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Page 1
Page 2
Contents
Our Children’s Services Partnership
Page 3 Our Aims and Priorities
Page 4 The Policy Framework for Children’s Services
Page 5 The Social Context of Our Children and Young People
Page 6 Our Strategic Approach
Page 7 Our Partnership Working
Outcomes for Our Children, Young People & Families
Pages 8-9 How We Are Improving Early Years Development of Children in Fife
Pages 10-11 How We Are Raising Educational Attainment and
Reducing Educational Inequality
Pages 12-13 How We Are Improving the Health of Fifers and
Narrowing the Health Inequality Gap
Pages 14-15 How We Are Making Fife’s Communities Safer
Pages 16-17 Our Children & Young People: the Child’s Voice
Page 18 Our Children’s Services Professionals: Feedback from Staff
The Joint Inspection of Our Children’s Services Partnership
Page 19 An Overview of the Joint Inspection Report
Page 20 Evaluation of Quality Indicators for Children’s Services in Fife
Our Next Steps
Page 21 Planning for Further Improvement
Page 3
Our Aims and Priorities
Our Children’s Services Plan 2014-17
Fife’s Children’s Services Plan 2014-17 builds on the success achieved through the
implementation of Getting it Right For Every Child, the work of the Corporate Parent Board, Fife’s
Child Protection Committee, and the Early Years Strategy – supported by multi-agency strategy
groups relating to children.
The plan contributes to achieving the outcomes set out in Fife’s Community Plan 2011-20 (July
2013 edition). In particular, it will help to deliver four specific community plan outcomes:
Improving Early Years Development of Children in Fife
Raising Educational Attainment and Reducing Educational Inequality
Improving the Health of Fifers and Narrowing the Health Inequality Gap
Making Fife’s Communities Safer
The plan sets out 16 specific priorities of the Children’s Services Partnership in Fife over the
period 2014-17, which will contribute towards achieving these community plan outcomes.
Our Self Evaluation and the Joint Inspection of Children’s Services in Fife
Fife Partnership’s services for children and young people were the subject of a joint inspection
between August and October 2015, involving all of the key inspection agencies (the Care
Inspectorate, Education Scotland, Healthcare Improvement Scotland and Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate of Constabulary for Scotland). The process involved the inspection team talking to a
large number of staff and over 200 children, young people, parents and carers, as well as
reviewing the records for a sample of 110 of our most vulnerable children and young people.
The Care Inspectorate published the results of the joint inspection in March 2016.
As part of the preparation for inspection, Children in Fife produced a self-evaluation of Fife’s
children’s services, which provided a critical reflection on our journey of self-improvement. The key
findings of the self-evaluation were supported by the results of the joint inspection.
The Purpose and Scope of this Update Report
This Update Report provides a broad overview of children’s services in Fife and an update on
our progress with the Children’s Services Plan, as at April 2016. It:
outlines progress in achieving the four community plan outcomes highlighted above;
provides an update on progress towards achieving the 16 specific priorities within the
Children’s Services Plan;
provides a summary of the key findings from Children in Fife’s self-evaluation of our
children’s services;
summarises significant evidence underpinning these key findings;
provides a summary overview of the findings of the Joint Inspection of Children’s
Services in Fife.
Page 4
The Policy Framework for Children’s Services
The National Outcomes for Children and Young People
The Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework sets out a number of National
Outcomes that Scotland’s public services must achieve, in order to improve life outcomes for
children, young people and families in Scotland. These are:
Our children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed
Our young people are successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and
responsible citizens
We live longer, healthier lives
We live our lives safe from crime, disorder and danger
We have tackled the significant inequalities in Scottish society
We have improved the life chances for children, young people and families at risk
Achieving the National Outcomes for Our Children and Young People
GIRFEC is at the heart of achieving these outcomes for our children and young people. It is the national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and supporting wellbeing by offering the right help at the right time from the right people. It is child-focused – placing children, young people and families at the centre of decision making – and is based on an understanding of the wellbeing of a child – having regard for how safe, healthy, achieving, nurtured, active, respected, responsible and included they are.
The Children and Young People Act 2014 strengthens key legislation affecting children and young people and enshrines elements of the Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) approach in law. It ensures that there is a single planning approach for children who need additional support from services, provides a single point of contact for every child (the named person), supports a holistic understanding of wellbeing, allows the coordination of support from professionals across a range of public services, and sets out the obligations of corporate parents for Looked After Children.
