Update no 629 4th October 2024

If you have any news that you would like included in our Friday Update, please contact Richard Tyndall (details below)

Three children playing happily together

Updates

Ofsted school inspection handbooks updated

On 16 September Ofsted published revised school inspection handbooks

Headlines

The handbooks are primarily a guide for inspectors on how to carry out inspections of maintained schools and academies under section 5 and section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We also publish this for schools and other interested parties so that they are aware of Ofsted’s inspection processes and procedures under the education inspection framework (EIF).

We have also published guidance for monitoring inspections, along with ‘Inspecting schools: guide for maintained and academy schools’.

Reminders From Previous Weeks

Reminder

Future dates for network meetings

Network dates:

Lead Members Group: next meeting Expert Workshop #14 Self Assessment Triads Wednesday 4 December 3-6pm. More from Deborah Glassbrook (contact details below)

Adoption Leadership Board: 2:00-3:30 Wedenesday 16 October 2024. More from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

AD Education: 10:00am Friday 22 November London in-person. More from Chris Owen (contact details below)

Principal Social Workers: More from Mark Evans (contact details below)

Kinship Care Network: 2:00-3:30 Tuesday 18 November. More from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

Commissioners’ Network: 1pm Friday 15 November via Teams. More from Chris Baird (contact details below)

Network dates:

AD Safeguarding: Friday 6 December. More from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: Monday 16 December 2024 10am online. Contact Sian.fearn@kent.gov.uk for a Teams link.

Fostering Network: 10:00-11:30 Thursday 9 December. More from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: SEND Data Benchmarking Thursday 5 December 10am. More from Luke Ede (contact details below)

SEND SE19: More from Sheelagh Sullivan (contact details below)

Early Help: 10:30-12:00 Monday 9 December. More from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

Foster care allowances survey 2024

On 18 September The Fostering Network published Out of Pocket: Fairer Fees for Foster Carers

New data reveals £38,000 difference in payments to fostering families across the UK

Some foster carers are receiving £732 more per week than others, a difference of £38,000 per year.

Almost half of fostering services are providing between £100-200 per week, which for most fostering families is an annual income of £5,200 – £10,400 per year.  

The Fostering Network is now calling for each government in the UK to carry out comprehensive reviews of foster carer fees to investigate and address the discrepancies across the UK.  

LAFSE celebrates Black History Month

Book your FREE tickets here

Unaccompanied children seeking asylum and age disputes

On 4 September The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium published a briefing on age disputes

Headlines

In 2023, over 3,400 unaccompanied children sought asylum in the UK. These are children who have endured perilous journeys.

Many of them, instead of receiving the support and protection they needed on arrival, had to fight for months or years to be recognised as children because they were disbelieved about their age.

Hundreds more were excluded entirely because the Home Office decided they looked like adults.

As the Home Office has taken increased control over the age determination process in recent years, flawed decision making has increased and hundreds of children have been put at risk.   

Children missing education: the unrolled story

On 10 September The Children’s Commissioner published Children Missing Education: The Unrolled Story

Findings

Children who left the state education system and became a ‘child missing education’ were more likely than other children in state-funded schools to

  • be known to social care,
  • have a special educational need,
  • a social, emotional or mental health need, or
  • live in deprived neighbourhoods.

The Commissioner is calling for the Government, local authorities and schools to take a more robust and consistent approach to preventing, investigating and supporting children missing education.

Possible amendments to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules 2008

On 12 September MoJ published a consultation on possible changes to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules regarding whether Special Educational Needs appeals can be dealt with on the papers without the consent of both parties.

Consultation closes 5 December 2024

The tribunals want to deal with their backlog by changing the process for responding to requests for assessment on paper without a hearing. Furthermore, they are seeking to remove the LAs ability to challenge this or specifically request an in-person hearing.

The consultation document is here

The response questionnaire is here

Ways to respond ; Email to: tpcsecretariat@justice.gov.uk Write to: Tribunal Procedure Committee, Access to Justice Directorate
Policy, Communications and Analysis Group, Ministry of Justice, Post Point: Area 5.20, 102 Petty France. London, SW1H 9AJ

Delivering digital transformation

On Thursday 7 November 2024 MLL Telecom (MLL) and our colleagues at the South East Grid consortium (SEG) will be hosting the IT Strategy Summit South at the Amex Stadium, Brighton.

10-4, FREE to public sector delegates

This will be a one-day IT & Telecoms strategy event for senior public sector IT leaders and decision makers from across the South of England

Agenda

SEG’s aim is to provide a collaborative approach to delivering IT network services and are keen to build on the experience of existing contracts across East Sussex, Brighton & Hove and Surrey.

More information from Krista Pickering (contact details below).

