It s Everybody s Business. Lewisham Children and Young People s Plan

Transcription

1 It s Everybody s Business Lewisham Children and Young People s Plan

2 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Contents Foreword 3 Chapter 1 5 Introduction 5 Our Vision 6 Our Values 7 Chapter 2 key areas for impact 11 Early Intervention and Family Support 11 Raising Aspirations and Closing the Gaps 13 Reducing Child Ppoverty and its Impact 15 Strengthening the Positive Influence of Young People 17 Chapter 3 Summary needs analysis 19 The Lewisham context 19 Be Healthy 20 Stay Safe 21 Enjoy and Achieve 22 Make a Positive Contribution 23 Achieve Economic Well-being 24 Chapter 4 Our priorities 27 Be Healthy 28 Stay Safe 35 Enjoy and Achieve 41 Make a Positive Contribution 50 Achieve Economic Well-being 53 Chapter 5 How we will manage the delivery of the plan 59 Governance 59 Our Partnership Structure 60 Performance Management 61 Chapter 6 How we drive resources towards delivering our priorities 63 Commissioning as a Means to Achieve Better Outcomes 63 Finance and Asset Management 69 Workforce Development 70

3 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Foreword Lewisham s children and young people are its life-blood. Their diversity, vibrancy and enthusiasm make our borough a better place to live. They deserve the very best from all of us who provide services which aim to improve their lives and life chances. Children and their parents care about services being of high quality, tailored to their circumstances, responsive and easy to access. So do we. This Plan expresses our collective ambition and commitment to work together, for and with our children, young people, their parents and carers, to deliver seamless provision which meets their highest aspirations. It also expresses our determination to listen to and involve children, young people, their parents and carers in the planning, development and evaluation of what we do for and with them to make sure they reap the benefits of first class health and social care, education and other services. We are also just as determined to do all we can collectively to make our borough a place in which all our children and young people enjoy a carefree, stimulating and active childhood, surpass expectations, feel safe within their communities and have a genuine say in matters which affect their lives and all our futures. Douglas Hands Chair of Governors, Lewisham College Madeleine Long Chair of South London and Maudsley Foundation Trust Chief Superintendent Alan Pughsley Lewisham Police Borough Commander Irene Cleaver Chair of Primary Schools Consultative Forum Sir Steve Bullock The Mayor of Lewisham Michael Richardson CB Chair of Lewisham Primary Care Trust Miguel Gutierrez Astudillo Lewisham s Young Mayor Barbara Williams Chair of Secondary Schools Consultative Forum Cllr Robert Massey Chair of the Children & Young People s Strategic Partnership Board Patricia Prett Chair of Voluntary Action Lewisham Bala Gnanapragasam Chair of University Hospital Lewisham Trust Jon Sharpe Chair of Special Schools Consultative Forum

4 5 Chapter 1 Introduction This is Lewisham s third Children and Young People s Plan (CYPP), which sets out the strategic aims for all agencies working with children and young people across Lewisham, from 2009 to Our Plan builds on what has been achieved over the lifetime of our Plan. Significant improvements have been forged across every outcome area thanks to the hard work and dedication of all those who work for children and young people in the borough. This Plan focuses the Children & Young People s Strategic Partnership s (CYPSP s) future work on improving a number of key outcomes for our children and young people which will improve their lives and life chances. These priority outcomes are where our evidence shows we need to improve and, in particular, where partnership action is required to make the difference for our children and young people. In relation to our priorities under Staying Safe, following the publication of Lord Laming s report, The Protection of Children in England A Progress Report in March 2009, and having reviewed our own practices across the partnership in the light of the recommendations following Haringey s Baby P case, and our own reviews and audits, we have begun to implement our improvement programme across the partnership to ensure that our children are even better protected. This programme, Safe and Sound, is designed to improve significantly the quality of our practice with families, and the effectiveness and efficiency of our systems, our decision making and implementation, and our information sharing. In addition, as part of Lewisham s broader response to supporting families through the economic downturn the partnership is committed to ensuring effective and joined up approaches, particularly through our early intervention and family support initiatives. Much progress has been made since our first statutory three year plan was published in 2006 and our Children s Trust arrangements established. These Children s Trust arrangements are now strong, built on the commitment of all partners to work together for the well-being of our children. As part of the partnership s Safe and Sound programme, we are reviewing our Local Safeguarding Children Board arrangements to ensure that they are fit for purpose and can hold all partners to account for the way we work together to keep our children safe. The title of this Plan It s Everybody s Business - reflects our collective commitment to continue to strengthen our joint working for the good of our children and young people. This Children & Young People s Plan sets out what we are going to do significantly to improve outcomes further for our children and young people. The Plan restates our collective commitment to work together across all agencies, putting our children and young people first; establishes how partner agencies will work together to improve those outcomes that will make significant improvements to the lives and lifechances of our children and young people; shows how our commitment to align and integrate our resources, as well as our services, will continue to be delivered through our programme of joint commissioning. The structure of the Plan is straightforward. It sets out: our vision and values and the way we work; four strategic key areas for impact where, across our priorities, we need to secure effective practice in order to deliver improved outcomes; a summary of our needs analysis, leading to the identification of our priorities for under each of the Every Child Matters outcome areas; for each priority, a headline summary of our action across the partnership to be taken and targets to be reached. Fuller operational plans underpin this overarching plan; our governance and partnership structures; our approach to, and progress in, aligning resources and workforce and our joint commissioning priorities. The CYPP in context The Lewisham Strategic Partnership (LSP) has pledged to help citizens achieve their aspirations and ambitions. The LSP is committed to achieving its long held vision for the borough:

