Children's Services Department

Quality and School Improvement

The 4 areas which make up the Division are:

The School Improvement Service (including the Community Music Service and Education ICT)
Safeguarding, Quality and Review
Education Inclusion
Assets and Capital Management

The School Improvement Service

The main role of this service is to provide support and challenge for schools so that children and young people are helped to achieve highly, to enjoy their time at school and to make the progress that they should. It has an important role in quality assurance.

A team of inspectors and advisers carries out regular visits to schools, provides advice on subjects and aspects of the curriculum and leads a programme of professional development activities for teachers.

In addition advisory staff work in schools alongside teachers, supporting teaching and helping to develop teaching materials.

Safeguarding, Quality and Review

The main aim of the service is to ensure that all children who are on the Child Protection Register or Looked After by the local authority have regular independent reviews to ensure that all agencies are discharging their responsibilities in relation to child protection plans and care plans. This is carried out by Independent Reviewing Officers chairing multi agency meetings which have to be held within specific timescales.

The service area also delivers a quality assurance function in relation to social work involvement through the delivery of regular case file audits. The other key area is the Participation and Children's Rights Team. This team is responsible for delivery of a children's rights service for all Looked After Children.

If Looked After Children have any concerns or issues which they are unable to share with a social worker, carer, teacher etc., they can access the Children's Rights Officer who will support them in dealing with their issue.

The team also facilitate a number of projects and groups for and with Looked After Children, such as healthy eating and drama.

Education Inclusion

The Special Educational Needs and Inclusion Teams work with all schools and other provisions within the local authority to support pupils' learning.

The main aims of the team are to support schools to develop systems to manage a wide range of special needs and to support school staff to develop understanding and skills in teaching, learning and behaviour in order to promote inclusion and reduce exclusions.

The team includes advisory teachers with qualifications and expertise in speech and language, complex social and communication needs (autism), behaviour and learning and deafness/hearing impairment.

The team provide training for school-based staff and local authority staff. Team members work closely with a range of other authorities in order to promote collaborative working practices and providing a coordinated approach to children and young people's needs.

Assets and Capital Management

The team provides advice, guidance and support to schools on issues relating to buildings and investment. In particular they provide help to schools to address priorities as identified in the Asset Management Plan.

The team is responsible for exploring the need for investment to improve or create school place provision and supporting our aims and objectives regarding School Organisation.

A major role is to lead on investment strategy across the schools' estate, including the Building Schools for the Future programme to remodel secondary provision, and for the wider provision of buildings that support Children's Services.

Contact

Jane Hargreaves

Head of Quality and School Improvement

Westbury Centre

Ripple Road

Barking

IG11 7PT

Tel: 020 8270 4818

Fax: 020 8270 4799

Email: jane.hargreaves@lbbd.gov.uk|