COUNTY Children’s Services staff are celebrating after Worcestershire Children First was praised for the improvements shown in the last two years.
Her Majesty’s Inspectors for Ofsted visited Worcestershire County Council children’s services last month to review the quality of practice at the Family Front Door (FFD)
In a letter to County Hall, inspectors reported headline findings which said the local authority had made strong progress in improving the quality of practice for children and families in receipt of services since the last inspection in June 2019.
Leaders have established a positive culture of commitment to continuous improvement across this service area, supported by particularly strong quality assurance arrangements, inspectors found
The early help partnership is now well engaged in the delivery of services, and most schools in Worcestershire have an early help offer, bespoke to the needs of their community, the report added.
Tina Russell, chief executive of Worcestershire Children First, said: “The Ofsted findings give an assurance to the public and our partners in quality of work undertaken at our Family Front Door to identify, assess and plan for children in need of support and those at risk of harm in Worcestershire.”
“The review of FFD undertaken by Ofsted was thorough with many cases and staff being interviewed.
“This level of high quality work isn’t achieved easily, it takes dedication and commitment from all the people all the time.
“Despite this significant rise in demand during the pandemic we have still continued our development work in Get Safe and delivered initiatives to provide additional support through our Safeguarding Babies and Back to School projects.
“I am so very very proud of the staff, managers and partners who’s work this report reflects.”
Coun Andy Roberts, cabinet member for Children and Families, said: “Children and young people are at the heart of the company and we’re looking forward to continuing to help children in Worcestershire lead happy and healthy lives and go on to reach their full potential.”
Click here to see the report in full.
