of bike maintenance and repair within the local communities. In total 8,746 hours of unpaid work were completed through this initiative in 2023/24. This represents a significant increase in activity over the last 2 years when 1,075 hours were completed in 2021/2022, and 6,213 hours were completed in 2022/2023. The woodwork workshop teaches joinery skills which enables bespoke items to be made from reclaimed wood pallets which were destined for landfill. Partnership working with family learning centres, nurseries, schools and communities have allowed for unpaid work service users to be involved in the construction of outdoor classrooms, and play equipment in the form of trucks, trains, cares. This approach has helped to promote outdoor play for children throughout our community. Squad placements have benefitted the local communities through activities such as landscaping. In total 54 squad have been completed within North Lanarkshire. These range from one to two-day pieces of work to larger projects with a duration of four to six months. The home improvement workshop provides opportunities for services users to gain experience in decorating, painting, and plastering. Once the individuals are proficient in these disciplines, they utilise the skills on projects within the local community. In partnership with local housing colleagues and school staff the Restorative Justice unpaid work team has also facilitated learning events at our community allotments in Townhead, Clydeside, and in Wishaw. These events enable children and people in the local community to sow seeds and learn about different growing techniques. Participants can take away some of the produce and can be invited back later in the year to experience the harvest taking place. This project has allowed for a creative teaching space which helps individuals to develop new skills which they can contribute to the benefit of the local community. 2.3.2 OTHER ACTIVITY The availability of Scottish Government Covid-19 recovery funding has enabled the continued commissioning of Third Sector colleagues to assist in the delivery of ‘other activity’ programmes. Co-production of this aspect of Community Payback Orders includes collaboration between Justice Services and a variety of organisations including the Wise Group, Creative Change Collective, SACRO, Reeltime Music and Ten for Zen. Page 316 of 364
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14 In addition to the above commissioned third sector organisations, Justice Services provides a range of opportunities for service users to engage in Other Activity. The e-learning workbook resource pack provides blended digital learning which can be completed in partnership with staff. The Centre for Clinical Interventions as well as NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust resources are also utilised to complete workbooks in the following: • Anxiety, Self-Care, Social Anxiety, Bereavement, PTSD, Self-harm, Sleeping Problems, Depression and Low Mood, Obsessions/ Compulsions and Panic. • Alcohol and You, Cannabis and You, Cocaine, Gambling, Anger Management and Procrastination. • Goal Setting, Self-Development, Writing applications and Interview techniques. 2.3.3 DIVERSION FROM PROSECUTION In partnership with Police Scotland, a bespoke Diversion from Prosecution awareness training session was delivered by Justice Services in December 2023. This session was delivered at Jackton Police College to Inspectors in Lanarkshire. Following this event, it was identified that Police Sergeants would also benefit from this training. Consequently, a further five training sessions were delivered in March 2024. It is envisaged that this awareness raising will result in a further increase in people being diverted from the justice system through Diversion from Prosecution. Within the reporting period of 2023–2024, 242 individuals were diverted from formal justice systems by being involved in the Diversion from Prosecution Scheme. This is a 38.29% increase from the previous year’s figures of 175. 2.3.4 OFFENCE FOCUSED WORK Offence focused intervention continues to be central to the delivery of Justice Social Work services, regardless of whether that engagement is mandated through Community Payback Order, Statutory Licence, Structured Deferment or Diversion from Prosecution. This is delivered through a trauma informed approach, considering wellbeing and individual responsivity and supporting others to recognise the links between wellbeing and risk whilst person-centred case management plans are informed by LSCMI, other relevant accredited risk assessment tools, the service user’s views, and professional judgement. Offence focussed interventions remain a priority area of work and a crucial element of supervision, particularly for those convicted of sexual offending, physical violence, and intimate partner violence. Such interventions are delivered by social work case managers as well as pathways into a dedicated programmes which offer trauma informed therapeutic interventions to individuals convicted of domestic abuse and sexual harm. Increasing accessibility to offence focussed interventions is also a priority area in our Prison Based Social Work (PBSW) team based in HMP Shotts. During this period PBSW staff successfully cleared the Programme Case Management Board waiting list of 102 individuals in the establishment who did not have a risk assessment and were awaiting access to an intervention programme. This also enabled the Risk Management Team to make informed decisions about individuals who could be considered for progression. Through collaboration with Scottish Prison Service (SPS) staff, a streamlined system has been implemented to ensure that all individuals are risk assessed within the first five months of entry into HMP Shotts and ahead of their first Integrated Case Management Meeting (ICM). In addition to offence related work Justice Social Work support individuals in areas such as education, employment, health, leisure, housing and financial needs. The Justice Outcome Star is employed to identify the service user's priority areas of need, and to support measure progress and outcomes. Page 317 of 364
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15 2.3.5 MOVING FORWARD TO CHANGE (MF2C) NLC Justice Services have been one of the pilot areas for the new Scottish Government MF2C programme which has been designed to supersede the MFMC (Moving Forward Making Changes) programme. This programme is an intensive cognitive behavioural therapy intervention for men over the age of 18 who have committed sexual offences. The programme seeks to assist participants in addressing their offending and reduce their risk of reoffending as part of a Court Order or release Licence. The new programme has been adapted to incorporate up to date literature, can be delivered in Prison based establishments as well as the community. The Justice Programme Service is currently maintaining delivery of the MF:MC programme to relevant service users, whilst also delivering the pilot MF2C programme. In time the service will transition to increasing MF2C delivery while reducing and phasing out MF:MC delivery. The pilot has been delivered on a 2:1 basis with a small group of service users and with relative success in relation to low reoffending rates. The pilot has been considered as part of the wider evaluation by Scottish Government and a decision reached that full implementation of the new programme will begin throughout 2024-25. 2.3.6 WOMEN’S COMMUNITY JUSTICE SERVICE (WCJS) AND BAIL SUPERVISION The Women’s Community Justice Service (WCJS) was established in 2014 in response to the Commission on Women Offenders by Dame Elish Angiolini. The service works with women who are involved in the justice system. The majority of the service users are subject to Community Payback Orders with requirements of supervision and/or unpaid work. Additionally, the service work with women subject to parole board licences, those subject to bail supervision and also alternatives to prosecution. A key development in the WCJS, has been the recruitment of a Justice Support Worker to support women who are made subject to Bail Supervision. Proactive engagement has taken place with the Pan-Lanarkshire Court Social Work Team to agree a pathway for early identification of these cases and to ensure timeous communication with the WCJS. This supports the national vision for Justice to reduce the number of women who experience custody. A partnership approach is adopted to plan, intervene/support and review service users' needs and risks. This assists to build on strengths and work towards achieving their goals and aspirations. With regards to unpaid work the female specific service allows for female only unpaid work activities. Most of the women using the service have experienced trauma and much of the work involves supporting them with their emotional and mental health needs. Multi agency partnership working with Children and Families, Shine Women’s Mentoring Service, Domestic Abuse and Addiction Services is crucial to support this service user group. Additionally, the Women’s Community Justice Service have commissioned a new intervention resource entitled ‘Managing Emotions and Relationships’. This approach enables staff to utilise Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to facilitate structured conversations that help Women to develop better coping strategies. 2.3.7 NEW DEVELOPMENTS: ENHANCEMENT OF VOLUNTARY THROUGHCARE AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL SOLUTIONS COURT Voluntary Throughcare Through the local Community Justice Partnership employability subgroup, additional funding was secured to extend the offer of our current voluntary throughcare service beyond HMP Addiewell. As a result, a Justice Support Worker was recruited and the Bridges and Beyond initiative now offers person centred outreach support to individuals serving a short-term sentence in various prisons across central Scotland. Page 318 of 364
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16 The Bridges and Beyond service has supported 53 service users in 2023-24. The service aims to remove barriers to employment and resettlement for those serving short term prison sentences is crucial in helping to reintegrate individuals into the community and reduce the prison population. Drug and Alcohol Solutions Court In September 2023, NLC Justice Services recruited two Justice Support Workers funded by the North Lanarkshire Drug & Alcohol Partnership (NLADP) to support the introduction of a Lanarkshire wide Drug & Alcohol Solutions Court. This has been instigated as a 12-month test for change. The initiative is based at Hamilton Sherrif Court and adopts a public health approach to working with people who are impacted by drug and, or alcohol, and who are in conflict with the law. The age range for eligibility is 35-55, and consideration is being given to extending this to people aged between 21-55. Despite the early stages of the test for change, outcome star data indicates that all service users currently engaged in Structured Deferred Sentence through the new test for change have reported progress across multiple life domains. Service user feedback indicates that those individuals who have previously breached more stringent orders such as Drug Treatment and Testing Order, find the flexibility and assertive outreach dimension to the support as well as the trauma informed approach within court more effective. 2.3.8 THROUGHCARE: ARREST REFERRAL An Arrest Referral test for change has continued to operate in North Lanarkshire’s Police Custody Suites. Importantly this service is delivered by people with lived experience of the justice system offering an opportunity for partnership working with individual being held in custody with a focus on early intervention, direct and practical support, and a pathway for referral to appropriate agencies. This test for change is being funded by the NLADP and will be independently reviewed. 2.4 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES SOCIAL WORK SERVICES Children and families social work, working closely with our partners, has continued over this period to focus on embedding a culture that enables practice that is rights-based, trauma informed and built on relationships. To promote this, we developed further training in Safe and Together where domestic abuse is a concern and continued to implement the Contextual Safeguarding approach where young people are at risk in the community. Agreement was also secured to begin the implementation of Signs of Safety. Taken together, these complimentary approaches support staff practise in ways that build relationships with children, young people, and their families in need of support and protection by building on strengths. Crucially these approaches also form a key part of our commitment to keep The Promise by finding creative ways of supporting children remain cared for and loved in their families, reducing the need for crisis support or alternative care. We were therefore pleased that the Joint Inspection of Services for Children at risk of harm found our impact on children was Very Good as a result of children’s experience of nurturing relationships to keep them safe (see section 2.4.3 for more detail). Page 319 of 364
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17 2.4.1 THE BALANCE OF CARE Our balance of care data outlined in the table shows that overall, the number of children in care has remained stable from 2020-2024. However, this needs to be seen in the context of a 20% increase in children referred to the service over the same period and within this a significant 44% increase in child protection referrals and the higher number of Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children now supported (55 and increasing) having arrived through the now mandatory National Transfer Scheme (NTS) or presenting directly from the community. In this context the maintenance of a stable position reflects the use of strengths-based approaches outlined above, finding solutions for children through family group decision making and a strategic approach to investment in family support through funds such as the Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework and Whole Family Wellbeing Fund. Positively, we have also continued to reduce our use of out of authority foster placements which means more children have remained in North Lanarkshire close to their families and communities. Placement type Number as of 31 March 2020 Number as of 31 March 2021 Number as of 31 March 2022 Number as of 31 March 2023 Number as of 31 March 2024 Foster NLC 100 112 94 112 109 Foster Care (Independent) 67 61 53 51 47 Home Supervision 298 227 188 205 196 Formal Kinship Care 355 321 307 325 358 Informal Kinship Care 153 170 183 191 180 Residential (NLC) 28 27 27 31 32 Residential (Independent) 13 11 11 9 7 Secure* 0 2 6 7 5 Continuing Care 45 53 73 74 77 *number of young people spending time in any secure accommodation during full year. Nothwithstanding this, there are some significant pressures. The numbers of young people in need of our residential care or secure care has increased. In large part this is due to an increase in young people being at risk of violence in the community and/or criminal and sexual expliotation. These risks to young people compounded pressures and difficutlies facing families. Similar trends are seen elswhere in the UK (Jay, 2024). Our children’s houses therefore continued to look after young people with a high level of complex needs. Following a 59% reduction in missing episodes Page 320 of 364
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18 over the previous 3 years, the number increased in 2023-24 with young people often facing strong ‘pull factors’ linked to criminal exploitation and peer relationships. We continued to promote and invest in approaches such as Contextual Safeguarding (see section 3.6.3), and intensive family support (see section 2.4.4) to address these concerns. 2.4.2 MOVING ON: SUPPORTING CARE EXPERIENCED YOUNG PEOPLE As part of our relationship-based approach, we have focused on supporting young people make a positive transition from care into independence. The table above illustrates a 71% increase in the number of young people in continuing care (remaining in the care placement after reaching the age of 18) so they can leave care when ready and further to our investment in after care services we have seen a 107% increase in the number of young people receiving support – 252 18–26-year-olds as of 31 March 2024. Much of this support is coordinated by the Care Experienced Young Persons Operations Group comprising several partners and care experienced young people as illustrated below: A Housing Operations subgroup looks at the housing needs, resources to support preparation and sustainability and matching of young people to available properties. Through coordinated support there was a noted improvement in care experienced young people sustaining tenancies, with over 100 young people sustaining their tenancy long term. This was supported by partnership working with housing colleagues and the Tackling Poverty Team to quickly identify any debt and budget management issues that may have impacted on young people sustaining a tenancy and ensure their rights to financial support were in place. A dedicated and coproduced counselling service, the Exchange Counselling Project, was established and now operates from our Aftercare Hub 5 days a week as well as reaching out to young people as required. In 2023-24, the service worked intensively with 42 young people, with 78% of young people reporting improved wellbeing on finishing counselling. Referrals indicated anxiety, family relationships/ home issues, violence and abuse, and bereavement were the main reasons for presentation. Following a review of the unmet health needs of care leavers, NHS Lanarkshire agreed funding for two Throughcare and Aftercare Nursing posts to deliver front line health support to care leavers and undertake an analysis of the challenges and barriers faced by care experienced young people accessing adult services. One of the nurses started in November 2023 and was working with 28 care leavers by March 2024. From the outset, it was apparent that this support has made a significant difference in enabling care experienced young people to exercise their rights to appropriate health care. Care leavers told us that they would like information about their rights and entitlement to support and this should be accessible in the one place. Given the preference of young people to communicate and access information digitally, an Page 321 of 364