5 6 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Together, we will make Lewisham the best place in London to live, work and learn The Children and Young People s Plan underpins Shaping Our Future Lewisham s Sustainable Community Strategy The CYPP sets out how partnership agencies working with children, young people and their families will support the delivery of the borough s priorities for the wider community which are set out in the Sustainable Community Strategy: Ambitious and achieving where people are inspired and supported to fulfil their potential. Safer where people feel safe and live free from crime, antisocial behaviour and abuse. Empowered and responsible - where people are actively involved in their local area and contribute to supportive communities. Clean, green and liveable where people live in high quality housing and can care for and enjoy their environment. Healthy, active and enjoyable where people can actively participate in maintaining and improving their health and well-being. Dynamic and prosperous where people are part of vibrant communities and town centres, well connected to London and beyond. Our Vision All agencies within our Children s Trust arrangements across Lewisham share a single vision as part of Lewisham s broader vision above: Together with families, we will improve the lives and life chances of the children and young people in Lewisham We will put children and young people first every time Together with families, we will improve the lives and life chances of the children and young people in Lewisham We will make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people Together with families, we will have the highest ambition for all our children and young people

6 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Our Values The vision is underpinned by three shared values: We will put children and young people first every time Everyone who works with children across the Borough will put the needs of the individual child at the heart of how they deliver their services. The child s needs are paramount; every agency that comes into contact with the child and family is responsible for engaging other agencies to meet the needs of the child. The child and family in Lewisham will tell their story only once and all the partnership agencies will come together to deliver the package of services necessary to support the child and family. Children and families in Lewisham are not referred-on from one service to another. How we achieve this is set out on page 11 - early intervention and family support. Together with families, we will have the highest ambition for all our children and young people All agencies will work with parents to be ambitious for all our children and young people. We aim to ensure that every child who grows up in Lewisham can achieve their full potential. We will work with parents to ensure that they have a clear understanding of what their child can achieve. All the agencies of Lewisham s partnership are committed to removing barriers, whether they be socio-economic disadvantage, or challenging systems of provision which may exclude some groups. All agencies will actively promote inclusion. Our collective commitment to our aspiration for children and young people is set out on page 13. We will make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people Lewisham will continue its relentless focus on outcomes, ensuring that services make a difference on the ground to the wellbeing of children. Services across the agencies must be sufficiently flexible to be able to respond to the needs of individual children and young families. Evaluation of all service delivery will be evidence based; agencies must be able to demonstrate that the services they are delivering are making real differences to the outcomes for our children and young people. In doing this we will listen carefully to children, young people and families and use their evidence to shape and redesign services and resources. Where services are not able to demonstrate that they are making a difference and meeting the needs of our children and young people, then all the partnership agencies are committed to reviewing those services and redesigning and recommissioning services as appropriate. The way we work in Lewisham All partners within our Children s Trust arrangements have agreed a framework in which services will operate in order to deliver our vision. All Lewisham agencies continue to provide services against our three-stage model: universal, targeted and specialist. Our aim is to ensure that we provide high quality universal services to all children and young people. Within those universal services we will continue to embed more targeted services to ensure that where a child or young person may have an emerging problem, the support can be provided quickly to ensure that problems do not escalate and eventually require more specialist services. In this way, our aim is to stop children rising up the triangle and to secure the necessary support for them to travel down the triangle wherever possible. Specialist Targeted Universal

