Westminster City Council
Education Department
BEHAVIOUR SUPPORT PLAN
2004-2007
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter
Glossary of terms
1
Introduction
The Behaviour Support Plan
2
Westminster planning context
The planning framework
Universal City-wide plans
Westminster City Council Plans
Universal City-Wide plans for children and young people
Education Plans
Local Public Service Agreements 2003-2006
Planning for the future
3
Improving school attendance
Education Welfare Service
Tackling Truancy: Truancy Patrols
Cross-borough initiatives
School-Home Liaison
4
Improving behaviour
Behaviour Improvement Programme
Behaviour Services: Beachcroft KS3 Pupil Referral Unit
‘Educational Otherwise’ KS4 Pupil Referral Unit
Tuition for pupils on fixed term exclusions
KS3 Behaviour and Attendance Strategy
Primary Pilot Strategy for Behaviour and Attendance
Excellence in Cities: Learning Mentors & Learning Support Units
Support for children with Special Educational Needs
Educational Psychology Service
Support for pupils with mental health difficulties: Marlborough
Family Education Centre & Early Intervention Workers
Support for school leadership and management: School
Effectiveness
Education of Pupils in Public Care Team
Drug and Alcohol Action Team
Support for pupils from ethnic minority groups
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5
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8
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10
12
14
15
16
16
12
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24
28
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31
34
37
38
39
40
42
44
46
48
49
50
54
55
2
5
Combating criminal and anti-social behaviour
Safer Schools Partnership
Youth Offending Team
Crime and Disorder Reduction Team
6
Preventative and Early Intervention Services
Early Childhood Services
Children’s Fund
Full-Service Extended School
Vulnerable Children’s Grant 2004/05
Education Action Zone: Speech and Language Therapy Project
Healthy Schools
Westminster Youth Service
Connexions
Positive Activities for Young People
Westminster Sports Unit
Westminster Domestic Violence Forum
Support to Homeless pupils: Housing & Education Liaison Officer
Housing: Community Partnerships Team
Westminster Information Sharing Hub (WISH)
7
Performance to 2003/4
OfSTED
Data on School Exclusions
Data on School Attendance
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62
65
67
67
69
70
71
73
74
76
77
79
80
82
84
85
86
88
88
89
94
Appendices
Social exclusion risk factors
Summary of Main External funding streams to Education
Education Department structure chart
96
97
98
3
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
BIP
BEST
BSP
BVPI
CAMHS
CRE
CYPSP
DAAT
DET
DfES
EAZ
EBD
EDP
EiC
EMAG
EP
EPiC
EWO
EWS
FE
GCSE
GNVQ
ICT
IEP
KS3
KS4
LEA
LPS
LPSA
LSA
NRS
OFSTED
PCT
PRU
PSP
PSHCE
SATs
SDO
SEBS
SEN
SENCO
SHL
SLA
YOT
Behaviour Improvement Programme
Behaviour and Education Support Team
Behaviour Support Plan
Best Value Performance Indicator
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
Commission for Racial Equality
Children and Young People’ Strategic Partnership
Drug and Alcohol Action Team
Drug Education Team
Department for Education and Skills
Education Action Zone
Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties
Education Development Plan
Excellence in Cities
Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant
Educational Psychologist
Education of Pupils in Care Team
Education Welfare Officer
Education Welfare Service
Further Education
General Certificate of Secondary Education
General National Vocational Qualification
Information and Communication Technology
Individual Education Plan
Key Stage 3 (pupils aged 11 – 13 at secondary school)
Key Stage 4 (pupils aged 14 – 16 at secondary school)
Local Education Authority
Local Preventative Strategy
Local Public Service Agreement
Learning Support Assistant
Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
Office for Standards in Education
Primary Care Trust
Pupil Referral Unit
Pastoral Support Plan
Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education
Standard Attainment Tasks
School Development Officer
Social Emotional and Behavioural Skills
Special Educational Needs
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
School Home Liaison
Service Level Agreement
Youth Offending Team
4
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
The Behaviour Support Plan
The Behaviour Support Plan (BSP) sets out the many interlocking strands of
support to school aged children and young people, their families and
communities in order to:
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Promote and improve school attendance
Improve behaviour of children and young people at school, at home and in
their communities
Combat and reduce criminal and anti-social behaviour.
Through these measures, the BSP supports a range of medium to long-term
outcomes:
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Improved educational attainment
Improved future employment prospects
Reduced crime and anti-social behaviour
Safer communities
Improved health and well-being
Stronger families
Beneficiaries of Behaviour Support Services
Although the primary responsibility for managing behaviour and attendance
lies with schools and parents, behaviour services offer support in managing
the needs of children and young people who are exhibiting behavioural
difficulties, who are at risk of developing behavioural difficulties, or who are at
risk of becoming socially excluded from their families and communities.
Pupils who fall within these categories include those who:
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Have received or are at risk of fixed term or permanent school exclusions
Display disruptive, violent or abusive behaviour
Are bullies or being bullied
Are repeatedly absent from school without permission
Exhibit challenging behaviour
Have Special Educational Needs (SEN) relating to behavioural difficulties
Are involved in or at risk of becoming involved in criminal or anti-social
behaviour
Suffer mental health difficulties
Are involved in alcohol and substance misuse
Exhibit other risk factors relating to social exclusion which make them
vulnerable to behaviour difficulties
The full list of risk factors relating to social exclusion is set out in Appendix 1.
