The Tayside Plan for Children, Young People and Families (2021-23)
Perth and Kinross Council · 2 November 2022
Back to Learning and Families Committee — 2 November 2022 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL LEARNING AND FAMILIES COMMITTEE 2 NOVEMBER 2022 THE TAYSIDE PLAN FOR CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES (2021-23) Report by Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) (Report No. 22/266) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report provides an update on the continued commitment to joint working with the Tayside Regional Improvement Collaborative to deliver on shared objectives in a single Children’s Services Plan (CSP) for 2021-2023. The report highlights progress against headline actions within Perth and Kinross (P&K) and the full detail of actions from all three local authorities, and the statutory partners in NHS Tayside and Police Scotland, is contained within the annual update (Appendix 1). 2. RECOMMENDATION 2.1 It is recommended that the Committee: • Notes progress on the agreed actions within the annual update report; and • Requests the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) to provide an annual progress report and revised Tayside Plan (2023-2026) to the Learning and Families Committee in August 2023. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Proposals • Section 6: Further Considerations • Appendices 4. BACKGROUND 4.1 The Tayside Plan for Children, Young People and Families (2021-23) builds on the commitment shared by partners to produce a collaborative plan which
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ensures that ‘children and young people have the best start in life and that Tayside will be the best place in Scotland to grow up’. 4.2 Since 2017, when the original plan was established, there have been strenuous efforts to hear the ‘voices’ of children and young people in determining the priorities for service improvement. This plan provides an update on the implementation of identified actions and details the progress made on plans for the future. 4.3 The CSP is key to the delivery of Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC), at a strategic, operational, and practice level. The production of a plan is a joint statutory requirement of the local authority and health board. The aim is to work in partnership with public bodies, statutory and third sector organisations, children, young people, families and communities to produce a plan to meet local need. All partners have individual and collective responsibility to progress the implementation of GIRFEC and to deliver on commitments to The Promise as fundamental aspects of children’s services planning. 4.4 Within P&K, the Children, Young People & Families Partnership (CYPFP) has a key role in ensuring oversight of these aims and to provide governance on the actions which are reported annually. The CYPFP seeks assurance that the challenges are being mitigated and that there is commitment from every sector to achieving the agreed objectives. 4.5 The last two years (2020-2021) have presented extraordinary levels of challenge in delivering the objectives set out within the Plan and it is acknowledged that the impact of COVID-19 is yet to be fully quantified. However, despite this unprecedented pressure, the flexibility of staff and the resilience of children and their families has ensured that many actions have been successfully fulfilled. 5. PROPOSALS 5.1 The work to address priority actions has been undertaken within five strategic priority groups and the headline information for P&K is documented below: Priority 1: Pre-birth and Early Years Workstream Progress in Year 1 Actions for Year 2 Transitions Supported children with additional needs in their transition to nursery. Developing a clear assessment of need profile for children with complex needs who are due to access a Strong Start 2 place, with improved training for health visitors. Using tests of change to develop process maps and identify gaps in transitions processes. Implement a Tayside-wide process to ensure successful transitions and partnership/information sharing.
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Family Support: Welfare and Poverty Increased awareness of income maximisation schemes with increased referrals from healthcare professionals through to the Welfare Rights Team, leading to over 280 referrals and over £145,000 of identified financial gains. Development of mobile phone app and website to assist families in accessing information on income maximisation. Increase referrals from health and education to welfare/energy advice services. Early Years Tracking Development and roll out of software to allow improved tracking of children aged 3-5 within nurseries in P&K in meeting their key developmental milestones. Training delivered to settings and evaluation showed that over 80% of practitioners were confident in using the tool. Further analysis of data collected from Early Years tracker at a local authority level, with identification of further developments/interventions that support progress of children in meeting milestones. Finalise development of tracking system for 18-36 months with pilot and implementation plan. Priority 2: Learning and Attainment Workstream Progress in Year 1 Actions for Year 2 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Quality improvement pilot project in conjunction with Children and Young People’s Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC) focused on improving attendance and engagement. Use data from attendance pilot to develop strategies to increase wellbeing and raise levels of attendance, engagement and participation for identified cohorts. Digital Learning Virtual Campus launched across Tayside supporting 35 learners overall (17 in P&K) engaging with four Advanced Higher subjects (French, Spanish, Computing and PE), with staff from P&K involved in the development and delivery of courses. Development of Open Tay Learning, an online collection of Nat1 - Nat3 resources for learners in STEM subject areas. Widening of curriculum offer through Tayside Virtual Campus model. Roll-out of Open Tay Learning resources, with specific focus on learners with barriers to learning. Moderation and Assessment Joint training for Quality Assurance and Moderation Support Officers (QAMSOs) delivered to 67 practitioners across Tayside covering aspects of assessment, with high levels of confidence expressed by participants. Additional moderation and training events.
