NOTES OF SOUTHERN TEST VALLEY LOCAL CHILDRENS PARTNERSHIP
MEETING 25 MARCH 2011
Present:
Peter Warburton
Janet Blann
Jonathan Prest
Ann Truman
Jo Cottrell
1
Mike Wickenden
Sarah Couch
Tony Lee
Helen Ball
Joanna Scott
Jenny Pitman
Sue Morse
Verna Brown
Barbara Gessler
Darryl Shepherd
Jim Bird
Jan Lefley
Jonathan de Sausmarez
Caroline Carter-Frost
Ruth Linsley
Welcome and Apologies
Peter opened the meeting. He asked all members if they were happy with the start time or if they
would prefer to start earlier. It was decided to leave it at 9.00am. There are a few new people on
the committee:




Ann Truman – New District Manager for Education and Inclusion (replacing Steve Cottrell)
Helen Ball – Hants Co-ordinator for Childrens Link Charity which helps school leavers who
are not at college to get apprenticeships.
Darryl Sheppard – Participation Officer for the LCP a strategic position to offer support
advice and guidance.
Jim Bird – Rock Solid Youth Project – a voluntary organisation based in North Baddesley
A few apologies were received.
2
Declaration of Pecuniary Interests
Peter asked if anyone had any pecuniary interests but none were declared.
3
Notes of the meeting of 27 January
Regarding SRE – Romsey School held a “big conversation” involving 80 pupils and outside
agencies to find out the pupils’ understanding of the SRE provision. Jenny Pitman will be working
with James Moody looking at a spin off event following on from this.
There will be more discussion on finance and the action plan later in the meeting.
CAMHS – it was suggested that Trish Barry Rolfe would be the person to invite who knows about
CAMHS. Tony Lee will invite her to the next meeting.
4
Youth Service and Connexions Support (Tony Lee)
Presentation by Tony Lee (attached) regarding the provision and the changes that are coming up.
Janet Blann asked about staffing. There is a lot of knowledge already in Hampshire and if people
are being made redundant and other new people being brought in would they have equivalent
knowledge? Tony replied that people should come from existing staff. They would be employed
by HCC and based locally.
Barbara Gessler asked how the LCP will influence the work of this group? Tony replied that there
is money held by HCC to fund youth services. They will be looking at areas of risk and there may
not be enough for all so the partnership will ask what the priorities are and will hand over the
money accordingly. Richard Watson will be the link between the organisations.
Jan Lefley asked about the Commissioning Unit and whether that would still be used? There is a
lot of paperwork involved in using them. Tony said that although the process is cumbersome it will
still be used. Any new way of organising things would still have to be set up with procedures and
systems. There will be some streamlining going on with the Commissioning Unit.
Jan Lefley queried that changes wouldn’t happen until next April. How would organisations last till
then from when they bid? Tony said that the current arrangements last until September. Between
September and April the new process will be put in place. Youth in Romsey for example have
grants already in place.
Verna Brown asked whether the Youth Service will supply the staff. Tony said that the staff will be
in place until September and discussions will take place.
Peter Warburton said that the tactical point is that it would be in our interest to determine priorities
early so groups are supported and known that they’re wanted in the future.
Jim Bird said that the community voluntary sector was great but is mainly managed by volunteers
and the process of the Commissioning unit is very complicated to do. Tony Lee said that there is
definitely momentum in simplifying the process and the development workers, when in place, can
help with this.
Peter Warburton said the concern is that we are getting workers to support a bureaucracy that is
not really wanted. The talk is of streamlining but having two people to support that process seems
a waste of time. Tony Lee replied that not all of their role will be in that area but it may be useful
initially when setting the system up. He will however, take the message back.
Ruth Linsley said that support for year 6 pupils who may become offenders is not great. She
would like to see funding in that area. Tony Lee replied that this pot of money is specifically for
youth support for the ages 11 – 19 years. So Year 6 is not eligible. Sue Morse said that locality
teams will access crime prevention staff who can help. Youth Community Teams are part of the
CAF process. Ruth felt that the process was unwieldy and the Team Around the Child meetings
are the only thing that seem to help. Peter Warburton said this was a good point well made but
this agenda is about the 11-19 year olds. Local Childrens Partnerships cover 0 – 19 years. There
should be seamless support as money comes from one pot or the other and the support needs to
be provided.
Tony Lee said that the locality team in the future is broader than the debate today.
At this point Peter Warburton invited Helen Ball to introduce herself and the work she does.