7 8 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Lewisham s joint commissioning approach is at the heart of ensuring a continued emphasis upon further integration, a shared culture and better joint working across services for children. The approach is critical to delivering successful partnership working. Outcomes for children, young people and their families can only be improved by agencies across the Partnership working together. Our joint commissioning is based on robust evidence and needs analysis, aligning resources to deliver integrated support. Across all services we will: 1. Collaborate Lewisham has already embedded the collaborative arrangements set out in the Children Act 2004, particularly the Common Assessment Framework and the development of the Lead Professional role, providing families with one point of contact and advice for all their needs rather than trying to manage several different agencies. The Team Around the Child is an important delivery mechanism to ensure that agencies delivering front-line services to children and young people work together to support the family. Lewisham s Workforce Strategy (see Chapter 6) is underpinned by the principle that we all work for children rather than for organisations. The strategy will ensure that staff across all agencies have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver integrated services and collaborative working to deliver the change in outcomes for children and young people set out in this plan. 2. Be evidence based The work of the Lewisham Children & Young People s Partnership is driven by evidence which is shared across all agencies. Each of the outcomes identified in Chapter 4 as having to improve over the next 3 years is underpinned by an analysis of need. The Partnership has adopted a performance management framework and closely monitors activity, particularly that which is not improving outcomes or where progress is not on track to achieve targets. The Partnership will review and publish an annual review of progress in delivering the CYPP The review will include progress to date and an analysis of the effectiveness of key actions and a review of activities to ensure progress. It will also include progress towards targets and set the targets for the coming year. 3. Be outcome focused Wemustbe able to demonstrate that we are making a difference to outcomes for children. It is not sufficient to show for example that a number of young people have received drugs awareness training, the programmemustbeableto demonstrate that the training has had an impact on the behaviour of those young people. When services are designed and commissioned there is a clear understanding of what success will look like. That success is always in terms of improved outcomes for children and young people and their families. 4. Be efficient The partnership s commitment to the delivery of the improved outcomes includes a commitment to use all our resources efficiently and effectively, providing value for money across all partners. We are committed to all money being children s money. 5. Be inclusive The partnership is committed to ensuring that every single one of Lewisham s children and young people is able to access those services that will improve their life chances and choices. Lewisham offers sustained support to those children who are vulnerable, particularly our Looked After Children, children and young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, young carers and those in the youth justice system. Equally, our attitude is always on closing the gaps where there are inequalities and where particular groups have poorer outcomes than others. As part of ensuring that all children and young people benefit from the improved outcomes set out in this plan, an assessment of the impact of the CYPP on equalities has been produced. 6. Listen The voices of children, young people and their parents/carers are vital to improving well-being. It is only by listening that services can be designed to meet needs. The development of the CYPP has been informed by a thorough engagement process. All services are expected to have in place ongoing involvement of, and evaluation with, children, young people and families, to evaluate how well services are meeting their needs.

8 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Be innovative Lewisham s Children and Young People s Strategic Partnership is committed to developing innovative solutions to entrenched issues. Our approach is to think family to ensure we are being creative in meeting needs rather than delivering services. Our track record in innovation is strong and has led to initiatives such as Lewisham s Young Mayor, now in place for five years, and our work to secure strong joint working across schools with our approach to federations and collaboratives. Engagement Process This Children & Young People s Plan has been developed through an extensive programme of engagement with all Children and Young People Strategic Partners, including our children and young people, parents, schools, Lewisham College, our voluntary and community sector and statutory agencies as well as all the multi-agency working groups who will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of the plan. We engaged with our young people through a series of workshops and held focus groups to allow our more vulnerable groups of young people to have their say. Children in primary schools were able to contribute to the development of the plan through their school councils. Pupils were asked a series of questions about the outcomes to help them engage with the ideas. Lewisham Community Consultants (CC) were enlisted to carry out the engagement activities with groups of parents within the borough. The CC project was established to enable Lewisham to hear the voices of local parents in decision making, in particular parents from different minority ethnic communities and parents of children with disabilities. Parents were selected and received training on how to consult other parents and how to effectively represent their views. Using this peer to peer consultation method has been very effective, sharing experiences of raising families in the borough. We held a seminar for Voluntary & Community Sector (VCS) organisations working with children and families followed by a discussion at the Children & Young People s Voluntary Sector Forum and an additional opportunity to respond was provided through online questionnaires. The development of the CYPP has been discussed at all our multi-agency partnership working groups. The proposed Key Areas for Impact and Priorities developed as a result of both our rigorous needs analysis and discussion with these groups. The Local Authority s Children and Young People s Select Committee has been engaged in the development of the CYPP and the plan has been formally endorsed by both the Mayor and Cabinet and full Council. The Children & Young People s Strategic Partnership Board has signed off the CYPP Equalities Impact A full equalities impact assessment for the Children & Young People s Plan has been conducted and is available as a separate document at the following web address:

