‘Outstanding’ rating for our children's home
Pinecroft, one of two children’s homes run in Reading by the newly-formed Brighter Futures for Children, has been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted after an unannounced inspection visit recently.
The inspector awarded ‘Outstanding’ ratings to all three key areas - the overall experiences and progress of children, how well children and young people were helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders.
This was the first Ofsted inspection since Brighter Futures for Children took over children’s services from Reading Borough Council in December 2018. The inspector visited the home on July 2-3 this year.
Pinecroft provides care for up to five children with learning, physical, disability or sensory impairments, or a combination of these.
The inspector found that the children’s home provides ‘highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care’.
He referred to staff as ‘smiley, passionate and enthusiastic’ and added ‘the well-established team works hard to maximise and enrich the children’s experiences. This creates an atmosphere which is full of warmth and love where staff are nurturing and supportive of the children.’
Staff were praised for their ‘excellent’ links with healthcare professionals and relationships with parents and for embracing children’s identity and cultural needs.
The inspector noted that In-depth risk assessments underpinned health plans and medication administration processes, which, in turn, provided clear, detailed guidance for staff, so that specialised healthcare could be delivered ‘to the highest standard’.
Comments were made on the children’s colourful bedrooms, on the range of activities available, the promotion of equality and diversity and that children’s needs were effectively met.
Staff were praised for their diligent approach to ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings were sought and on the innovative ways staff had devised to communicate with children. This included a dictionary linked to a child’s vocalisations. Once limited to one sound, she is now using up to 100 words.
There was particular praise for the registered manager, Helena Baptista, who was described by the inspector as ‘highly experienced…dynamic, ambitious and forward thinking’.
‘Her organised approach means that records are meticulous and the home is managed to the highest standard. She continually strives for excellence, drawing on different models of care to inform her vision for the service. The strength of her leadership inspires a culture where the staff are focused and committed. They work together to deliver an exceptional level of care.’
Tony Kildare, Managing Director of Brighter Futures for Children, said this was an exceptional achievement by highly motivated and dedicated staff.
‘We are all extremely proud of the team at Pinecroft. Helena’s leadership style is inclusive, pro-active and highly effective in motivating her staff who, in turn, deliver an outstanding and vital service to children, young people and their families.
‘The whole team’s approach is both exceptional and inspiring.’
Cllr Liz Terry, Lead Councillor for Children’s Services, said: ‘I’d like to congratulate the entire team a Pinecroft for again achieving an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted judgement.
‘The management team and staff have consistently impressed Ofsted inspectors with their dedication and excellent work with children who have a range of learning disabilities and complex medical needs.
‘It is heartening to know that children who attend Pinecroft enjoy such a positive experience in a warm and caring environment.’
Registered manager Helena Baptista said: ‘This report is a credit to the young people and staff, who have work so hard together to attain the best possible outcomes. To achieve an ‘Outstanding’ judgement in every single inspection area, with no recommendations or requirements, is absolutely incredible! I am really pleased that Ofsted was able to observe the work we do and confirm that we delivery care to the highest standard.
‘I am really proud of my team, who are an extremely skilled group of professionals that are passionate about making difference to the lives of the children we care for, a special mention is needed for my assistant unit manager Sherwin Springer who oversees the operation of the home on a day to day basis.’
The full report can be found on Ofsted’s website: https://files.api.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50099115
Children in care film gets standing ovation
An inspirational film, made by and for children in care, got a standing ovation at its premiere in Reading recently.
The film, which is almost four minutes long, is an emotional, thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting account of young people's experiences of coming into care and of being in care.
Our young people in care wanted to create the film as a way of reassuring others coming into care that it would be okay.
'The young people were totally committed to helping improve the experiences of others coming into care, as well as having their voices and views heard,' said Brighter Futures for Children's Managing Director Tony Kildare.
'The end result is an inspiring film, which left everyone at the premiere filled with pride and in awe of their amazing achievement,' he added.