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19 aftercare website was developed in partnership with a group of care experienced young people and care leavers. Aftercare North Lanarkshire went live in March 2024 and can be accessed via the QR code below. 2.4.3 A LOVING HOME: ADOPTION, FOSTERING & KINSHIP CARE The Children’s Carers Service provides support to kinship carers, supported carers of young adults, as well as to adopters and foster carers to achieve loving homes for children and young people into adulthood. Despite a reduction of the overall number of carers, we have been able to place more children in North Lanarkshire thanks to the commitment and flexibility of our carers supported by our carers team. Recruitment therefore continues to be a high priority. As can be seen from the table below, interest in fostering or adoption has remained static post-Covid and the numbers of potential carers deciding to progress to an assessment has not increased. Positively, however, 2023-24 saw an increase in fostering approvals on the previous year. This was an indicator of the increased focus on recruitment through community-based initiatives. Adoption approvals have also increased, representing the continued interest and enquiries for adoption which has now been consistent for several years. As illustrated in the table below, this means that we are able to match children in need of adoption to adoptive parents, mostly within North Lanarkshire. The recruitment strategy group developed an action plan to widen recruitment opportunities focussing on digital promotion and increased presence within local communities. This included recruitment stands within hospitals and local community events, on-line drop-in sessions for targeted staff groups within North Lanarkshire, and mail drops in local communities. These were in addition to the bi-annual radio and media campaigns. 15 11 15 14 1 1 1 1 11 18 19 17 0 5 10 15 20 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022•2023 2023-24 Adoption 2020-2024 Direct Adoption Agreed Permanence Order With Authority to Adopt Agreed Children Linked Page 322 of 364
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20 As well as recruitment, retention of existing carers has been a priority for the service. The training and support programme for carers has therefore been enhanced to include adopters and kinship carers. Early indications are this has been successful in increasing numbers of participants and feedback has been positive about the added value to carers understanding of each other's roles and the needs of the children within their care. To support carer wellbeing, sessions in mindfulness and mindful yoga were provided along with a second therapeutic support group for adopters and permanent carers. An increase and backdating of fostering allowances (in line with the Scottish recommended allowance) and fees (10% uplift) recognised the value North Lanarkshire places on its foster care resources. Similarly, an increase and backdating of kinship allowances in line with the Scottish recommended allowance recognised the valuable and important role kinship carers have. There continues to be an increase in children being placed with kinship carers. Therefore, there is a higher demand for support for kinship carers from the kinship team. Over the last year support for kinship carers has developed and over and above the allowances paid, the service provided direct support to 190 kinship carers. Kinship support groups also took place on a fortnightly basis across Noth Lanarkshire and individual therapeutic and groupwork sessions were also introduced involving mindfulness and yoga which were well attended by kinship carers at the children’s carers centre. The number of children formally looked after in kinship care has increased over the past three years and in response, we have recruited additional support workers to help carers manage the complexity and emotional demands of their caring role. This will increase our capacity for practical and emotional support going forward. Our Virtual School has also prioritised support to kinship families including in school holiday periods. 68 120 128 131 30 63 68 57 16 21 28 28 7 8 10 9 0 50 100 150 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 Initial Enquiries and All Outcomes 2020-2024 Initial Enquires Initial Interviews Attended Prep Group Progressed to Full Assessment 17 10 14 11 16 10 7 7 8 10 7 3 7 3 6 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 Approved Assessments by Type of Resource 2019-2024 Approved Assessments Adoption Foster Care Page 323 of 364
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21 When children need care, the priority continues to be to secure a foster family where brothers and sisters remain together. In the last year, five of the eight groups of brother and sisters that required a fostering home, were placed together. The reasons for not keeping brothers and sisters together were due to individual children’s needs and, for one family, difficulty finding carers to keep four brothers/sisters together. However, in this situation, North Lanarkshire carers have actively promoted their relationships. Updated permanence planning training for staff and guidance for independent chairs emphasised the priority in considering brother and sister relationships. In response to feedback from our inspection from January 2023 specific life story training by was also commissioned and delivered. Another area identified for improvement including through inspections of registered services was linked to risk assessments. As a result, the risk assessments for placement requests and specific incidents were reviewed and updated and is now established in practice. 2.4.4 INTENSIVE FAMILY SUPPORT Community Alternatives & Families First Our Intensive Social Work Services Team continue to successfully deliver whole family support 7 days a week where families need a high level of support to prevent a child or young person entering care or to sustain a care placement. The service uses a range of materials to support interventions, such as structured parenting programmes and thematic interventions. Over 2023-24, a review was undertaken of the core programmes and interventions used to support children, young people, and their parents to ensure continuity and alignment with the supports available across the partnership. To support the workforce, staff training and development sessions were undertaken in partnership with health, early years and children’s house staff focusing on the Solihull approach to parenting, Assessment of Care Toolkit, Infant Mental Health Indicator set in additional to training in Contextual Safeguarding and Safe and Together. This enhanced the individual and groupwork support provided through the service and with partner agencies. The service also delivered eleven thematic workshops to social work staff. Intensive Services work with around 450 children, young people, and their families at any given time. Over 2023-24 52% of the children and young people supported were living at home with their family; 20% were supported in a residential, foster or a kinship care placement; 17% of the young people supported were care leavers needing a high level of emotional and practical support and 11% were young people in the community subject to Structured Deferred Sentence or Diversion from Prosecution or were supported through Youth Bridges whilst detained in Polmont YOI for a period and through their transition back to the community. 82 102 105 111 64 93 98 94 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023 2023-2024 Number of Kinship Assessments Approved 2020-2024 No of Kinship Assessments Total Approved Page 324 of 364
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22 Weekend support is a crucial feature of our approach to prevent crises or a child coming into care. On average the service supported 28 individuals and families each weekend on a planned basis. The service also worked closely with the Social Work Emergency Service (SWES) to respond to emerging care, protection, and support needs out of office hours. In recognition of the additional challenges experienced by families over the school holiday periods and to offer positive opportunities during the Easter and summer holidays, the service delivered individual support to families and daily structured activities in the local community for younger children, attracting up to 40 participants and family-based day trips with around 45 participants. There were a range of activities arranged for teenagers with between 6-10 participants in attendance at each and one weekend activity camp. All activities and trips received positive feedback from the participants. Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Lifelong Links The FGDM and Lifelong Links Service are an integral part of Intensive Services as part of our commitment to build on family assets, promote and maintain important relationships. The team practice from a rights respecting and strengths-based approach to support children remain in their family through listening and supporting families to develop a family plan to sustain family care. The Lifelong links service has now been operational for nearly two years, supporting young people make sense of their care journey and support reconnection for those who have lost connection to important people in their life. The QR code below links to an animation that explains more about Lifelong Links and a young person’s experience of the service. Referrals to FGDM and Lifelong Links have remained consistent over the past two years. Year Number of FGDM Referrals Number of Lifelong Links Referrals 2021-22 115 N/A 2022-23 171 14 (partial year) 2023-24 172 16 Page 325 of 364
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23 Of the referrals received for FGDM during 2023-24, 70 were successfully progressed to family meetings where a family plan was devised, and 28 referrals progressed to a significant piece of work being concluded with the family without a family meeting. Lifelong Links is long term work that takes a trauma informed approach going at the pace of the young person as they come to understand their life story and consider who they want to reconnect with and how. Up until end of March 2024, 4 connections and 14 lifelong connections have been established with young people. A Right to an Education Our Virtual School, which is an integrated service comprising social work and education staff, has a focus on inclusion, providing bespoke packages of support based on a child’s needs, strengths, interests, and future career aspirations. For young people who are at significant risk of leaving school without formal qualifications, individual teaching input is provided. Supported by curricular leads, this session Virtual School teachers were able to extend the range of subject areas they could support young people to achieve in beyond English and Mathematics. National qualifications have been achieved in History, Modern Studies, Media, People in Society, Hospitality and PE. In session 2023-24 a total of 87 National 3 and 4 level qualifications were achieved by 27 young people working individually with Virtual School teachers: 93% achieved a qualification in English and 93% achieved a qualification in Maths. 63% achieved three or more national qualifications, 37% achieved four or more and 19% achieved five or more. In addition, ongoing partnership work across our schools and wider services to support care experienced learners and reduce school exclusions continues to move forward positively with significant improvements recorded. For example, over the past five school sessions, exclusions of care experienced learners have reduced overall by 93% (158 to 11), learning days lost reduced by 93.5% (339.5 to 22) and the number of care experienced learners receiving an exclusion reduced by 88% (92 to 11). This is an area of work we continue to prioritize in line with our commitment to fulfilling the ambitions of The Promise. 2.4.5 YOUNG PEOPLE IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW At 13.0 per 1000, the proportion of children referred to the Children’s Reporter (SCRA) locally on offence grounds has increased and remained higher than the national average. In parallel the number of referrals for Early and Effective Intervention have decreased by 17%. In response to this and feedback from young people during a service review, plans are already in in place to promote EEI as an effective alternative to referrals to SCRA. During the year we launched our new EEI youth work service, The Compass Project, with the aim of promoting rights and relationships over behavioural responses. The service delivers group work and bespoke individual support and a route into preventative 158 105 82 19 11 339.5 233 138.5 40 22 92 72 56 15 11 0 100 200 300 400 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 Care Experienced Exclusions Summary: 2019-24 CE Exclusions Days Days Lost Young People Page 326 of 364
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24 universal offers (such as DofE) as part of a prevention model. This project launched in January 2024 and already 5 young people have gained outdoor learning awards and were linked into universal support and youth work programmes. Between January 2023 and January 2024, North Lanarkshire also participated in a pilot with SCRA and South Lanarkshire Council to improve the experiences and outcomes for children referred to hearings on offence grounds by increasing their understanding of their rights, improving relationships, and ensuring supervision orders are tailored to the plan of support. A dedicated speech and language service was offered to provide advice to social workers and families and, where appropriate, direct support to young people to address unmet need and help them express their views in hearings: ‘I like working with you. After I work with you my brain feels less fuzzy’ The pilot was evaluated by the University of West of Scotland, and initial findings have highlighted the impact of the focus on relationships. The researchers found that support workers roles went beyond offence-focused interventions to encompass a comprehensive family support approach. This included accompanying young people to the hearings, providing practical advice, facilitating access to education or employment opportunities, and most importantly building trusting relationships that help understand the young person's perspective better. This perspective was supported by young people on the project who discussed the importance of the relationship-based practice that they engaged in which helped build relationships with their own families, communities, and education. Youth Bridges has continued to provide support to young people subject to diversion from prosecutions and structured deferred sentences and to young people under 21 subject to remand/ custody in Polmont YOI and through their transition back to the community. The number of under 18s from North Lanarkshire continued to decline with only 2 young people under 18 being remanded to Polmont YOI over the year. One young person was remanded to secure care. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s to end remand to Polmont for those under 18 in 2024. 01/04/23- 30/06/23 01/07/23- 30/09/23 01/10/23- 31/12/23 01/01/24- 31/03/24 Young People Supported 37 43 43 42 New admissions Polmont YOI 8 7 11 7 Diversion/ Structured Deferred Sentence 9 7 9 13 Ongoing Support 20 27 23 2 2.4.6 CHILDREN WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS There was an increase in requests for assistance to the service for children and young people with complex needs, particularly around young people experiencing neurodiversity. Across the year, 211 had access to an individual budget. As a part of a wider service evaluation, we found that budgets alleviated stress for families and improved outcomes, but that staff wanted to feel more confident in this area of work. The service has therefore strengthened its central support to staff working with this group of children and young people to improve assessment and planning. Alongside this we also used grant funding to invest in family support for children with additional support needs, working in an integrated way across Social Work, Health, and Education. Improving the experiences and outcomes for this group of children remains a key priority and further work in this area is planned over the coming year. 2.5 ADULT SOCIAL WORK SERVICES In January 2024, a whole system project of work (Back-to-Basics), which aims to support individuals differently, commenced. Back to Basics is an overarching approach, which comprises a range of discrete and inter-related Page 327 of 364