Regular attendance and good behaviour are pre-conditions for raising
standards in schools and all schools receive funding in their core budgets to
address the needs of vulnerable pupils and to support social inclusion.
5
Individual School Development Plans set out how this funding is being
allocated to ensure these statutory responsibilities are being met. The
services and programmes listed within the Behaviour Support Plan show the
LEA’s input to support schools and the action taken when additional
resources are required.
Delivery of the provision outlined in the Behaviour Support Plan
The BSP is delivered by a wide range of agencies providing services, care
and support to children, young people and families, whether they represent
the voluntary, community, private or statutory sectors.
The following is intended to be an extensive, although not necessarily
exhaustive, list of the many agencies and partnerships responsible for
delivering the BSP:
Area Child Protection Committee
Asylum Seekers Service
Behaviour Services
Behaviour and Education Support Teams
Behaviour Improvement Programme
Child Development Services
Children and Adolescent Mental Health
Services
Children and Young People’s Strategic
Partnership
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
Children’s Fund
CityWest Homes
Community organisations
Connexions
Contractors/ organisations with Service
Level Agreements delivering services to
children and young people in the City
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership
Drug and Alcohol Action Team
Early Years Development and Childcare
Partnership
Education Action Zone
Education Department
Education Psychology Service
Excellence in Cities Partnership
Family Centres
Full Service Extended School
Health Partnership
Housing Department
Metropolitan Police
Positive Futures Programme
Primary, secondary, nursery and special
schools
Primary Care Trust
Pupil Referral Units
Social and Community Services Department
Special and Additional Educational needs
Service
Sports and Leisure Centres
Sure Start
Teenage Pregnancy Partnership
Voluntary sector organisations
Youth Offending Team
Youth Service
Structure of the Behaviour Support Plan
The first chapter sets out the Westminster planning context, showing how the
Behaviour Support Plan fits within the range of services to children and young
people in the City.
The second chapter records the relevant performance of the Council over the
period up to 2003/4.
6
The various aspects of behaviour support are then set out within four strands
within the plan, each of which is addressed in a separate chapter:
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Improving school attendance
Improving behaviour of pupils
Combating criminal and anti-social behaviour
Preventative and early intervention services
Many services impact on more than one strand and in these cases the service
is discussed in the chapter in which it has the greatest impact, but includes
information on how it supports the other strand(s).
The final chapter is a review of performance against key indicators of
behaviour improvement, including information from OfSTED inspections,
exclusion and attendance data.
7
Chapter 2: THE WESTMINSTER PLANNING CONTEXT
The planning framework
The BSP sits within a Westminster-wide planning framework. This framework
will change during the lifetime of the plan as new regulations come into force.
This will include the production of a Single Education Plan, into which the
Behaviour Support Plan will be subsumed.
At the time of publication of the Plan, the BSP sits as follows within the
planning structure:
Universal City-wide
Plans
Westminster City Plan (Local Strategic Plan)
Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
Westminster City
Council Plans
Civic Renewal Strategy
Westminster City Council Performance Plan
Universal City-wide
plans for Children
and young people
Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan
Local Preventative Strategy
Universal City-wide
plan supporting
pupils’ behaviour
Service and delivery
plans containing
elements
supporting the
Behaviour Support
Plan
Behaviour Support Plan
Area Child Protection Committee Business Plan
Behaviour Improvement Programme Strategy
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Plan
Children’s Centre Plans
Children’s Fund Strategy
Connexions Delivery Plan
Early Years Strategy
Education Action Zone Action Plan
Education Business Plan
Education Development Plan
Excellence in Cities Delivery Plan
SEN Inclusion Strategy
Quality Protects Management Action Plan
Sure Start Delivery Plans
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy
Westminster Information Sharing Strategy
Young People’s Substance Misuse Plan
Youth Crime Reduction Strategy
Youth Service Plan
8
Universal City-wide plans
Westminster City Plan
The Westminster City Plan is the City’s Local Strategic Plan agreed by all the
statutory, non-statutory, voluntary and community sector representatives who
have joined together to form a City Partnership. The Plan sets out the ways in
which the Partnership will work together to improve the economic, social and
environmental welfare of those who live, work in and visit the City of
Westminster. The vision they have agreed which is relevant to this Plan are:
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is a learning community, in which children, young people and adults
realise their full potential
is clean, safe and environmentally sustainable, where residents and
organisations are considerate and active in improving their own
environment and neighbourhood
ensures everyone is able to enjoy his or her best possible health and well
being.
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Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (NRS)
The NRS is also agreed by the Westminster City Partnership, and sets out the
ways in which partners will work together to tackle social deprivation, narrow
the gap between poorer and wealthier neighbourhoods and reduce child
poverty.
Westminster’s Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (NRS) prioritises the
following areas and communities:
Deprived areas
Deprived communities
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Queens Park
Church Street
Harrow Road and Westbourne
South Westminster
Vulnerable young people
Vulnerable families
Older people in need
Recent arrivals in need
The City street community
Westminster City Council Plans
Civic Renewal
The Civic Renewal Strategy sets out the Council leadership’s priorities and
aims for civic renewal in Westminster.
