Latest news with #EssexCountyCouncil
BBC News
6 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Assessing special needs in Essex 'continues to be a challenge'
Assessments of children for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) by a county council "continues to be a challenge given the high volume", a new report has than one in four education health and care plans (EHCPs) were completed by Essex County Council within the 20-week target, according to data for is an improvement compared with March 2024, when 0.6% were carried out within the legal time frame - which was the worst completion rate of any local authority in Nye from Witham, who has a child with an ECHP, said it was "appalling" that more than three-quarters of these children "remain failed". Geoff Hurst has Essex school named after himEssex County Council receives between 300 and 400 requests for an EHCP every month. As of March, the authority was responsible for 14,581 young people who required extra support for has been an increase of 1,221 children with an ECHP in Essex in the space of a year, according to figures from a corporate performance report for the start of 2025, 587 EHCP assessments have been completed, but they have taken on average 346 days to complete, according to the report. More than 3,000 applications are currently being county council says it has invested £1m to increase the number of educational psychologists to work on Ball, Conservative cabinet member for education, said: "We have been open about the ongoing work to improve the local Send system and are seeing the results of the changes we have made." 'Piecemeal service' But Kim Mayhead, who runs a special educational needs advice and support group for Essex families on Facebook, argued: "There's not enough funding. "We are a huge county and we are running a piecemeal service."I've been in this world of Send with my son for 25 years. It has got worse year on year."The report, which will be discussed at county hall on Thursday, notes that artificial intelligence is being used in producing the first draft of an EHCP - which is saving two hours per has also been a rise in the number of children who are home educated in the Essex county area, which stood at 4,333 during the first three months of report forecasts there will be 4,800 to 5,000 home educated children by the end of the academic year in has been "a significant increase" in children missing education, 570 as of early 2025 and a rise of 23% in a year, the report added: "Success can only truly be measured in terms of families' experiences and we won't stop until all families benefit." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Essex man walks 400km to uncover county's treasures
A social media influencer has described Essex as "like 100 different counties in one" after walking 400km (249 miles) to help boost local Lawrence - known to his followers as Man About Country - journeyed on a meandering route from Epping to Harwich, and then back south hugging much of the coastline to project received funding from Essex County Council and he will put together a book and short film about his findings."It has really boosted my faith that the people of Essex are just really welcoming and lovely people," said Mr Lawrence, who is from Chelmsford. Thousands of people followed Mr Lawrence's journey, which he documented on his Instagram and TikTok pages with daily video updates. He followed the Essex Way - a Roman road from Epping to Harwich - which takes in historical landmarks including St Andrews Church at Greensted near chapel is believed to be the oldest wooden church in the world, dating back to the 6th Lawrence's coastal route took him past the amusements at Walton-on-the-Naze, Clacton-on-Sea, as well as Mersea Island, Maldon, Burnham-on-Crouch and Canvey spoke to residents at each location to learn about the local Lawrence spent eight days walking the Essex Way in April, and after another eight days of rest, he then did his coastal Essex walk in 13 days earlier this month. Mr Lawrence told BBC Essex that some of his favourite stories learnt on the walk detailed the county's historical female figures - including Ann Carter who was executed for her leading role in the Maldon grain riots."Everywhere I go, I see these amazing Essex women from throughout history, and you can still see how women in Essex are like that today," said Mr Lawrence."It has been such a rollercoaster going from off-grid to very very on grid!" Next month, Mr Lawrence is hosting talks at 14 locations that he covered during his walk, starting with Pleshey Castle on 12 June."We are like 100 different counties in one - there are so many fabulous treasures, landscapes and stories all around this county," Mr Lawrence told BBC Essex."I hope by doing this walk, I can encourage people to get out and explore this land a little bit more." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Fostering in Essex is under threat, council says
Fostering is under threat in a county due to a falling number of carers coming forward, a council has County Council said it needed to urgently recruit 60 more foster parents to take care of the increasing number of children coming into care and replace the 50 who were about to Spence, the Conservative cabinet member for children's services, also said he was frustrated that only one out of 12 district and borough councils in the county had completed the fostering-friendly employment registration."Foster care is under threat," he said. "So many foster care parents are growing older, and so many of the challenges they face are harder."Spence said there were risks to youngsters being placed in children's homes and it was better for them to remain in their own home or another family setting. With "great regret", Spence said only Harlow Council had completed the registration County Council says the registration helps employers support staff who are fostering."Every leader and chief executive - I was assured by those who could see the knots - agreed that they would create a fostering-friendly employment offer."Spence said Territorial Army members were offered similar opportunities by can include paid time off or flexible working hours for carers who need to settle children into their homes, attend care meetings or training. Fostering in Essex About 800 children were in foster care in Essex at the beginning of 2025Of those, 688 were cared for through the council's internal fostering schemeEssex has 492 foster carersThe average pay for foster parents increased by 16% this year and a £2,000 welcome bonus was introducedResidential care is more than 10 times as expensive as placing children in foster families, the council saysNearly 100 children in Essex are in residential care that costs an average £300,000 per child per annum With a major shake-up of local councils being planned in Essex, Spence issued a further warning."If we are going to have local government reorganisation, you will not be financially sustainable as a council without fully embarking on foster-friendly employment processes both in your own house and among the major businesses surrounding it."This is an issue we cannot lose." Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Cost an obstacle to a healthy nursery lunch