9 Chapter2 keyareasforimpact 11 To make a difference to the lives of children and young people living in Lewisham and to deliver the improved outcomes set out in this plan, the partnership has identified four key areas for impact. These are the areas where we need to work together to continue to embed our practice in order to see significant improvement in outcomes in relation to our priorities over the next three years. They are: Early intervention and support for families Raising aspirations and closing the gaps Reducing child poverty and its impact Strengthening the positive influence of young people Each key area for impact is divided into four headlines with further explanation on what we will do across the partnership. Early Intervention and Family Support Develop workforce skills across agencies Ensure a no wrong door for families Identify familes early who need support Ensure there is tailored support at a local level Ensure a No wrong door for families Providing support is everybody s business. Whichever service a child or family first approaches, the right support will be available. Everyone who is providing a service to children and young people will know what support is available beyond their service and how to access it. Each agency will be able to identify a family s need, using the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), Team Around the Child (TAC), our range of family support and intervention services and our Family Information Service to ensure access to the right support. Ensuring that all frontline staff are fully aware of the network of services available Embedding the don t just refer on culture in universal services Providing quality information to children and families through our Family Information Service Ensuring that all staff are knowledgeable about what is available including our range of family support and intervention services, the use of CAF, TAC and our Family Support Panels

10 12 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Ensure there is tailored support at a local level wherever possible, more services will be available locally through schools, children s centres and community settings. Services are co-ordinated across areas and organisational boundaries, to provide joined up delivery. We will continue to develop integrated provision of services and ensure that we continue to build networks and communities. Improving the links between Housing, CAMHS, Children s Social Care, federations and collaboratives of schools, GPs, the Inclusion team, parenting and support services and Children s Centre areas Ensuring that high quality services are provided in each area which matches local needs and delivering a greater proportion of support to where families are in the community, through children s centres, schools and community settings Developing locality based family support panels to ensure support is co-ordinated across agencies As part of our Safe and Sound programme, ensuring high quality joinedup practice with families, where children are at risk and in need Identify families early who need support ensuring that support is targeted to children and families who need it and that it is provided in a timely way. Using the CAF, Lead Professional and Team Around the Child to ensure that support is co-ordinated across service boundaries to ensure joined up provision to the whole family, building resilience and developing strengths Improving further our information sharing across the partnership about families where there are problems, such as families with known drug and alcohol abuse or poor school attendance Providing support to identified families through children s centres and schools and community settings Consistently taking a family approach ; co-ordinating support across different ages within a family and providing additional support for the family and younger siblings to stop trends of poor outcomes within families Developing further our range of parenting support for families, including lone parents Develop workforce skills across agencies To ensure effective support, we will break down professional boundaries whilst valuing professional skills. In implementing our Workforce Strategy we will ensure a stable and appropriately staffed workforce with a high level of skills and competence. This will ensure support is built on the strengths of the child and the family. Developing a core set of skills for frontline workers in children and young people s services As part of our Safe and Sound programme, ensuring that strong multi-agency training, particularly on safeguarding and child protection, is taken up across the partnership, including on areas identified as difficult such as neglect Strengthening further the culture of joint working and shared skill sets ensuring more efficient and effective deployment of staff and services for targeted families

11 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Raising Aspirations and Closing the Gaps Raise educational standards to national levels and beyond for all children Inspire young people to become aspirational Raise the aspirations of parents and families of their children s futures Close the gap for those at risk of poorer outcomes Inspire young people to become aspirational citizens Supporting young people to raise their sights and understand the opportunities available to them in terms of culture, further and higher education, learning, sport and leisure and health. Valuing and listening to even more young people s voices from a range of communities in order to develop targeted programmes to deepen confidence, selfesteem and aspiration to progress Commissioning a full range of educational and training opportunities for year olds which ensure our young people have access to a choice of provision which stimulates their desire for success and prepares them for further and higher education, training and employment, including a range of apprenticeships. Providing high quality, impartial information, advice and guidance about the range of opportunities available. Developing more young people from a range of backgrounds as leaders by extending peer mentoring and role model programmes Building the aspirations in younger children, ensuring they have access to exciting opportunities which raise their sights for the future Close the gap for those at risk of poor outcomes Ensuring that all our children and young people have the opportunity to succeed. Increasing further the focus on poverty as a key indicator of poor attainment, ensuring schools have strong strategies for working closely with those pupils on Free School Meals and parents receiving Working Family Tax Credits Ensuring that collaboratives and federations of schools maximise the benefits of extended services and children s centres within their areas to provide targeted support to children and families Providing pupils at risk of underachievement with the self-esteem, skills and opportunities to be confident, successful and independent learners