9
These aims fall within five priority programmes:
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The Customer Service Programme
The City Investment Programme
The Education Guarantee Programme
The Clean Streets Programme
The City Guardian Programme
Each year, the Leader of the Council sets out in his Leader’s Speech in March
a set of priority policies underpinning programmes for the following financial
year. For the fourth year of Civic Renewal the Leader has set out his intention
to build on the themes of order, opportunity and low taxes in which tackling
anti-social behaviour is a key initiative.
The Education Guarantee Programme sets out the following commitments:
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Commitment to support school improvement
Major programme of support and challenge to schools in raising
educational achievement
Promotion of teaching quality and teacher achievement
Help schools tackle poor pupil attendance and behaviour
Review secondary school places and provision, liked to wider
development of 14-19 framework (including Connexions)
Work with partners in other departments and the community to develop
inclusive education
Promote new opportunities for Westminster parents in relation to school
places
Extend choice to schools in securing support services through Services to
Schools Board
Consideration of new models of LEA functions as part of transition to a
more strategic role.
Westminster City Council Performance Plan
This Plan sets out the annual business plans and performance targets for all
Council services. An introduction to the Education Business Plan is outlined
on page13.
Universal City-wide plans for children and young people
The Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan and the Local Preventative
Strategy are both multi-sector and multi-agency partnership plans setting out
shared planning and objectives for services for children and young people.
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The Children and Young People’s Strategic Plan 2002-2005 (CYPSP)
The CYPSP sets out the over-arching vision and priorities for the promotion of
the well-being of children and young people to ensure they reach their full
potential:
Vision Statement
Every child and young person deserves the best possible start in life and the
opportunity to achieve their full potential. We will work together to do all that
we can to make this possible.
Key Principles
All services for children and young people in Westminster will:
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Involve children, young people, their families and carers in their
development and delivery
Be undertaken in partnership
Be equitable and non-discriminatory
Be based on evidence and best practice, allowing scope for innovation
Promote family life through appropriate support and early intervention
Promote social inclusion, quality and continuous improvement
Demonstrate effectiveness in improving the well-being of children and
young people
Shared Objectives
All children and young people will:
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Enjoy the best possible health
Live in a safe, stable, caring family and community
Have access to leisure and cultural facilities
Enjoy freedom from poverty
Achieve their full potential in learning and other areas of their lives
Grow up to be responsible, active members of the community
Our Children: Our Future. Children and Young People’s Local Preventative
Strategy 2003-2006 (LPS)
The purpose of the LPS is for all services for children and young people to be
provided in such a way that harm to the children from social exclusion risk
factors is prevented. This is done in two ways:
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Protection: through providing mainstream services in such a way that
children and young people develop the resilience to withstand social
exclusion risk factors
Early Intervention: giving children and young people the support they need
in the short to medium-term to help them overcome difficulties which may
lead to social exclusion if left unchecked.
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The delivery principles of the LPS are as follows:
Protective (Universal) Services
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Agencies will work towards providing services through multi-agency
teams, with partnerships working towards the pooling of budgets and joint
commissioning of services for children and young people where this
means that better outcomes for the child can be achieved
Agencies will work towards delivery of services at the community level,
using community buildings and resources to optimise access from local
people and hard-to-reach communities, thereby improving early
identification of children displaying risk factors
Mainstream service deliverers will actively seek to recognise risk factors
and take action to refer children to appropriate services
Support for parents will receive greater recognition and focus
Children and young people with disabilities will have access to mainstream
services and activities, as well as to buildings
Training and employment of local parents to provide local services will be
a focus for staff recruitment
Early Intervention Services
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All agencies will adopt common Information Sharing Protocols and jointly
develop the Identification Referral and Tracking system (IRT), to enable
information exchange and early intervention through holistic multi-agency
services
Where early intervention is required, the child’s needs are considered
within their family and community context
Children and families’ needs are assessed within a multi-agency context
so that their needs are addressed holistically through a common
assessment framework
Early intervention services are provided in a way that does not marginalise
or stigmatise the child and their family, and wherever possible within the
mainstream service or the family environment
Education Plans
Education Development Plan 2002-2007
The Education Development Plan (EDP) sets out the five-year priorities for
improvement in school performance and pupil achievement. It sets out the
commitment of the Council to work in partnership with schools, colleges and
the Learning and Skills Council to:
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secure a successful, financially viable community of schools
work together to provide diversity and choice for parents;
a broad, balanced curriculum; and
clear, appropriate progression paths for a complex pupil population.
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Targets
The EDP provides aspirational targets for pupil attainment. Specific targets
are set for ethnic minority groups.
The EDP adopts the following five national and two local priorities:
1. Continue to improve education in the early years and throughout Key
Stages 1 and 2
2. Raise attainment at Key Stage 3
3. Raise attainment at Key Stage 4
4. Narrow the attainment gap and tackle under-achievement
5. Support school improvement and schools causing concern
6. Improve attendance and reduce exclusions
7. Improve recruitment and retention of staff
Priority Six for improving attendance and reducing exclusion includes
operational tasks under the following headings which are reviewed annually:
a) Improve the use of attendance and exclusion data focusing on the
identification and monitoring of target groups including those ‘at risk’.
b) Spread and consolidate good practice in relation to improving attendance
and reducing exclusions, particularly fixed term.
c) Support the development in the curriculum focussed on the needs of ‘a
risk’ groups and pupils who are improving attendance or returning from
exclusion.
d) Improve the management of Social Inclusion through the strategic
integration of national and local strategies and initiatives
e) Develop the use of ICT in supporting ‘at risk’ pupils
Details of the work undertaken within each of these priority areas are provided
throughout this Plan.