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25 programmes, projects and activities that support our wider approach across the whole system to ensure that when people contact services, the response is quick and effective, with a focus on helping people to help themselves first. The overall ambition of the project is to have a system that is streamlined, minimises the risk of repeat actions for people and makes best use of resources. This will ensure that we are offering people the right support, at the right time and so increasing their quality of life, as well as increasing the quality of experience for staff in terms of work satisfaction. Access Social Work continues to be the initial point where many people first come into contact with our service. Pressures around Access, like other teams, continues to be grow. There is a high volume of requests for support which could better be met by resources out with statutory services. As part of the Back to Basics approach this work will be a focus of our development and improvements in the coming months. 2.6 EARLY AND PREVENTATIVE INTERVENTIONS – RIGHT SUPPORT, RIGHT TIME Self-directed support, Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Getting It Right for Everyone (GIRFE) as well as the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 all emphasise the importance of choice and control early interventions and preventative approaches. Our approach across 2023-24 sought to embrace these principles to ensure that people who required our support experienced responses in line with these aspirations. 2.6.1 GETTING IT RIGHT FOR EVERYONE (GIRFE) Getting it right for everyone (GIRFE) is a Scottish Government led multi-agency approach to Health and Social Care support and services. Building on existing best practice and aligning with the GIRFEC approach within children’s services it aims to provide a national framework to deliver Health and Social Care services that support person centred outcomes for everyone throughout their adult lives. GIRFE is focused on providing a more personalised way to access help and support at the time when people need it. It is aimed at placing the person at the centre of all decision making that affects them, with a joined-up consistent and multi-disciplinary approach. UHSCNL is one of 10 place-based pathfinders with the progression of this work supported by the Scottish Government’s GIRFE Design School. Our focus is on Frailty and Older People with the pathfinder linking to a range of local as well as national aspirations, policies and strategies including The Plan for North Lanarkshire, the Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire Strategic Commissioning Plan and the Strategy for Preventing and Managing Frailty. Learning from GIRFE work locally and nationally will inform future policy and practice across the authority. Nationally, GIRFE work has reached the point where 16 prototypes are currently being tested, with North Lanarkshire focusing on the following areas: ageing well, personal networks, accessible and usable information, peer support and Community Hubs. A process of co-production with both people who live and use services in North Lanarkshire and Health and Social Care staff is underway, with the consultation and co-design process having involved over 600 people to date. Active testing of the GIRFE prototypes is now underway to enable the approach to be more widely interpreted and implemented both locally and nationally. 2.6.2 MAKING LIFE EASIER Disability Information Officers have been active in the community over the past year, promoting our Making Life Easier, web-based service and supporting individuals to use the site and undertake self-assessments. The service also developed telephone assessments to help assessing staff during clinics/assessments. In addition, the service invested time in work with ADL Smart care working on a new and improved website and life curve and reviewing the content of the service system. Page 328 of 364
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26 2.6.3 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY TEAM The assistive technology team have continued to work across social work and the partnership to improve quality, delivery, and safety in assessment and care planning aiming to identify and achieve outcomes with people supported by the service in the least invasive of ways. The team’s main ambition is that all individuals working for UHSCNL consider assistive technology as a necessary tool to enhance and safeguard wellbeing and making sure the most vulnerable people have the skills, connectivity, and devices to participate in a digital nation. There is also focus on reducing carer stress and empowering individuals, supporting independence and on reducing isolation whilst the team can also offer solutions which complement other services whilst mitigating some of the demand on them. Across 2023-24 1,081 people were referred to the team. 36% of people accessing the service were over 80 years of age, 38% between 61-80. There were 1,005 assessments of need and 267 assistive technology flat visits. There continues to be upward trend for all referrals, assessments undertaken, and equipment provided. The assistive technology flat has been further developed and showcases an extensive range of council provided assistive technology as well as technology which can be purchased privately. Funding for the flat derived from housing budgets 2023-24. This will not continue for 2024-25 and an alternative source of funding will be sought. 2.6.4 COMMUNITY ALARMS As of 31 March 2024, Community Alarm Service supported approximately 7,700 people with 6,150 individuals supported in individual homes and a further 1,550 people in housing with support accommodation. The community alarm service also supports around 1,000 pieces of assistive technology programmed through the alarm receiving centre, with equipment ranging from door contacts to hard-wired smoke detectors for individuals with a cognitive impairment. Response Advisors also provide support to out-of-hours Home Support and takes social work emergency service calls from 01.30am. The average call volume each month received within Community Alarm is around 48,000 with around 2,180 of these leading to a visit from a Community Alarm Home Support worker (HSW) for face-to-face support to be provided. The service’s current alarm receiving centre ‘Tunstall’ servers had been identified as becoming obsolete/end of life by colleagues from Infrastructure resulting in the procurement of a ‘Software as a Service’ (SAAS) solution as we transitioned to the new ‘Alarm Receiving Centre’ (ARC). As all UK telephone lines are being migrated to digital it is also essential that we move to a fully digital community alarm system for both the devices and the ARC and to support this Analogue to Digital Board meets every 8 weeks to have oversight of the ongoing works being undertaken to transition the Community Alarm Service to a fully Digital solution. Replacement of these analogue alarms commenced in January 2023 and to date 3,000 units have been purchased and replaced. A further 1,000 units are currently being procured for a planned installation by the end of September 2024. Page 329 of 364
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27 Staffing levels within the Community Alarm service have remained largely unchanged since the service was established and a priority over the next period is to review this in the light of both digital system developments, high call levels and the diversity of needs supported by the service. 2.6.5 EQUIPMENT & ADAPTATION SERVICE (EAS) The service has been internally reviewed and evaluated over the last year with changes informed both by scrutiny of key processes and feedback from both Health and Social Care staff and service users. Importantly the service has cleared all outstanding waiting lists and is progressing a proactive service delivery approach to facilitate delivery by priority, helping avoid hospital admission and facilitating timely discharges. The service has also procured a new equipment ordering system which has assisted staff to deal with the demand on service in a more streamlined way aiding improved communication and response times. The service can now record and report more accurate performance information whilst qualitative data on how equipment delivered by the service has impacted on people has been collated through a survey. Core staffing has been enhanced through recruitment to additional posts and training. Looking ahead, the service is seeking to procure recycling equipment to ensure appropriate standard are met, increase recycling time and rates within the service, and to reduce waste whilst there is ongoing work with Enterprise and Communities colleagues to improve adaptation processes. 2.6.6 INTEGRATED DAY SERVICES (IDS) Integrated Day Services (IDS) for older adults have continued to support people with complex support needs to safely live in their own homes, often preventing admissions to hospital. Support that the service provides covers the six North Lanarkshire localities. During Covid there were changes with IDS Nursing staff being redeployed to older adult community mental health teams and these changes have remained apart from one locality. This will be addressed through the current service review to agree a service model fit for purpose post covid, ensuring improved supports for older adults in North Lanarkshire aligned to the Dementia Strategy. The IDS outreach via community groups continues in each locality, and these are well attended however transport and community venues can be a constraint and locality link workers continue to work with local agencies to address this and overcome any barriers to accessing this support. This is an alternative low-level support for older adults whereby the fuller service is for people more advanced in their dementia journey. It is noted across North Lanarkshire that dependency levels and complexity of need of people living in the community and needing support from IDS has increased. IDS staff continue to provide high levels of support to people known to the service as well as to unpaid carers and continue to stay committed, focused, and passionate about the positive contribution IDS has to older adults living in North Lanarkshire. 2.6.7 HOME ASSESSMENT TEAM (HAT) North Lanarkshire’s Home Assessment Team (HAT) is a multi-disciplinary Social Work, Health and Social Care resource which applies a whole system approach to planning and preparation for hospital discharge and admission avoidance by facilitating both assessment and intervention within each person’s own home. During the reporting period 1,224 patients have been referred to HAT and supported to return home from hospital. Page 330 of 364
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28 As illustrated by the chart below, there has been a gradual build-up in the volume of referrals as staff have been recruited and trained. Whilst all localities are not yet fully operational, an average of 102 people are currently supported by the service every month. Those people who are referred to HAT are also being discharged quicker from hospital to be fully assessed in their home environment, with 94% of individuals referred to HAT and discharged from hospital on the same day. As the HAT developed, the team were able to accept more complex cases and fully implement the multi-disciplinary teamwork that is required to support a ‘Home First’ approach. As more complex cases have been accepted, the proportion of people recorded as completing the service with no further service required has decreased; however, we know from our monitoring of delayed discharges that the HAT approach is improving flow. The contribution of the Home Assessment Team also appears to be having an indirect impact on the Partnership’s overall performance in relation to patients’ discharge being delayed in hospital. 2.6.8 HOME SUPPORT SERVICE As of the end of February 2024, there were 2,305 people being supported by 955 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) care at home staff across North Lanarkshire. The in-house service has a workforce of Home Support Workers (HSW) in Reablement, HAT, Intensive, Longer-term Home Support provision and the Community Alarm Service. Across these services, a total of 1,403 staff are employed, with a worker profile of 6% male staff (figure inclusive of 101 sessional staff). In addition, there are 235 back-office staff in various support roles. Over the past year, increasing demand, service complexity and the recruitment and retention of a skilled and flexible workforce has remained a challenge. To mitigate this, we have implemented a range of actions to support improvement in the quality and consistency of care and support across our Home Support Service. The service model is being reviewed to ensure it is fit for purpose, in the current environment, and into future, including consideration of new roles introduced since 2019. Planned changes will ensure that the service is sustainable and can support both demand pressures and our strategic ambitions, in line with ‘enabling hubs and the Back-to-Basics approach. To support this, stakeholder consultation events were held in local communities to capture feedback on the current and future service model with surveys to seek views on the service being issued prior to events, with paper copies and QR codes also made available at these events. Initial analysis of feedback from people using the service and carers who responded reported positive experiences of care and support delivered by HSWs (Home Support Worker). A common theme from consultation however was the service not always getting the right balance of care and support for individuals receiving a service. Data from consultation events was captured and any operational issues were addressed Page 331 of 364
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29 by Service Delivery Managers with a more general improvement action being the was provision of a link to all HSWs to assist the service to prioritise reviews where the support required to be adjusted to meet individual outcomes Consultation events were also held for office-based staff during July 2023, and again held in each locality area. The events supported the workforce to understand and commit to the vision behind service transformation. The service continues to work closely with the Care Inspectorate to meet requirements and improvements that have been identified through the inspection process. All teams have now received a full inspection, with some teams receiving follow up visits to address outstanding requirements. The new inspection year will commence in April 2024, and the service has been informed each team will receive a full inspection during follow up visits. Over the last few months, the service has taken delivery of a brand-new fleet of hybrid 4x4 vehicles to replace its ageing fleet. This investment supports North Lanarkshire Council’s drive towards ensuring that a more environmentally friendly fleet of vehicles are in place supporting the citizens of North Lanarkshire. 2.6.9 TRANSFORMATIONAL SELF-DIRECTED SUPPORT (SDS) AGENDA & INDIVIDUAL BUDGETS The overarching aim of the SDS (SELF DIRECTED SUPPORT) transformation agenda in North Lanarkshire is aligned with the intention and values underpinning the SDS Act 2013 - to support and empower people to achieve the outcomes that are important to them, to lead full and meaningful lives, and to participate in, and contribute to, their communities. Our approach has a focus on ensuring that we deliver fully on the SDS principles of participation and dignity, involvement, informed choice, and collaboration. In 2023/2024 we supported 2,480 people with an individual budget, delivered across the four options as shown involving 99.7 million in resourcing and reflecting the centrality of self-directed support to social work practice: Option 1 – Direct payment - 360 Option 2 – Budget managed by support provider – 1,957 Option 3 – Budget managed by local authority - 152 Option 4 – Budget managed by a mixture of first three options - 11 Over this period North Lanarkshire have been represented on national groups reviewing the SDS Standards and facilitated by Social Work Scotland. We continue to be part of the national group who are developing an approach to the realisation of the standards reflecting our desire to support decision making as close to people as possible, decisions being made quicker, empowering frontline workers and leaders, and increase local creativity. 2.6.10 COMMUNITY LIVING CHANGE FUND/COMING HOME The Coming Home team has been in place since 2023, funded from the community change funding from Scottish Government to identify and support planning for people in hospital or out of area for prolonged and unnecessary reasons. The team have, through collaboration, identified the people who fall into this category and in line with Scottish Government guidance, have populated a Dynamic Support Register (DSR) for North Lanarkshire. Coming Home Review and implementation groups have been created to implement all the required measures to minimise people having to leave our area for support or treatment and the team continue to link with each allocated social worker for those on the DSR to track progress towards ensuring a suitable and preferred living arrangement is identified and actively pursued. Page 332 of 364