Designing Our Services to Achieve the National Outcomes
In order to ensure that we are Getting it Right for Every Child in Fife, we have placed the National
Outcomes for children and young people at the heart of our planning and service design.
Our children’s services partnership provides a range of services that meet the varying needs of
children, young people and families:
Universal services – for all children and
young people
Additional support – for key
disadvantaged groups, or those who
would benefit from focussed working
(e.g. those living in socially
disadvantaged communities)
Intensive support – for the vulnerable,
those with significant needs, and those
at risk
Through these services we are able to meet the needs of all children, young people and families –
whatever their needs or circumstances – and we can ensure that the National Outcomes are
achieved in Fife.
Page 5
The Social Context of Our Children and Young People
Across a range of measures, levels of child poverty in Fife are high by national standards – as can
be seen in the figure, below.
Figure. Comparison of Fife and Scotland for a range of measures of child poverty and social
deprivation at local authority level. Data for Free School Meal Registration is for 2015, HMRC data
on child poverty is for 2013.
Child poverty in Fife is most heavily concentrated in children aged 0-4 years. Whilst Fife has
Scotland’s third largest number of children and young people living in poverty at local authority
level (based on the HMRC child poverty data), it has the second largest number of children aged
0-4 living in child poverty. This poses a particular challenge for early intervention and prevention.
Furthermore, the evidence from National Registers of Scotland (NRS) statistics suggests that the
challenges arising from increasing levels of child poverty amongst families with young children are
likely to continue. In particular:
Fife’s early years population is likely to increase relative to the national population. Fife’s
birth rate remains above the Scottish average (55.9 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44
in Fife in 2013, as against 53.7 births per 1,000 across Scotland).
Children in the early years in Fife are likely: to have greater needs than the national
population and are more likely to be vulnerable. Of the 3,872 births in Fife in 2013, 6.5%
were babies born pre-term (as against 6.2% for Scotland), and 2.1% of babies born at full
term had a low birth weight (as against 2.0% for Scotland).
In summary, the evidence shows that:
Levels of child poverty are relatively high in Fife (with Fife being around the bottom of the
most deprived quartile of local authorities);
Child poverty is most heavily concentrated amongst children aged 0-4 years, posing a
particular challenge for early intervention and prevention;
The challenges arising from child poverty (particularly in the early years) are likely to
continue in future years.
Fife ranked 7 of 32 Fife ranked 8 of 32
Free School Meals
(Primary, P4-P7)
Free School Meals
(Secondary)
19.2% 22.2%
Fife Scotland
15.0% 17.4%
Fife Scotland
17.7% 19.1%
Fife Scotland
Fife ranked 9 of 32
HMRC Child Poverty
(under 16s)
Page 6
Our Strategic Approach
Our Strategic Approach to Improving Children’s Services
The strategic approach taken to improving children’s services by our partnership is based on the
principles of the Christie Commission. The children’s services partnership recognise that:
the key to improvement is a preventative approach, focussing on effective early
intervention;
this requires better partnership working;
our people are essential to achieving this, and we are committed to building the capacity of
our staff and services;
effective quality improvement – based on suitable data and a research-informed approach
to professional practice and development – is the basis for continued performance
improvement.
The Children in Fife partnership group also recognises its responsibility to provide clear and
effective leadership of this strategic approach.
The Key Processes in Delivering Our Strategic Approach
The Getting it Right in Fife (GIRIF) Framework is the overarching framework that supports,
promotes and safeguards the wellbeing of all Fife’s children and young people. The Framework
provides a coherent approach for responding to the needs of families in a proportionate way
across the Community Planning Partnership.
Fife’s Child Wellbeing Pathway (CWP) is a key process that sits within the GIRIF Framework and
assists practitioners to consider children’s wellbeing needs in the context of the “SHANARRI”
wellbeing indicators. The Child Wellbeing Pathway (CWP) is an engagement tool that encourages
the participation of children and families in decision making in a structured and meaningful way.
The CWP is helping practitioners to intervene at the earliest stage preventing difficulties from
escalating further.
How We Meet the Needs of the Vulnerable and Those At Risk
Fife has an established multiagency Corporate Parent Board who work collaboratively to support
improving outcomes for Fife’s Looked after children, young people and care leavers. The Board
will shortly publish its plans for the next two years. These fully reflect the national direction set in
legislation for corporate parents through Part 9 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act
2014.
Fife has an established multiagency Child Protection Committee who work in partnership to
consider and improve key aspects of child protection arrangements. Much of this work is in line
with the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland published by Scottish Government in
2014 as well as taking account of other key legislation as well as national policy & guidance.
