Area Coordination Management Meeting

Stalybridge, Dukinfield & Mossley

Time: 2.00pm
Date: 13th March 2008
Venue: Ridgehill Children’s Centre

Present:

Julie Lord - Area Co-ordinator & Chair
Pauline Daniels - Children’s Centres and Extended Schools
Alyson Harvey - Connexions
Janet Blakeley - PCT
Diane Goddard - Secondary School Rep – Mossley Hollins
Caroline Wilkinson - Community Regeneration
Karen Swindells - Youth Service
Jackie Lydon - BIP / BEST
Joan Parry - COLT
Liz Price - Education Welfare Service

Note taker: Jo Cole

Item 1: Welcome

Julie welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that 2 presentations are on the agenda today – one from the BEST team and one from the Regeneration team.

Item 2: Apologies

Anne Short - Primary School Rep, Yew Tree
Sue Collins - Primary School Rep, Arlies
Gabrielle Bold - Stalybridge Family Support Team

Item 3: Notes of last meeting and matter arising

The minutes from the last meeting were accepted as a true and accurate record, with the following matters arising: -

Item 5 – Update on the Children and Young People Plan

Julie reported that the self-assessments for each of the 4 areas are in draft form and updated the ACMT on key future dates: -

• Draft self-assessments will be presented at the next outcome theme groups and to Tom Coffey and Phil Tomlinson. Further amendments will then be made.
• Deadline for the 2nd draft is 31st March.
• Deadline for submission to Ofsted is 15th May.
• Julie acknowledged that there are still gaps which the area co-ordinators are chasing up.

Item 6 – Jar Area Workshop Event

Julie checked that everyone had received the invitation to the JAR Area Network Events, which should have been cascaded down from their line manager.

Karen Swindells requested that a copy of the invitation be emailed to her as her line manager is currently off sick.

Item 7 – Staff Directory

Julie reported that the Area Staff Directory is now attached to SID.

Item 8 – Neighbourhood Network Event

Julie fed back on the recent Neighbourhood Network Event in Dukinfield reporting that it was a success.

The next one is planned for Micklehurst and Julie is meeting with Marie to co-ordinate this. It may be held in conjunction with the official opening of the Children’s Centre.

Item 9 – AOB

Request for information from Veronica Hyde

Julie requested that anyone with information regarding their engagement with the voluntary sector, please complete the template.

CRB Checks

Julie confirmed that this issue of CRB checks has been highlighted on the JAR Action Plan.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Email invitation to Karen Swindells.	Jo Cole	Completed
Template to be emailed out to ACMT	Jo Cole	Completed

Item 4: Presentation from the BEST Team

Jackie Lydon explained that the purpose of this presentation is to highlight the BEST team as being a well integrated team, which has been operational for 3 years.

Jackie also explained that funding for the BEST team will come to an end in April.
Jackie then began the presentation, highlighting the following: -

• The BEST is a Government endorsed multi – agency team carrying out proactive and preventative work.
• A review of the BEST team has recently been undertaken, with a questionnaire going out to schools. The responses have been very positive.
• The pyramid of work consists of Whole School Development, Group Work and Individual Referrals. Most cases don’t lead to individual referrals as early preventative work is undertaken.
• An example of Whole School Development – Attendance Tree and Pinfold Primary School.
  A child receives a leaf to attach to the tree for achieving good attendance – bronze = 95%, silver = 98%, gold = 100%. The leaves then go in a hat at the end of the school year and the winner receives a bike. There are also smaller prizes and incentives awarded throughout the year.
• An example of Collaborative Group Work – Transition Learning Walks.
  The purpose of this is to demystify the transition between primary and secondary school. It gives young people the chance to see how a high school operates during lesson time and lunch time. The young people had the opportunity to interview pupils and the headteacher. They then took their findings back to their school and presented them for the rest of their class.

Julie thanked Jackie and invited questions and comments.

A discussion followed regarding alternative funding available and the next stage for the BEST team. Jackie explained that this has not yet been determined. It may involve a change of locality to enable schools in other areas to have access to BEST. Concerns were raised regarding the gap that will be left at schools currently accessing BEST.

There was also a discussion regarding the future of The Jet Centre. Jackie reported that the building is due for demolition in 2010. Julie explained that discussions have taken place at the CSMT meeting regarding incorporating provision for multi-agency projects within the new build schools in the BSF Programme.

Item 5: Presentation from Regeneration

Caroline Wilkinson attended for this item and thanked Julie for the invitation.