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30 Understanding who is at risk of support breakdown is a priority and prevention of hospital admission is key. Work has therefore also commenced to understand the at-risk population in more detail, with the aim being to explore what is required to keep people as well supported and safe as possible. North Lanarkshire’s allocation of the change fund was committed for a two-year period and is set to cease in March 2025. We understand no further change fund resourcing will be available after this date. We recognise the areas of focus and are using existing resources to develop our understanding further, with the aim being to minimise any impact. 2.7 DIGITAL SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION During 2023-24, there has been significant progress and investment in digital solutions to support the management of social work and social care services. In addition to developments in Assistive Technology and those linked to the Community Alarm Service reference above these have included: Mosaic Case Management System As part of the North Lanarkshire Council’s Digital NL programme of work and Digital and IT Strategy 2019-24, the council carried out a cloud readiness assessment to determine which line of business system would be suitable for transitioning to a range of cloud-based solutions. This reinforced existing service concerns around the functionality of our SWIS case management system and led to a tender for a new system. Mosaic, the new Social Care Case management system, will be used across all social work services and the tackling poverty team presenting significant opportunities to improve worker access to relevant information, provide a single source for data on the people we support, improve data analytics and reporting to inform service improvement, and better opportunities for data sharing across the partnership. Reflecting the scale of work required to safely and effectively support this transition the development and implementation of Mosaic is supported by a project team, which has spent several months working with teams from across all care groups and the wider system to configure the system to reflect our streamlined processes and workflows with testing to take place in late summer, supported by a training programme for staff commencing in Autumn 2024. Importantly the functionality of the new system is designed to better support practice. Dynamic Scheduling System for Care at Home Services (CM 2000) As reflected above the Home Support Service is currently engaged in a service redesign exercise and within the context of the wider redesign activity, has procured a digital solution to ensure staff capacity is optimally utilised supporting the provision of over 6,000 visits per day by the approximately 750 home support workers on shift daily and importantly also supporting improvement in continuity of service and the matching of the right staff with the right skills to people at the right time, essential to the provision of quality care and services. Procurement in February 2024 of the CM2000 product is anticipated to support service delivery by aiding back-office staff to schedule support and adapt quickly to changing needs efficiently and effectively with the opportunity to explore additional benefits which would allow both supported people and family members to access care notes via an application allowing real time updates. ELMS 2 – Equipment Management System (Integrated Equipment & Adaptation Service) The Integrated Equipment & Adaptation Service has for many years used a software platform which is no longer supported. The system manages the day-to-day demands of delivering independent living equipment services across both North and South Lanarkshire. This includes stock control and asset management. The legacy system has suffered from a lack of integration across other systems and applications resulting in a reliance on paper-based systems and processes requiring significant double keying, A newly procured software solution, ELMS 2, will now be implemented to better support service requirements including: • Direct ordering and tracking of orders technology providing delivery routes and times • Linking directly to the stock control process, reducing administrative functions Page 333 of 364
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31 • Use on handheld devices reducing the reliance on printed paperwork and providing real-time delivery information to the prescribers and route management • Improved monitoring of equipment due for review and maintenance • Giving staff direct access to equipment catalogues stock levels and service users equipment history ELMS 2 also offers interoperability and integration with Mosaic, Implementing these systems presents not just a shift from legacy systems, some of which are end of life, but also a cultural shift in using digital platforms which allow the service to function differently. The ability to access and generate accurate and real time information to support practitioners, the ability for supported people to access their own data and the enhanced data quality and integration offered by these products will continue to support the service across a range of settings. 3. STATUTORY INTERVENTIONS 3.1 MENTAL HEALTH OFFICERS SERVICE AND ADULTS WITH INCAPACITY ACT (SCOTLAND) 2000 There has continued to be considerable demand placed upon the Mental Health Officer (MHO) Service in recent years in terms of orders being sought under incapacity law in part because of large scale investigations which meant that a considerable resource had to be channelled towards meeting the demands of making new applications for orders. There has also been a significant increase in private guardianship applications. As illustrated in the above graphic there is a marked increase in new orders. During the period 2022-23, there were 150 new ‘private’ Guardianship Orders, with a rise to 248 in 2023-24, an increase of 49.2% on the previous year. Guardianship Orders granted to the local authority also rose from 73 in 2022-23 to 114 in 2023-24, representing an increase of 43.9%. A similar trend is seen with Intervention Orders which rose from 5 in 2022-23 to 19 in 2023-24. This representing an increase of 116.7%. The overall number Guardianship Orders in place for individual's resident in North Lanarkshire has fallen very slightly by 23 to 1,031, involving 237 (23%) orders where the CSWO is appointed as Welfare Guardian, with the remaining 794 (77%) being ‘private’ Guardianship Orders. Reviews of all orders take place on a regular basis, with the intention of ensuring that powers are being used in accordance with the principles of the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. Despite the slight fall referenced above the significant increase in new orders is matched by an ongoing increase in 9 15 38 24 9 19 38 30 42 80 24 34 0 6 4 3 3 3 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 AIRDRIE BELLSHILL COATBRIDGE CUMBERNAULD MOTHERWELL WISHAW Number of New Legal Orders GUARDIANSHIP ORDERS (LOCAL AUTHORITY) GUARDIANSHIP ORDERS (PRIVATE) INTERVENTION ORDER FINANCIAL/PROPERTY Page 334 of 364
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32 applications as illustrated below: Between April 2023 to March 2024, 272 new Guardianship Orders were requested an increase of 2% on the previous year– this total is inclusive of renewal requests for ‘private’ Guardianship Order. Local Authority applications and renewals totalled at 153 for the period. This continues a trend which has seen an increase of 67.3% in applications since April 2021. It is possible that the impact of Covid and extensions to the expiry date of orders during the pandemic may have had a bearing on these figures. However, what is evidenced is an upward trend in demand placed upon the service to allocate MHOs, to complete reports to support AWI applications, to the Courts, under incapacity law. This alongside recruitment challenges described below has led to delays in the ability to allocate MHOs to support applications which are less urgent, a situation which the service recognises runs counter to our desire to support anticipatory planning for individuals. 3.2 MENTAL HEALTH (CARE AND TREATMENT) ACT 2003 AND MENTAL HEALTH (SCOTLAND ACT 2015) National trends for civil detentions under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 have continued to rise both nationally and locally. Locally there has been a significant increase in the number of recorded Emergency Detention Certificates, up by 102% on the previous year and Short-Term Detention Certificates have increased by 4.4% on the previous year, 2022-23 however, the number of Compulsory Treatment Orders has decreased slightly at 2.7% less than the previous year. There has been a modest increase of 6.7% seen in the number of new requests for Mental Health Officer (MHO) input to ‘forensic’ mental health orders under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The requirement for MHOs to be appointed to Compulsion Order with Restriction Orders (COROs) and Compulsion Orders rose significantly with an increase of 52.2% on the previous year, 2022-23. All these figures are illustrated in the table below: Total Emergency Detention consents (101) 203 [102% increase] Total Emergency Detentions where no consent was sought (76) 47 [47.2% decrease] Consent refused by MHO – Emergency Detentions (0) 0 [No change] Total Short Term Detention consents (247) 258 [4.4% increase] Consent refused by MHO – Short Term Detentions (11) 6 [58.8% decrease] Page 335 of 364
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33 Total Compulsory Treatment Orders (191) 186 [2.7% decrease] Total Forensic Report Requests (28) 30 [6.7% increase] Total Forensic orders supervised (CORO/CO) (17) 29 [52.2% increase] 2022-23 data for comparison is highlighted in red. 3.3 DEVELOPMENT OF MHO SERVICE TO MEET NEEDS Previous reports outlined a rapid development within the service during the Covid pandemic. This saw the implementation of remote working and a centralisation of the MHO Service. Over the past two years, there has been a return to face-to-face working with clients alongside a hybrid approach to meetings. The centralisation of the MHO service at that time was seen to provide a degree of flexibility in the allocation of MHOs across the council area, to help relieve resourcing pressures in specific localities, as far as was possible. On review in 2023 it was however agreed that a return to locally based teams provided better connections and working arrangements for staff and better supported effective planning for individuals. This has now been actioned following appropriate consultation processes. Internal development opportunities continue with Mental Health Officer forums held quarterly. These events allow discussion on upcoming legislation and legislative changes and provide an opportunity for guest speakers to attend. Remote external training and development opportunities also continue through organizations' such as the Scottish Forensic Network and Scottish Association of Social Workers. 3.4 APPROPRIATE ADULT SERVICES It is a statutory duty for local authorities to deliver an Appropriate Adult (AA) Service under the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (s99), in line with functions conferred by the 2019 regulations. This legislation also places a statutory duty on Police Scotland (and other policing authorities as listed within the National Guidance) to facilitate an Appropriate Adult (AA) whereby they believe that an adult (above the age of 16) requires support with communication and understanding, owing to a mental disorder (s42). Over the last financial year, 12 new appropriate adults have been recruited, making the total number of Appropriate Adults within North Lanarkshire Council 39. 29 of these carry out the AA role on a duty rota basis during office hours whilst the remaining 10 undertake their role as an AA out-of-hours through the Social Work Emergency Service (SWES). In comparison to the last financial year, requests to the AA Service have increased by 30.5% from 59 to 77. This continues to be monitored through quarterly reports alongside regular meetings with the AA’s and with Police Scotland. The primary reason for people who requiring an AA was Learning Disability which accounted for 37 of the 77 referrals. 32 of the referrals were for Victims whilst 22 were for those ‘Officially Accused’, 16 ‘Not Officially Accused’ and 5 Witnesses. Of these 31 requests were to support adults involved with a Police Statement with the remaining referrals varied for support in procedures such as Caution and Charge, DNA, Medical Examinations, Police Interview Rights of Suspects (PIRoS) and Interviews. Currently, a process to gather feedback from the people using the service is being developed, to support feedback, assurance, and improvement. Links have also been made with other AA services and with the Care Inspectorate to share knowledge, skills, and experience to further develop the AA service within NLC. In the next financial year, the aim is to have developed a wider self-evaluation framework. As part of this development, a staff survey has been undertaken which has provided a further insight into the AA service as well as offering invaluable feedback on how to support and further develop the AA team. Page 336 of 364
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34 3.5 PUBLIC PROTECTION 3.5.1 ADULT SUPPORT AND PROTECTION VESTIGATIONS/CASE CONFERENCES AND STATUTORY ORDERS/ FUNCTIONS Over the period, North Lanarkshire received 3,314 ASP referrals, an increase of 9%, compared to 2022-23 (3034 to 3314). This is the fifth consecutive year that an annual increase has been measured. Referrals from NHS Lanarkshire colleagues continue to rise, showing a 11% increase compared to last year from 583 to 645 whilst ASP referrals from Police Scotland have increased 24% from 330 to 410. Social Work referrals fell slightly by 2% from 408 to 399, whilst Scottish Fire and Rescue increased 5% from 110 to 116. Care homes were the highest ASP referrer group in 2023-24 accounting for 34% (1,124) of all ASP referrals received a 21% increase on the previous year from 933 to 1,124, in part reflecting the challenges in managing increasing complexity of care needs within group living settings. Monitoring and support in this area is provided by colleagues in Quality Assurance. In addition, a pan Lanarkshire task group has been set up through North and South Lanarkshire’s Adult Support and Protection Committees with all care home stakeholders involved. This aims to provide support to care homes to achieve a balanced and consistent approach in relation to ASP referrals and decision making. Whilst Police ASP referrals have increased, Police ‘Adult Concern reports’ continue to increase also with a total of 4,280 Police ‘Adult Concern’ Reports received during the period an increase of 7% and reflecting the significant activity undertaken to keep adults in our communities safe. Physical harm remains the most common harm type for referral with 1,594 referrals received, up 11% from last year This high number of referrals with physical harm as the primary harm type is closely linked to the high number of ASP referrals received from the care home sector which often relate to witnessed/unwitnessed falls and low-level altercations between residents. As noted, work with care homes and stakeholders remains a priority in ASP. Cases featuring self-neglect can be some of the most difficult and complex for practitioners to manage as they often span ethical, legal, and practical considerations. For the period there were 309 ASP referrals relating to self-neglect, an 11% increase in comparison to the previous year. Supporting good practice in these circumstances is a priority and this area has been targeted through ASP multi agency training with a specific focus on defensible decision making and professional curiosity. 408 110 330 583 3034 399 116 410 645 3,314 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 Social Work Fire & Rescue Scotland Police Scotland NHS Total ASP referrals ASP referral sources 2022-23 2023-24 Page 337 of 364