The film became a reality thanks to TellyJuice, the London-based creative video agency who gave their time and creativity free to produce a brilliant film for us.
'TellyJuice turned the young people's dreams of making a film into a reality and we can't thank them enough,' said Catie Blundell, Brighter Futures for Children's Participation Officer, who works with the children and young people on ways to have their voices and views heard.
The young people spent a creative day at TellyJuice writing their thoughts and feelings about being in care and about their foster carers on colourful cards. To protect their identities, then held the cards up and recorded the voice over for the film.
At the end of the young people's powerful messages, a song, called 'Thank You' which is dedicated to our Foster Carers was played. The song was written and performed by two of the young people and was recorded at Readipop, the Reading-based music and arts charity which, again, gave us their expertise and studio time free of charge.
The film had its premiere at a special showing, thanks to the generosity of The Vue Cinema, Reading, in front of 130 invited guests.
The film is now widely available on our social media sites and on our website at www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org and is rapidly clocking up views.
'Our young people have helped allay the fears for many children coming into care, as well as promoting the fantastic work of our foster carers.
'We're hoping it will also encourage more people in Reading to come forward as foster carers with us, to help enhance the lives of our children and young people by offering them the same level of care - both short and long-term - and to keep them in Reading, where, together, we can offer them a brighter future,' said Mr Kildare.
View the film at www.brighterfuturesforchildren.org
Facebook: @BFfCChild
Twitter: @BFfC_Child
Young people in care speak out through poetry
Young people in care who took part in an eight-week poetry course, called Spoken Word, Spoken Mind, read their poems out to an invited audience as part of Reading Fringe Festival recently.
Brighter Futures for Children worked together with local organisations to bring the project about and provide an opportunity for the children to express themselves creatively.
Led by local Reading poet Becci Fernley, the Spoken Word, Spoken Mind workshops took place all over Reading, in venues organised by the Reading Fringe Festival. Each week Becci inspired the young people to open up about their thoughts and feelings about being in care and to use these as a basis for some powerful poetry.
The idea for the project came from Connect Reading's Kirsti Wilson whose organisation's very ethos is to join local companies and charities together to help the local community.
'Children who come into care often have adverse childhood experiences and find it difficult to express themselves or to make sense fo what they've experienced,' said Catie Blundell, Brighter Futures for Children's Participation Officer, 'The Spoken Word provided our young people with an opportunity to combine expression with learning the art of poetry and the results were amazing,' Catie added.
The project was part-funded by the Arts Council, through Reading Fringe Festival and through Supt Stan Gilmour, Thames Police's Commander for Reading, who support trauma-informed practice across the borough. That funding was kindly sourced for us by Connect Reading.
The highlight of the project was participation in a closed event, as part of Reading Fringe Festival, to 130 invited guests at The Vue cinema, Reading.
Progress is slow but we’re upbeat about our future plans
Ofsted has today (19/7/19) published its findings on its second monitoring visit since Brighter Futures for Children took over children’s services from Reading Borough Council in December 2018. It was their ninth monitoring visit since children’s services were rated inadequate in 2016.
Link to Ofsted monitoring visit report
Inspectors visited on June 26-27. They reviewed the progress made in the area of help and protection, particularly the work carried out in the Family Intervention Teams (FIT), the Children and Young People’s Disability Team (CYPDT) and the Access and Assessment teams (A&A). Inspectors focused on children who are the subject of child protection and child in need plans.
The main findings were that, although there have been some improvements in the service, for example in the Children and Young People Disability team, the progress is slow, uneven and, when made, not always sustained.
Eleni Ioannides, interim Director of Children’s Services, said: ‘Brighter Futures for Children is at the very start of its journey and this report is an accurate reflection of the situation we have inherited.
‘There is a huge amount of work to be done to improve children’s social care in Reading and, even though we have made great strides since we took over in December 2018, it is too early in our journey for new improvements to show.
‘However, there is no getting away from the fact that the lack of permanent children’s social workers is impacting on our ability to make sustained improvements.