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Leadership Leadership Development and Induction Programme (LDIP) completed by 15 Headteachers (HT) across Tayside. Development of training and induction programme for middle leadership. School Improvement Development of interactive resource tool to support effective self-evaluation of the “How good is our school” Quality Indicator 2.3. Shared with HT across Tayside and used in HT Development Days. Reciprocal visits by central teams across Tayside will resume in September 2022. Monitoring of effectiveness and impact of 2.3 toolkit on classroom practice. STEM Professional learning and development of digital resources. Support to promote positive engagement with STEM. Continue to embed professional learning and sharing of good practice across the three local authority areas. Priority 3: Health and Wellbeing Workstream Progress in Year 1 Actions for Year 2 Child Healthy Weight Launch of the Tayside Child Healthy Weight (CHW) Strategy (June 2021). Focus of early work has been developing Whole Systems Approach in Dundee and outcomes framework for evaluation and monitoring impact. Learning from development of Whole Systems Approach in Dundee to be shared in Angus and P&K. Development of action plans specific to P&K in developing a whole systems approach to CHW in due course. Mental Health and Wellbeing Launch of the Connected Tayside: An Emotional Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Children and Young People (C&YP) (November 2021). Various activities relating to implementation of the Strategy, sharing resources and developing evidence bases for monitoring impact. Continued rollout of the Counselling in Schools service. 317 referrals to counsellors based in P&K schools between August 2021 and March 2022. Major issues identified as anxiety/stress, self- esteem, family issues and emotional/behavioural issues. Information shared with schools to enable planning and provision of support as needed. Integration of Connected Tayside strategy into local authority plans for promoting health and wellbeing. Ongoing promotion of counselling in schools service, using data to support school health and wellbeing planning. Evaluation of the impact of counselling in schools (supported by Abertay University) to support school staff in improving their understanding of counselling for children and young people.
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Priority 4: Care Experienced Children and Young People Workstream Progress in Year 1 Actions for Year 2 Education Analysis of attendance data for children who are looked after within P&K (and across Tayside). Biggest gap between children who are looked after at home, especially in years S1-S3. Link with colleagues in education to develop tests of change around improving attendance for children who are looked after (with particular focus on those who are looked after at home). Health Work ongoing within NHS to upgrade data management systems. Use health data to identify any gaps in health provision for care- experienced children and young people. Secure Care Self-evaluation of the Secure Care Standards across Tayside with support from the Strathclyde University Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice Studies (CYCJ). Workforce development and training. Brothers and Sisters New national guidance on keeping brothers and sisters together, with local authorities developing practical applications of the guidance. Build on national guidance and local learning to develop action plans that allow improved communication, identification of significant relationships and improved scaffolding around families in care. Priority 5: Safeguarding and Child Protection Workstream Progress in Year 1 Actions for Year 2 Workforce Development Launch of Tayside “Priorities for Practice” (key practice themes to support the child protection workforce and enhance the safety, protection and wellbeing of children and young people across Tayside). Development of a co-production approach to multi-agency workforce development. 28 managers and practitioners from P&K involved in the 5 different workstreams developing resources. Creation of training programme and high-quality learning resources to share with practitioners working with children and their families. Evaluation of training/resources. Performance Continued use of Tayside child protection dataset. Thematic review of a spike in non- accidental injuries in infants and young children in Tayside (Aug 20 - Mar 21). Series of learning themes identified and included as part of workforce development programme. Continue to use Tayside data to identify emerging issues and concerns.