Page 7
Our Partnership Working
How we work together to support children, young people and families in Fife
The Children in Fife (CIF) Partnership is an outcome theme group reporting to the Fife
Partnership. It has developed robust structures to support strategic development and operational
delivery of Children’s Services in Fife. These are summarised in the figure below, which illustrates
the partnership links with Corporate Parenting, Child Protection, GIRFEC and the Early Years
Strategy Group.
Improving Prevention through Better Partnership Working
The work of the Children’s Partnership, across Children’s Services in Fife is entirely consistent
with the key actions needed to take forward the preventative approaches outlined in the
Prevention Framework. In particular the children’s partnership:
building collaborative approaches within and across services;
building on local assets and strengthening local communities;
acknowledging that small steps make a difference through “Tests of Change”;
prioritising workforce development;
challenging and changing organisational cultures through the GIRIF Framework;
promoting a shared understanding of prevention across services through on-going practice development, training and awareness-raising.
Page 8
How We Are Improving Early Years Development of Children in Fife
Key strengths: The conclusion of our self-evaluation
We are fostering an ethos of family nurture across our Early
Years services.
We are using the opportunity provided through the Early
Years Collaborative to further improve our practice and its
impact on children and families across Fife.
We are enabling our children and young people to be self-
confident and ready to learn.
We are seeing a significant and sustained improvement in
primary 1 literacy and numeracy attainment.
Improving our Processes
Our Family Nurture Approach (FNA) addresses disadvantage and inequality through early intervention and prevention, building on universal provision, with the aim of closing the outcome gap and ensuring that all children in Fife get the best start in life.
The provision of high quality early learning and childcare continues to be a key priority, with an increasing focus on flexibility. 25 nurseries currently provide a flexible model running full days, 4 hours sessions and half day sessions. A further 23 nurseries will provide a flexible model from August 2016 bringing to 48 the total number providing a flexible model.
We are working to develop the physical premises and scale of quality staffing needed to provide Looked After 2 year olds, 2 year olds in a kinship care arrangement and all other eligible 2 year olds with a high quality early learning and childcare experience. We have more two year olds than any other council in Scotland in our early years provision.
The extension of non-stigmatising services for our more vulnerable families has been a priority across Fife. Through an extensive change to staffing arrangements and a building programme we have now established 7 Family Nurture Centres
The Early Years Collaborative is supporting 35 Tests of Change across the partnership. Some small-scale Tests of Change have been scaled up and have spread to the extent that they have been mainstreamed in frontline delivery.
Improving Outcomes
We are making significant progress to tackle disadvantage, streamline systems and processes, encourage a culture of collaboration, partnership working and better integration.
Practitioners have tested the best way to have a breastfeeding discussion in the ante-natal period. As a result of this work and improving inter-agency processes, there is evidence of increasing rates of breastfeeding.
Entitled SEPSIS 6, a quality improvement collaborative project was undertaken to implement a reliable process for the early recognition and management of SEPSIS. The project won a national award from Health Improvement Scotland and was a runner up at the 2014 Health Care Scotland awards. More importantly this test of change has evidenced safer and more effective practices for women presenting SEPSIS at the Maternity Unit, Kirkcaldy.
Health Visiting is consistently reaching 80%+ of children with the 27-30 month assessment, with tests of change in place to establish how to increase uptake rates in SIMD 1&2 areas.
Page 9
The data from the assessments have highlighted a number of areas for focus, leading to the likes of the development of a weaning pathway and an integrated universal healthy weight information pathway for parents of children 2-5 years
A multi-agency ‘Breadth of Parenting’ group co-ordinates the delivery of evidence-based programmes, including Incredible Years, Mellow Bumps/Mums/Dads/etc. These are having a demonstrable impact on parenting outcomes.
Our children are increasingly ready to learn by the time they start primary school. Literacy and numeracy in Primary 1 show a significant and sustained improvement year on year.
Outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people (e.g. those living in SIMD deciles 1 and 2) have improved faster than those of other children and young people since 2012.
Progress against the Children’s Services Plan
Progress Made Priority Outcomes 2014-17
6.9/1000 – 4.7/1000
5.3/1000 – 4.6/1000
Still Births and Infant Mortality
Progress in reducing the rate of still birth and infant mortality from 6.9/1000 still
births in 2010 to 4.7/1000 in 2014 and 5.4/1000 live births in 2010 to 5.3/1000 in
2014.
