Keeping kids safe: Children's Commissioner report

The Children's Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, has published an in-depth report looking at children in England who are members of gangs: 'Keeping kids safe: Improving safeguarding responses to gang violence and criminal exploitation'. The Commissioner hosted a summit last Thursday bringing together police and crime commissioners, senior police officers and chairs of local safeguarding boards to ask how these agencies plan to keep children involved in gangs safe.

An estimated 27,000 children in England, some as young as ten, identify as a gang member, and 34,000 children with a connection to a gang member experienced serious violence in the last year.  Official statistics published in the report show that self-reported gang members aged 10-15 were 5.5 times more likely to have been excluded or suspended in the past year, and it says many parents described exclusion as a “trigger point”, which pushed their children from some involvement into full gang membership. 

Recognising the evidence that seems to suggest a link between school exclusions and gang involvement, the report recommends that the Department for Education responds to the forthcoming review on exclusions “by ensuring that schools realise the safeguarding implications of excluding children, and are held responsible for these”. 

There is also an emphasis on the early years, with one recommendation advising there needs to be a "clear target" to reduce the number of children starting school with very low levels of development, as well as a national plan to improve the early identification of special educational needs.

The Commissioner also urges that a commitment is made to replacing the Troubled Families programme, due to end in 2020, as well as a "long-term family-based approach to supporting children at risk of gang involvement".

Read the full report here.

Feedback invited on Rise website redesign

The Rise service teams have been working with communications colleagues, commissioner representatives and other stakeholders including professionals, parents and children and young people, to redesign the Rise website. The redesign will be carried out in phases with phase 1 already complete: https://cwrise.com/

• The first phase is page streamlining and the new look
• The second phase will add more service-generated video content (June 2019) and updated information
• The third phase will look to include additional features

To help inform the next steps and progress to phase 2, we are seeking feedback on the website including how user friendly this is, the quality of the content and design and suggestions for further improvements and video content.

Please submit your feedback using the short online survey by 22 March 2019.

We are encouraging anyone with links to the service to respond, including children and young people, parents/carers/families, schools and professionals. We would therefore be grateful if you could share the link to all of your networks so we can gain a variety of feedback.

Rise is the name for all emotional well-being and mental health services for children and young people who are registered with a Coventry or Warwickshire GP. Rise aims to have an increased emphasis on prevention and early intervention and integrate more effectively with other local services and schools. 

Wellbeing Focus

Join in the Year of Wellbeing 2019

Coventry and Warwickshire’s Year of Wellbeing 2019 is here to help improve health and wellbeing for everyone in our area. Find out more on the Year of Wellbeing website, where you can also sign up for regular updates, including info on what's happening across the area and ways you can get involved.

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A celebration of childhood - National Children's Day UK (NCDUK)

National Children's Day UK is all about the importance of a healthy childhood, and how we need to protect the rights and freedoms of children in order to ensure that they can grow into happy, healthy adults. It's a day of celebration, but also a great opportunity for anyone involved with children, including schools, to raise awareness about projects they are running or things they care about.

This year NCDUK will take place on Sunday 12 May, and you can run any kind of event, big or small, in the run up to, and including the day of, the event. 

The NCDUK website has lots of suggestions for activities to mark the day that focus around sports, outdoors and nature, science, music, the arts and more. There is a media pack available to use for anyone involved and a page for you to share your plans if you're taking part.

SMART person-centred outcomes for learners with SEND

A workshop to support SENCos and other professionals working with learners with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Two dates are currently available for this training:

• Monday 25 March 2019, 9:30 - 11:30am, Kings House, Kings Street, Bedworth, CV12 8LL
• Wednesday 22 May 2019, 1:30 - 3:30pm, Pound Lane Learning Centre, Leamington Spa, CV32 7RT

Objectives:

At the end of this two hour workshop, everyone will:-

• Have a shared understanding of what makes a SMART person-centred outcome for learners with SEND

• Understand the process of writing person-centred outcomes for learners with SEND

• Have practised working in multi-agency groups where possible to identify needs and to develop SMART person-centred outcomes

     

Cost:  £25.00 – cancellation at least 3 days in advance. Non-attendance will be charged at full price and offered an alternative date.

You can book your place here.