• Caroline is the Neighbourhood Renewal Officer for Ridgehill, Denton South and Smallshaw Hurst.
• She explained that the current funding, NRF, will come to an end in March and this will be replaced by Working Neighbourhood Funding and this has been secured in Tameside for 3 years. At the moment however it has not been determined how the funding will be administered and managed.
• The Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Report is used to determine what is considered a priority neighbourhood. Currently, Smallshaw Hurst, Hattersley and Denton South, Droylsden East, Newton and Ridgehill are priority neighbourhoods. Post March 2008, Droylsden East, Newton and Ridgehill may be considered ‘light touch’ areas.
• This new funding will be targeted on the worklessness agenda, which hasn’t shown much improvement in previous funding rounds.
• Partnership working in Ridgehill is excellent. Caroline mentioned a number of people who have played a key role in building up this partnership working, including Rachel McHugh & Marie Hodgkinson.
• The RASH community forum is going well and local people are making good use of the facilities at the Children’s Centre.

Caroline concluded her presentation by inviting questions and comments.

Julie reported that there is a developing Aspirations Strategy which focuses on raising the aspirations and self-confidence of children and young people and getting unemployed people into employment.

Jackie explained that she attended a meeting on Monday on how to raise the aspirations of young people.

A discussion followed regarding how to engage young people through ICT. Many managers felt school lessons need to change to incorporate ICT and to encourage free thinking and creativity.

Diane Goddard confirmed that ICT is incorporated in half of the lessons at Mossley Hollins and every classroom has an interactive white board. An awards ceremony has recently taken place where 30 of the children were presented with laptops.
Concerns were raised regarding how this new approach to lessons also brings dangers with it i.e. children not being able to read and write, disadvantaged children who don’t have a computer at home to carry on lessons, cyber bullying, child protection issues.

Concerns were also raised regarding the affect IT has on a child’s social skills, with social networks such as face book, my space and you tube.

Everyone thanked Jackie and Caroline for their presentations and they left the meeting.

Item 6: Area Profile: Final Version December 2007

Julie explained that there is a lot of statistical information contained in the Area Profile of Need and schools have found this particular useful. The information is also useful when preparing for an inspection.

Julie acknowledged that some of the data is quite out of date as it is taken from the last census in 2001. There is also information however that is updated on a regular basis e.g. free schools meals, worklessness.

Julie reported that this will be the needs assessment for our geographical area.
Julie requested that if there is anything missing or incorrect, please email her.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Email Julie any missing or incorrect information.	All	As soon as possible

Item 7: Area Action Plan - Updates

Action Plan No. 2: Integrated Processes

Aligning Common Assessment and Referrals: Outcome of Consultation

Julie reported that following the outcome of the consultation, a report will be going to the CLT and the CYPSP to recommend that when a common assessment has been undertaken, it will be used to request the services without the need for additional paperwork or referral forms.

Julie fed back some of the responses received: -

Is further training / workshops required?
A mixed response received – ranging from none required to full training needed.
Some feel common assessment process still not understood.
Bob reported that Training for Trainers sessions have been organised and relevant people have been invited.

Will it improve the development of quality?
The overall responses were that it will help and not hinder the process.

Will it stop the duplication of effort?
The majority of people felt it would if the information is shared and the systems are used properly.

Will it foster a focus on outcomes?
Mixed response received.

Will it support information sharing and a common language?
Overall response – Yes.

Will it build skills and knowledge?
Mixed response received.

The following comments were made: -

Liz
If no consent is given, how can a CAF be used as a referral form. There is a danger that referrals will not be made because the form will put people off.

Julie
What is the percentage of parents who are not giving consent to a CAF?

Pauline
Do we monitor and record the parents who don’t give consent?

Karen
The Youth Service are thinking of using the CAF form for PAYP referrals. Consent would be an issue – many young people don’t want their parents to know.

Julie will take all these comments back to the other area co-ordinators and will inform of the outcome at the next ACMT meeting.

CAF Adviser and CAF Champions

Julie reported that there will be a CAF Adviser recruited to support practitioners in the common processes. There will also be 12 CAF Champions – 3 in each area.

The Area Co-ordinators acknowledge that the form and the process is daunting. A lot of people don’t understand that they are not required to put something in every box. These issues can be resolved with the use of a CAF Champion to offer advice and support.

Service Information Directory: Prototype 2

The SID is going to be re-launched next week and a demonstration is taking place on Monday 17th March, 10.00 – 11.00 in Committee Room 4. There will also be a demo stall at the JAR Network Events.

Julie reported that she has had a look and it does look and feel better and searches have been refined. The front page contains a feedback button for people to leave comments to assist with the consultation.

Common Processes: Management Information Update

The latest data was circulated at the meeting.