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35 ASP Inquiry with investigatory activity It is important to note that NLC Social Work Adult Support and Protection procedures have now been updated. Key changes within the procedures centre on language and how we now view ASP ‘Inquiries and investigations.’ We now refer to initial inquires as ‘inquiries without investigatory activity’ and ASP investigations and ASP ‘Inquiry with investigatory activity.’ Importantly investigatory activity involves any direct contact with the adult or their legal proxy, as such, it is anticipated there will be a rise in investigatory activity, and this should be reflected in future reports. There was a total of 477 inquiries with investigatory activity in the reporting period reflecting the number of ASP referrals which converted to inquiry with investigatory activity is 14%. This is a slight increase from last year’s conversion rate of 13%. ASP Case Conferences A total of 66 initial case conferences held and 56 review cases conferences were held meaning 14% of all investigatory activity led to an initial case conference. This conversion rate has declined from the last reporting period (17% to 14%) and reflects a continued decline in this rate over the last three years. Statutory Orders issued over the period: Type of Protection Orders Number of Protection Orders granted Assessment Order 0 Removal Order 1 Temporary Banning Order 0 Banning Order 0 Temporary Banning Order with Power of Arrest 4 Banning Order with Power of Arrest 2 Total 7 The use of protection orders fell 50% compared to last year (15 to seven). It is recognised that where ‘adults at risk ‘are subject to protection planning measures, and as such, a range of actions have been implemented to mitigate risk of harm, this can reduce the requirement for an ASP Protection Order. 3.5.2 MAPPA (MULTI-AGENCY PUBLIC PROTECTION ARRANGEMENTS) Justice Social Work continues to work effectively within MAPPA arrangements to manage and support people convicted of sexual offences or otherwise identified as presenting a risk of serious harm (ROSH) to maximise public protection, whilst maintaining a proportionate and individualised approach to risk and need. The number of individuals managed under MAPPA has continued to grow year on year in part due to the rise in online offences contributing to increased demand pressures on the service. The increase in the number of individuals being managed under the MAPPA process with no corresponding increase in resource in funding and staff continues to put pressure on the service. This is a situation which shows no signs of diminishing in the coming years. This reporting year has witnessed an 8.4% increase in MAPPA activity from the previous year. Overall, the number of individuals managed under MAPPA have grown significantly since arrangements were established 17 years ago. Page 338 of 364
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36 More specific detail of MAPPA related activity is published annually within the pan-Lanarkshire MAPPA report. MAPPA arrangements interface often with other public protection processes including child and adult protection and with adult social work more broadly due to the increasing number of individuals managed through MAPPA who have care needs relating to frailty or disability. MAPPA awareness sessions for wider staff groups are therefore held regularly. In March 2024, a local multi-agency event was held, focused-on people being managed and supported under the Justice system with a diagnosed learning disability, or with neurodiversity challenges. This event was provided delivered by NHS colleagues. In addition, in partnership with South Lanarkshire Council and MAPPA partners two multi-agency events were hosted in September 2023. Staff from Social Work, Police Scotland, Housing, and NHS Lanarkshire attended a full day input in relation to Risk Practice which was delivered by Professor Hazel Kempshall. This offered a valuable opportunity for colleagues to reflect on shared responsibilities, joint practice and strengthened collaborative approaches to managing risk and enhancing public protection. 3.5.3 CHILD PROTECTION INCLUDING CONTEXTUAL SAFEGUARDING Following a trend identified in previous annual reports, child protection notifications have continued to increase as illustrated below representing a 125% increase from 2017/18. Year Number of Referrals Investigations Percentage Of Referrals Proceeding to Investigation Number of Investigations That Proceeded to Case Conference Number Of Registrations from Case Conferences 2023-24 2,326 768 33% 254 179 2022-23 1,895 775 41% 264 198 2021-22 1,714 754 44% 229 177 2020-21 1,482 831 56% 261 199 2019-20 1,617 800 49% 339 254 2018-19 1,150 642 56% 329 251 2017-18 1,030 692 67% 340 252 The overall increase in the number of referrals received is related to the extension of our child protection framework in line with child protection national guidance which now includes areas including care and risk management arrangements for those young people whose behaviour may present a risk of harm to others and extra familial harm within the contextual safeguarding approach. These extensions to our framework alongside Equal Protection legislation and additional pressures on families have increased demand but also consistency in practice and recognition, and response to harm, strengthened by early response to risk and harm by embedding our revised IRD (Initial Referral Discussion) guidance. Contextually it is notable that one in four children still live in poverty and progress in addressing the developmental concerns for children at 27-30 months slowed in 2023-24. Given the established links between poverty, harm, and statutory interventions we believe this is also a factor in the continued demand for support to children in potential need of protection. As noted elsewhere tackling poverty is fundamental to protecting children and supporting families in North Lanarkshire and both child protection and family support responses are integrated with our approach to tackling poverty, under the leadership of the Chief Social Work Officer. Page 339 of 364
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37 Our increased referral numbers have not resulted in an increase in children whose names are placed on the child protection register and this is due to the routes into our IRD process and the routes out of IRD. This means that alongside or as alternative to Child Protection Registration children can, where appropriate be supported by care and risk management processes, a referral to the Young People’s Safeguarding Panel and through family support provided to the family through the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) pathway. There has been an increase in older children’s (12+) names being registered on the child protection register. This change indicates that practitioners and managers are increasingly focussing on and recognising the protection of older children and their rights in line with our commitments to Keeping the Promise, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children (UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child)) and our investment in contextual safeguarding, The service has continued to work with the partners in the Child Protection Committee, the Chief Officers, and Lead Officers groups to monitor and understand the relationship between child protection referrals and rates of registration to ensure the right children get the right support when they need it. Our data suggests that children and families are receiving early help and support through our cluster wellbeing approach. This is telling us that our strategic focus and commitment to early help and support, through staged intervention and planning for wellbeing, through the clusters is the right direction of travel to improve outcomes for children and families. Joint Inspection Between April 2023 and October 2023, the partnership was also subject to external scrutiny through Joint Inspection of services for children and young people at risk of harm. The main findings from the inspection were: • The partnership has a strong multi-agency approach to early intervention, collaborative working, and information sharing. • Staff are confident in their knowledge, skills, and ability to recognise, report and respond to signs of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation. We work together to ensure timely identification and responses to safety concerns for children and young people at risk of harm • Staff demonstrate trauma informed and relational practices, which help children and young people experience supportive and trusting relationships with them. • Children and young people have early access to services to support their mental health and emotional wellbeing, before concerns escalated. Partnership approaches were helping to identify need and secure support earlier. 131 125 116 111 54 96 96 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 No. on Register as at 31 March 2024 56 63 54 58 24 33 29 38 44 33 32 19 34 31 27 12 22 16 5 25 29 0 0 2 0 1 2 510 6 5 5 5 2 2 0 20 40 60 80 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Age Range On The Child Protection Register As At 31 March 0 to 4 years 5 to 10 years 11 to 15 years 16 years and over Unborn Page 340 of 364
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38 • The majority of children and young people are meaningfully and appropriately involved in decisions about their lives. Staff listen to children and young people and understand them. • Senior leaders have a clear vision, which was understood by staff. It was threaded through strategic documents, plans, and outcomes. The partnership was highly aspirational and has a strategic focus to improve outcomes for children and young people. • Collaborative leadership is strong across the partnership. Leaders are aware of strategic risk and jointly deployed resources to the areas of greatest need. Areas identified for Improvement: • Chronologies, assessments, and plans are in place and staff are confident in assessing risks and preparing plans, the quality of these chronologies, assessment and plans is inconsistent. This will be the focus of our improvement work moving forward. Improvement activity cannot be achieved by the Social Work service alone and we are progressing the areas of improvement highlighted by our own self-evaluation activity and the findings from inspection as part of the wider partnership. Partnership actions are driven through our child protection business plan with the three main areas of focus being: • Voice: Strengthen Voice of children, young people, and families within the delivery of CPC functions • Operational practice: Strengthen joint operational practice with a focus on the quality of assessment and planning for individual children and young people. • Data: Strengthen the use of data to drive improvements in practice and process and strategic planning These areas for improvement are being addressed by the Continuous Improvement Group which reports to both the CPC and Children’s Services Planning Partnership. Contextual Safeguarding As reflected above we have continued our commitment to embedding contextual safeguarding as a key vehicle to address the increase in extra-familial harms impacting on our young people. Over the course of 2023 and into 2024, we targeted Domains 2-3 above - improving staff awareness and understanding across the workforce while embedding the recognition of, and response to, extra familial harm within child protection processes. This was reflected in the finding of the Joint Inspection of a culture of rights-based, relational practice and collaboration between young people and staff. Going forward we will have a focus on the conditions of abuse, improving safety, and providing support in a Page 341 of 364
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39 trauma informed way (Domain 1) in addition to taking a more strategic approach to the collation of impact data and monitoring of outcomes (Domain 4). Key areas of development to promote social work practice in this area included the creation of an online training module, the development of a Directory of resources and the availability of consultations for practitioners dealing with complexities in this area. A key area of our systems supporting young people who may be experiencing extra-familial harm is our Young Peoples Safeguarding Panel. Over this period panel actions were strengthened to focus on welfare and safety not surveillance with a fourteen individual young people and two groups of young people referred. Key themes identified included that many young people discussed experienced some neurodevelopmental difficulty, requiring specific support and follow up. The panel continues to play a key role locally in ensuring that the exploitation that underpins the offences that some young people commit is addressed through disruption and the reframing of information provided to SCRA (Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration) and COPFS (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service) to highlight the exploitation and support to young people and peer groups in addition to the increased use of the National Referral Mechanism where appropriate. Our senior officer for contextual safeguarding, played a leading role in a UK-wide research study of the experiences of social workers using the contextual safeguarding approach. The findings of this continue to inform our approach to staff support and training. - Sustaining Social Work: Practitioner experiences of Contextual Safeguarding | Contextual Safeguarding 3.5.4 GENDER BASED VIOLENCE Social Work staff across care groups continue to have a key role with respect to both the prevention and response to Gender Based Violence (GBV). The last year has seen work progress through the VAWG to carry out Customer Journey Mapping, a process of gathering information from women on their experience of services. Women interviewed were survivors of domestic abuse. Key improvement actions have been developed from the information given including domestic abuse inputs to trainee GPs (scheduled for the new year) an audit of out of hours homeless services to determine domestic abuse practice and a domestic abuse development session for frontline police officers in Lanarkshire Division. A multi-year funding solution is now in place for North Lanarkshire MARAC. MARAC in North Lanarkshire in 2023/24 discussed 424 cases, 96% of victims discussed were female and referrals included 852 children. A quality assurance sub-group is now in place and is chaired by Education and Families Manager (Social Work Justice). A process of auditing MARAC meetings and MARAC cases has been approved. The implementation of the Safe and Together Model continues with over 150 children, families and justice social workers trained in the model. Over 500 staff from multi-agency partner services have completed the Overview course. Work is progressing to support workers to take learning into practice. Monthly Safe and Together workshops where staff are supported to apply Safe and Together tools to a specific case are established. Workshops are open to workers who have and haven’t completed Safe and Together training. Strategic linkages are in place with North Lanarkshire Council Equally Safe at Work planning group. The group have representation from the VAWSG and has been working towards Bronze Award renewal. With a key milestone being the launch of North Lanarkshire Council Sexual Harassment Policy. UP2U Family Practice Model The UP2U intimate partner violence approach continues to be invested in by Justice Social Work (JSW) with new staff continuing to be trained in this programme and existing staff being given access to refresher training inputs. Page 342 of 364
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40 UP2U – Creating healthy relationships 2 is the updated version of the domestic abuse intervention programme. Staff have begun to use the updated programme with individuals convicted of intimate partner violence and who are subject to a requirement to undertake UP2U. Integral to this intervention is the offer and provision of partner support for those who have been or are still the victims of intimate partner violence. UP2U family practice is a version of the UP2U programme that can be delivered in a Children and Families context, and this adopts a more flexible approach to early intervention where domestic abuse has been identified within a family. This aims to work with perpetrators of domestic abuse to consider the impact on their children and the wider family. All children and families social work teams have identified Family Practice trainers, and this is an intervention that can be utilized as part of child’s plans. 4. RESOURCES For financial year 2023/24 North Lanarkshire Council had gross annual social work budget of almost £310m. This was allocated as £255m for Adult Social Care and £55m for Children, Families & Justice. The equivalent funding for the previous financial year was £292m. In totality Social Work activity during 2023-24 was undertaken within the overall budget resource and resulted in an underspend position. Social Work FY23-24 - Gross Expenditure Budget £309.547m ACCESS SOCIAL WORK (£1.097m) All Support Functions (£24.790m) ASC Locality Support (Inc A&P) (£23.367m) Assistive Technology (£0.130m) CARE HOMES (£44.157m) CARERS SUPPORT (£3.805m) CHILDREN AND FAMILIES (£28.834m) COMMUNITY ALARMS (£2.561m) HOME SUPPORT (£55.331m) IEAS (£6.290m) JUSTICE SERVICES (£8.495m) MENTAL HEALTH&ADULT PROTECTION (£3.307m) REGISTERD SOCIAL LANDLORDS (£0.716m) SELF DIRECTED SUPPORT (£97.047m) Children & Families A&P (£9.620m) Page 343 of 364
