UPDATE NO 446 26 March 2021

Data science apprenticeship launched

Alastair Lee (contact details below) writes, 

“Dear all

“The data science apprenticeship supported by the DfE (via the Data to Insight project) for children’s services analysts had its first session yesterday. We had hoped to recruit 20 for the first cohort and we achieved 39 participants from 29 LAs. Thanks to Dave Myers and Julia Yong at DfE and to our partners at Social Finance for the work to set up the programme.”

Congratulations to the Data to Insight team on a magnificent achievement.

Data to Insight is a national project funded by the DfE, and led and hosted in the South East by Alastair Lee and East Sussex County Council.

Refuge and Risk Report – Life Online for Vulnerable Young People

Heather Hadfield (SEGfL, contact details below) writes,

“This recent Refuge and Risk report is a very useful and interesting read. It is published by Internet Matters.Org. It provides insight into 6,500+ UK children with some form of vulnerability, how the online world has become their lifeline. Some are to up to seven times more likely to meet particular dangers over the internet than their non-vulnerable peers.

“The full report Life Online for Vulnerable Young People can be downloaded here. 

“I am in the process of putting together a free programme of webinars around inclusion and diversity for SEGfL members, having engaged a company GEC who specialise in this area. Some of the webinars will be aimed more broadly at all LA staff who want to join and others will be for school staff. The topics are likely to be: 

“Flexible Working; Disadvantage; Inclusive Schools; Anti-Racism; Disability  

“If anyone is interested in this programme and would like to discuss how they might support its development, or benefit from its delivery, please contact me (details below). 

“Kind regards, Heather”

Launch of Supporting Families 2021-22

The DfE has announced the launch of supporting families 2021-22. The links below take you to the details

Supporting Families Programme guidance 2021 to 2022 (view a summary of the key updates here).

Also published is a refreshed policy narrative relating to the third iteration of the Supporting Families Programme in 2021 to 2022, and Improving families’ lives: annual report of the Troubled Families Programme 2020 to 2021

Local Data Accelerator Fund for Children and Families: Prospectus

The government has launched a £7.9m fund to support children and families through better use of local data: 

“MHCLG is making available £7.9 million for data projects which improve outcomes for children and families. Local organisations are asked to bid in groups.

“The closing date for applications is 11pm on Friday 30 April 2021.” The prospectus is here.

Through the Data to Insight project (see elsewhere in Latest News) we have a strong interest in bidding for further funds to continue our partnership working in this area.

Please contact Alastair Lee (details below) for further discussions about what might be possible in this next round of funding.

Future dates for Network meetings

Lead Members Group: Friday 23 April joint meeting with DCSs. More information from Alison Michalska (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: Tuesday 13 July 2021. More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: Tuesday 20 April 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 7 May 2021 – 10.30am. More information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

AD Safeguarding: Friday 11 June 2021. More information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: More information from Diane Williamson (contact details below)

Fostering Network: 10.30am Thursday 12 April 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: More information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

Perplexing Presentations (PP) / Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) in Children: Guidance from RCPCH

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Child Protection Portal (RCPCH) has published new guidance which provides best practice advice for paediatricians in the medical management of PP and FII cases to obtain better outcomes for children.

Since the publication of the RCPCH guidance on Fabricated or Induced Illness by Carers (FII) in 2009, there have been significant developments in the field. The RCPCH Child Protection Companion 2013 extended the definition of FII by introducing the term Perplexing Presentations with new suggestions for management.

This new guidance provides procedures for safeguarding children who present with perplexing presentations and FII and offers practical advice for paediatricians on when and how to recognise it, how to assess risk and how to manage these types of presentations in order to obtain better outcomes for children.

The full guidance is available here and it helpfully defines

• Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS) (and its synonyms Non-organic symptoms, Functional illness, Psychosomatic symptoms);
• Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII) (and its synonyms Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy; Pediatric Condition Falsification; Medical Child Abuse; Parent-Fabricated Illness in a Child; (Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another, when there is explicit deception)); and
• Perplexing Presentations (PP)

Slough Children First – Board Vacancies

Slough Borough Council and Slough Children’s Services Trust are relaunching the trust under the name Slough Children First and are advertising for a board chair and 3 x non-executive directors.

The adverts can be accessed here for chair (closing date 6 April) and here for non-executive directors (closing date 16 April). The recruitment is being managed by Nancy Scott or Elise Kanareck on 020 7426 3370 at GatenbySanderson.

Ofsted and SEND: Revisits to areas with a written statement of action will start from April 2021.

Dimitris Solomonidis writes:

Dear colleagues

We are now able to share with you the news story about the restart of Area SEND re-visits and full inspections. Thank you again for your engagement and contribution to shaping our thinking and approach on the restart. We should be grateful if you would help circulate this announcement through your existing channels, such as newsletters, blogs, websites and social media accounts.

Many thanks and best wishes, SEND policy team

Revisits to areas with a written statement of action will start from April 2021.

Full inspection will resume from June 2021.

Ofsted guidance for inspectors is here