It showed that there was an increase in cases of Information to Share in October/November because of the launch. The figures for this area dipped in January.

The following comments were made: -

Joan
How is the ‘child & family meeting convened’ data collected?

Julie
The data is taken from JASPER. If the meeting is not logged on JASPER, it will not be counted in the data.

Liz
Her understanding is that a child and family meeting must be convened through JASPER for it to count in the data. If the meeting is arranged over the telephone, it will not count.

Joan
It becomes difficult when the child lives out of the area so they are not on JASPER but they attend a Tameside school.

Liz
Recording and review forms for child & family meetings are not being used. They are really useful as they focus your mind on the action needed, who is assigned the task, the outcome needed, and the deadline – rather than pages of minutes. These forms have been operational for 3-4 years.

Action Plan No. 8: Monitoring Progress to Integration

Audit Commission Frontline Practitioner Survey: Outcomes

Julie had mentioned the results of this survey at the last meeting. The Audit Commission have now prepared a presentation to summarise the outcomes.
Julie talked through the key points of the presentation and explained that she will email out to ACMT members.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Julie to email presentation out to ACMT	Julie Lord	As soon as possible.

Action Plan No. 9.2: Area Action Plan 2007/08

Review of Action Plan 2007/08

Julie explained that the area co-ordinators have produced a briefing note detailing the nine elements of the Area Action Plan, giving a judgement of heartening or troubling on the progress for each one. This is in preparation for the review of the action plan and the writing of next year’s plan.

Liz enquired about the status of the Parenting Strategy. Julie reported that a second draft has been circulated for comments to various managers with a deadline of 20th March. The final version must go to DCSF by 31st March. Julie also reported that a Parenting Strategy Manager will be recruited in the near future. The job description is currently being written.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Email briefing note to Karen Swindells	Jo Cole	Completed

Item 8: Review of Remit, Role and Function of ACMT

Julie explained that as part of the action plan, the remit and function of the ACMT needs to be reviewed. Members were then invited to express their views on how the meeting/membership could be improved or changed.

It was agreed that everyone should have a think about this and email Julie with their comments and views. Julie will then bring these comments to the next meeting to feedback and they will also be used to write the action plan for next year.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Email Julie with comments and views on role and function of ACMT	All	30th April

Item 9: PCT Consultation for New GP Practice

Julie explained that the PCT have received additional funding for some new GP Practices and a consultation is now being undertaken to decide where these new practices will be located. The document that was circulated with the papers for this meeting contains a form for comments and feedback. People can also leave feedback on the PCT website.

Item 10: Any Other Business

Good News / Events

Youth Arts Festival

Tameside Hippodrome - 28th March
Involving young people from Ridgehill and Haughton Green
Tickets are on sale through the Tameside Hippodrome Box Office, charged at 50p each.

Dukinfield Children’s Centre
Official Opening – Tuesday 18th March

Micklehurst Children’s Centre
Official Opening – Wednesday 21st May

Invitations have been sent out.

Domestic Violence Conference

½ day conference – Dukinfield Town Hall – Wednesday 30th April
Conference will give an update on the progress of the Domestic Violence Project.

Item 11: Date of Next Meeting

Julie reminded everyone that the next meeting will take place on 15th May at 2.00pm at Blocksages Youth Centre (behind Dukinfield Swimming Baths, opposite All Saints Catholic High School).

It was requested that a map be sent out with the agenda for this meeting.

Action items:	Person responsible:	Deadline:
Obtain a map to attach to agenda	Jo Cole	1st May 2008

The Meeting Closed at 4.00pm 

Glossary

• ACMT - Area Co-ordination Management Team
• APIR (profile) - Assessment, Planning, Implement and Review
• CAF - Common Assessment Framework
• CAMHS - Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
• CMM - Capability Maturity Model
• CLT - Children’s Leadership Team
• CRB - Criminal Records Bureau
• CWDC - Children’s Workforce Development Council
• CYP - Children and Young People
• CYPSP - Children and Young People Strategic Partnership
• DDA - Denton, Droylsden and Audenshaw
• ECM - Every Child Matters
• EIG - Early Intervention Group
• ISA - Information Sharing and Assessment
• ISSP - Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme
• JAR - Joint Area Review
• JASPER - Joint Assessment System for Prevention and Early Referral
• LA - Local Authority
• OBA  - Outcome based accountability
• PCT - Primary Care Trust
• SENCO - Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
• SID - Service Information Directory
• T3SC - Tameside Third Sector Coalition
• TOR - Terms of Reference
• YOF - Youth Opportunity Fund
• YOT - Youth Offending Team