‘This is a nationwide issue, felt more acutely by all children’s services near to London, where social workers can attract higher salaries. It isn’t helped by the high cost of housing and living in Berkshire which, again, impacts on our recruitment success.
‘The positive news is that we have eight ‘home grown’ social workers who will qualify next week and will be able to take on more cases, we have several permanent social workers starting with us and a few who have converted from agency to permanent, which shows we are an employer of choice.
‘We have also embarked on a targeted recruitment campaign with a new recruitment agency which will specialise in finding permanent social workers. It is already attracting social workers to us. This is our key priority.
‘Ofsted acknowledged the work we have done to improve performance management data and the accuracy of the audits we have carried out, which have helped us identify the areas where we need to improve and steps are already being taken to do so, although it’s too early for these to show in monitoring visits.’
The 171 unallocated cases were, as indicated in the report, at a particular moment in time when five social workers left in quick succession. The situation was dealt with swiftly, extra resources were put in and colleagues from across the service stepped in to ensure all children were seen and that there was oversight of cases. Within a short space of time, additional staff were employed and the number of unallocated cases fell to zero.
We must stress that, at no point, were any children left unsafe.
Ofsted inspectors recognised improvements we have made in the quality of assessments, in effective multi-agency involvement, and in the creative direct work we undertake with children, which is very positive. We now need to work to ensure that the best of our practice becomes more commonly and consistently the standard that everyone can expect.
Delays in court proceedings work has been addressed by a thorough business analysis of the current state and new processes have been mapped for implementation. This change will take time to embed and to show as an improvement but the issues have been identified and tackled.
Tony Kildare, Brighter Futures for Children’s Managing Director, said: ‘We have robust action plans in place to tackle all the known issues.
‘We recognise that we have a long improvement journey ahead to better the services we offer to the children of Reading but we are determined to succeed and to make sustainable, positive changes. It will take time but we are adamant we can deliver.
‘Recruitment and retention remains our biggest issue and we’re really pleased that our permanent recruitment activity is now under way. Continuity of social care and creating trust with the children and young people we are here to serve is at the very heart of a social worker’s role, though until something is done nationally to address the discrepancy between the amount agency social workers can earn compared to their permanent counterparts, this will continue to be an issue, just as it is in other not-for-profit and public sectors, such as the NHS.
‘In other areas of children’s services we manage, there have been significant achievements since December. Our two children’s homes are now both ‘Outstanding’, we have made great strides in implementing the education strategy, we have been complimented by Ofsted on our work in schools, and we continue to improve our Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service, which was recognised by Ofsted in their comments on the work of our Children and Young Person’s Disability team.
‘In addition, the 28 projects being run under our Transformation Programme are starting to show real results, particularly in early help, where our new pre-birth and reunification teams are making a positive difference to children, young people and families in Reading.
‘We are not making excuses. There is much work to be done to rectify the state of children’s social care as we inherited it in December, but we are determined, passionate and firmly believe that our improvement journey has begun.
Cllr Liz Terry, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Councillor for Children’s Services, said: “It is clear from the latest Ofsted letter that while progress is being made in Reading’s Children’s Services it is not happening quickly enough.
“The nationwide problem of social worker recruitment continues to be a significant barrier in the service’s ability to deliver the improvements required. It is a difficult problem, felt most severely in the South East, and I look forward to seeing some positive results from Brighter Futures for Children’s new recruitment campaign.
“I had hoped establishing the new company would be a fresh start, with progress being made more quickly. I am disappointed this is not yet the case but in the meantime the Council will continue to support BFfC as they strive to provide the best possible children’s services for families in Reading.”
Official Opening of New Autism Resource Centre in Reading
Joint press release with Reading Borough Council
A NEW resource centre for children with autism is being officially opened in Reading next week.
The Blessed Mary Ward Centre, located at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School in Southcote, will provide 30 places for youngsters with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
The new £1.9m provision is part of a wider initiative to improve and increase the diversity of provision for the growing number of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the borough.
