oracle Report post Posted April 21, 2006 Please stick with this post it 'might 'just be something which can actually make a positive impact on your life I found out on Wednesday that within every Region the Government have appointed to their Regional Government Office a Director of Children and Learners. The sole purpose of this post is to ensure that 'EVERY CHILD' and I do mean 'EVERY' is achieving the five aims of Every Child Matters those aims being Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being How many do you really think your child is being able to achieve in school at the moment? Well along with one of our AIM coordinators we have been doing a little bit of digging and maybe we have struck gold or at least a way of making your all new singing and dancing Local Authorities account for themselves and raise their games? It appears that as well as the Director we all have a Children's Services Advisor whom we can bend the ear of should we think that our children are not achieving the five aims (does not have to be all of them) First impressions are that they really want to hear from us I know I had to lie down to. It also appears that on a yearly basis there will be a what is called a Priority Conversation with the Local Authority, Childrens Services Director and the Government Children's Services advisers. We are not yet sure but we have been told that interested parties 'may' also be able to attend this meeting Hope so We have been told that the thing to do is to gather evidence of 'gaps' in the provision that lead to our kids not being able to achieve the 5 outcomes. BUT and this is a BIGGY some Authorities may well have the provision but the schools are either refusing the input or the LA are not making them aware of it. This is also an important issues to bring to their attention. For example I know schools who are not allowing peer awareness training to take place in their school from the AOT - the provision is there but not been allowed to be implemented. This would stop a child from enjoying and achieving. Are you beginning to understand how this works? No Authority will like the idea of these bods sniffing around and making them toe the line. So far we think that this may be a real chance to make yourself heard and to make changes happen. If you are part of a group then go as a group. Our bod is willing to come and speak with us as a group. But individual parents can contact their Director for a one to one or put it in writing. The only thing that worried me was that no one appears to realise that they can do this or may not even be aware that we have these Directors - you do now though - over to you Oracle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Flora Report post Posted April 21, 2006 Carole Thank you for that. I've just looked on our cc website and there is nothing about the director but I've found a phone number for Children's Services Advisor department and I will be ringing them on Monday. Lauren Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted April 21, 2006 Hmmm?! Z Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted April 21, 2006 This is very interesting carole. I've also been on our LA website, but can find nothing, theres a surprise. I shall do some more digging over the weekend Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jayjay Report post Posted April 21, 2006 Oh Wow i never had a clue anything like this was in place to help the kids i am part of a group and if i can find somewhere to print of this information then i will definitely bring it up and show them at the next meeting because i know they will be very interested in what you have found out Thanks Carole Jayne xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oracle Report post Posted April 21, 2006 (edited) I do not think you will find this info on the LA's websites. You will however find out whom you need to sepakto by ringing your Local Government Office. Ours is GO-NE Government Office North East. Here is the link to the Government Offices Website and also a little bit moreb http://www.gos.gov.uk/national/ Children and Young People Children and Young People: the National Picture A number of recent policy developments around children and young people, have significantly shaped the Government Office role in this important area of work. The Department for Education and Skills? (DfES's) ?Five-Year Strategy for Children and Learners? published in November 2004, proposed new arrangements for the delivery of children and young people's these policies in the regions, with each Government Office taking responsibility for much of this work. A ?Future Role of Government Offices? project is currently underway to identify the regional arrangements and structures that will help put this important work into practice. The new arrangements should bring greater coherence to DfES? activities in each region. Supporting the DfES Government Offices support the DfES on its other flagship policies for children and young people, which include: The Green Paper ?Every Child Matters? The Children Act, which received Royal Assent in November 2004 The national ?Change for Children Programme?, which has been launched to help realise the vision first presented in the ?Every Child Matters? Green Paper Government Offices link up with a range of Government Departments, regional organisations and local communities, and will play an impportant role in supporting regional and local partners to introduce the changes outlined in ?Every Child Matters? and the Children Act. Each Government Office will have its own way of providing this support, but a common focus will be on improving access to information, and promoting, where possible, multi-agency working for children?s services on the ground. Programme Management An important role of the Government Offices is managing a range of programmes and budgets at a sub-regional level, including: Sure Start Children?s Fund Connexions Positive Activities for Young People Transforming Youth Work Millennium Volunteers Links across other Government Department agendas Government Offices are home to a total of ten Government Departments and this unique vantage point places us in an excellent position to make links between the wide variety of Government policies that might impact on children, young people and their families. Our role is to interpret these new policies at the regional level and inform national policy colleagues of issues which arise as a result. The presence, for example, of education, crime reduction and drug prevention, public health, planning, transport and housing and communities teams within Government Offices enables effective cross-departmental work which can only improve outcomes for children and young people. Most Government Offices have established regional Children's Groups (GOCGs), which will usually consist of a mix of representatives with some responsibility for children and young people policies and services. Such groups help to simplify messages about Government policies for local organisations and assist with identifying and spreading good practice through the variety of networks to which members of GOCGs have access, and ensure ?joined-up? working. Oracle Edited April 21, 2006 by oracle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oracle Report post Posted April 21, 2006 And then there is this Change for Children The newly established Children and Learners Group in Government Office for the North East covers the broad areas of Sure Start, Children?s Fund, Connexions, services for young people, Education and Adult Skills. Government Offices support the Department for Education and Skills in putting policies for children and young people into practice. More information on the national picture We play an active role in contributing to the development and implementation of policy on the Children and Young People?s agenda, with an increasing focus on strategic support to improve outcomes for children and young people in the region. These outcomes for children and young people are to: be healthy stay safe enjoy and achieve make a positive contribution achieve economic well-being and these will provide key drivers for our work over the coming year. Related links DfES Consultation Documents for Children and Young People Every Child Matters Oracle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
helenl53 Report post Posted April 21, 2006 Oracle - well done for this information. I spoke to the Director of Children and Learning who has responsibility for my LA and I have to be honest and say that he was MOST HELPFUL! I can not read minds (unfortunately) but I was getting the feeling that these are the DfES 'big sticks' and that they really will be reliant upon evidence gathering by parents and individuals so that they can do a bit of beating! It seems that as far as the Government are concerned - 'Every Child Matters' and these appointments seem to be a watchdog with teeth role to ensure that Childrens Trusts put everything in place so that ALL children achieve the five outcomes. We have to do our bit. If the watchdogs are only given the Local Authority version of 'how well' they are reaching the targets, then there will not be a lot that they can do - but if they have information that contradicts this, then they will have to take a closer look. This may be the break we have all been looking for Helen L Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
helenl53 Report post Posted April 22, 2006 I am bumping this up so that weekenders get a chance to see HelenL Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