Education Business Plan
The Education Department publishes an annual Business Plan which is a
section of the Westminster City Council Performance Plan. The Business
Plan 2004/5 sets out the mission, service aims and core values of the
department, which are as follows:
Mission Statement
Education aims to provide vision and strategic leadership to develop
Westminster as a Learning Community, in which people realise their potential
within the changing economy of a World City.
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Service Aims
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To support and challenge schools to raise educational standards and
promote social inclusion.
To ensure Westminster’s children, young people and adults can access
and participate in formal and informal education provision that meets their
diverse needs.
To achieve excellence in service delivery through partnership working and
continuous service improvement
The Business Plan sets out the following Education Guarantee targets for
2004/5:
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Increase the range and quality of secondary schools to ensure greater
parental choice for Westminster residents by September 2006.
Maintain high standards achieved in our primary schools and ensure that
secondary schools improve faster than the national average.
Provide an opportunity for school pupils to participate in an Olympic Sport
during Key Stage 2, developing into a City-wide programme by 2006.
Support and challenge schools to raise educational standards and
promote social inclusion
Ensure Westminster’s children, young people and young adults can
access and participate in formal and informal education provision that
meets their diverse needs
Achieve excellence in service delivery through partnership working and
continuous service improvement
Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) 2003-2006
The City Council and Government agreed an LPSA in 2003 committing the
Council to meet more demanding performance targets than it would otherwise
be expected to meet by 2006.
Five of the twelve LPSA targets are relevant to the Behaviour Support Plan:
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Reduce unauthorised absence and improve attendance overall
Improve outcomes for care leavers up to the age of 21 by: improving level
of sustained Council contact with care leavers; improving the number of
care leavers with a recognised educational qualification; improving levels
of suitable housing; and improving the number of care leavers involved in
education, training and employment
Raise standards at Key Stage 3 in targeted schools in Westminster
Reduce the rate of re-offending of young offenders resident in
Westminster
Increase the number of youth participants achieving informal accreditation
14
Planning for the future
Following the national consultation on the Green Paper “Every Child Matters”,
it is clear that the most significant planned changes will be the reform of
children’s services through embedding prevention and early intervention
arrangements to safeguard children within children and young people’s
universal and mainstream service settings. The Local Preventative Strategy
set out the first steps in this process.
The Children’s Bill, 2004 establishes reforms will bring about significant
change for children’s services in Westminster and will dominate planning,
budgetary and partnership arrangements throughout the lifetime of this Plan.
Depending on the degree of local discretion afforded in the final statutory
guidance, these reforms will provide Westminster with a useful framework for
the ongoing development of services and partnerships which will match the
current direction and aspirations of local children’s services.
The current high quality of children’s services means the Council and partners
are in a stronger position than most to respond to this change programme.
Plans are in train to take this agenda forward and will be finalised with key
partners early in 2004/05.
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Chapter 3: IMPROVING SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
Education Welfare Service (EWS)
The EWS fulfils the Council’s responsibility, under the Education Act 1996, to
enforce the regular school attendance of registered pupils of compulsory
school age and the Education Department’s responsibilities under Section
175 of the Education Act 2002, for safeguarding the welfare of children.
The Service has recently been re-structured to improve its capacity to deliver
high quality provision to schools, children and families. In addition to a
Principal Education Welfare Officer, the EWS now has three teams, each
headed by a Senior EWOs, which are aligned to the existing primary school
clusters and include all secondary schools and Pupil Referral Units within the
same geographical location.
EWS structure as from April 2004
Principal Education Welfare Officer
Office Manager
Data officer
Admin officer
0.5 Child Employment officer
Team 1
North cluster
SEWO
3x EWOs
Team 2
Central Cluster
SEWO
3x EWOs
Team 3
South Cluster
SEWO
2 x EWOs
Service Level Agreements with schools are based on:
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Pupil attendance in school;
Child employment and entertainment licensing;
Pursuing legal action for non-attendance;
School Policy and monitoring;
Pupils without school places.
The EWS works very closely with other teams within the LEA, schools,
parents, School-Home Liaison, Youth Offending Team, Police and Social
Services.
As a high proportion of pupils attending Westminster schools are residents of
other Local Education Authorities (LEAs) the EWS works closely with
neighbouring boroughs. Recent amendments to legislation which enable the
EWS to pursue legal action for all pupils attending Westminster schools,
16
regardless of the borough of residence are being developed through a pilot
funded through London Challenge (see page 23).
In 2003, for the first time ever, Westminster’s improvement in overall
secondary attendance was higher than the national average and placed
Westminster in the top 10 most improved LEA’s in the country. Primary
school attendance improved to within 0.4% of the national average with
authorised and unauthorised absence rates in line with or lower than both
Inner London and London outcomes.