Bishop of Portsmouth the Rt Rev Bishop Philip Egan will conduct the blessing of The Blessed Mary Ward Centre at the official opening ceremony on Wednesday 3 July.
Blessed Hugh Faringdon previously provided places for pupils with autism in a modular classroom block which had exceeded its useful life. The block was demolished, along with the caretaker’s house, to make way for the new resource centre which has places for double the number of children.
The surrounding area has been landscaped to provide outside space for both educational and recreational purposes for pupils using The Blessed Mary Ward Centre.
Simon Uttley, Head Teacher of Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School, said:“We are delighted to be able to provide a first-class resource for our students. We are committed to ensuring that all students fully engage with the life of the school and this resource reflects a real investment in our young people.”
There is currently a shortage of special school settings for children who are on the autistic spectrum within Reading and demand is growing. Consequently, a number of Reading pupils have to travel to special schools outside the borough.
The newly expanded ASD resource centre at Blessed Hugh Faringdon will help meet demand for specialist places within a mainstream school in the borough. This will not only benefit the children and their families but save the Council money in the long term.
Cllr Ashley Pearce, Lead Councillor for Education, said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved in the project to deliver this excellent new resource centre for Reading.
“The Blessed Mary Ward Centre will provide a modern teaching environment for children with autism and will help meet the growing demand for secondary places for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in the borough.
“Providing more facilities such as this helps keep down the number of Reading pupils who have to travel outside the borough to school, which is better for children and their families and helps to reduce higher placement and travel costs.”
The Council and Brighter Futures for Children are working together to provide improved and additional SEND places within the borough.
Reading was recently successful in its joint bid, with West Berkshire and Wokingham councils, for a new SEN free school in the borough which will have places for 150 students. The school will welcome children on the autistic spectrum as well as pupils with social emotional and mental health needs.
Other projects include an extension to provision at The Avenue Special School for a further 25 students,the relocation and expansion of Phoenix Collegeand plans for two existing mainstream schools in north and west Reading to provide additional places for pupils with autism and social and communication needs.
Antony Kildare, Managing Director of Brighter Futures for Children, said: “This is a much-needed resource and we are very pleased to have been able to play a part in bringing this about. We are fully committed to increasing and improving the SEND offer in Reading and to working alongside the Council and others to make this happen.
“I’d like to congratulate everyone involved in this project. It’s inspiring to see what can be achieved when we all work together.”
NOTE TO EDITORS
Photo Opportunity: The media are invited to send a photographer/reporter to the official opening of The Blessed Mary Ward ASD resource centre at Blessed Hugh Faringdon School, Fawley Road, Southcote, Reading, RG30 3EP at 11.45am on Wednesday 3 July.
Please let Reading Borough Council press office know if you wish to attend.
SEND Update
Brighter Futures for Children fully recognises the national pressure on funding for SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).
Since we took over the delivery of the SEND service from Reading Borough Council in December 2018, we have been working hard to ensure the resources we have are focused correctly on the needs of children and their families.
Through the delivery of the SEND Strategy, we have reviewed what we have in place to ensure resources are targeted appropriately. We continue to work with partners, including Reading Family Forum, to analyse information on children and family needs and use that to inform priorities.
We have seen a shift in the level and types of SEND needs of children in Reading and continue to develop different ways of improving services and support for children.
We have also co-developed tools for schools and settings to help them identify children’s needs early and we have put in place evidence-based support for children with SEND needs. This is intended to help schools focus their resources on support that has the greatest impact.
We continue to work with the Schools’ Forum to ensure that the SEND element of education-related funding is targeted in the right areas. We are also working hard to attract additional funding, alongside Reading Borough Council, and we have been successful in our bid for a new special Free School and the SEND Independent Advice and Support service.
We are also delighted that The Base autism centre will be opening shortly at Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School, Reading.
We have recently become a national Trailblazer for the work we are doing to support children’s mental and emotional health in school settings. This was jointly commissioned with the CCG and West Berkshire, and has come about due to the work our Educational Psychologists and Primary Mental Health Workers have been doing.