12 14 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Providing more opportunities for family learning Promoting excellent leadership at every level in all schools, making closing the gap a key priority in every class room Raise the aspiration of parents and families for their children s futures Supporting parents to recognise their impact on their children s cultural, educational, health and leisure experiences and their power to raise children s own sights and aspirations. Providing comprehensive information to families on support to improve outcomes and increase opportunities Supporting more parents, through children s centres, schools, extended services, settings and other agencies, to promote aspirations in their children Targeting work with families in need across the whole family to support achievement and ensure they are aware of the chances and opportunities open to their children Sustaining engagement over time with families who need it, developing their self-confidence and horizons, to see and take the opportunities available Supporting the voluntary and community sector to help them to work even more intensively with more families especially those who do not engage with statutory services Raise educational standards to national levels and beyond for all children by providing appropriate support to schools, parents and pupils. Intervening early to identify underperformance to ensure accelerated progress through appropriate tailored support for children and young people Ensuring a relentless focus on self evaluation to ensure swift robust action to improve the performance of schools Embedding support for parents and encouraging parental engagement in children s learning Securing higher numbers of young people seeking to go on to higher education and being successful in doing so Promoting excellent leadership at every level of the education system

13 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Reducing Child Poverty and its Impact Develop pathways to success Break the cycle of poverty Mitigate the effects of poverty Remove the barriers to work Break the cycle of poverty continuing a strong focus on education, raising aspiration across communities and providing early support to families. Continuing to develop our programmes of work to prevent young people becoming NEET (not in education training or employment) Ensuring access to a broad offer Continuing to develop our targeted parenting and family support services, including early years provision Developing apprenticeship schemes across the Borough Remove the barriers to work ensuring a clear path out of poverty for working parents, by providing advice and support on work, training and volunteering opportunities, access to childcare and ensuring benefit take up. Promoting flexible working arrangements across the partnership Ensuring availability of flexible childcare Increasing access to advice and support on work and training opportunities

14 16 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Mitigate the effects of poverty ensuring wider access to cultural and leisure opportunities, developing extended services through schools and providing support to families who are not able to work. Continuing to broaden access to our extended school services, play services, leisure services and music services Ensuring debt and benefit advice is widely available Ensuring our support services are accessed by those who most need them Ensuring free access to leisure opportunities for our more vulnerable groups, particularly through the Lewisham One Card Develop pathways to success ensuring work, training and voluntary schemes are available in local communities and actively supporting families to access them. Providing a range of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses across the community Linking family learning through schools and children s centres and other community settings Developing voluntary schemes to develop workforce skills and opportunities

15 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Strengthening the Positive Influence of Young People Support young people to make informed choices about their lives Achieve a positive youth image Reduce the numbers of young people involved in, or victims of, harmful behaviour Increase youth involvement Achieve a positive youth image creating opportunities for young people to demonstrate and celebrate their success. We will do this by working closely with the Young Mayor and Young Advisers to: Engage with the press including a focused youth publicity/information campaign across the whole Lewisham partnership Develop champions for targeted vulnerable groups of young people Build on the successful Black Pupils Achievement Programme to target information to parents about the success of young people Increase intergenerational activity to break down barriers and promote understanding between generations Actively promote media attention to young people s involvement in community activity and volunteering programmes Increase youth involvement Continuing to increase young people s involvement in local communities, across generations, and in decision making and service developments. Building stronger links with the new local assemblies and young people in the areas Improving the information for young people so that they are aware of the services available to them Reaching out to more young people to be involved in their communities Increasing the input from our school councils into the Young Mayor s structures Reviving and supporting the young citizens panel Being more innovative in our use of technology to encourage more young people to engage Ensuring young people have a say in the development, delivery and evaluation of the services they use Reduce the numbers of young people involved in, or victims of, harmful behaviour by developing young people s social responsibility and supporting them to keep themselves safe, building their confidence and resilience.

16 18 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Continuing to increase the number of schools that use restorative approaches and peer support, and that have a strong focus on developing emotional well being and resilience Extending the use of restorative approaches into communities to help young people feel safer Increasing young people s confidence and mobility by providing personal safety training Supporting young people identified as at risk through the Youth Safety Toolkit Ensuring a consistent approach is adopted by all agencies dealing with anti-social behaviour Extending the Triage project to help reduce the number of first time entrants into the youth justice system Continuing to develop the multi-agency street teams Implementing the Westminster domestic violence programme in all secondary schools Implementing the Preventure Programme in all schools Increasing the number of positive activities and volunteering opportunities available to young people Implementing peer education programmes throughout schools to support the prevention of harm related to drug and alcohol use Support young people to make informed choices about their lives through universal settings and targeted support, ensuring that young people are able to make informed choices about their lives. Improving the quality of our universal offer through Integrated Youth Support Services (IYSS) to ensure that it attracts the harder to reach young people and offers additional support if needed Build resilience by improving emotional wellbeing and support services to young people through schools and community settings Increase and improve the number of young people friendly services available, particularly for sexual and reproductive health Improve the services available through IYSS e.g. by implementing a number of mini-iyss hubs e.g. Milton Court and Silwood Centres Increase the use of CAF and Lead Professionals to support vulnerable young people

