Welcome to Education and Learning
Cross cutting themes
There are a number of cross cutting themes which are priority areas for development and impact on all areas of the children’s services workforce. These will involve the Change for Children Workforce project team working in partnership with a number of other groups and forums.
Action plans will be developed to address these areas and these may be managed by different groups and every effort will be made to ensure all areas of work relating to the various sections of children’s services workforce development are joined up to avoid duplication and gaps.
Click on the bulleted links below to view further information about the cross cutting themes.
Workforce data and skills analysis
It is not currently known how many people make up the children
services workforce in Knowsley. There is some quantitative data
available, although the accuracy and accessibility of data and
information varies between sectors, institutions and organisations.
This situation mirrors the national picture and as such, there is a
clear need to undertake a thorough analysis of the workforce
profile. In conjunction with this is the need to gain a clear
understanding of the current levels of skills and qualifications
across the children and young people’s workforce in Knowsley
in both a paid and voluntary capacity. This will help us to plan
for the future and ensure Knowsley’s children’s
workforce continues its great work.
A project sub group has been established to progress this work
linking in with the North West Regional Children’s Workforce
Strategic Planning Group who have developed an agreed framework for
both workforce data and skills analysis.
It is the intention of the project group to undertake a workforce
data and skills audit via a web and paper based questionnaire,
allowing individuals to answer the questions at their own speed. An
action plan has been developed and is being implemented. For
further information on the skills audit please visit the
skills audit web page.
Safeguarding is a responsibility that belongs to everyone.
However, it is the work engaged in by the children’s services
workforce that forms the epicentre of safeguarding. There is a core
partner representation on Safer Workforce Development Group (SWDG)
and vice versa to ensure agendas are focussed and avoid duplication
of effort.
Through links with Knowsley Safeguarding Children’s Board
(KSCB) a number of key working groups have been established.
This includes the Safeguarding Training Strategy Group, which is
currently supporting the development of a Safeguarding training
strategy. The strategy covers multi agency and single agency
training around issues such as Safer Recruitment, Safeguarding
Child Protection, Domestic Violence, Working Together, Anti
Bullying, and Equality and Diversity.
There are other identified areas of training that are yet to be
developed, these include bereavement and loss, allegations
management, de-escalation, positive handling and safeguarding risk
assessment. This strategy is currently based around training needs
of staff in education, however it is intended to link into the
wider children’s workforce provision. Also as part of the
training strategy there is the development of a training manual,
which will enable schools to plan their training for the following
academic year, alongside a training database that will allow access
to training to be monitored accurately.
Safeguarding gaps have been identified in a number of areas, most
significantly around the interface of both early years and extended
schools provision. In order to address this, work has begun by an
identified group of project partners and sponsors, on a
safeguarding protocol between independent providers and the
leadership teams of the schools they access. One of the key areas
of agreement will regard Criminal Records Bureau declarations and a
protocol discussion paper is to be submitted to the next KSCB
Executive meeting for further comment.
Another area of development around safeguarding is looking at
creating a Safeguarding Risk Assessment to be used in a number of
ways. It is envisaged that such a document and process will enable
the LA with partners to look at the possible safeguarding risks
around work experience. It will also support schools with decisions
around safeguarding, for example the management/suspension of a
member of staff about whom an allegation has been made, or the
management of the potential risk a child who has abused other
children might present.
There are a number of work strands and cross cutting themes that
are inter-related and inter-dependent. To support these, a
communications plan has been prepared that will address the
milestones for all strands chronologically rather than having a
separate plan for each strand. However, for clarity, the plan will
indicate which strand an action refers to.
Integral to this plan is the need for effective engagement with
children and young People adhering to the Participation and
Engagement Standards launched in January 2007. Engagement of the
workforce, key stakeholders and partners will be managed in
conjunction with the Change for Children Programme team and the
Directorate of Children’s Services communications team to
ensure all communications are effectively implemented, monitored
and evaluated.
One method which the project team will be using, following the
success of last year’s inaugural CYP (Children and Young
People’s) Workforce conference, is a second event planned for
November 2007 and it is hoped that this will become a permanent
annual event. We hope to have a high profile guest speaker to open
the conference, market place stalls, work shops and, of course, the
opportunity to meet and network with colleagues from across the
public, private and voluntary. If you would like to receive
information about this future event then please join our mailing
list by emailing alastair.child@knowsley.gov.uk or
call 0151 443 3246.
All agencies, services and organisations are committed to
equality and diversity provisions, both in terms of meeting the
needs of children and young people and in terms of meeting the
needs of employees, workers, volunteers and supporting
adults.
The project team will be using the Equality Standard for Local Government as a framework
to evaluate its actions, policies and practices.
The project team will seek to ensure consideration of provision in
terms of access to activities, time, travel, venues and catering
requirements in respect of training and development provision as
well as project events and meetings. A common language will be
sought and an attempt to reduce acronyms and explain service
specific language will be made for all multi-agency delivery.
In this section...
Visit...
- Every Child Matters (Opens in new window)
Find out more about the Government's national Change for Children programme.
