Newsletters
Our Regional Improvement Plan can be found here
Our Impact Report published in March 2023 can be found here
If you would like to apply to be a SESLIP consultant, please follow this link to Kent Business Portal – KentBusinessPortal and after registering on the portal, search for Ref – SC240046 – SESLIP – DPS
Updates
The educational journeys of children in secure settings
On 27 February the Children’s Commissioner published The educational journeys of children in secure settings
Headlines
Children living in secure settings are at the sharpest end of this definition. Their numbers are small, with around 400 at any one time located in just 14 settings of differing structures and quality in England and Wales, but their stories are almost universally ones of being failed by services at every stage of their lives so far.
Of the 390 children living in secure settings who responded to The Big Ambition in 2023, just 38% said they agreed that they enjoy school or college, compared to 51% of their peers.
Only 20% of these children who had sat an English GCSE passed, compared to 71% of their peers in schools; and similarly, 20% who sat a mathematics GCSE passed, substantially behind the 72% of pupils in schools who passed.
The impact of school absence on lifetime earnings
On 14 March DfE published The impact of school absence on lifetime earnings
Headlines
Being in receipt of benefits increases by 2.7 times for KS4 students who have been persistently absent and
Being in receipt of benefits increases by over 4 times for KS4 students who have been severely absent.
In terms of attainment, there is approximately 1 grade at GCSE decrease for every 13 days total absence across year 7 to 11
‘Disguised compliance’: NSPCC learning from case reviews
On 7 March NSPCC published ‘Disguised compliance’: learning from case reviews
Read the blog commentary here
Disguised compliance describes the behaviour of parents or carers who appear to co-operate with professionals in order to allay concerns and stop professional engagement.
Headlines
Case reviews highlight that the term ‘disguised compliance’ is used by professionals to describe a wide range of behaviours. Sometimes the term is used without reflection on what might be causing the behaviour or what can be done to address it.
Concerns around caregiver engagement and patterns of behaviour can divert professional attention away from potential concerns for a child’s wellbeing. This can lead to cases drifting and risks increasing or prolonging harm.
Learning from these case reviews highlights the importance of:
- maintaining professional curiosity and reflective thinking
- staying child-centred
- sharing information and working together.
Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
On 6 March TASO published Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
A summary is here (pdf 4 pages)
The full report is here (pdf 35 pages)
Headlines
This report provides basic statistical findings on the general research question: ‘How do these different groups of young people with experience of children’s social care tend to differ in their progression to and through higher education compared with each other and other young people?’
The report is supported by six appendices providing more detail on methods, coding of variables and the full set of statistical tables.
We make no presumption that higher education entry is a necessary goal for all young people or that other destinations including work, care, further education and other activities may not offer greater value and significance.
We hope this statistical information is helpful to those interested in improving higher education and further education access and experience, by providing a benchmark in terms of current rates and in evidencing insufficient realisation of the potential, capability and rights of many young people.
YP who are NEET increased to 13.4% over the year to December 2024
On 27 February ONS published Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: February 2025
Headlines
There was an increase in the number of young people aged 16 to 24 years not in education, employment or training (NEET) in October to December 2024; the total is currently estimated to be 987,000, up from 877,000 in October to December 2023.
Reminders From Previous Weeks
Good decisions: supporting children aged 16 and 17 who need help when they are homeless
On 25 February Oftsed published Good decisions: supporting children aged 16 and 17 who need help when they are homeless
Findings show:
- only 9% of the children and young people surveyed said they had been offered an advocate;
- a lack of suitable placements and other resources may influence local authorities’ decisions about whether children become looked after or not; and
- some local authorities were still using inappropriate settings as temporary or emergency accommodation to house homeless children.
Tools & Templates
We have produced a Regional Improvement Plan (June 2024)
On 7 MarchNSPCC published ‘Disguised compliance’: learning from case reviews
On 6 March TASO published Pathways into and through higher education for young people with experience of children’s social care
On 27 February ONS published Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET), UK: February 2025
On 27 February the Children’s Commissioner published The educational journeys of children in secure settings
On 27 February DfE published Children’s social work workforce data for 2024
On 25 February Oftsed published Good decisions: supporting children aged 16 and 17 who need help when they are homeless
On 20 February the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman published Fostering better services: Helping to improve council services for foster carers and their children
On 13 February DfE published A level and other 16 to 18 results for academic year 2023-2024
On 7 February Foundations (previously the What Works Centre for Families and Children) published Parenting through adversity, the second in a series of practice guides commissioned by the DfE to support the roll-out of the children’s social care national framework
On 4 February Pause and Listen published In a Mother’s Mind: Birth mothers’ experiences of domestic abuse
On 3 February IJPDS published Estimated cumulative incidence of intervention by children’s social care services to age 18: a whole-of-England administrative data cohort study using the child in need census
On 1 February Centrepoint published Hidden In Plain Sight: Understanding Youth Homelessness in the UK
On 1 February The Fostering Network published State of the Nations’ Foster Care – Full Report 2024
On 28 January the Children’s Commissioner published Children’s involvement in the 2024 riots
On 28 January the APPG for Households in Temporary Accommodation published Child Mortality in Temporary Accommodation 2025
On 15 January ADCS published Safeguarding Pressures Phase 9. The full report (pdf 91 pages) is here. The summary briefing (pdf 2 pages) is here
On 14 January CAFCASS published “Sharing recommendations with you” which explains to children and young people what recommendations are and why it is important that they are understood clearly.
On 7 January LGA published a briefing on CWSBill
On 7 January Barnardo’s published a briefing
On 3 January the House of Commons Library published a Research Briefing on the bill
On 29 December Coram published The Door is Still Closed
On 19 December MoJ published Family Court Statistics Quarterly; July to September 2024
On 18 December DfE published Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Policy Summary Notes
On 17 December the government published the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill
On 16 December the Children’s Commissioner published Illegal Children’s Homes
On 12 December the Centre for Young Lives published Too Skint for School
On 18 November DfE published Keeping Children Safe, Helping Families Thrive – breaking down barriers to opportunity
On 14 November DfE published Children looked after in England including adoptions 2023-2024