2002/ 2003
Westminster
Primary
Schools
Westminster
Secondary
Schools
All
Westminster
Schools
Westminster
Attendance
Levels
National
Attendance
Levels
Westminster
Unauthorised
Absence
National
Unauthorised
Absence
93.7%
94.2%
0.7%
0.4%
91.9%
93.1%
1.6%
1.0%
92.8%
93.7%
1.1%
0.7%
The service supports school attendance by:
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Providing training, guidance and support to schools to ensure registered
pupils attend school regularly
Initiating action and work pro-actively with schools and other agencies on
individual cases where irregular attendance or difficulties in school
become apparent
Encouraging schools to look critically at their recording of authorised and
unauthorised absences so that accurate records are kept
Taking the appropriate action within the law when poor or non-attendance
or poor punctuality occurs
Agreeing to the removal of a child’s name from a school roll after a new
school is identified or other arrangement has been made Where a child
has disappeared the Service will make every effort to trace him/her, prior
to, and after, approving the removal of the child’s name from the roll
Considering any request from a school to remove a pupil from roll and
informing the responsible LEA of the decision if the pupil is an out-borough
resident
Developing programmes, projects and initiatives, in conjunction with other
agencies, to work in schools to improve behaviour and raise the selfesteem of groups of pupils in order to improve attendance and reduce
disaffection
Liaising with schools in developing reintegration plans
Promoting good attendance through media campaigns and publicity, for
example use of the truancy video “Key to Knowledge” and a poster
campaign on London Buses in December 2004
17
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Providing an advocacy service when relationships between school and
home have broken down or when a family needs support and advice round
issues on attendance
The service combats truancy and anti-social behaviour by:
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Carrying out regular truancy patrols across the city with the Metropolitan
Police and Youth Offending Team, including door knocking initiatives
aimed at individual pupils causing concern (see separate section on
Truancy Patrols)
Instigating and leading a cross-borough Forum to develop procedures to
improve school attendance
Liaising with the Crime Reduction Unit on implementing initiatives in
schools with an aim to prevent exclusions and improve attendance.
Working closely with school-based officers as part of the Safer Schools
Partnership.
Information at individual pupil level is collected, and new data monitoring
systems are being implemented to ensure accurate information is held
centrally. Appropriate action, including the use of legal proceedings, is taken
where non-attendance continues to be an issue. Detailed guidance for
schools is contained within the LEA’s Attendance Policy.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act, 2003 provides new measures which are
intended to help ensure that parents take seriously their responsibilities to
their children regularly attend school and behave well when they get there.
The measures, which came into force in February 2004, are education-related
parenting contracts, parenting orders and penalty notices in addition to the
interventions already available to promote better school attendance and
behaviour. They are different from the parenting orders and contracts arising
from criminal conduct and anti-social behaviour which has been published by
the Home Office. Schools and LEAs will now have the discretion to:
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Enter into a parenting contract following a pupil’s exclusion from school or
truancy under Section 19 of the Act;
Apply for or monitor a parenting order following a pupil’s exclusion from
school or truancy under Section 20 of the Act;
Issue a penalty notice under Section 23 of the Act.
If a child of compulsory school age fails to attend regularly, the parent is guilty
of an offence under Section 444 of the Education Act 1996. A penalty notice
is a suitable intervention in circumstances of parentally condoned truancy,
where a parent is not willing to take responsibility for securing their child’s
regular attendance. The sanctions that can be imposed on parents include a
requirement to attend parenting classes, fines of up to £2,500, and in extreme
situations, prosecution leading to imprisonment. The EWS is currently
developing procedures leading to a local Code of Conduct which is a prerequisite for enforcing these new powers.
The EWS is currently working on a DfES scheme to ‘fast-track’ cases of
unauthorised absence. The scheme is based on a time-focused model of
18
work practice which concentrates on early intervention in cases of persistent
non-attendance and aims to ensure a more effective approach to the
implementation of strategies to tackle poor attendance. In cases where it is
appropriate, parents will have one term to ensure their child regularly attends
school or will face prosecution. The EWS will pilot the scheme in BIP schools
initially. Formal agreements between the schools and EWS are currently
being put in place.
The EWS is also responsible for inspecting any venue where young people
are licensed to perform. This includes theatres, TV studios or on location. If
information is known of a young person of school age being employed, it is
the responsibility of the EWS to check that the employer is abiding to the byelaws relating to employment of children. A dedicated Child Employment and
Licensing Officer post has been created as part of the re-structured service.
Case study
A Year 11 pupil, resident in Westminster and attending school in Kensington and Chelsea,
was referred to the Education Welfare Service for problems with truancy, underachievement, disaffection with mainstream school and low self-esteem. After a homeassessment visit was carried out, it was established that the pupil’s mother was an alcoholic.
This contributed to rancorous family dynamics and was a major contributory factor for this
young person’s disaffection. The Education Welfare Officer persuaded and encouraged the
mother to do something about her addiction. As a result she decided to go to a detox-clinic
for 10 days. In return her daughter agreed to attend a meeting in school with her Head of
Year and Westminster EWO. For this meeting to succeed, the EWO made every effort to
rekindle this girl’s interest in education. Having established the subjects she was doing well
in before she started truanting and considering her interests for work experience, the options
of dis-applying the National Curriculum and accessing work experience were discussed and
enthusiastically accepted by the pupil. When the meeting in school finally took place, it was
established that this pupil was very able. A reduced timetable was agreed and goals were
set for her to complete course work. As a result of this intervention she will be sitting a
number of GCSE exams. She is attending school on a regular basis.