89.93% - 94.16%
Developmental Milestones: 30 Months to Primary School
Substantial progress in children by the end of Primary 1. Rose from 89.93% to
94.16% in 2015.
Next Steps: Our Key Focus for Further Improvement
Continue to build on the opportunities from 27-30 month review and developing Health
Visiting pathway to enhance prevention and early intervention
We will continue to ensure that we give parents the skills needed to improve the literacy
and numeracy of children in the early years.
13
18
69
56
10
34
13 and under (normal)
14 - 16 (border-line)
17 & over (high risk)
The impact of the Incredible Years programme on
outcomes for one group of participating families
(a significant reduction in high risk outcomes).
Increasing numbers of pupils are secure at the
expected level of CfE by the end of P1
Before (%)
After (%)
Page 10
Year 2013 2014 2015
S4 Pupils % █ 44.1 50.3 51.4
40
45
50
55
How We Are Raising Educational Attainment and Reducing Educational Inequality
Key strengths: The conclusion of our self-evaluation
We are successfully improving the quality of learning and teaching, through a strong focus on the professional development of staff.
This is ensuring improved outcomes for all children and young people, at all stages of schooling.
We are beginning to “close the gap” in attainment.
Our educational outcomes for the most vulnerable (e.g. looked after children) are amongst the best in Scotland.
Improving our Processes
We have a strong focus on developing professional learning and practice. Hundreds of teachers are involved in professional development opportunities, including: Leading Learning through Practitioner Enquiry, Workshop for Literacy and Developing Conceptual Understanding in Numeracy.
Our literacy and numeracy strategies are improving learning and teaching in the classroom through evidence-based approaches. Evaluation has proven that our Workshop for Literacy programme leads to a significant improvement in key reading skills for the lowest attaining pupils.
Last year, in recognition of Fife’s success in closing the attainment gap for literacy skills, the Scottish Government chose Fife to launch their literacy strategy.
As a result of our focus on improving professional learning and practice, our school inspection results are significantly better than national.
Improving Outcomes
Overall attainment and achievement levels in Fife are the best ever and continue to rise, with attainment improving for pupils from all social contexts in Fife.
Achievement for literacy and numeracy within Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) in primary schools has shown sustained improvement year on year.
Achievement for literacy and numeracy in primary schools is improving for children from every category of inequality (e.g. children with ASN, looked after children, FMR pupils, pupils in SIMD deciles 1 and 2) at a faster rate than that of their peers.
Education Scotland inspection results for
all schools from 2012-13 to 2014-15
Proportion of Fife pupils achieving a
National 5 pass grade A-C in English
(or equivalent) by the end of S4.
Page 11
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
S5 Pupils % █ 40.3 41.4 42.3 44.8 50.9
30
40
50
60 The introduction of Curriculum for Excellence has supported a step-change in SQA attainment for literacy and numeracy, both at National 5 (when CfE was introduced in 2013-14) and Higher (when CfE was introduced in 2014-15).
Overall levels of attainment and achievement in the senior phase (stages S4-S6) show a sustained improvement. Most Fife pupils now achieve a Higher by the end of S5.
SQA attainment of vulnerable young people in Fife shows clear evidence of sustained improvement and with a rate of improvement that is better than National.
Our looked after children have better attainment and a better chance of a positive destination from school than looked after children in the rest of Scotland.
A significant improvement in postive and sustained destinations from school was achieved in 2014-15.
Progress against the Children’s Services Plan
Progress Made Priority Outcomes 2014-17
81.7% - 86.6%
Developmental Milestones: by end of P4
Substantial progress in attainment of children by end of P4. Increased from 81.7% to
86.6% in 2015.
90.8% - 92.0%
Attendance
There has been a 1.2% increase in the rate of pupil attendance in Fife’s secondary
schools.
88.0% - 89.6%
Positive Destinations
A 1.6% increase in the rate of which pupils achieve a positive and sustained post school
destination.
Next Steps: Our Focus for Further Improvement
Although we have achieved significant improvements in numeracy outcomes, we must continue to improve the teaching of numeracy and the numeracy outcomes of our children and young people, particularly those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
Outcomes for looked after children in Fife are generally better than those of looked after children in the rest of Scotland. However, we remain ambitious to close the gap in outcomes that exists between looked after children and their peers in Fife.
Although we have seen recent improvements in attendance, we will continue to focus on improving attendance at school.
Proportion of Fife pupils achieving a Higher award
by the end of S5.