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41 Within Adult Social Care the underspend was almost entirely because of ongoing recruitment issues being seen across the sector, both internally and within the care at home sector reducing the payments to these bodies. The overall underspends across the service were a continuation of the 2022-23 position. These underspends however are non-recurring and the longer-term outlook for the service projects financial pressures across the following areas: • Home Support • Independent Care Homes • Self-Directed Services • Integrated Equipment and Adaptation Service • Children’s Houses • External Placements 4.1 FINANCIAL MODELLING FOR SERVICE DELIVERY Financial Planning and monitoring continue to be a key responsibility for the management team. The Council’s financial strategy includes Service input to four key processes. These are: • Preparation of detailed single year budget • In–year budget monitoring and projections • Preparation of rolling 3-year budgets • Preparation of a Medium-Term Financial Plan Alongside these the Council Finance Team work closely with the IJB Chief Finance Officer to prepare a medium-term financial plan for the Health and Social Care Partnership. In terms of financial modelling the Management Team increasingly take a whole systems approach to delivering new and more efficient operating models which often requires joint working with other Council services and key external partners. With respect to Children’s Services the council and local partnership is one of three areas who have committed to working with the Promise team nationally on ‘Human and Economic Cost Modelling’, work which is intended to support longer term change both nationally and locally by identifying how money is currently spent and the system changes required to move the balance of spend toward early intervention and family support in line with the aspirations of Christie. 5. WORKFORCE Workforce planning within social work is overseen by the Social Work Workforce Group, which both informs and is informed by the Council’s corporate ‘Workforce for the Future Strategy’ and the wider UHSCPNL workplan. 5.1 WORKFORCE PLANNING Challenges in the labour market have impacted on recruitment to certain posts and the pressures on local authorities and HSCPs to provide services in the face of savings agendas has also impacted on workforce plans. Demand pressures have also continued to impact on the ask of the social work workforce over this period. To support overcome these challenges, a close partnership approach between the service and HR colleagues has been built. Working together on recruitment, training and development and the management of employee absence, as well Page 344 of 364
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42 as developing and implementing initiatives has supported the service to manage demands whilst supporting workforce resilience. 5.2 SOCIAL WORK RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION Enhanced whole career support and development, allied to the wider ambitions of Workforce for the Future and the Scottish Government ambition to create a strategic framework from qualification though to enhanced practice, remains at the forefront of NLCs commitment to Social Workers. This work commences prior to recruitment, building strong relationships with further education establishments and supporting student placements in the development of future qualified Social Workers. Our commitment to the provision of Practice Learning has remained strong and a model which continues to include student hubs has supported ensure quality learning experiences are available to all students as referenced in section 5.10 below. To support both enhanced career pathways and recruitment our Social Work Trainee Scheme was recently re- established and funding for eight Social Work employees agreed via an earmarked reserve. In order to support access to a broader range of staff courses varying in length from 18 months to three years, dependent on the individual’s current qualification level, have been sourced and funded, with the employees fully supported in becoming qualified Social Workers. Due to popular demand 14 candidates who were not successful this time have had learning pathways identified to support them to continue their journey to become a Social Worker. A further 25 employees are also working through development plans with a view to progressing to the social work degree pathway. NLC has also sponsored five self-funded employees, as they studied for their Social Work qualification. Recruitment opportunities were made available to these students as they neared completion of their course. All five were successful and subsequently offered Social Work positions within NLC. In addition to internal pathways, we continue to recruit externally, and advertising frequency and dates have been reviewed to streamline processes and quicken the employee onboarding experience with improvements seen in recent campaigns. We continue to offer immediate access to our Senior Practitioner scheme for eligible Social Workers. These processes will continue to be reviewed, and improvements made wherever possible to support our ability to attract and retain social workers in what remains a challenging context. During 23/24 we also commissioned research into the recruitment of social workers from global ethnic minority communities, as we endeavour both to recruit a more diverse and representative workforce and improve the support and the experience of our BAME staff. It is hoped that any changes implemented for Social Work recruitment will also be of benefit to authority wide recruitment processes. Whilst too early to assess the full impact of the regrading of main grade, senior practitioner and first line management social work roles reported last year and actioned on 1 May 2023 the council is now more competitive in terms of salary, when compared to the other authorities and there are early indications of reducing vacancies and there is hope that this plus the support and development that is offered will encourage applicants and assist in the retention of current Social Workers. In line with the re-evaluation of roles the job description and employee specification for social workers has now been reviewed, and issued to all Social Workers, bringing this in line with the expectations of the role within an increasingly complex context whilst remaining grounded in relationship-based practice. Recruitment to temporary posts however remains challenging. These requirements exist for a number of reasons, including temporary promotions, maternity leave and long-term absence cover and the increasing number of roles related directly or as backfill for posts supported through temporary funding streams principally linked to Scottish Government recovery funding in justice services and change initiatives in other areas. Temporary vacancies are being Page 345 of 364
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43 closely monitored in terms of numbers, locations and the impact on teams. Whilst for a period, and in line with predicted turnover, the service was able to offer permanent contracts against temporary vacancies for social workers the capacity to do this has reduced as vacancies have decreased and many temporary funding streams remain committed only to the end of the parliamentary term. Whilst social Workers are being appointed through NLC recruitment processes and entering the workforce with new skills, creativity, and commitment there are now issues relating to the balance of experience within the service with a high number of relatively newly qualified staff. To mitigate this for both new and experienced Social Workers, managers are monitoring caseloads, assisting in the prioritisation of statutory responsibilities, and ensuring additional supports, such as Health and Wellbeing, are available when required. Support is also being provided through the hubs and the TOD Team are working closely with the service. The commitment to the requirements of the Support Year in Practice in both time and resource is substantial. A review of the Supported Year in Practice has recently been undertaken to ensure compliance with new requirements issued by SSSC, ‘Definitions of employer support 2023’. Prior commitment to NQSW support and development assisted NLC, however lack of funding from the SSSC or Scottish Government to support these requirements beyond the pilot period is disappointing and reconfiguration within the TOD team and additional input from managers will be required to retain commitment to this key area of support for staff. Targeted advertising has proven invaluable in securing the skill and experience required for specific posts in hospital and home assessment teams however recruitment, in particular external recruitment in the key area of Mental Health Officer roles has remained challenging and has not kept pace with need impacting on service provision in key areas. We continue to be committed to promoting the MHO programme to existing Social Workers within the service. The route is through the MHO Traineeship Scheme, which supports Social Workers in gaining an MHO award – a postgraduate award through the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. It is expected that three MHO trainees will successfully complete the MHO Award in June 2024, to then take up full-time MHO vacancies within the service. To further support the MHO Service and to help expedite the discharge of hospital patients awaiting powers under AWI legislation (typically in the form of Guardianship Orders), the MHO Service now has eight sessional MHOs who can be allocated work thus easing a significant pressure on Locality-based MHOs. Funding for temporary positions within the Community Mental Health Teams continues, allowing Social Workers from across Education and Families, Adults and Justice Services who are considering applying for the MHO award, to be a part of a Mental Health Team. The establishment of the Practice Assessor role and the ongoing work of the postholder, not only for MHO students but also for those who have expressed an interest in the course, is invaluable. Opportunities for experienced Social Workers including MHOs include the Senior Practitioner Scheme. This scheme maintains our commitment to Social Workers, and Community Occupational Therapists, beyond qualification and appointment. With over 50 practitioners holding the status the scheme enables those who meet the criteria to progress to an enhanced salary scale. The service also benefits with Senior Practitioners committing to undertake additional responsibilities within the authority. 5.3 SOCIAL CARE Linked with both the national and local focus on supporting hospital discharge and providing quality support and reablement within the community a significant focus remains on the recruitment of home support workers and other social care roles. Recruitment to these positions is in line with the strategic direction of the service and whilst there has been success, staff turnover has resulted in little net increase in staffing numbers overall. Monitoring of recruitment and the placement of newly appointed HSW across the six localities therefore continues with the wider Home Support Service review referenced earlier having a key focus on a sustainable staffing model. Page 346 of 364
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44 In recognition of the key role that Home Support Schedulers play within the Home Support Service, six new Home Support Scheduler Supervisors have been introduced. To date, five positions have been filled, and the remaining one will be advertised. These roles will direct, guide, and instruct scheduling through a person-centered approach, ensuring excellent customer service. 5.4 OTHER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CHALLENGES Other areas in which recruitment challenges are evident include roles within Locality Support Services and Clerical and Administration posts. The recruitment and retention difficulties within Social Work administration have resulted in a planned review and redesign which will progress over the coming year. In the interim action is being taken to promote recruitment to these difficult to fill roles, for example, linking directly with local colleges as adverts are released and work continues to develop apprenticeship schemes as a route into these areas. The service has also benefited from the corporate Summer Placement Programme developed to provide paid work to NLC pupils for seven weeks of the school summer holidays. Over the summer, fifty placements were made within Social Work services in roles such as HSW, Locality Support Worker and Clerical Assistant. Placements within other services have also been facilitated, for example in Early Years, Customer Service, Health and Safety and Sports Development. 5.5 CARE ACADEMY During this year and drawing on funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and earmarked HSCP reserves projects taken forward under this umbrella have included: Project one – Trainee Social Worker Scheme As noted in section 5.2 above there are eight internal Social Work trainees who have been successful in becoming part of this programme with a further 46 now on the pathway to gaining the necessary qualification which will allow them to be considered for future programmes. Project two – Upskilling for Home Care Workers In line with the qualification agenda, we continue to utilise the monies available from the UK Prosperity Fund to develop a training pathway for our Home Support staff. Our partnership with New College Lanarkshire has enabled us to procure access to ongoing spaces for the programme over the next year with another 60 workers currently undertaking qualification from our August 2023, November 2023, and March 2024 cohorts. The success of this programme has also allowed us the opportunity to extend this relationship with New College Lanarkshire with us recognising the ongoing staffing difficulties within the service and the level of new recruits also requiring access to qualifications within a shorter time frame. Project three – Home Care Support Officers We are continuing to liaise with services across the Home Support workforce to identify opportunities to support this group of staff to access suitable qualifications and opportunities for future employment pathways. However, this work will now be aligned with the redesign of the home support service and the new structure of the staffing complement. We envisage using available monies from the UK Prosperity Fund to ensure that we invest in this group of staff to both attract and retain the quality and skills of our support staff who are a vital resource for home support services. The group which will be targeted initially are the Schedulers and Senior Schedulers. A relevant career pathway has been built for this group of staff with access to a recognised qualification. 5.6 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND STAFF SUPPORT Our online platform for learning, LearnNL is a key component in providing improved access to learning and provides each employee with an individual learning record linked to the Performance Review and Development (PRD process). Page 347 of 364
