Agenda item

Report of the Executive Director of People

  The Cabinet Member considered a report of the Executive Director for People which outlined the current status of Ofsted outcomes for the 17 Children’s Centres in the City and progress against actions to address recommendations in order for the Centres to achieve “Good” or “Outstanding”.

  The Inspection process for Children’s Centres assesses performance and impact against a Statutory Framework of how the needs of children and families are identified and met within a geographical area. The overall outcomes of an Inspection is categorised under the following judgements: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement/Satisfactory or Inadequate. The key judgements are:-

  ?Access to services by young children and families

  ?The quality and impact of practice and services

  ?The effectiveness of leadership, governance and management

  The Ofsted Inspection Framework was introduced from 2010 and was revised in 2013. In Coventry, the Inspection of Children’s Centres to date have been as both stand alone and group based inspections. As a result, 16 Children Centres have been inspected both as single centres and as a group of centres. The outcome of the inspections have led to 4 single centres judged to be good, 6 single Children’s Centres and 2 Children’s Centre group (involving 6 Children’s Centres) judged to be requiring improvement or satisfactory.

  Appended to the report were the Children’s Centre Ofsted Inspection Reports and Action Plans for those centres judged as “Requiring Improvement” or “Satisfactory”. The report indicated that progress has been made in all areas identified through recommendations from Ofsted, as detailed in the Action Plans. Strategic developments such as integrated working, data and information sharing continue to be a focus in the development of the Early Help Offer, details of which were highlighted in the report.

  The Cabinet Member questioned the Children Centre Managers present at the meeting extensively on aspects of the Ofsted Inspection reports and action plans, particularly in relation to data collection and information, recognising that this is the main focus of inspections. In light of the information provided at the meeting, the Cabinet Member requested:-

  (1)  That a joint letter be sent from him and the Interim Assistant Director, Children’s Social Care, Targeted and Early Intervention Services, to NHS/Public Health partners seeking a commitment to health staff, including Health Visitors and midwives, completing the Involvement Form for all families with whom they are involved in order to significantly improve uptake of the Children’s Centre offer. 

  (2)   That the Cabinet Member be sent a copy of all current data collection/ registration forms for his information.

  (3)  That the Interim Assistant Director raise with her appropriate colleague responsible for Adult Education the issue of collecting data from Adult Education participants which includes information about provision of Adult Education courses to people who have children. This would then inform and provide evidence of the positive impact that attending courses has on families and children.

  (4)  That in future, appropriate Team Managers are copied into e mail requests from Children’s Centre to Social Workers to minimise drift/delays where there are changes to Social Workers staff.

  (5)  That in light of the difficulties outlined at the meeting arising from the practice of only using temporary contracts in the recruitment of Children’s centre staff, the Interim Assistant Director revisit this issue with appropriate officers, including Finance.

   RESOLVED:-

  (1)  That the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People notes the progress made against the recommendations following Children’s Centre Ofsted Inspections and requests that officers continue to work to develop the Children’s Centre service area in order to move Centres to “Good” or “Outstanding” at future inspections.

  (2)  That in preparation for future Ofsted inspections, all those Children’s Centres previously judged as “Requires Improvement” or “Satisfactory” are subject to a peer review/mock inspection within the next three months. The peer review should take into account that the main focus of inspections is data.