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6. FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS School Improvement 6.1 Reciprocal visits were paused in 2021 as a direct consequence of COVID-19 and recovery. The key focus of the school improvement workstream has been the development of online resources to support self-evaluation. Reciprocal school visits by central teams across Tayside will resume in September 2022. Child Healthy Weight 6.2 The Whole System Approach, Early Adopter Programme was established in 2019 by the Scottish Government, to address its ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030. Ongoing work in Dundee (as an early adopter) has highlighted commitment to developing a range of strategies in each local authority area to address this issue. This learning will inform the development of action within P&K in forthcoming years. Health Improvement Plans for Care-experienced Children and Young People 6.3 Essential updates of NHS data systems have caused a delay in the development of this area of work. However, it is hoped that work to analyse the data and develop improvement plans can be started in Year 2 of the current Tayside Plan. Care-experienced Children (Brothers and Sisters) 6.4 Whilst new national practice guidance to support the rights of care experienced children and their brothers and sisters was published in July 2021, there is ongoing work at a national level to consider the practical application of the guidance. Within P&K, we have introduced Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) and Lifelong Links to ensure that we meet our commitment to keep The Promise. FGDM and Lifelong Links are designed to drive changes in culture and practice, to improve decision-making and to support care experienced children to build a network of supportive relationships into adulthood. Work to progress the development of collaborative actions across Tayside will be determined by the outcome of the national work. 6.5 It is recommended that Committee: (i) Notes progress on the agreed actions within the annual update report; and (ii) Requests the Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) provide an annual progress report and revised Tayside Plan (2023- 2026) to the Learning and Families Committee in August 2023.
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Authors Name Designation Contact Details Hazel Robertson Carol McAuley Head of Service for Children, Young People and Families Project Officer ECSCommittee@pkc.gov.uk 07138 475000 Approved Name Designation Date Sheena Devlin Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) 24 October 2022
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes/None Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial None Workforce None Asset Management (land, property, IST) None Assessments Equality Impact Assessment None Strategic Environmental Assessment None Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) None Legal and Governance None Risk None Consultation Internal Yes External N/A Communication Communications Plan Yes 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement 1.1 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the delivery of the Perth and Kinross Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement in terms of the following priorities: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations. This report relates to all of these objectives. Corporate Plan 1.2 This section sets out how the proposals relate to the achievement of the Council’s Corporate Plan Objectives: (i) Giving every child the best start in life; (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens; (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy; (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives; and (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations.
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This report relates to all of these objectives. 1.3 The report also links to the Education & Children’s Services Vision, Values and Priorities in respect of all of the key Priority areas. 2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 To support delivery of the aims of the joint Children’s Services Plan, Tayside Regional Improvement Collaborative (TRIC) activity has been funded by the Scottish Government via a grant allocation for the period 1 August 2021 to 31 July 2022. Funding for 2021-22 was £758k across Tayside. Workforce 2.2 N/A Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 N/A 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. The proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EqIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as not relevant for the purposes of EqIA. Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.2 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. The proposals have been considered under the Act and no further action is required as it does not qualify as a PPS as defined by the Act and is therefore exempt.
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Sustainability 3.3 N/A Legal and Governance 3.4 N/A 3.5 N/A Risk 3.6 N/A 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 The Executive Director (Education and Children’s Services) has been consulted in the preparation of this report. External 4.2 N/A 5. Communication 5.1 The communications for the progress reports for 2021-2022 are arranged via the TRIC resources. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 No background papers, as defined by Section 50D of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (other than any containing confidential or exempt information) were relied on to any material extent in preparing the above report. 3. APPENDICES 3.1 Appendix 1 - Tayside Plan for Children, Young People and Families Annual Report 2021 - 2022