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45 The reporting function within LearnNL allows us to filter and sort information in a variety of ways and ensures that training-related information can be shared quickly and easily with colleagues and with the Care Inspectorate when required. A specific social work space developed within the platform allows staff to see what training opportunities they should be accessing as part of their mandatory training requirement and optional opportunities for development and future progression. 5.7 ASSESSMENT CENTRE AND REGISTRATION Continued provision of qualifications through the Assessment Centre The Assessment Centre continues to support Scottish Vocational Qualification (SVQ), and Professional Development Award (PDA) qualifications required to meet registration, role and CPD requirements. This is achieved through both in house assessment and access to SVQs through external providers. Active Candidates – External Programmes (2023 – present) Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 6 (SVQ2) – 48 including Home Support and Locality Support Staff SCQF Level 7 (SVQ3) – 23 including Residential Workers, Locality Workers, and Justice Staff SCQF Level 9 (SVQ4) – six including Senior Residential Worker, & Locality Support Manager Higher National Certificate (HNC) – two Residential Worker and Children & Families Support Worker Active Candidates – Internal Programmes (2023 – present) SCQF Level 7 (SVQ3) – two: one HSW and one Technology Support Assistant 5.8 POST GRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES The team also continue to provide access to Post Graduate Certificate opportunities through the Learning and Development budget. The numbers undertaking some form of qualification are detailed below: • Advanced Practice skills – one commenced September 2023 • Postgraduate in Child Welfare and Protection at Stirling University – four candidates commenced September 2023 due finish June 2024 • Postgraduate Certificate in Children and Young People in Conflict with the Law – two candidates started in September 2023 completed June 2023 • Postgraduate in Adult Support and Protection – three • Postgraduate Certificate Securing Children’s Futures – one • Postgraduate in Mental Health – three • MSc In Leading People Centred Care – one • Part funding of final year of PHD qualification – one 5.9 SOCIAL WORK DEGREE PATHWAY WITH THE OPEN UNIVERSITY As reflected in section 5.2 there continues to be a strong appetite across all our Social Work and Social Care workforce in becoming a Social Worker. We have had interest expressed from admin staff, HSWs, education and family support workers, locality day services staff and other staff. We are currently working with 46 members of staff on individual learning plans; all of whom are undertaking Open University modules and working towards a degree in Social Work. The monies received from the UK prosperity fund enabled us to fund modules for staff from October 2023 to May 2024. We anticipate further use of the UK prosperity fund later this year to again support staff on the pathway and further modules commencing in October 2024 and February 2025. 5.10 STUDENT SOCIAL WORK HUB Page 348 of 364
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46 From August 2023 to date, 60 Social Work students were placed within North Lanarkshire; 52 being external students from four different Universities, with 14 of these students securing Social Work posts within North Lanarkshire and now progressing onto our NQSW supported year. From August 2023 onwards we have been developing two student Hubs: one Community Care Hub and one Justice Hub. Both Hubs have evaluated well, with very positive feedback received. We have seconded two full-time Practice Learning Officers and a permanent Practice Learning Officer who also oversees the NQSW supported year. Our Hub activity continues to grow and expand, and we foresee this continuing to develop in line with Service needs and demands. The Hubs are a reflective and educational forum for the students to experience peer to peer support, 1:1 teaching and support from their Practice Learning Officer. They also take part in extensive training sessions and presentations by external speakers whilst direct teaching from their Practice Learning Officer has included risk assessment theory, outcome focused practice, anti-oppressive practice, reflective practice, unconscious bias training, exploration of use of self, development of professional accountability, authority, and assertiveness. All of which are crucial in solidifying the fundamentals required of a qualified Social Worker. The students have also benefited from the relationship and links created within the Hub to gain shadowing opportunities and learning experiences with various other service areas/ 5.11 NEWLY QUALIFIED SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMME The Newly Qualified Social Worker (NQSW) Supported Year referenced in section 5.2 above will become mandatory across Scotland from October 2024. This is to ensure that support is given to NQSW in their transition to front line practice enabling us to develop an increasingly confident and competent workforce for the people who use our services and their families. 5.12 OTHER KEY TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES Provision of a practice learning pathway for link workers We have 120 link workers, and twenty-five practice educators based onsite with students on traditional placements. We currently have five link workers applying to undertake the PDAPL, which starts in September 2024. We also have a waiting list of link workers all interested and working towards making applications for the next PDAPL intake in January 2025. To fully support the Service and ensure the learning and development needs of all staff are met, a Social Work Learning and Development sub team was established in March 2023 consisting of two Senior Learning and Development Advisors, two Learning and Development Advisors and two Clerical Assistants. This team have been responsible for the implementation of a range of initiatives including: An updated programme of Adult Support and Protection Training including the delivery of ASP Level 1 refresher training to 1,000 staff and bespoke ASP level 2 training for home support team leaders. Provision of Getting it Right in Child Protection training including a broad range of e learning modules in child protection awareness, contextual safeguarding, understanding child neglect, assessment and planning for children and young people, child sexual exploitation and Age of Criminal Responsibility with over 2, 800 course completions. Safe and Together - We are working alongside our Child Protection Committee and our partners at the Safe and Together Institute to look at the further possibilities of commissioning specialist eLearning modules and materials in relation to the Safe and Together Model. Page 349 of 364
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47 Continued provision of Moving and Handling and Medication training - 352 Home Support staff and nine Home Support team leaders have attended role specific moving and handling training during reporting period. Implementation of a robust induction programme for HSW’s 152 HSWs have attended induction training since April 2023. The online HSW induction course is currently being reviewed. Carrying out a full Training Needs Analysis (TNA) across the Service to identify key learning and development needs as part of the development of the Learn NL Social Work dashboard. Refresh and reintroduction of Assessment, Planning and Recording Practice learning, this will also align with the most recent Back to Basics approach in Adult Services and Signs of Safety and Healing in Children’s Services ensuring person centred practice is at the forefront. This work was supported by a Steering Group of managers, practitioners and TOD staff who refined the training materials to ensure alignment with North Lanarkshire’s value base and best practice in addition to making the training more accessible, sustainable, engaging, and interactive to enable staff to re-access the training materials and learning whenever they require in the future. Introduction of Autism Awareness and Neurodiversity training delivered by facilitators with lived experience has also been a huge success. As of March 2024, we have commissioned Part 1 “Making Connection” and Part 2 “Building Bridges” as well as bespoke models which has resulted in 61 members of Social Work staff completing this targeted training. Refresh of the Senior Practitioner programme - It is envisaged that the new model will enable Senior Practitioners to be involved in development opportunities across the services and to utilise their enhanced skills and qualifications for the benefit of the wider community. We also envisage the involvement of our senior practitioners in the roll out of future assessment and planning developments and offering support to their Senior Social Workers by fulfilling supervising and mentoring roles to our NQSW in their supported year as per the revised standards and framework. Justice training and staff development has included Naloxone Training delivered In partnership with NHS Lanarkshire’s Harm Reduction Team, to help staff to respond confidently and appropriately to situations of overdose and assist combating the number of drug deaths among people engaging with Justice Services in North Lanarkshire. A continued training schedule is in place to ensure that all relevant staff receive training on this intervention. 5.13 TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICE Implementation of Trauma Informed training Towards the end of March 2024, we successfully adopted and integrated Trauma Informed Practice eLearning modules from the NHS digital platform TURAS to our own LearnNL. Since the launch of the modules in March 2024 staff have been able to access all the materials digitally. We envisage that work in this area will continue to grow with the roll out of the face-to-face ‘skilled’ and ‘enhanced‘ level training, as well developing our training for trainers programme which will enable us to develop our own team of in-house facilitators ready and able to respond to any training requirements in relation to trauma informed practice. 5.14 REVISION OF SUPERVISION POLICY Over the past year and following consultation our supervision policy has been updated and linked to a new toolkit of resources to support reflective and outcome focused practice aligned to developments in practice and also recognising that whilst one-to one supervision remains fundamental to social work practice that other supports such as group supervision and case consultations can play a key role in supporting practice. Page 350 of 364
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48 5.15 SUPPORT FOR STAFF WELLBEING Within each locality a variety of teams have held development days focussing on Health and Wellbeing (HWB), staff resilience and supports, team building, and this continues. Recruitment for an North Lanarkshire HWB officer took place, an appointment made in early 2024 to support this activity and to work with the NHSL HWB officer for a joined- up partnership approach. HWB is at the forefront of staff development. Various Social Work management teams were subsequently engaged by Organisational Development (and the health-based Staff Health and Wellbeing Officer), with particular focus on the ‘Stay Conversation’ project. These initial briefings and workshops have led to engagement across a range of teams for ongoing collaboration looking at enhancing Social Work Wellbeing. 6. LOOKING FORWARD – PRIORITIES FOR 2024-2025 AND BEYOND Continuing the pattern of the last two years demand for social work and social care services, often accompanied by increased complexity of presenting need, has continued to grow and surpass pre-pandemic levels across all areas of social work driven by a range of demographic and societal trends including continuing cost-of-living pressures impacting on the resilience of our communities. This is a pattern that is likely to continue into the immediate future. Whilst the service has been successful in maintaining a strong balance of care existing pressure points such as those on care at home services and MHO services have also been supplemented by new ones, for example growing demand for children’s house places. Neither the council or IJB have to date responded to financial pressures by reducing core social work staffing, however nor has there been capacity simply to expand resources to meet demand and pressures on wider budgets are also likely to continue to impact on social work service delivery. Moreover, innovation and investment in service improvement and redesign for longer term sustainability is increasingly reliant on temporary funding streams many of which are uncertain beyond the current Scottish parliamentary term creating additional challenges in planning, Alongside additional uncertainty associated with future proposals for a National Care Service, the proposed National Social Work Agency, review of elements of social work education and discussions on a national improvement programme, albeit focussed primarily on social care, have brought welcome attention at national level to the key role of social work. It is however disappointing in this context that commitments for investment have not matched those made to some other areas of the public sector with even relatively modest developments like the embedding of the ‘Supported Year In Practice’ from 2024 implemented with no funding support. Locally there is some indication that investment in the social work workforce may be reducing vacancy levels and the number of our own staff seeking a pathway into social work is positive and encouraging however although the potential introduction of a graduate apprenticeship in social work nationally is a welcome development it is unlikely on its own to meet need. Key areas of workforce focus for us going forward will include continuing efforts to grow our MHO workforce and to address the workforce vetting requirements associated with the introduction of MAPPS (a highly secure home office system) within justice services. Further work is also planned to consider the implications of local research relating to diversity in recruitment alongside national findings on racism experienced by BAME staff. In addition, continued attention to staff well-being and trauma informed systems will remain key both to supporting retention and best practice. In this context both to support improved outcomes and experiences for those who need our support and for demand and cost avoidance, the continuation of our focus on prevention will be critical over the coming year. Vital to delivering this will be our programmes to improve core practice such as the ‘Back to Basics’ work in Adult Services and ‘Signs of Safety and Healing’ in Children’s Services alongside continuing investment in early family support and carer support. We will also continue to maximise the opportunities created by the integrated working embedded in the Programmes of Work for the Council and that supporting the HSCP’s Strategic Commissioning Plan with a key focus also on improving outcomes and continuity of support at key transition points. Page 351 of 364
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49 The redesign of social work administration to a business support model alongside work to introduce the new social work management system Mosaic and the ELMs2 and Dynamic Scheduling Systems for the Integrated Equipment Service and Home Support respectively, will all involve significant preparation and time and people resource over the coming year but are again vitally important to future operational efficiency. Finally, the requirement to respond to and embrace a plethora of national policy and legislative drivers, external scrutiny findings and continued reporting requirements to the SCAI (Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry) will also continue to place significant demands on the service over the coming year. A continued focus on strong partnership working across and beyond social work including with those who use our services will be central to ensuring that our workforce is not overwhelmed and can instead continue its central role in delivering positive outcomes for our communities. Page 352 of 364
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: BS / TO’H Date 19/11/24 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report From: Barry Smedley (Chief Officer – Education South) E-mail: SmedleyBar@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: 07919 245 004 Executive Summary This report provides a summary of the financial performance of the Education, Children and Families Service for the period 1 April 2024 to 13 September 2024 (Period 6). The report highlights the projected outturn position as at 31 March 2025, including explanations of major variances in accordance with North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations. The Education, Children and Families Service has a net revenue budget of £513.356m for the 2024/25 financial year. Incorporated within the revenue budget are approved savings totalling £9.595m. It is anticipated that £8.258m (86%) of these savings will be realised during the current financial year with Service management action addressing the in-year gap of £1.337m (14%). The Service is currently forecasting a balanced budget position for the 2024/25 financial year. Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: (1) Review the financial position of the Education, Children and Families revenue budget. (2) Review the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 10 Page 353 of 364