Targets
The annual targets for attendance set by the DfES are as follows:
2004 Target
Primary Attendance
Primary Unauthorised
Absence*
Secondary Attendance
Secondary Unauthorised
Absence*
2005 Target
2006 Target
%
94
0.3*
%
95.3
0.38
%
95.75
0.36
92.5
1.2*
92.7
1.00
93.1
0.99
*Unauthorised absence targets in 2004 are the aggregate of school targets rather than an
overall LEA target
These targets will bring Westminster schools in line with the national averages
in secondary schools and above the national average in primary schools.
From 2005/6, schools and the LEA will no longer be required to provide
information on unauthorised absence.
19
Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) Target
One of Westminster’s twelve LPSA targets is to reduce unauthorised
absence from schools and improve attendance overall. This is a particularly
challenging target for Westminster as school attendance is affected by
changes in pupil mobility from year to year.
Baseline
performance
(2002/03
academic year)
Overall
absence in
secondary
schools
Overall
absence in
primary
schools
Unauthorised
absence in
secondary
schools
Unauthorised
absence in
primary
schools
Performance
expected
without the
Local PSA
Interim
performance
target
(academic year
2004/05)
Performance
target with the
Local PSA
(academic year
2005/6)
8.2%
7.4%
7.3%
6.9%
6.2%
4.9%
4.7%
4.25%
1.6%
1.1%
1.0%
0.99%
0.6%
0.4%
0.38%
0.36%
Pump-priming funding of £115,000 has been awarded through the LPSA to
support the achievement of this target. The funding is being used to provide
increased capacity through the EWS with freedoms and flexibilities to allow
Education Welfare Officers to take action across borough boundaries to
enforce attendance.
Best Value Performance Indicators
BVPI 45 Percentage of half days missed due to total absence
10.7*
9.4
8
8.14
in secondary schools maintained by the local
education authority (New definition)
BVPI 46 Percentage of half days missed due to total absence
in primary schools maintained by the local education
authority (New definition).
7.4*
6.6
6.5
6.22
*For 2001/2 the definition for BVPIs 45 and 46 were different. These figures shown above for 2001/2
were not reported at the time, but would have been the correct figures under the current definition.
NB The years on the above table refer to financial years, but these BVPIs are actually determined at the
end of a school year, so each financial year actually corresponds to the previous school year. E.g. the
data for the school year 2002/3 is collated in the Summer of 2003, but is used as the figure for the
financial year 2003/4.
20
Tackling Truancy: Truancy Patrols
In 1998 the Government launched a package of measures to tackle school
exclusions and truancy with a national goal of reducing both permanent
exclusion and truancy by a third. Although both the national and local target
for reducing exclusions was achieved, the target for truancy, (also, and more
correctly known as unauthorised absence) was not. Tackling truancy is not
the responsibility of any one agency alone since unauthorised absence
includes pupils who do not attend school for reasons of phobia, bullying or
disaffection from the curriculum.
Powers provided by Section 16 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, allows
multi-agency initiatives to tackle truancy in which the police, schools and
LEA‘s identify and discuss local problems and draw up strategies to deal with
them. Only the police have a statutory power to stop young people on the
streets and it is therefore essential that at least one officer takes part in every
patrol.
Since September 2000, the Education Welfare Service (EWS), Metropolitan
Police and the Youth Offending Team (YOTs) have undertaken truancy
patrols in targeted areas of the city. Schools and the School Home Liaison
Service are also key partners in the initiative.
In May 2002, the LEA appointed a senior EWO to become the first dedicated
Truancy Patrol Co-ordinator using funding made available from the Behaviour
Support Programme. The creation of this post has allowed far closer links to
be established between partner agencies. At the same time, funding was
secured from the Sky Project through Community Protection for the purchase
of accustom made dedicated truancy van. Patrols now take place fortnightly
during school term times and are targeted at pupils identified as truanting by
individual schools or areas where information has indicated high levels of
truancy or anti-social behaviour taking place during the school day. The
development of truancy patrols in Westminster has been sited by the DfES as
an example of good practice.
The proportion of pupils stopped by truancy patrols in 2002/03 are as follows:
Total number stopped
Primary age
Secondary age /above.
Stopped with parents
Identified as actual truants
Out of Borough Schools
Out of Borough Residents
Total
412
Percentage
100%
88
324
105
105
112
133
21%
79%
26%
26%
28%
32%
Patrol data 2002/03
21
The patrols targets truants and seeks to ensure children are in school,
including regular mobile patrols and door knocking initiatives where schools
highlight pupils with ongoing concerns.
The patrols also inform parents of the legal implications of non-attendance
and takes part in publicity campaigns to improve school attendance. In the
last year this has included a video promoting school attendance; posters
places on London buses; articles in several local newspapers and
presentations at national DfES conferences.
Support is delivered to young people by relevant follow up work once a pupil
has been returned to school:



Regular monitoring of attendance after being identified as having
attendance concerns
Liaison with Social Services where necessary where child protection
concerns have been identified.
Educating pupils and families about the importance of being in school.
If a young person of school aged is stopped by the patrol, parents are always
informed. If necessary, they are also told of the support they can access in
ensuring regular school attendance. Parentally condoned truancy is a major
issue both nationally and in Westminster and one that the truancy patrols are
attempting to address.
