Latest news with #Ofsted
BBC News
20 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
'Inadequate' Halton children's services improving
Improvements have been made to a council's under-fire children's services department after being told it was failing but there remains "more to do", inspectors have Borough Council's children's services department was rated "inadequate" in all four areas of its inspection by Ofsted in May last was criticised for a lack of "stable and effective leadership" and "workforce instability", with a government inspector being sent in to help turn things around and a new department head was also has now published the results of a a two-day monitoring visit in April which found "strong political and corporate support" and "significant additional investment" was supporting progress towards improvement. In a letter to head of department Zoe Fearon published online, Ofsted said: "There is a refreshed recruitment strategy and more social workers have become permanent."Social workers have been provided with a wide range of training. The learning from training is supporting social workers to consolidate, refresh and develop their practice. This training is starting to impact positively on children's experiences." 'Increasing stability' However, the letter said that for some children, what it called "inconsistent management oversight" was not supporting timely decision continued: "There is more to do to ensure that children's individual needs inform the social work response. There is not a consistently effective response to children living in private fostering arrangements."In specific relation to fostering arrangements, the headline findings said for some children, there were "delays" in the initiation of private fostering assessments and the completion of full statutory checks, which "created uncertainty" about the safety and suitability of each fostering inspection took in a range of evidence, including electronic records, performance management information, case file audits and other information provided by senior managers and staff, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Their report added: "Once arrangements are approved, not all children receive the appropriate levels of management oversight."This means that any emerging needs and risk may not be responded to in a timely and effective way. There is more to do to raise awareness of private fostering and embed more consistent practice."The council has relied on significant numbers of temp agency social workers in the past, which had also resulted in large overspends due to the increased the report said there had been increasing stability in the workforce as well as training which had led to more purposeful "direct work" with children and families. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Staff turnover fears despite improved Medway Council child service
A council's children services have been praised for improvements, but inspectorate Ofsted has warned staff turnover has "hindered progress".Medway Council has made changes since being rated "good" in 2023, the education watchdog said after a recent reinspection, but added that they still needed time to were raised that the positive steps made were on shaky ground because of ever-increasing demands for the service and the high turnover of staff and retention Price, Medway Council's portfolio holder for children's services, said the service had been on a "significant improvement journey in recent years". The visit, conducted in April, was to look specifically at the authority's performance in relation to children in need or the subject of a child protection plan, according to the Local Democracy Reporting inspectors said improvements had been made to the support given to children, particularly to 16 or 17 year olds at risk of homelessness, and there was a focus on developing the response to disabled children and teenagers at risk of of the service was also raised as an issue, with inspectors saying quality and impact of assessments, plans, interventions, management oversight and supervision could vary widely.A letter from the inspectorate to the council read: "Recent turnover of staff threatens to undermine the tenuous progress made."The stability and experience of the workforce continue to be the most significant and stubborn challenges and barriers to progress."Ofsted also recognised the leaders of the service understood the issues it was facing and the key areas for service was previously rated "inadequate" in Joy, shadow cabinet member for children's services, also welcomed the progress but said it remained "fragile given the continued challenges around permanence within the service".
ITV News
a day ago
- Health
- ITV News
Rise in school absence among autistic kids leaves Wirral family at breaking point
A growing number of children with special educational needs are missing out on school across the North West, with many families reporting long waits for support and diagnoses. Among them is 15-year-old Charlie Jones from Wallasey, who hasn't attended school in two months. He's one of thousands of autistic pupils struggling to access mainstream education, a trend experts say reflects broader challenges in the system, not just individual cases. 'I love learning,' Charlie says. 'I just want to do it in the right environment.' Charlie has been waiting more than two years for an autism diagnosis. His parents, Michelle and Dave, say school became overwhelming, and the lack of timely support left them with no choice but to remove him. 'We've had to work it all out ourselves - what he needs, how to apply for help, how to keep him learning while holding down jobs,' says Michelle. 'It's felt like a constant uphill climb.' Charlie's Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), which outlines additional support for his education, was only issued this year, after the legal deadline had passed. While it's a vital step, his parents feel it came too late to prevent disruption. Wirral City Council have since apologised for the late entry of the EHCP, which it says was caused by an error in Charlie's date of birth on the form. Figures suggest Charlie's situation is not unique. In the 2023–24 academic year, 8,090 autistic pupils in the North West were persistently absent from school, up from 2,534 in 2017–18. That's a 219% increase over five years. Wirral Council currently has the highest rate of persistent absence among autistic pupils in the region. A recent Ofsted report acknowledged 'longstanding failings' in provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). In a statement, Wirral Council said: 'In September 2024, Wirral Council committed to an additional £2.8m in recurrent funding to increase the size of its statutory SEND service, doubling the size of the team of caseworkers. The new service, SENDSTART, has been fully staffed since January 2025 and whilst this has yet to have an impact of 20-week compliance rates, the number of Education, Health and Care Plans being finalised has increased significantly. In both months March and April this year, more children had their EHCPs finalised than the totality of the sixth months previous. 'The Local Area Partnership understands there is much more remaining to be done until it is providing consistently good support and services to children and young people with SEND but is committed to doing so. A new SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy and Joint Commissioning Plan are about to be launched, outlining priorities and improvements to be made over the next three years. It is through the partnerships across agencies, and mostimportantly, with dynamic parent carer groups that we will make this change for the benefit of our children and their futures.' Charities agree that the system is under strain. Danae Leaman-Hill from Ambitious About Autism says: 'There are more children needing support than ever before. Services are stretched, but that doesn't change the fact that these are formative years, and delays can have long-term consequences.' A spokesperson for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside said:" Responding to feedback from parents, families, and children and young people, we are launching a new neurodevelopmental pathway and vision for neurodiversity services across Cheshire and Merseyside in June 2025. Schools will be supported by the NHS and Local Authorities to be trained in the use of the 'This Is Me' profiling tool to better understand the child's needs - leading to a targeted early support offer in response to those needs. "This work is part of our 'Partnerships for the Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools' (PINS) programme, which builds schools' capacity to support the needs of neurodiverse children. "This is an important step forward, but we know that there is still plenty of work to be done.' For Charlie, the hope is that the system will catch up with him and others. He's currently waiting to hear if he's been accepted into a new school that may better suit his needs. 'We're hopeful,' says Dave. 'We just want him to have the chance to thrive.'