It's Foster Care Fortnight and we're on a mission to help keep children local to Reading
Brighter Futures for Children's fostering team is embarking on a huge campaign during Foster Care Fortnight to encourage more people to become foster carers in Reading.
'We want everyone in Reading to support our campaign to keep as many of the children who come into our care local,' said Brighter Futures for Children's Managing Director Antony Kildare.
'While it is sometimes appropriate to move a child or children away from Reading for safeguarding reasons, we occasionally find that we have to place children outside Reading because we don't have a large enough pool of foster carers in the town to meet their needs,' he added.
'This can mean that siblings need to be separated or children have to move schools or away from their friends, which makes their time in care more difficult than it needs to be,' said Mr Kildare.
'So we've embarked on a community campaign to get everyone in Reading behind it to find more local foster carers who can help prevent this from happening.
'This situation isn't unique to us because there's a national shortage of foster carers. We are taking time during Foster Care Fortnight to spread the word about the rewards of fostering and dispel the myths that prevent some people from finding out more about it,' he added.
Brighter Futures for Children has a strong social media strand to the campaign, is attending local events, distributing posters for people to put up in their places of work and even large display screen adverts at Reading Station, thanks to the generosity of Maxx Media, who gave the space to the not-for-profit company for free.
'We've been delighted with the community support and partner engagement we've had so far but we need everyone to get behind this to help us find more extraordinary people like those who currently make up our fostering family.
'So, if you think you could help us and if you think you could foster, or know someone who could, please get in touch. We can't wait to hear from you,' he said.
Visit the website at www.brighterfuturesforchildren, call 0118 469 3020 or email foster@brighterfuturesforchildren.org to find out more.
Ofsted notes speed and effectiveness of response time for children at risk
Reading’s children’s services’ response to concerns about children at risk is quick and effective, according to a report by Ofsted inspectors published today (8 May).
Ofsted inspectors found the service offered by Brighter Futures for Children’s CSPoA (Children’s Single Point of Access) mirrors improvements made when the service was last inspected in 2017.
During the visit, which took place between 12-13 March, inspectors focused on the following:
- the effectiveness of the children’s single point of access (CSPoA) in responding to concerns about children
- the early response to risk, particularly strategy discussions and child protection enquiries
- the effectiveness of the arrangements for ‘stepping up’ or ‘stepping down’ between different levels of intervention.
Inspectors praised the way the CSPoA was run, with co-located and virtual partner agencies effectively sharing information and attending meetings and making decisions.
They were also complimentary about practitioners’ shared understanding of thresholds and timescales for initial screening and enquiries.
However, the purpose of the monitoring visits is to look at improvements and inspectors were critical of the pace of change, the inconsistent quality of social work practice and the quality of data.
Inspectors acknowledged the change in the way the service is now managed and that relevant partner agencies do not always contribute to strategy discussions or fully understand the thresholds for entry into children’s social care.
‘We are pleased that improvements have been sustained and we are working hard to improve practice across our services,’ said Antony Kildare, Brighter Futures for Children’s Managing Director.
‘We are streamlining our processes to capture data more accurately. This will give us better performance management information on frontline practice, which will be shared regularly with leaders and with managers. It will help us to robustly monitor and better manage the quality of social work practice,’ he added.
Eleni Ioannides, interim Director of Children’s Services, said: ‘We know there are areas which need addressing in terms of oversight and the consistent quality of social work practice but we’re at the start of our improvement journey and this report indicates we’re on the right track,’ she said.
Cllr Liz Terry, Lead Councillor for Children’s Services, said: ‘The initial speed and effectiveness of the response to each case brought to the attention of the Children’s Services team is critical, as is the appropriate ongoing treatment of that case.
‘I am pleased to see the improvements to the service recognised by Ofsted inspectors but note the areas where more work is required and will be keen to see further progress in these areas happening more quickly.’