Rising prices and children's reluctance to try new foods are two of the biggest obstacles to providing healthy meals to under-5s, according to a new report.'Nourishing Our Future' is the first-ever study examining food and nutrition in pre-schools in Essex - a county where 21% of reception-age children are obese or study, carried out by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and commissioned by Essex County Council, also identified that many lunchboxes of two to four-year-olds contained pouches of baby findings will be presented to MPs at the House of Commons on Wednesday by the authors of the study, who said a nationally-funded early years food scheme is needed. Lunchboxes 'never vary' Nearly 70 of Essex's 300 preschools took part in the study. Of those, 59% considered the cost of food to be the greatest challenge to healthy eating, with children's food preferences and allergies the second biggest settings only had basic food preparation facilities, such as a microwave, with two-thirds of children in Essex bringing their own food to preschool in the form of parent-provided lunchboxes. The nurseries said they contained more processed food with lower protein content and fewer fruits and vegetables than meals provided by preschool told the report: "Children are sometimes not used to being encouraged to try anything new! This is evident in some lunch boxes, where the contents never vary."The rising cost of food was consistently highlighted within the report, with one preschool saying: "Fresh food is increasing in price all the time; food purchasing in general has risen significantly over the last two years."Another contributor said it was difficult to provide food on a budget whilst allowing for intolerances and allergies."We really try to accommodate food allergies, but more and more children are showing [as] intolerant and [have an] allergy, and it is really increasing our spending on food," they said. The report recommends a nationally funded early years food scheme to support both preschool and parent-provided meals."Although there is a great deal of excellent work being done by preschools across Essex, there is a need for action to improve the nutritional landscape for young children, including improving children's relationship with food," said Dr Kay Agronricks, School of Education head at ARU."We would like to see appropriate national funding for preschools to allow them to provide healthy food for all children.""However, simply replacing lunchboxes with setting-provided food for one meal a day won't solve the wider issues for the child or their family, such as what will they eat at the weekend or during the holidays," Dr Agronricks also acknowledged there were wider societal issues to consider, such as the convenience of ultra-processed food and the targeted marketing of foods which are high in fat, salt and Aaronricks, along with Emily Fallon and Susie Threadgold of Essex County Council, were due to present the report's findings to MPs at an event held by the Food Foundation at the House of Commons. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
11-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Essex teachers say 'too many' children aren't school-ready
Teachers have told the BBC "too many" children start primary school unable to blow their own noses or take themselves to the readiness was examined in a recent Essex Caring Communities Commission Report (ECCCR).Liz Bartholomew, headteacher at Mayflower Primary School in Dovercourt, said some parents "don't have a clear understanding of children's developmental needs".Essex County Council said it was launching a task force to try to increase the number of children who are school-ready by 50%. Nappy changing Ms Bartholomew said an increasing number of students were starting primary school without being able to use the toilet a result, Mayflower Primary School had to adapt its building and create a nappy-changing facility."Then I have to have two members of staff come out of a classroom to go and change a nappy," Ms Bartholomew added: "Suddenly I only have one adult looking after 29 four-year-olds." Other issues raised by Essex teachers include pupils not being able to blow their own nose, hold pencils or sit up straight in their Bartholomew acknowledged that some children who are not school-ready live with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (Send).And she believed there was a lack of clear information available about children's developmental stages at appropriate ages."There have been so many cuts in years gone by that we just don't have support for parents," she said. The ECCR indicates that the education disadvantage gap for children with Send has widened, rather than reduced. The education disadvantage gap reflects the difference in academic achievement between disadvantaged pupils and their Essex in 2024, 21% of Send pupils achieved expected standards in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2. The figure for children without Send is 72% - an attainment gap of 51%.In the ECCCR, Essex County Council said it would set up Caring Essex: School Ready Task Forces in priority areas to increase the numbers of children who are ready for school by 50%.Essex County Council aimed to "build on and deepen existing collaborations" to help pupils achieve at least the minimum expected Key Stage 2 standards by the age of 11.
