UPDATE NO 371 27 September 2019

Education Data Group

In December 2018, the AD Education Network set up a Data Group, with a focus on the Inclusion agenda – Children Missing Education (CME), children Electively Home Educated  (EHE) and children on part-time timetables. The first meeting was held in Crawley on 4 July and it was attended by 14 colleagues from 10 LAs.

It discussed systems and processes LAs have in place to collect, monitor and analyse data on CME, EHE and children on reduced timetables; data not collected as part of any statutory returns. CME and EHE data is collected as part of the SE Social Care benchmarking quarterly collection, but there are different definitions of CME across the region.

Mike Stoneman, (Portsmouth) gave a presentation on the work of the CME Task and Finish Group at the AD Education Network on Friday 13 September, which echoed a lot of the issues the Data Group raised in terms of the data held on these groups of children. 

The AD Education Network will propose a list of measures around CME, EHE and part-time timetables that could be collected as part of a regular benchmarking exercise. This proposal will be discussed at the next Education Data Group in November so that the group can discuss which measures can be reported on a regular basis and agree the definitions for these measures. The outcome of this discussion will be brought to the next AD Education Network meeting on Friday 22 November.

It was agreed to send a questionnaire to the Data Group to better understand what systems are in place and what definitions are in use. There were several examples of good practice on collecting data on part-time timetables, and LAs have shared their templates and guidance documents within the Group. There was also an NCER update and a presentation on Brighton and Hove showcasing their School Information Packs. The Data Group agreed that the meetings were really helpful and agreed to hold these meetings termly, with the next meeting taking place in Crawley on Thursday 14 November.

To find out more, please contact Daryl Perilli (details below)

Data Tools Project

The thinking behind this project is that the data teams in each LA produce “tools” that help them manipulate data, complete and report on statutory returns, but LAs are doing this in isolation. The aim is to identify what tools are being used and what is the best way for these to be shared.

In July, working with colleagues from Social Finance we carried out a survey and ran a workshop. The survey identified 10 tools and the workshop looked at barriers to good analysis and collaboration and at solutions to these problems.

Barriers

1. IT systems and data structures: difficulty reporting and sharing analysis due to commercial restrictions in systems and different data architectures 
2. Skills of the team: with staff turnover and limited training, the technical expertise (data teams) and comfort with data (children services teams; senior management) varies a lot between and within LAs.
3. Quality of data: the quality of underlying data varies, which leads to recording and reporting issues.
4. Lack of data culture and trust: teams tend to operate in silos and lack the necessary mutual trust to fully exploit the available data

Solutions

1. Pushing for common data structures and standards between LAs. This could be facilitated by DfE and/or Ofsted changing their reporting requirements.
2. Developing a standardised data training offer to attain common technical skills qualifications.
3. Providing a common legal basis and guidance around information governance, data protection and data ethics.
4. Developing a stronger data culture by engaging more senior leaders and team managers with the potential of insights from data.

Participants also came up with ideas of tools they would like to use to facilitate their analysis work and provide new insights.

We revisited this in the Data Network meeting in September and discussed how sharing a tool might impact on the LA and person who has shared it. This resulted in a proposal to develop a Knowledge Hub group with three repositories:

1. Tools for use “as is”, please don’t contact the originating LA
2. Tools under development, please contact the originating LA to help with development
3. Tools that are fully functional, please contact the originating LA to help with development

This is currently being set up and will be promoted to the Data Network.

Alongside this work, because there is significant overlap with how the ChAT was developed, we are running a workshop on the 3 October with the developers of the ChAT (including representation from Ofsted), Social Finance, Alastair Lee and Daryl Perilli. The aim of this is to learn from both projects and look at the longer term sustainability of a curated data tools library.

For more information please contact Alastair Lee (details below)

Developing Models of Social Work Project

Following initial scoping, the Developing Models of Social Work Project page is live and contains deatuls of this new SESLIP project 

The objective of this piece of work is to share and develop new models of social care practice that fit the times. Authorities are questioning their models of social care practice. Some are seeking to integrate early help and social care and would value some collective thinking about how these services are delivered in this new context. Some large LAs have been spending significant amounts to deliver major systems changes. We will investigate the options for shared learning and other collaborative approaches to support new models of practice.