Page 12
How We Are Improving the Health of Fifers and Narrowng the Health Inequality Gap
Key strengths: The conclusion of our self-evaluation
We are successfully encouraging healthier attitudes, behaviours and life choices amongst our children and young people.
Our early intervention and prevention work is helping to improve outcomes and life chances for our children and young people, particularly for the most vulnerable.
As a result of our actions, key health outcomes are showing significant improvement
Improving our Processes
A range of partnership approaches have been developed to tackle key issues by
encouraging healthier attitudes, behaviours and life choices.
There has been a strong partnership focus on reducing teenage pregnancy, risk taking
behaviours, adverse outcomes and health inequalities. This improvement has been
achieved through a range of partnership actions including: the Improving Health Teams
collaborative working with communities to develop 9 Hubs, providing a sexual health service
to young people; the further development of a Hub Plus Service, providing a more specialist
sexual health service locally for vulnerable young people through a targeted approach.
National initiatives, like the Early Years Collaborative, are being used to develop innovative
approaches to improving health outcomes – with an impact beyond the early years.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Learning Disability colleagues are working
towards better collaboration and working practices with universal and specialist services, in
order to improve the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people.
Improving Outcomes
There has been a sustained and
significant reduction in under 16 rate
of teenage pregnancies, bringing Fife
below the Scottish average.
There have been significant
improvements in dental health of P1
pupils; outcomes are better than
national and improving faster.
There have been significant
improvements in attitudes
towards alcohol and tobacco,
leading to significant reductions in
their use by young people.
The proportion of P1 children in Fife of healthy weight has remained broadly constant over
recent years, matching the national picture. Health visitors are working with a range of
partners on actions to further increase the number of children of healthy weight.
2010 2011 2012 2013
Fife 9.0 6.7 6.6 4.4
Scotland 6.9 5.6 5.6 4.7
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
Under 16 teenage pregnancy rate (relative to
female population aged 13-15 years)
Page 13
25
30
35
40
45
Hom
e /
Kins
hip
/M
oved
Out
of C
are
(%)
Trend Actual The Fife universal approach to Healthy
Start Vitamins – developed with support
from the Early Years Collaborative – is
achieving the highest take-up rate of
vitamins in Scotland.
A sustained downwards trend in the
number of looked after children
accommodated at home or in a kinship
placement has been reversed by the
children and families strategy.
There are very low numbers of children
being placed in bed and breakfast, due
to a concerted programme of action to
maintain families with children in suitable
accommodation.
Progress against the Children’s Services Plan
Progress Made Priority Outcomes 2014-17
68.2% - 70.8%
Oral Health
Substantial progress in improving the oral health of P1 children; the percentage of children
with no obvious signs of dental decay increasing from 68.2% in 2012 to 70.8% in 2014.
6.7/1000 – 4.4/1000
Under 16 Pregnancies
A significant reduction in teenage pregnancies from 6.7/1000 in 2011 to 4.4/1000 in 2013
bringing Fife below the Scottish average.
23.9% - 24.7%
Breastfeeding
A small increase in the percentage of children exclusively breastfeeding at 6-8 weeks from
23.9% in 2013 to 24.7% in 2015. This is set against a backdrop of gradual decrease in
breastfeeding initiation, falling from 55.6% in 2013 to 53.5% in 2015.
23.0% - 21.9%
Smoking in Pregnancy
A 1.1% reduction in women recorded as smokers from 23.0% in 2012 to 21.9% in 2015.
Next Steps: Our Focus for Further Improvement
The challenge of improving permanency planning has been the subject of significant
discussion nationally, due to issues with defining and measuring relevant data. This is now a
national focus for the Scottish Government. Fife is revising its approach in line with these
national developments.
The Children’s Services Plan indicator for neonatal illicit substance abuse withdrawal has
been affected by changes to the data to exclude the use of prescribed medication. This has
made analysis of the indicator difficult and the Vulnerable in Pregnancy Service is currently
undertaking a review of this indicator, to establish a suitable way ahead.
Early diagnosis and support are crucial for children with exceptional healthcare needs. A
number of multi-agency diagnosis pathways have been developed recently which have
significantly improved the time from referral to assessment and diagnosis. We will continue to
improve and draw learning from these to support service development.
Proportion of looked children cared for at home,
in a kinship placement, or moved out of care as a
result of the children and families strategy.
Page 14
How We Are Making Fife’s Communities Safer
Key strengths: The conclusion of our self-evaluation
We are making communities safer for families, children
and young people
We are successfully working to make the behaviours of
children and young people safer.