Helen worked for Childrens Links a charity based in Lincolnshire. They have funding for pupils
who have not gone to college or work to get apprenticeships. They support young people to work
in early years/play work. They support teaching and learning. They have tutors who support the
child and assess them when they’re working. The funding is for 16-18 year olds. They are happy
to attend careers evenings and let parents know of options. The areas of work are play work,
early years and teaching assistants. They also get young people who are going to uni who take a
year out and get paid too but mainly its for those who don’t want to go to college and are in danger
of disengaging. They have 600 settings across Hampshire. They may be able to do play work in
schools. An Apprenticeship Officer supports them for their IAG. They are also supported in their
setting. There is also a non college option.
Questions were:
How many students in Hampshire were doing it? 45 at the moment and another 40 signing up.
In Hampshire 4 are completing and 12 have completed. The scheme has been running for many
years in Lincoln and is very successful. Lincoln compile all the statistics. There is lots of support
for youngsters.
How much are students paid? They get £2.50 an hour and the cost of the apprenticeship is
covered too.
How long is a course? It takes 12-18 months at Level 2
Does the setting have a mentor to oversee them? The tutor and assessor supports with
fortnightly visits plus email, texting and phone calls.
Are all the settings in early years? Yes and in play work – mainly 5-11 years. The Teaching
Assistant roles can be in any setting – primary or secondary.
Is there an equal boy/girl split? Mainly female but have 4 males at present who are proving very
popular.
What is the funding? For 16-18 year olds there is unlimited funding. Other ages are catered for
too for mature students. The funding comes from a different source and is done on a case by case
basis. Students earn £2.50 an hour, the minimum apprentice wage. They may get some support
on travel too, also done on a case by case basis.
Does the charity pay for CRB checks and what if the student has a record? All CRB checks
are carried out by the charity (since clarified that checks are carried out by the setting that the
student is in). If a student has a record that is looked at on an individual basis and on the type of
offence.
Helen’s contact details are: Helen.ball@childrenslinks.org.uk
Peter Warburton thanked Helen and Tony. He felt it gave the group a greater understanding of the
changes and showed the need to highlight our priorities so we are clear about what youth work we
want to support. Tony Lee will ask Richard Watson to present on what is currently on the list.
There will be a draft consultation to Steve Crocker next week.
5
Progress on projects funded at January meeting
Jonathan Prest said that the 6 week course on emotional first aid will be on 9 May with training for
people working with 11 years olds and above. There is one for people who work with young
children which covers the type of language you should use and how you communicate with a
younger child. There is not much of a difference between them though so this course would still be
of value to those in early years settings. There are 12 places on the course and it would be good
to have STVLCP on it. Places will be offered on a first come first served basis. Mike Wickenden
said that the partnership put £1,300 forward for Jonathan’s project. That is still the case. Mike
discussed funding with Jonathan.
Joanna Scott has arranged conciliation training. It will be on 3 and 6 May. The money will go to
Mountbatten by the end of March who will pay it on. The £2,000 she requested did not cover the
whole cost so Joanna asked for an extra £200.
It was agreed that the extra £200 would be covered. The money will go to Mountbatten who
will settle the invoices.
Sarah Couch’s proposal was sorted with the Northern Partnership.
Jan Lefley has arranged on 25 May for 50 young people to attend workshops on building
resilience, keeping safe and teenage conception. The first day is for 11-16 year olds and
Mountbatten and Romsey School pupils will be invited.
Mike Wickenden asked when the £1,300 will be needed. Jan Lefley will speak to Lesley Kemp
(Admin Officer at Romsey School) re payments and timings.
Peter Warburton asked for any feedback from the projects.
6
Proposals for use of resources to July 11
At the last meeting the decision on how to use £14,000 was deferred. It is connected with
extended services so there are possibly fewer constraints on the money.
Jan Lefley had looked at a proposal that would cover 0 – 24 year olds. She has talked to Jackie
Hilton regarding whether she can train staff from pre-school to college on different aspects of
working with parents. She can deliver 40 workshops, in schools or anywhere else, so will train
staff who then cascade the information. The charge is £12,000 and it would seem a good use of
money rather than it all going in different little pots.
(At this point Jonathan Prest left the meeting).
Sue Morse queried the use of materials on the course as she understood that they may belong to
County. This follows a previous issue that had arisen. Jan said she would go back to County and
check the materials being used.
Sarah Couch liked the idea but felt you could also do this for free within County’s current
resources. However, it may take time to sort that. We would have to be careful about not
duplicating what we can already offer. Although the earlier timescale would probably not work with
County.
Jan Lefley said that the funding is only available until the end of July 11. The workshops would be
for practitioners so they’re trained to deliver it in the future to upskill the workforce. There should
be no costs to cover staff attending as it can be run on an inset day. Those who attend the course
can cascade down to others. £12,000 is the top figure.