Case Study
During one patrol the officers involved stopped two out of borough pupils in the West End.
Both these pupils had registered at their school but left the premises. After informing their
parents of this behaviour, a strategy was put into place to help both the pupils and the
parents to work through several issues affecting the families. Both pupils’ attendance
increased and several issues were resolved. The parents felt they would have not known of
their children’s truancy if it had not come to their attention through the work of the truancy
patrol, and realised what potential risks could have arisen had this intervention not occurred .
School-age children who are truanting from school are both at risk of
becoming involved in criminal or anti-social behaviour, and of being a target of
criminal behaviour. A large percentage of pupils whose absence has been
authorised by the school following reasons provided by parents are truanting.
The Youth Justice Board has stated that “Authorised absence from school is
the major reason for pupils being out of school (79.6%) and this is a principal
predictor of youth crime rates.”
The Truancy Patrols liaise with the Crime Reduction Unit and implement
initiatives in schools to reduce possible exclusions. Together they undertake
high visibility patrols on estates where truancy and anti-social behaviour is a
concern, and in other “crime hot spot” areas determined by police intelligence.
The service also liaises with neighbouring boroughs to share information on
good practice and refer truants to appropriate support services in their home
authority.
22
Targets
The multi-agency Truancy Patrols has the following on-going targets:






Organise and co-ordinate truancy patrols in Westminster
Adopt a multi agency approach towards tackling the problems of truancy
and street crime
Target schools with attendance concerns
Target known areas where young people frequent while being out of
school.
Liaise with neighbouring boroughs to enhance cross borough co-operation
for dealing with the issues of truancy and anti-social behaviour
Develop door-knocking initiatives to target pupils with poor attendance
Behaviour Improvement Programme Targets

Truancy sweeps and other direct action to reduce unauthorised absence
which involves pupils, parents and the wider community.
Cross-Borough Initiatives
Westminster is now leading a cross-borough forum to discuss the various
approaches to truancy and address school attendance concerns. The issue of
cross-borough truancy is a particular problem for Westminster. Fourteen
boroughs are now involved in the forum and the LEA has recently been
allocated funding from London Challenge to develop a pan-London pilot
scheme in relation to truancy, school attendance and anti-social behaviour.
The project will work towards:




Unifying and agreeing parity of approaches to cross-borough truancy
patrols
Ensuring a consistent approach to Parenting Orders and Parenting
Contracts as they relate to the educational provisions of the Anti-Social
Behaviour Act
Inform revised statutory guidance from the DfES
Support cross-borough approaches on the tracking of ‘missing’ children.
Many young people from all over the country are drawn to the City Centre
attractions of Westminster, often when they should be in school. Westminster
schools, in common with neighbouring LEAs, also have a high percentage of
pupils who are resident in other boroughs.
Research on young offenders in Westminster shows a low correlation
between those committing crime and those young people who are residents
or attend our schools. Approximately 56% of youth crime in Westminster is
committed by non-Westminster residents. Truancy Patrols which take place
in the crime hot-spot areas in the West End very rarely pick up local residents
or pupils from Westminster schools.
23
The difficulties of cross-borough working are exasperated by the different
referral and accountability systems used by statutory organisations. For
example, while schools and LEAs are responsible for the attendance of pupils
on their roll, regardless of where they live, Youth Offending Teams have
targets for reducing youth crime which relate solely to residency. Education
Welfare Services work with schools within the LEA, but the pupils they have a
statutory responsibility for may live in other boroughs. It is the LEA in which a
pupil lives who must provide full-time education from the 15th day following a
permanent exclusion, regardless of where the excluding school is located.
Whilst the Metropolitan Police can pursue their duties under the Crime and
Disorder Act to stop young people and return them to school beyond borough
boundaries, this authorisation does not formally extend to Education Welfare
Officers carrying out the truancy patrols.
The London Challenge project will look to address some of these issues and
could lead to new approaches for improving attendance in Westminster and
across London.
The Education Department is also working with the Anti-Social Behaviour
Team and Metropolitan Police to develop protocols with secondary schools to
follow up anti-social behaviour caused by both Westminster and nonWestminster resident young people in areas covered by CivicWatch and the
Behaviour Improvement Programme at any time of the day or night. CCTV
will be used to identify the young people involved, and this will be followed up
with letters and visits to parents giving a strong message of zero tolerance. A
pilot scheme will take place in the Pimlico area from March 2004.
Improving partnership with families: School Home Liaison
School Home Liaison (SHL) is a voluntary organisation that aims to promote
the partnerships between schools and parents/carers so that children learn
and achieve and are enabled to develop their emotional, personal and social
strengths.
SHL works on the principles that:


where school-home links are strong, pupils’ motivation, attendance and
levels of academic achievement will be improved;
children are less likely to be excluded from schools where pupils, parents
and the school work together.
SHL recruits, trains and manages workers who are based in individual
schools as a result of requests from schools or the local education authority.
During 2003/04, SHL worked with 24 Westminster schools: 15 primary, two
junior, two infant and five secondary schools. Generally, primary, junior and
infant schools are allocated two days a week of SHL time and secondary
schools, three days.
SHL works with a wide range of partners. Many of these are statutory and
voluntary organisations within Westminster, for example, Education Welfare
24
Service, Social Services, Primary Health Care Trust, Housing Department,
Marlborough Family Service, Bayswater Family Centre, Befriend a Family etc.