Please can Local Authorities ensure the Principal Social Worker contact list is updated by 7 October 2019

A questionnaire will be sent to Local Authorities in order to collect and collate information about models of practice that are being used across the region.

This project is sponsored by Nikki Edwards, DCS Bracknell Forest.

For more information contact Diane Williamson (details below)

AD Education Network – new convenor

Thank you and farewell to Alison Rendle who has been supporting the AD Education Network – we wish you sucess with your next adventure. Welcome to Chris Owen (contact details below) who has taken over supporting the network.

Chris is continuing to co-ordinate the project to promote inclusive and restorative practice in schools. Last Friday the Network meeting received a full report on Children Missing Education from Mike Stoneman (Portsmouth CC) and the task and finish group. Full details of the Network’s activity are here. Current membership of the network is here.

Improving the Quality of Audit of Social Work Practice – 5 November

Following initial scoping of the Quality Assurance project, the next step is for us to meet with the QA leads on 5 November to explore current Quality Assurance practice. This meeting will explore what LAs do, why they do it, what impact does it have and how do they know ; what are the barriers and challenges and what are the levers and drivers to make it work. The meeting will focus on QA of social work practice and we will try to identify some themes, best practice, and opportunities for shared learning. 

We will then discuss these findings with the AD Safeguarding network to inform the planning for a regional workshop to be held in the spring. The 5 November meeting will be facilitated by Stuart Ashley from Hampshire on behalf of Steve Crocker who is the project DCS sponsor.

Could you please check that the contact list is accurate and if there is anyone else you would like to be invited to the 5 November meeting please send details to Diane Williamson (contact details below) so that invitations and agenda can be sent out.

The project now has its own webpage where the outputs of the scoping exercise and project brief can be found.

SEND SE19 DCO/DMO Public Noticeboard

We have launched a public noticeboard for the Designated Clinical Officer (DCO)/ Designated Medical Officer (DMO) network which is part of the SEND SE19 project.

Please can you check the contact details on the noticeboard and let Tracey Maytas (contact details below) have any additions or alterations. 

For details of SEND SE19 events in 2019-2020 please see calendar of planned events.

November – January 2019-20 Peer Challenge

The cycle of preparation for the November – January 2019-20 Peer Challanges is underway. We have brought forward the start date by a few months to avoid a clash with the Ofsted cycle of annual conversations which are due to start in 2020.

Please go to the Peer Challenge in the South East page if you want further information. 

Care Leavers and Council Tax Exemption

Abby Holder, North East ADASS / ADCS Policy and Project Officer writes,

Hello all, The North East region is exploring the possibility of a region-wide approach to council tax exemption for care leavers. Currently each LA has its own policy for exempting care leavers in its area, but we want to look at how this could work for care leavers now living outside their home LA area.  Just wondering if any other regions have done this (or looked into it) or any LAs have a system whereby their care leavers don’t pay council tax regardless of where they are living.  

If any of you know of any approaches that have been tried – successfully or otherwise – it would be good to hear about them and I’m happy to share where get to with this. Many thanks, Abby

Please contact Abby Holder direct if you can help with any relevant information.

Data Benchmarking and Early Help

The Data Benchmarking Group has carried out a review of the early help indicators currently presented in the Social Care benchmarking report. The report can be found in the restricted reports area of the SESLIP website (password required).

Please contact Alastair Lee (details below) if you would like access to the restricted pages, or if you have any other questions about the Data Benchmarking Group.

In summary they found that due to the different models of Early Help, producing charts that showed the proportion of one measure going on to another were not benchmarkable and that these charts should no longer be produced. The other recommendations were

1. to continue to collect the basic measures (Contacts, EH Referrals, EH Assessments etc) on the understanding that they may not be 100% comparable, but that trend data is of value.
2. to review what was meant by “Ongoing Early Hep Work” and “Children being Early Helped” as LAs were unclear what the difference was.
3. to continue to collect step-up and step-down data, although some LAs still need to find a way to record this.