Through early intervention and prevention we are
successfully working to improve life outcomes for children
and young people, particularly the most vulnerable.
Improving our processes
There is a close working relationship between the Children in Fife (CIF) partnership group
and the Child Protection Committee (CPC). This is helping to ensure a coordinated
partnership approach to protecting Fife’s most vulnerable children and young people.
A comprehensive self-evaluation framework, developed through the work of the joint Children
in Fife/Child Protection Committee Self Evaluation Group, has been developed to monitor
progress. This is helping to make continuous improvement through self-evaluation integral to
all service provision.
Internet safety is a key focus. Training is being delivered on all youth diversion programmes
co-ordinated by Safer Communities Team. Young people referred from the YOMG to the
Safer Communities Team for offences committed online are provided with an internet safety
intervention, relevant to their needs. A multi-agency training programme has been developed
to provide CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) internet safety training to
practitioners working with children and families. Once qualified they are supported with
information on trends and risks, ensuring advice remains relevant to the rapidly changing
pace of the internet.
Improving outcomes
Significant progress has been made to make
the communities of Fife safer for our children,
young people and families.
Overall level of crimes and offences has
reduced significantly over the past 5 years,
and at a faster rate the rest of Scotland.
Accidental dwelling fires have reduced
significantly; Fife has the second lowest rate
amongst mainland authorities. There has
been a significant decline in deliberate fire
setting due to programmes like DiversiFIRE.
Rates are significantly lower than national.
Road safety is a major strength of Fife’s partnership work. Safe Drive Stay Alive was
pioneered in Fife, and is now used nationally – it has led to a significant reduction in road
casualties.
The per capita rate of crimes and offences
in Fife is lower than National and has
reduced more rapidly over recent years.
Page 15
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
CP
Os
per
10,
000
child
ren
Fife Scotland There has been a significant reduction in
recorded charges due to the work of
Fife’s Youth Offender Management
Group (YOMG) over a number of years.
New measures have been introduced,
following the establishment of Police
Scotland. A like for like comparison of
the overall number of young people
offending shows a reduction from 1288
(in 2013/14) to 916 (in 2014/15).
There was a decrease in the number of children placed on the Child Protection Register at the period end from 214 in March 2015 to 157 in September 2015, as the Child Wellbeing Pathway has become more embedded across the Children’s Services landscape.
The number of non-offence referrals to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) has fallen steadily over the last few years. The reduction in lower tariff referrals allows greater attention to be paid to children, young people and families at greater risk.
There has been a significant and sustained reduction in the use of Child Protection Orders across Fife. The number of Child Protection Orders per 10,000 children in the population is now lower than national, having been significantly higher as recently as early 2014.
Progress against the Children’s Services Plan 2014-17
Progress Made Priority Outcomes 2014-17
81 in 12 months – 18
in 6 months
Youth Offending
A significant reduction in the number of children and young people with 5 or more
separate referrals for offences in a six month period from 81 in 2015 (12 month
period of reporting) to 18 in 2015 (6 month period of reporting) . The restorative
justice process, coupled with wellbeing assessment has contributed to this
reduction.
499 – 500
MARAC Risk Management
A small increase in the number of children benefiting from a risk management plan
through MARAC from 499 in 2013 to 500 in 2015.
Next Steps: Our Focus for Further Improvement
Partner agencies are struggling with available capacity to increase the number of cases discussed at MARAC on a fortnightly basis. MARAC is working with the Council’s Process Excellence Team to identify ways to streamline processes without comprising safety and the quality of risk management plans.
We are continuing to work with the Children’s Reporter to ensure that Child Protection Orders are at an appropriate level to support our preventative approach to child protection.
A peer mentoring programme is being introduced to build on Police Scotland’s cyber
prevention work, aimed at promoting Safer Virtual Communities and developing the Choices
for Life prevention programme. Mentors will be a mix of young people aged 15-17 and adults.
The rate at which Child Protection Orders
are being used has reduced steadily and
significantly over the past two years.
Page 16
Our Children and Young People: The Child’s Voice
Key strengths: The conclusion of our self-evaluation
Partners value the views of our children and young people, involving them and their families in the way we plan and deliver children’s services.
We regularly seek the views of children, young people and their families on children’s services in Fife, in order to better understand their views and their needs.
We model respect for our children and young people and successfully foster an expectation of mutual respect.