The full report can be seen on Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. The direct link (look for 12 March, published on 08 May 2019) is:
https://files.api.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50074946
More pupils get first choice primary school place this year
Reading’s new children’s company, Brighter Futures for Children, has made sure all primary school pupils in the borough have a place for September, with 87% (1,644 pupils) getting their first choice and only 1% (36 pupils) offered a divert option.
The number of applications for places at Reading’s primary schools has decreased for the third year running but more parents have been allocated their first choice for their children than in previous years.
A total of 2,110 places were available on National Offer Day (16 April ) in Reading primary schools and there were 1,882 applications. This contrasts with the number of secondary school places applied for this year, which left schools oversubscribed, although places were still found for students.
Brighter Futures for Children, which is owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council, has reduced the number of pupils offered none of their preferences significantly this year compared with the past three years. For those who couldn’t be offer a place, a divert school has been offered. All divert schools are considered to be within a reasonable distance of the child’s home address.
Late applications have still to be processed.
In addition, there were 159 pupils who needed an infant to junior school transfer. Reading has only two schools for which this transfer is necessary. 99.37% of Reading residents’ on-time applications received their first preference. There were two pupils who were not offered a place at their preferred school but they are not attending an infant school. Late applications for these, too, still have to be processed.
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Number of applicants | 1882 | 2102 | 2254 | 2239 |
| Percentage of 1st Preference offers | 87.35% | 84.02% | 77.50% | 78.61% |
| Percentage of Second Preference offers | 6.75% | 8.80% | 10.10% | 9.11% |
| Percentage of Third Preference offers | 2.66% | 2.47% | 3.81% | 4.20% |
| Percentage of Fourth Preference offers | 0.85% | 1.05% | 2.17% | 2.46% |
| Percentage of pupils offered a divert | 1.19% | 3.62% | 6.20% | 5.40% |
| Percentage of pupils allocated to other LA schools | 11.16% | 9.61% | 9.79% | 10.10% |
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Number of pupils offered first preference | 1644 | 1767 | 1751 | 1760 |
| Number of pupils offered second preference | 127 | 185 | 228 | 204 |
| Number of pupils offered third preference | 50 | 52 | 87 | 94 |
| Number of pupils offered fourth preference | 16 | 22 | 49 | 55 |
| Number of pupils offered a divert | 36 | 76 | 139 | 121 |
| Number of pupils allocated other LA Schools | 210 | 202 | 222 | 226 |
| Number of places in Reading schools allocated to children in another LA | 43 | 30 | 37 | 37 |
64% of Reading students get first choice school on National Offer Day
This year, Reading schools have been more popular than ever, with a greater number of residents choosing schools in the Borough than schools outside it.
Reading Girls has increased in popularity this year and the WREN School, Highdown School and Maiden Erlegh, Reading all continue to be popular choices.
Reading’s new children’s company, Brighter Futures for Children, has made sure all secondary school pupils in the borough have a place for September, despite fierce competition for places.
First preference offers stand at 64% this year, compared to 66% in 2018. The number of students not allocated any of their preferences decreased slightly from 12.58% last year to 12.28% this year.
On National Offer Day there were no surplus places in Reading schools this year, compared to 85 on offer day in 2018, 221 in 2017 and 274 in 2016.
After National Offer Day this is likely to change, as there is always movement of pupils and places become available, parents need to be aware that this could impact on the number of school transport applications being submitted and approved.
Brighter Futures for Children, which is owned by, but independent of, Reading Borough Council, identified the need for Reading schools to take additional children this year, compared to previous years. This was because more than 200 additional residents chose to apply for a Reading school place for their child.
A shortage of spaces and our statutory duty to provide every child who had an on-time application with a school place on National Offer Day meant we had to ask a number of schools to either to take an additional class or additional children per class.
Extra classes have gone in at Highdown School, The Wren School and Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School. Maiden Erlegh in Reading has taken an additional 12 students.
At the end of the admissions rounds last year (31 August each year) we had almost 80 additional places available as children were – by choice - allocated out of borough.
The percentage of pupils allocated to schools outside Reading was 26.44% this year, 28.52% 2017, 37.39% in 2017 and 34.78% in 2016.