Peter Warburton asked if people wanted more time to decide on this. Caroline Carter-Frost said
that this may be available in County but not immediately and this is something that can meet needs
within a year. Sarah Couch would prefer more time to decide. Joanna Scott was concerned that
there would be supply teaching costs. Jonathan de Sausmarez said it seemed a positive process
and asked if we could get re-assurance about the points of concern. Ruth Linsley said that Jackie
Hilton is excellent and it seems a good scheme and she would want to work with other schools.
Peter Warburton asked Jan to find the answers to the queries and circulate all and then people
could vote on the proposal via email. Jonathan de Sausmarez felt it would be better to vote now
subject to the decision on the queries.
Therefore it was proposed that £12,000 was put to Jan Lefley’s proposal of staff training
workshops to support young people and parents dependent upon the outcome of the
queries. 13 in favour, 0 against, 3 abstentions.
This still leaves £2,000 to be spent. Jan Lefley proposed that it was given to the Rock Solid Youth
Project run by Jim Bird. They are currently without funding and provide a valuable service to a
local community. They work on the streets with young people of all ages – the youngest being 6
and are currently at risk of closing.
Janet Blann said she would definitely second this as they do a very worthy job.
Tony Lee asked if the proposed project above didn’t work could all the funding go to Rock Solid?
Jim Bird explained more about the project. He said its aimed at youngsters but also hosts the
current connexions service and job club. They have bills (rent and insurance etc) to pay and are
not funded this year at all.
Peter Warburton proposed that we should support the Rock Solid Group with £2,000 in the short
term. If the other project doesn’t come to fruition then there probably needs to be a debate about
that.
It was therefore proposed that £2,000 was given to Rock Solid group now. 12 in favour, 0
against, 1 abstention.
Barbara Gessler asked if all the workshops have to be done by the end of July? Jan Lefley said
yes. Peter Warburton said that they are open to other projects but will have to be quick as the
deadline looms.
(At this point Jo Cottrell left the meeting).
7
Action Plan progress to date for report to HCC
Review and Update:
i)
Impact on reducing Teenage Pregnancy
Ruth Linsley said that the family planning materials they had bought had been circulated to
Year 6 parents for 50p and there was lots of uptake and they had proved very popular.
ii)
Building Emotional Resilience
Projects voted on today were good. The BST targeting sessions are planned – they will
focus on one or two children a term to get them back into mainstream education.
Barbara Gessler has run an anti bullying course and had good uptake for that.
All schools took part in a BST Transition Survey.
Romsey School is providing extra support for those who can’t access the curriculum looking
at low levels of literacy and working with primary schools.
iii)
Safeguarding
Multi Agency Safeguarding Forum meetings are now attended by schools.
iv)
Removing Barriers to access and increasing attainment
Jan Lefely, in partnership with Childrens Services, they are now delivering learning in
Frankies Fun Factory – 12 young mums are completing a literacy course there.
Ruth Linsley said its difficult for Childrens Centres to pick up severe cases of abuse. Jan
Lefley said its not appropriate for top end – severe cases to be dealt with at childrens
centres.
At the recent Consortium Training Day one session held at Romsey School focussed on
Inclusion and working with those pupils.
The BST Transition Survey would also fit in here.
v)
Raising Achievements
Romsey is currently holding department reviews to ensure the quality of teaching and
learning is good and increasing the proportion of good – outstanding lessons. A lead
teacher is running the scheme.
Childrens Link Charity work on apprenticeships. HCC also run an apprenticeship scheme
targeting young children in care.
The HAT and BST teams have devised a project for year 3 – 6 on developing self regulation
in language and behaviour.
Peter Warburton thanked everyone for their work. He is off to a meeting next to find out what we
need to do to report to County. We may just need to send in the action plan. It would be helpful if
any updates could be sent to Lucy.
8
Terms of reference and partnership agreement
A HCT Governance framework had been received. Effectively we have no need to do anymore as
we have a mission statement and terms of reference. There is no worry yet about the budget.
Peter Warburton advocated using our visions and terms of reference as a framework for the future.
No-one wanted to use the suggested framework.
There is a document of pen portraits that everyone completed at the start of the group which stated
the vision. Peter would like to see how this has changed and also for new people to complete it.
This will be sent out again. Any updates to Lucy.
9
Priorities for next meeting (CAMHS support April 11 onwards?)






Richard Watson will be invited to talk about the provisions already in place.
Budget for 2012-2013
Feedback on schemes
CAMHS – useful to invite Simone Button
Darryl Sheppard will talk about the participation service.
Janet Blann – the Children’s Services Investment Grant is a decreasing pot but is still
allocated some money and could report on what is allocated in the South Test Valley. All
monies go to voluntary organisations.
Mike Wickenden is leaving and will not be attending any more meetings. Charlotte Malyon will be
attending in his place.
Next meeting: Monday 16 May 2011, Wisdom House, Romsey