There is a clear recognition by the partnership of the importance of the child’s voice, through forums, consultations and surveys involving children and young people in service design and delivery, including: the 2B Heard forum, the “Get On My Level” consultation, the consultation on the vision and values of the Education and Children’s Services Directorate, the NHS Fife Children and Young People Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the Pupilwise survey of school pupils.
The 2BHeard Forum
The 2BHeard forum is a means by which Fife’s care experienced young people, aged 12 and over, can express their views about the services that they receive, and be assured that – through direct links to the Corporate Parent Board – these views will be listened to. Some of the young people are still in care and others are care-leavers.
The group was established in February 2014 allowing the care experienced to express their views on the services they receive in a variety of ways, most notably through their ‘Wish List’. This has supported awareness raising, and has not only focussed attention on listening to their views, but has also led to a response from the Corporate Parent Board, in the form of a ‘Pledge’ and the ‘Listen Up’ Strategy and action plan, leading to service change.
They have also contributed to a review of the ‘Having Your Say’ forms, which allow children and young people to give their views about their care plans when these are being reviewed – a selection are given below. Work is now underway to refresh these forms taking full account of the work of the Forum.
Plans are also in place to gain the views of Forum members on what services can do to support children and young people to keep themselves safe from child sexual exploitation.
Page 17
The “Get on My Level” consultations
Consultations were undertaken in 2014 on ‘Get on My level’: a tool developed to work with young people and gain insight into young people’s views on sexual health and relationships.
Work within the Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood programme (RSHP) has been developing, with a particular focus on 4 targeted school communities (based on teenage sexual health data, particularly teenage pregnancy rates). Pioneering approaches have been developed using the national standards of community engagement to ensure that the consultation process is respectful of the young people, consulting with them to develop a greater understanding of the issues affecting young people within their locality, and including them in this process. The consultation has provided valuable insights into the knowledge, attitudes, choices and pressures in relation to sexual health and relationships for young people.
Outcomes have been measured using WEMWEBS and through personal learning logs and impact statements. They include:
Pupil surveys
Pupilwise is a survey of all school pupils, undertaken every two years by the Education and Children’s Services Directorate of Fife Council. It provides feedback on the experiences of children and young people, allowing schools and the wider partnership to identify key issues locally and across Fife. The survey allows children to identify if they are in care or have care responsibilities for others. This information allows the responses of looked after children and young carers to be compared with those of other children and young people.
Feedback from the survey is used to inform improvement activity, and to provide a focus for work to improve the experiences of children and young people. The survey itself is also being continuously improved. The most recent survey (conducted in 2014) was further developed to make it more inclusive and accessible to younger children and pupils with additional support needs.
Education Scotland also survey children and young people, before conducting a school inspection. The results of these surveys are used as a benchmark for the pupilwise data (providing evidence to confirm areas for improvement and a comparison with feedback form children and young people nationally).
Encouragingly, the responses from Fife’s children and young people compare strongly with the rest of Scotland. Fife’s responses are more positive than those for the rest of Scotland across all questions.
75% of the S2
year group felt it
supported their
learning in
RSHP
90% believed that it
had increased their
understanding of
underage sex and
the law
In the peer education section of the programme, participants gained Silver Youth Achievement accreditation.
Education Scotland pre-inspection
questionnaire feedback
Page 18
Our Children’s Services Professionals: Feedback from Staff
As part of the Joint Inspection of Children’s Services in Fife, a survey was issued to staff identified
as a Named Person or a Lead Professional. Some 594 members of staff responded to the survey
giving an exceptionally high response rate of 93%. Across the 54 questions posed in the survey
75% of responses were positive or extremely positive about Fife’s services.
Results were broadly consistent across Health, Social Work and Education. 97% of respondents
strongly agreed that they were clear about their service’s vision for children, young people and
families. Staff also reported a strongly positive response to the implementation of GIREFC in Fife.
Most importantly 84% of respondents agreed with the concluding statement in the survey “I am
positive about the future for services for children and families”.
Page 19
An Overview of the Joint Inspection Report
In summary, the Joint Inspection of Children’s Services in Fife concluded that:
Our children’s services have a clear vision
“The partnership in Fife had developed a clear vision that was well understood and received
by the workforce. The overwhelming majority (97%) of respondents … were clear about their
service’s vision for children, young people and families.”
“We found an admirable focus on addressing poverty and disadvantage and ensuring that
children get the best possible start in life.”