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Solihull Council's children's services show improvement
Children in Solihull are receiving better and more timely support from social workers, an Ofsted visit has Council's children's services came under scrutiny after the murder of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in 2020. An Ofsted inspection in 2022 deemed the service inadequate with widespread local authority has since improved in areas such as managing safeguarding referrals and staff workloads an Ofsted inspector said after the latest monitoring council has had six monitoring visits since its inadequate rating, with a visit last year concluding that services for young people who had been in care had also improved. Ofsted's letter to the council setting out its findings was published on Monday, following a visit that took place on 29 and 30 April. Rebecca Quested, one of the inspectors, said there had been considerable progress with managing referrals to the service's safeguarding hub since the 2022 also said new arrangements, such as specialised workers based at family hubs and a recently-launched helpline, were helping some families receive early leadership and lower workloads for social workers had boosted the service since 2022, so the response to children who need help and support was now timely and the council's support for young carers was one area that could still be improved, as assessments of such children often did not include information from other leaders had acknowledged a need for more co-ordination in this area and had a plan in place.A commissioner was appointed in 2022 to help the council step-mother was found guilty of murder and his father was found guilty of manslaughter in Council has been contacted for comment. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Latest Midlands Ofsted ratings as three top schools 'outstanding' in all areas
Ofsted has published a raft of a new school ratings following recent inspections across the West Midlands. Inspectors visited their latest schools in recent months, announcing their judgements during May. It was good news for some headteachers who received glowing reports, while others were told they had work to do to get better. READ MORE: People born after this date won't get their state pension until they are 67 amid rule change Get our best money saving tips and hacks by signing up to our newsletter Schools are no longer given one-word overall ratings by the education watchdog under a revamped system. Ofsted now grades schools across four areas (as well as early years provision for primaries). The aim is to provide parents with more context about what is actually happening at schools and not leave schools lumbered with a rating headteachers may feel is unjustified, potentially for years. We have listed schools recently inspected below, following analysis of Ofsted reports. E-ACT Heartlands Acadamy, Nishkam High School and Nishkam Primary School all achieved a perfect score - outstanding in all areas. It wasn't such good news for Shire Oak Academy in Walsall Wood, which was told it was inadequate in three out of five areas. Ofsted rates schools in the following areas: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management - and early years provision for primaries. Birmingham E-ACT Heartlands Academy, Nechells - outstanding in all areas Nishkam High School - outstanding in all areas Nishkam Primary School, Handsworth - outstanding in all areas King Edward VI Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy - good in all areas St Margaret Mary RC Junior and Infant School, Erdington - good in all areas Topcliffe Primary School, Castle Vale - outstanding for personal development and early years provision. Good in other three areas Black Country Q3 Academy, Tipton - good in all areas Glebefields Primary, Tipton - good in all areas Sledmere Primary, Dudley - good in all areas Caldmore Primary, Walsall - good in all areas St Mary's the Mount Catholic Primary, outstanding for early years provision, good in four other areas Walsall Studio School - good in all areas Perry Hall Primary, Wednesfield, Wolverhampton - outstanding for early years provision, good in four other areas Shire Oak Academy, Walsall Wood - good for sixth form provision, requires improvement for personal development, inadequate in three other areas Millfield Primary, Brownhills - good in all areas Russells Hall Primary, Dudley - good in all areas Woden Primary, Wolverhampton - outstanding in four areas, good for quality of education St Peter's Collegiate Academy, Compton, Wolverhampton - good in all areas Elston Hall Primary, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton - outstanding for personal development and early years provision, good in three other areas