17 19 Chapter3 summary needs analysis The Lewisham Context Lewisham is the second largest inner London borough and is home to approximately 255,000 people, set to grow by 35,000 by Lewisham has a slightly younger age profile than the rest of the UK. Children and young people aged 0 19 years make up 24.5% of our residents, compared to 22.4% for inner London and 24.4% nationally. Lewisham has 35,800 pupils within its 91 schools. Whilst 40% of our residents are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds this rises to 72% within our school population, where over 170 different languages are spoken by our pupils. Lewisham is facing increased levels of deprivation. The 2007 Index of Multiple Deprivation ranked Lewisham 39th out of 354 local areas in England compared to a rank of 57 in On the specific indicator of income deprivation affecting children, 38 (out of 166) of Lewisham s super output areas are in the 10% most deprived in the country. Forest Hill Sydenham Evelyn New Cross Telegraph Hill Brockley Crofton Park Perry Vale Ladywell Lewisham Central Rushey Green Bellingham Catford South Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007 Income of deprivation affecting children Blackheath Lee Green Whitefoot Downham Grove Park Worst 10% in Lewisham 11% 20% 21% 50% Best 50% in Lewisham Data from Communities and Local Government

18 20 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan Be Healthy In 2005 Lewisham had a higher rate of low birth-weight babies at 9.5% than London (8.5%) and England (8%). Over the life of the previous CYPP Lewisham has been successful in reducing this to 8.5%. This is a good improvement but more still needs to be done as this is higher than current rates for both London (8.3%) and England (7.9%). Take up of immunisations has been a key concern in Lewisham for some time. A measles outbreak in the summer of 2008 led to renewed strategies for securing greater uptake of immunisations. Improvements from March 2008 have seen the take-up of 2 year olds receiving MMR immunisations rise from 57% to the most recent immunisation rate of 76%. This reduces the gap with national performance (91%) to 15%. The improved immunisation rate is also evidenced by the improvement in GP practices achieving an MMR rate of 70% from 49% at March 2008 to 75% currently (above the 66% target for 2008). However this still remains a key priority area to ensure performance is further improved and sustained to reach the recommended rate. This is a key area within the Child Health Promotion Programme and Child Health Strategy. We have significantly improved our services for our children and young people with more complex health needs. The Kaleidoscope Centre in Lewisham is the first building of its kind in the UK to colocate a wide range of specialist services for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Evidence shows that parents value having all the professionals they need to visit on one site. Lewisham has introduced the Multi-Agency Planning Pathway (MAPP) which brings a team around the child to provide a package of co-ordinated services to support those children with complex health needs. Over 200 children have been supported by the MAPP process. Parental feedback shows that parents find MAPP successful in helping them to access the range of services they need. Our Joint Area Review found that outcomes for our Looked After Children (LAC) have improved significantly but noted that we still need to improve the number of our LAC who receive their annual health assessments. Targeted work by all partners has raised our performance to 85% from 73.5% in March This is a strong improvement but we still need to improve this further. Looked after Children are vulnerable to poorer health outcomes than their peers and the partnership takes an holistic approach to supporting their health through dedicated teams for mental health, substance misuse and early identification and mentoring of those looked after young people who are exhibiting risky behaviour. Teenage pregnancy rates have been reducing steadily since 1998 (baseline of 80 conceptions per 1000 population) and in March 2008 showed a 15% reduction but this performance will not allow us to achieve our target of 55% reduction by Figures rose slightly to 70.6 conceptions per 1,000 in data released in February 2009 for 2007, which represents an 11.8% decrease since 1998 compared to a national decrease of 10.5% over the same period. The partnership is reviewing its approaches and will maintain a strong focus on reducing teenage conceptions to ensure a step change in performance. Our young people who engaged with us in the development of this plan believe that reducing teenage pregnancy is the most important health issue for us to address. During our engagement process, our young people thought that services for sexually transmitted infections were very good. They praised the longer opening hours, better awareness of the services that are available and the range of services offered. Lewisham has an excellent record in the numbers of young people screened for sexually transmitted infections with 26.5% of young people in Lewisham screened against a national target of 15%. Of those tested, 12.6% of tests for Chlamydia were positive. Given our high screening rates, it is expected that we will have a higher detection rate. However this rate indicates that we still have further work to do to reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted infections. Our younger children through their student councils have told us that they think that eating healthily is very important and that we should make reducing childhood obesity a priority. Our data shows that in , 10.6% (compared with 11.5% for our benchmark authorities) of our Reception year children are obese as are 25.3% of our Year 6 children (compared with 23.2% for our benchmark authorities). This remains a key priority for us, as obesity levels are predicted to continue to