They are well led
“Leadership of improvement and change was very good. The Children in Fife group was
providing very positive leadership to children’s services. It was successfully overseeing the
implementation of a Getting it right for every child approach, which had been well received by
staff at all levels across the partnership and which was clearly enhancing joint working.“
They are having a significant impact on the lives of families, children and young people
“The Partnership’s impact on families was very good. Families were benefiting from
responsive, supportive help and guidance from a very broad and varied range of quality and
accessible services that worked well together”
They are showing clear evidence of success in tackling inequality
“Approaches aimed at early intervention and prevention were showing signs of success and
partners were able to demonstrate the impact of important work to tackle inequality and close
outcome gaps.”
They involve our children, young people and families well
“The extent of participation by children, young people, families and other stakeholders was
very good. Partners demonstrated a clear commitment to developing and sustaining a culture
of meaningful engagement across services.”
They are improving lives and building the capacity for further significant improvement
“We are confident that as a result of the services being delivered by the community planning
partnership the lives of many children and young people growing up in Fife are improving.”
“We are very confident that partners in Fife Council area will be able to make [further
improvement]”.
Particular Strengths identified by the inspection team:
The Family Nurture Approach which was embedded across the area and was having a
positive impact on families.
Participation and engagement of wide groups of children, young people and families which
was making a difference to how services were being delivered.
The breadth of approaches that were in place to address disadvantage and tackle the
impact of poverty.
Developing approaches to self-evaluation leading to demonstrable improvement in
practice.
Page 20
Evaluations of Quality Indicators for Children’s Services in Fife
The table below shows the evaluations for the nine quality indicators published in the report on the Joint Inspection of Children’s Services in Fife.
How well are the lives of children and young people improving?
Improving the wellbeing of children and young people Good
Impact on children and young people Good
Impact on families Very Good
How well are partners working together to improve the lives of children, young people and families?
Providing help and support at an early stage Good
Assessing and responding to risks and needs Good
Planning for individual children Adequate
Planning and improving services Good
Participation of children, young people, families and other stakeholders
Very Good
How good is the leadership and direction of services for children and young people?
Leadership of improvement and change Very Good This report uses the following word scale to make clear the judgements made by inspectors.
Excellent outstanding, sector leading Very good major strengths Good important strengths with some areas for improvement Adequate strengths just outweigh weaknesses Weak important weaknesses Unsatisfactory major weaknesses
Summary overview
The report shows:
a strong, “good” to “very good” profile across each of the three key areas of self-evaluation;
8 of the 9 reported quality indicators evaluated as good or better – placing Fife in the top-
quartile nationally for improving services to children and young people.
Page 21
Planning for Further Improvement
Children’s Services Plan 2017-20
It is a key requirement of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 that all CPPs
produce a Children’s Services Plan for the CPP area.
Fife has a long history of planning for Children’s Services in this way and has produced at least 4
plans, each spanning a 3 year cycle. Fife’s current Children’s Services Plan already addresses
many of the expected requirements of the Act and may only need minimal revision as we move
towards the next planning cycle, 2017-20.
The Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 outlines a number of new requirements for
Children’s Services planning across all Community Planning Partnerships. The guidance to
support these additional requirements for Children’s Services planning is not yet available.
Children in Fife will review the new guidance relating to Children’s Services Planning in
preparation for the new Children’s Services Plan (2017-20) when it becomes available and use
this to construct the next plan.
Children’s Services Inspection: Areas for Further Improvement
The Joint Inspection of children’s services in Fife highlighted the following areas for further improvement:
Review the accessibility and availability of important family support services and resources, so children and young people can get the help and support they need when they need it.
Ensure that the quality of planning for children and young people is focused on both risk and need and that all partners fulfil their responsibilities in meeting need as outlined in the child’s plan. Managers should ensure that mechanisms to hold staff accountable for progress against actions within plans and to challenge any delays are robust. Greater focus on quality assurance should assist in achieving this.
Develop and implement a collective response to reduce the proportion of looked after children and young people who are placed outside Fife, at some distance from home, and which supports those children and young people who are able to return to do so successfully.
Our Joint Action Plan for Improvement 2016-17
The self-evaluation of children’s services in Fife and the recent joint inspection of Fife’s
children’s services have both highlighted a number of areas for further improvement.
The Children in Fife Partnership Group is currently developing a joint action plan for
improvement in 2016-17, which:
Reflects the progress made within the current Children’s Services Plan 2014-17;
Builds on the learning gained from our recent self-evaluation of children’s services in Fife;
Addresses the issues raised in the joint inspection report on our children’s services;
Provides a basis for developing Fife’s next Children’s Services Plan 2017-20.
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