Tools & Templates

We have produced a Regional Improvement Plan (June 2024)

On 18 September The Fostering Network published Out of Pocket: Fairer Fees for Foster Carers

On 16 September Ofsted published revised school inspection handbooks

On 12 September MoJ published a consultation on possible changes to the Health Education and Social Care Chamber Rules

On 10 September The Children’s Commissioner published Children Missing Education: The Unrolled Story

On 10 September DfE published Key stage 2 attainment for academic year 2023/24

On 4 September The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium published a briefing on age disputes

On 3 September Ofsted published a detailed response to its ‘Big Listen’ consultation,

On 3 September Children at the Table published Struggling against the tide: children’s services spending 2022-2023

On 23 August Become published Still Too Far – Children in Care being moved miles from the people and places that matter to them

On 23 August Kinship published Forgotten, a report on support for kinship children’s education and mental health.

On 21 August Action for Children published Four things you need to know about the UK care system

On 15 August NCB published A call for change – tackling inequalities in access to mental health support for children with social work involvement and those living in poverty

In August Skills for Care published Assessed and Supported Year in Employment (ASYE) child and family Annual report to the Department for Education April 2023 – March 2024

On 31 July the Centre for Homelessness Impact published Staying put: leaving care and the risk of homelessness.

On Thursday 25 July LGA and County Councils Network published Towards an effective and financially sustainable approach to SEND in England

On 16 July MSHR published Internal trafficking and exploitation of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) within England and Wales

On 11 July NFJO published This is what we think – Perspectives on being cared for from older children and young people – including those on deprivation of liberty orders

On 10 July CSA Centre and Barnardo’s SEEN published the first overview of research in relation to the sexual abuse of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage children.

On 26 June the BBC radio programme Money Box Live broadcast a 30-minute programme on Care leavers and how they manage their money

On 20 June DfE published SEND pupil census information, based on school census data.

On 17 June Joseph Rowntree Foundation published The impact of hardship on primary schools and primary and community healthcare

On 13 June The Fostering Network launched the 2024 State of the Nations’ Foster Care survey and it remains open until 30 June.

On 13 June DfE published Education and Health Care Plans 2024

On 6 June DfE published Schools, pupils and their characteristics 2023-2024

On 5 June Mr Justice Chamberlain published his final decision in the long running JR case involving ECPAT UK, Kent, Brighton and Hove and the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary. Neutral Citation Number: [2024] EWHC 1353 (Admin).On 24 May the Childrens’ Commissioner published Children’s experiences as victims of crime

Contact Details

SESLIP Consultant; Commissioners’ Network, SEND Courageous Conversations: Chris Baird (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

bchrisbaird@gmail.com

07855 492010

Education Network: Chris Owen (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

chris@bright-spark.net

07825 862330

NHS (SE) Clinical lead for CYP mental health: Cindy Mukombegumi (NHS England (South East))

c.mukombegumi1@nhs.net

SESLIP Education Data Group Lead: Daryl Perilli (Brighton and Hove)

Daryl.Perilli@brighton-hove.gov.uk

SESLIP Consultant and LGA SEND Improvement Adviser: Deborah Glassbrook (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

deborah@optimisingpotential.co.uk

07882 158959

The Staff College Assistant Operations Manager: Ellie Bevis (The Staff College)

ellie.bevis@thestaffcollege.uk

0161 729 1065

Business Manager for the South East Regional Care Cooperative: Helen Humphry (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

Helen.Humphry@westsussex.gov.uk

07821 302077

LGA Children’s Improvement Adviser: Helen Watson (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

helen.watson5@icloud.com

07810 011892

SESLIP Consultant: Isabelle Gregory (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

isabelle@firstcareconsultancy.co.uk

07931 586784

Director of Children’s Countywide Services and convenor of QA network for SESLIP: Kevin Kasaven (Kent)

Kevin.Kasaven@kent.gov.uk

South East Grid for Learning – Consortium Manager: Krista Pickering (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

krista.pickering@segfl.org.uk

07872 014083

Data Benchmarking: Luke Ede (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

Luke.ede@eastsussex.gov.uk

07925 148597

CSC Workforce, PSW and AD Safeguarding Network Lead: Mark Evans (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

Mark@markevansconsulting.co.uk

07803 147072

Regional Strategic Lead LA Fostering South East: Natasha Sampson (Local Authority Fostering South East)

natasha.sampson@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

07919 217185

LGA Corporate Improvement Adviser: Philip (Phil) Simpkins (LGA)

philip.simpkins@btinternet.com

Adoption; Fostering; Kinship and Early Help Regional Networks: Rebecca Eligon (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

rebeccaeligon@gmail.com

07944 996219

SESLI Programme Manager: Richard Tyndall (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

richard.tyndall@richardtyndall.co.uk

07880 787007

S.E. Region SEND Network Programme Co-ordinator: Sheelagh Sullivan (South East Sector-Led Improvement Programme)

sheelagh.sullivan@outlook.com