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1. Background 1.1. North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations require Deputy Chief Executives and Chief Officers to remain within their approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations - defined as the higher of £100,000 or 5% - within their budget monitoring reports. Where significant deviations are identified, officers must provide explanatory commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant, must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 2. Report Summary of Financial Position 2.1.1. At the meeting of Council on 15 February 2024, North Lanarkshire Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget of £1,016.750m for the 2024/25 Financial Year, of which, £513.127m (50.5%) represented the approved net revenue budget for the Education, Children & Families Service. During 2024/25 there has been a net budget increase of £0.229m to £513.356m. These movements include the incorporation of confirmed 2024/25 redeterminations aligned to the Service. 2.1.2. The Service is forecasting a balanced budget position the end of the financial year. Further analysis of major variances is provided within Section 2.2 of this report. 2.1.3. The current 2024/25 budget incorporates £9.595m of savings previously approved by the Council. Further information regarding particularly challenging savings, along with associated management actions and replacement in-year savings, are included within this report at Appendix 5. Analysis of Significant Variances 2.2.1 The Service has a total employee budget of £376.793m and currently anticipates a projected net underspend of £0.664m. The underspend reflects actual and projected vacancies, along with the roll out of finalised HQ, cluster, and school staffing structures offset by other employee cost pressures within the Service. 2.2.2 Service employee budgets are partly devolved to establishments per the Devolved School Management (DSM) scheme, with the remaining budgets held at HQ level. Under the DSM scheme, devolved school/nursery staffing budgets for teaching and non-teaching posts are delegated to Head of Establishment management. Establishments receive budgetary allocations based on agreed formulas and distribution methods. 2.2.3 The Service is anticipating a net overspend of £0.257m within Property Costs primarily due to utility cost pressures within the education estate. 2.2.4 The Service is anticipating a minor net overspend of £0.028m within Supplies & Services which encompass various compensatory variances across the Service. 2.2.5 The Service is anticipating a net overspend of £0.253m within Transport & Plant which reflects current ‘Home to School’ contractual commitments and aligned cost pressures within ASN and Gaelic provision. Page 354 of 364
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2.2.6 The Service is anticipating a minor net underspend of £0.003m within Administration Costs which encompass various compensatory variances across the Service. 2.2.7 The Service is anticipating an underspend of £0.176m within Payments to Other Bodies. This underspend is partly explained by the level of demand for Family Placements in comparison to overall resources currently available following the receipt of an additional £1.162m Scottish Government funding for the start of the 2024/25 financial year. There are offsetting financial pressures within ASN pupil placements (£0.400m) and expenditure aligned to Gaelic provision (£0.203m). 2.2.8 The Service is anticipating an underspend of £0.195m within Other Expenditure which is aggregated across a number of budget areas including the music programme and various minor underspends within Children & Families. 2.2.9 The Service is anticipating an under-recovery of income of £0.501m which reflects the ongoing trend in reduced cross-boundary ASN placements within NLC educational settings. 2.2.10 At this stage of the financial year the Service is anticipating a balanced budget position across several budgetary categories including Transfer Payments, and Capital & Revenue Financing Costs as outlined in Appendix 2. Earmarked Reserves 2.3.1 In finalising North Lanarkshire Council’s annual accounts to 31 March 2024, the Education, Children and Families Service was given approval to earmark £95.265m of resources to fund key projects and initiatives. The largest reserve (£60.969m) is earmarked for future years commitments to school building / hub programmes. Other specific reserves include Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) carry forwards; Devolved School Management (DSM) carry forwards; resettlement initiatives, Whole Family Wellbeing Fund; and ELC / 1140 funding. 2.3.2 The Service anticipates utilising £24.358m of allocated earmarked reserves in the current financial year. This in-year projection reflects the planned phasing of resources (£9.938m) to future years following the completion of strategic reviews in relation to the operational requirements and financial planning assumptions aligned to individual programmes. 2.3.3 Future monitoring reports will continue to provide updates on the planned use of reserves during 2024/25, and in future financial years, as outlined in Appendix 4. 2024/25 Budget Savings 2.4.1 Incorporating base budget adjustments and specific proposals, the Council previously approved total Service savings of £9.595m to be achieved during financial year 2024/25. The Service assesses a variety of records and management information to monitor and review the achievement of its approved budget savings. As at Period 6, it is anticipated that £8.258m (86%) of the approved in-year savings target will be realised in the current financial year. 2.4.2 The majority of the unmet in-year saving has resulted from the formal introduction of the Early Years restructure occurring at a later date than was envisaged in the original programme timeline. Page 355 of 364
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2.4.2 Through a combination of utilisation of aligned EMRs and other management actions, the Service has identified replacement funding streams to fully offset the in-year savings gap of £1.337m (14%). Future monitoring reports will continue to provide updates on the deliverability of approved saving during 2024/25, and future financial years if applicable, as outlined in Appendix 5. Management Actions 2.5.1 Senior officers will review and implement actions through to financial year end with the aim of ensuring the Service continues to operate within its overall financial envelope. These actions will include: 1) Vacancy management 2) Creating efficiencies through the use of grant / external funding 3) Curtailment of non-essential expenditure 4) Application and utilisation of earmarked reserves to offset in-year cost pressures 3. Measures of success 3.1. The service operates within approved budget resources and requirements of the Council’s approved Financial Regulations. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1: Objective Analysis Appendix 2: Subjective Analysis Appendix 3: Payments to Other Bodies Appendix 4: Status of Earmarked Reserves Appendix 5: Savings Barry Smedley Chief Officer (Education – South) Page 356 of 364
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? As stated within the main body of the report. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 357 of 364
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The approach outlined in this report supports the Council’s actions in managing financial sustainability and financial management risks. Financial pressures and risks are reviewed on a regular basis by the Service Management Team (SMT), Business Management Team (BMT), Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Committee. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 358 of 364
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APPENDIX 1 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] Early Years 33,841,264 33,841,264 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Primary Schools 156,200,787 156,200,787 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Secondary Schools 146,348,721 146,348,721 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Special Schools 25,674,788 25,674,788 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Education Service Delivery 101,587,567 101,766,076 (178,509) ADV (0.2%) 377,395 Overspend primarily in relation to external placements / income under-recovery within the ASN sector coupled with observed cost pressures within 'Home to School Transport' aligned to ASN and Gaelic provision offset by establishment vacancies Children & Families 39,681,963 40,104,682 (422,719) ADV (1.1%) (838,438) Overspend primarily in relation to cost pressures observed within staffing structures offset by underspends aligned to Family Placement Payments coupled within curtailment of non- essential expenditure within various budget headings Justice Services 91,690 (36,561) 128,251 FAV 139.9% 188,066 Underspend primarily in relation to vacancies within employee costs Employability 2,861,086 2,631,046 230,040 FAV 8.0% 155,040 Underspend primarily in relation to vacancies within employee costs Community Learning 5,142,950 5,004,038 138,912 FAV 2.7% 13,912 Underspend primarily in relation to vacancies within employee costs and payments to other bodies offset by various minor overspends Tackling Poverty 1,925,071 1,821,046 104,025 FAV 5.4% 104,025 Underspend primarily in relation to vacancies within employee costs NET EXPENDITURE 513,355,887 513,355,887 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget ANALYSIS [4] NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Objective Analysis Period 06 (01 April 2024 - 13 September 2024) Education, Children & Families DIVISION OF SERVICE ANNUAL BUDGET PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT Page 359 of 364
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APPENDIX 2 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] EMPLOYEE COSTS 376,793,301 376,129,017 664,284 FAV 0.2% 266,674 Underspend primarily due to phasing of external funding; timing of recruitment to reflect operational requirements; Service vacancy management; offset by other employee cost pressures PROPERTY COSTS 53,239,801 53,496,939 (257,138) ADV (0.5%) 62,189 Overspend primarily due to utility costs within the education estate SUPPLIES & SERVICES 15,514,074 15,541,877 (27,803) ADV (0.2%) (27,803) Net overspend due to various compensatory variances across the Service TRANSPORT & PLANT 22,819,661 23,072,531 (252,870) ADV (1.1%) (439,712) Overspend primarily due to observed cost pressures within 'Home to School Transport' aligned to ASN and Gaelic provision ADMINISTRATION COSTS 4,410,716 4,407,522 3,194 FAV 0.1% 3,194 Minor underspend PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES 48,343,435 48,167,052 176,383 FAV 0.4% 42,348 Underspend within Family Placement Payments offset by overspends in relation to external ASN placements and Gaelic Education provision TRANSFER PAYMENTS 4,210,529 4,210,529 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget CAPITAL FINANCING COSTS 41,096,297 41,096,297 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget REVENUE FINANCING COSTS 0 0 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget OTHER EXPENDITURE 23,940,801 23,745,801 195,000 FAV 0.8% 100,000 Underspend primarily in relation to external grant synergies aligned to Music provision and various minor underspends within Children & Families TOTAL EXPENDITURE 590,368,615 589,867,565 501,050 FAV 0.1% 6,890 As stated above INCOME (77,012,728) (76,511,678) (501,050) ADV 0.7% (6,890) Under-recovery of income primarily in relation to ASN placements and service provision within NLC settings NET EXPENDITURE 513,355,887 513,355,887 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget ANALYSIS [4] NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Subjective Analysis Period 06 (01 April 2024 - 13 September 2024) Education, Children & Families CATEGORY ANNUAL BUDGET PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT Page 360 of 364
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APPENDIX 3 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] General PTOBs 9,000,119 9,159,372 (159,253) ADV (1.8%) 49,322 Overspend in relation to payments aligned to Gaelic Education offset by various minor underspends within the Service Additional Support Needs 8,833,581 9,233,581 (400,000) ADV (4.5%) (50,000) Net overspend in relation to external ASN placements Early Years 16,364,000 16,364,000 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget Voluntary Organisations 1,136,697 1,093,671 43,026 FAV 3.8% 43,026 Minor underspend Family Placements 12,786,752 12,094,142 692,610 FAV 5.4% 0 Net underspend within Family Placement Payments aligned to fostering, kinship, and adoption fees and allowances Children's Services - General 222,286 222,286 0 0.0% 0 Balanced Budget TOTAL EXPENDITURE 48,343,435 48,167,052 176,383 FAV 0.4% 42,348 As stated above ANALYSIS [4] NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Payments to Other Bodies Period 06 (01 April 2024 - 13 September 2024) Education, Children & Families CATEGORY ANNUAL BUDGET PROJECTED OUT-TURN PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE % PERIOD MOVEMENT Page 361 of 364
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APPENDIX 4 Value % Service Specific Earmarked Reserves: School Carry Forward (DSM) 2,655,000 0 2,655,000 1,593,000 2,655,000 100.0% 0 2,655,000 Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) Carry Forward 2,153,000 0 2,153,000 2,153,000 2,153,000 100.0% 0 2,153,000 Supporting Education Service Delivery 6,497,000 (68,941) 6,428,059 5,954,483 6,428,059 100.0% 0 6,428,059 Early Learning & Childcare 5,213,000 (1,880,851) 3,332,149 2,301,343 3,332,149 100.0% 0 3,332,149 Developing the Young Workforce Initiatives 680,000 (69,000) 611,000 154,018 611,000 100.0% 0 611,000 Supporting Children & Families Service Delivery 40,000 0 40,000 28,000 40,000 100.0% 0 40,000 Children & Families - Whole Family Wellbeing Fund 4,417,000 (3,146,000) 1,271,000 189,561 1,271,000 100.0% 0 1,271,000 SEF / SAC Carry Forward 943,000 0 943,000 758,622 943,000 100.0% 0 943,000 Shotts Prison SLA 116,000 (109,000) 7,000 626 7,000 100.0% 0 7,000 Employability Initiatives (incl. 'NOLB') 2,784,000 (687,714) 2,096,286 295,532 2,096,286 100.0% 0 2,096,286 CLD & Voluntary Organisations Youth Work Initiatives 248,000 0 248,000 79,169 248,000 100.0% 0 248,000 Resettlement & Unaccompanied Minors 8,323,000 (3,976,000) 4,347,000 1,408,927 4,347,000 100.0% 0 4,347,000 Tackling Poverty Initiatives 227,000 0 227,000 5,311 227,000 100.0% 0 227,000 PPP/DBFM Contractual Commitments 60,969,075 (60,969,075) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 TOTAL 95,265,075 (70,906,581) 24,358,494 14,921,592 24,358,494 100.0% 0 24,358,494 No Longer Required Reserves Required In Year Commentary Regards UsageProjected Spend NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Status of Earmarked Reserves Period 06 (01 April 2024 - 13 September 2024) Education, Children & Families FINANCIAL YEAR - 2024/25 DESCRIPTION OF EARMARKED RESOURCE Approved Reserve Profiled in Future Years In-Year Reserve Total Spend to Date Page 362 of 364
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APPENDIX 5 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Base Budget Adjustments: - Reduction in Children's Services HQ Employee Costs Children & Families 117 117 0 0 Sub-Total Base Budget Adjustments 117 117 0 0 0 Approved Savings - Review of ELC: Single Status Employee Resources ELC 2,000 750 1,250 Gap primarily due to saving phasing asymmetry with majority of ELC staffing cohort ceasing employment with the Council at the end of June 2024. Phasing delay included within the financial modelling assumptions of the ELC EMR. 1,250 0 - Review of Staffing Turnover Within Schools Education 375 375 0 0 - School Transport (Move distance threshold to statutory limit) Education HQ 1,200 1,200 0 0 Sub-Total 2023/24 impact of previously approved savings 3,575 2,325 1,250 1,250 0 Approved Savings (Operational Decisions) 16ECF Removal of Early Years Absence Funding Education HQ 294 294 0 0 30ECF Contracts and Provisions (Under-utilised budgets) Education HQ 45 0 45 Awaiting confirmation of discrete allocation within in-scope budgets. Management action regarding curtailment of non-essential expenditure 45 0 42ECF Under-utilised corporate parenting discretionary budget Children & Families 21 21 0 0 43ECF Service redesign and efficiencies through transition to SDS Children & Families 24 24 0 0 44ECF Reduce discretionary spend in training Children & Families 54 54 0 0 66ECF Under-utilised budgets Children & Families 125 125 0 0 Sub-Total 'Operational Decisions' 563 518 45 45 0 Approved Savings (Budget Decisions) 28ECF Network Support - Removal of unutilised budget ASN 213 213 0 0 62ECF Service redesign and efficiencies through transition to SDS Children & Families 42 42 0 0 78-80ECF Review if service delivery across Youth Employability Hubs Employability 670 670 0 0 81ECF Review of CLD service delivery, including the provision of youth diversionary activities CLD 163 121 42 Awaiting confirmation of discrete allocation within in-scope budgets. Management action regarding curtailment of non-essential expenditure 42 0 87ECF Music Service - Reduction in staffing Music 140 140 0 0 88ECF Removal of extra curricular activity delivered by existing staff Club365 1,090 1,090 0 0 - Historic Recurring Underspends EC&F 3,022 3,022 0 0 Current financial modelling assumptions indicate that this saving will be achieved. This will be kept under review during the course of the financial year. Sub-Total 'Budget Decisions' 5,340 5,298 42 42 0 TOTAL 9,595 8,258 1,337 1,337 0 86.07% 13.93% 13.93% 0.00% Delivered Gap Replacement Revised-Gap Ref. DESCRIPTION OF APPROVED SAVING DIVISON Target Value Value Deliverable APPROVED SAVINGS REPLACEMENT SAVING / FUNDING NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Savings Period 06 (01 April 2024 - 13 September 2024) Education, Children & Families DESCRIPTION Value Revised Savings Gap CommentarySavings Gap Reasons for Savings Gap Page 363 of 364
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