19 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan rise in Lewisham as they are across the rest of the country. Our developing Healthy Weight/Healthy Lifestyles Strategy will outline in detail the measures we are taking to tackle obesity. The 2008 Health Related Behaviour Survey revealed that 4% of respondents had taken an illegal drug in the last month and 7% in the last year. Insufficient numbers of young people are accessing treatment 122 against a target of 180 and of those 122, only 54% had a planned discharge. The 2008 Needs Assessment for Substance Misuse detailed an increase in the number of young people using alcohol and cannabis. Improving the prevention agenda in schools represents a clear way forward. During our CYPP engagement process, parents told us that they were very concerned about drug and alcohol abuse and felt that this should be a priority, particularly to support parents in talking to their children about substance abuse. They said that services should reach out to parents who need support so they help their children. Our engagement with children, young people and parents indicated that supporting emotional and mental well- being is important. Improving this outcome for our children and young people is a vital component in improving a range of priorities. In the recent Health Related Behaviour Survey, 5% of respondents said they had low self-esteem. Implementing the CAMHS Strategy locally will ensure that support is available. Our analysis demonstrates that we need to focus on the following priorities to improve the health of our children and young people: Reduce health inequalities by: i. improving the take up of immunisation and ii. reducing the number of babies born with low birth weight Improve the health of Looked After Children Further reduce teenage conceptions and reduce the rate of sexually transmitted infections Reduce childhood obesity Reduce substance misuse, including of alcohol and tobacco Promote mental and emotional wellbeing Stay Safe Over the last three years, the partnership has seen significant improvements in ensuring that Lewisham s children and young people can grow up in a safe environment. The Joint Area Review found that outcomes for safeguarding were good with a strong commitment to multi-agency working, effective preventative work and good early support underpinned by significant improvements in practice within children s social care. The inspection found weaknesses in our audit systems and this was addressed in July This led to significantly improved timescales during In 2009, following a review of our practices across the partnership taking into account recommendations arising from Haringey s Baby P case in November 2008, Lord Laming s Progress Report on Protecting Children in England (March 2009) and our own serious case reviews and audits, we began to implement a programme Safe and Sound across Lewisham s Partnership to ensure our children are better protected through improving the quality of practice with families, the effectiveness and efficiency of our systems, our decision making and implementation, and our information sharing. During the engagement process our children and young people told us that being safe was the most important priority for them because they believe that achieving all the other priorities is impossible if children and young people don t feel safe. This was particularly a priority on transport to and from school and is reflected in our School Travel Plan. We have made significant improvements in the number of times our LAC move from one placement to another. At the end of 2006, 12% of LAC experienced three or more placements within a year but this was reducedto9%andhasbeenaslowas5% at the end of At the end of 2006, 52.6% of LAC who had been looked after for more than two and a half years had been in their placement for at least two years and is now 73%. However there are still concerns about long term stability. 50% (at January 2009) of children who have been looked after for more than four years have been in the same placement for more than two years. This is below our target of 60%. Metropolitan Police data shows that Lewisham has the second highest (in London) number of offences per 1,000 population relating to the neglect and

20 22 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan abuse of children. An analysis of the data reveals that a significant proportion of these cases are home alone where children are left on their own or with older siblings. 47% of referrals to children s social care are categorised as child abuse or neglect against a target of 36%. From October 2007 to October 2008 there were 2,355 reported victims in all incidents of domestic violence and of these 18.26% were repeat victimisations. Lewisham continues to have the highest rate of domestic violence offences in the Metropolitan Police area. Our Looked after Children, who were consulted as part of our engagement process, thought that supporting children and young people caught up in domestic violence was very important. We have estimated that there are 1,383 problematic drug using parents in the borough and using prevalence data we can deduce that there may be 1,106 young people affected by parental substance misuse in the borough. Many of Lewisham s families need additional support at key points in their children s lives. In , there were 691 referrals to children s social care per 10,000 population which is higher than our benchmark and national figures. We need to continue to intervene earlier to prevent problems within families becoming a crisis which requires a social care referral. Our Parenting Strategy outlines the additional support that is available. We have continued to work closely with families to ensure that children are able to stay safely at home. At the end of 2006, 86.4 children (per 10,000 population) were looked after and this has continued to decline to 81.5 children (in Feb 2009). An independent advocacy service has been operating for five years to support parents with children who are the subject of child protection proceedings. During our engagement process our children and young people gave us a consistent message that feeling safe was their key concern, bullying, anti-social behaviour, safety on public transport and feeling safe in parks and play areas. In the 2008 school TellUs survey 40% of pupils responded that their school deals with bullying very well or quite well, compared with 35% pupils nationally. Published survey results show that Lewisham has an overall result of 46.4% for pupils experiencing bullying, which although less than the national 48%, is higher than similar authorities (41.9%). The score of 5% for pupils who have been bullied elsewhere other than at school is 3% below national. Further work through the antibullying strategy is ensuring that Lewisham has a range of data on bullying and effective ways of preventing and dealing with bullying. Our analysis demonstrates that we need to focus on the following priorities to ensure that our children and young people are safe: Reduce child abuse and neglect Reduce harm to children and young people caught up in domestic violence Provide secure and consistent support for looked after children, particularly placement stability Support families at risk of being in crisis Ensure that children and young people feel safe Enjoy and Achieve Lewisham has seen steady progress in raising educational standards. Particular progress has been seen at GCSE with a 20% rise in those achieving Five A* Cs grades over the last five years. Gaps with the national average are closing across the age ranges. Nevertheless, more still needs to be done at every key stage. At foundation stage we saw a significant improvement in 2008 with 40% of Lewisham s youngest pupils achieving over 78 points in personal social and emotional development and communication language and literacy compared to 32% in While this improvement is good, results need to strengthen further as we are 9% below the national average, having narrowed the gap from 14% in In 2008, Lewisham pupils increased performance at Key Stage 1 was equal third best in the country for reading, maths and science, and equal 15th in the country for writing. Lewisham s performance is on a par with comparator authorities but is below the national attainment levels. At Key Stage 2, for pupils achieving Level 4 and above in English, there is an improving trend of performance over the last five years, from 73% in 2003 to 79% in In maths there is a 7% increase in the last five years and a 4% increase in science in the same period. Lewisham equals comparator authorities performance in

21 It s everybody s business Children & young people s plan English and is above in maths and science. Results are only 2% and 1% below the national average for English and maths, which shows sustained improvement, with further improvement through focused intervention. At GCSE in 2008, 60% of Lewisham s pupils achieved five A* C GCSE grades which is a 20% rise over five years. 46% of Lewisham s pupils achieved over five A* C GCSE grades including in English and maths in This is a 14% increase over the last five years and five is very close to the national average of 47.6%. Lewisham is focused on improving educational standards for those groups of pupils who are identified as underperforming. 10% of Lewisham s Looked after Children now achieve five A* C GCSE grades including in English and maths. Whilst this is above the national performance it is far lower than their peers and is a key focus of our attention. Lewisham s Black Caribbean boys who take free school meals have improved their performance at GCSE five A* C grades from 16% in 2003 to 40% in 2008 and performance is moving closer to that of all Lewisham boys. 13.6% of our Looked after Children are absent from school for over 25 days per year, a significant improvement from 25.6% in 2006 but still not reaching our target of 11%. At March 2008, 7.5% of pupils were persistent absentees from secondary school. In March 2009, analysis of latest persistent absence data showed that Lewisham has the fastest improvement rate in the country for reducing persistent absence. Targeted action has resulted in: 19 permanent exclusions last year (down from 44 in 2003), no primary exclusions for two years, fixed term exclusions down from 1540 (2005) to 955 (2008), and zero tolerance of exclusions of LAC, pupils with a statement and pupils subject to a Child Protection Plan, and a lower rate of exclusions than national for BME pupils. During our CYPP engagement process, our children and young people told us that having safe places out of doors to play helps them stay fit and healthy and that there should be more activities for young people as it helps stop anti-social behaviour. The Fair Play Builder and Children s Centre programmes have developed a range of sites across the borough to enable children to gain enjoyment and personal development through social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities which are both adventurous and creative. Lewisham fulfilled its commitment in the CYPP to conduct a full review of education for pupils with special educational needs. The process of delivering that review is under way and will continue to ensure that pupils, wherever they are educated, are able to learn, play and develop within their community of schools. Our analysis demonstrates that we need to focus on the following priorities to ensure that our children and young people enjoy and achieve: Raise educational standards at all key stages Close the attainment gap between underachieving groups and their peers Continue to improve school attendance Ensure that all children have opportunities to play and that all young people have a range of accessible leisure activities available to them Meet the needs of pupils with SEN and disabilities Make a Positive Contribution The young people of Lewisham continue to take their place at the centre of the Council s decision-making processes, through the election of their fifth Young Mayor in 2008 with a turn out of 49%. This turn out represents a year on year increase in participation from 43% in Feedback from the Young Mayor and advisers and the Young Managers Board is that they place great value on being involved in participation and they gain a great deal by being involved. The value, in particular, the opportunity to have their opinions heard and to influence and make sustainable decisions about things that affect them in the borough, as well as the new experiences that being involved in participation has brought to them in terms of travel, meeting different people and developing their skills. Children and young people think their views about the local area are listened to. The school TellUs survey showed that positive responses for Lewisham are significantly above the national result. 29% of pupils think they are listened to in decisions about the local area, 7% above the national figure. 75% of pupils participate in positive activities such as sports or a youth group (outside