Other involvement may be with national agencies such as Sure Start,
NSPCC, Peabody Trust, Children’s Country Holiday Fund and with local
partners including South Westminster Community Network, Queen’s Park
Bangladeshi Association and the Somali Centre. Most members of the SHL
team work across borough boundaries, with Education Welfare Services and
a range of other projects.
Within Behaviour Improvement Programme schools, SHL workers are part of
the secondary Behaviour and Education Support Team (BEST) and in both
primary and secondary schools they work in partnership with other members
of the support staff including EWOs, school nurses, Connexions Personal
Advisors, learning mentors, special needs assistants and members of the
Language Achievement and Basic Skills Service.
Funding for SHL work comes from a variety of sources. All primary schools
make a contribution to the costs of their SHL Workers, and the Behaviour
Improvement Programme (BIP) has made a substantial contribution to work in
14 primary and junior schools. Currently, five primary, junior and infant
schools are the recipients of LEA funding and ten schools receive funding
through the Westminster EAZ (due to end in 2005). Six primary, junior and
infant schools are funded from the Children’s Fund until 31 March 2004.
Transition work in two secondary schools is similarly funded by the Children’s
Fund. Other secondary work is funded by the schools themselves (generally,
through the Standards Fund) and by the BIP. Two schools are supported by
grant-making trusts (the grant for one ends in August 2004), while SHL funds
the major part of recruitment, training, supervision and administration.
All SHL workers recognise that, unless children are attending school, they will
not be getting the most out of their education. For this reason, raising levels
of attendance and punctuality is a focus for all of them. They do this by
monitoring patterns of attendance and following up unexplained absence by
telephone calls, letters, face-to-face meetings and home visits. Sometimes,
they find that the reason children are not in school is to do with something that
is going on within the school, for example, a child not coping with the
curriculum or being affected by bullying. If this is the case, the SHL worker
will liaise with the teachers and Headteacher to try and find a solution to the
problem and work with the child to raise their self-esteem and confidence and
help them to develop strategies to cope with their difficulties. Where there are
circumstances outside school that are contributing to poor attendance – such
as family crises, inadequate housing or financial difficulties – the SHL worker
will help the family to access other support services and, when necessary, act
as an advocate on their behalf.
In doing this, they work in partnership with the school’s EWO holding regular
meetings to discuss the allocation of cases and to decide where joint working
is appropriate. Generally, SHL will work at the stage of early intervention,
supporting children and families where attendance is beginning to be irregular
and unexplained absences are starting to occur. If monitoring systems show
that attendance is not improving, then the EWOs, with their statutory
25
responsibilities, will become involved. At this stage both agencies may work
together, as they also do in helping schools develop their policies and
procedures to by improve attendance. SHL workers also develop strategies
to raise pupil and parental awareness of the importance of punctual, regular
attendance: they may publish attendance statistics in newsletters and on
notice boards and organise award systems for improved and good individual
and class attendance.
SHL workers undertake individual casework on difficulties arising from poor
attendance, unacceptable behaviour, family and relationship problems, issues
of self-confidence and motivation. They may also organise group and peer
mentoring schemes.
Recognition of the importance of involving parents and carers is at the heart
of all School Home Liaison work. Individual family casework is undertaken
and is concerned with such issues as poor housing, access to medical care,
problems with benefits and immigration, domestic violence and other family
problems. Whenever appropriate, SHL Workers help parents/carers to
access other support services.
In primary schools a range of social and educational activities are organised
to encourage parents/carers to become more involved in school life and to
enable them to offer better support for their children’s education. These may
include drop-in sessions, coffee mornings - usually with outside speakers and
focused workshops, English and ICT classes, parenting skills sessions and
advice and support when children start school or move from one phase to
another – e.g. primary/secondary transfer.
Case Study from School Home Liaison Worker
K was a student in Yr11 who had arrived at school during Yr10 following a transfer from a
local secondary school where he had been bullied. As SHL worker, I was asked to follow up
his non-attendance in November and arranged for his mother to bring him in to meet with me
in school. His mother had great difficulty in persuading him to come in to see me but, after
two failures, we met. It was clear that his attendance to school was a major source of
conflict between them and the worker concentrated on establishing some common ground –
we all agreed that we would like K to do as well as he could in his exams. I arranged for him
to come back to see me on his own the following day so that we could make some plans
together which we could put to his mother and his Head of Year. He arrived promptly the
next day and we quickly established that he was feeling very disheartened following his poor
results in his summer exams and felt overwhelmed with the amount of coursework that he
had to do. We looked at his timetable and considered what he felt and whether he was able
to manage and made a plan for a slightly reduced timetable, work experience when he had
gaps in his timetable, and a time plan for catching up on the work that he had missed. His
mother and Head of Year agreed with the proposal and the worker secured appropriate
permission for his work experience. She also managed to secure the services of a support
teacher from the re-integration team one morning a week and she helped him to organise
his work schedule. The worker kept in touch with his mother and saw K regularly. His
attendance has not been perfect, but he completed all his coursework and took six GCSEs.
While all members of the SHL team work to support inclusion, generally they
are not supporting pupils with the most extreme behavioural difficulties. They
may work with individual or small groups of children and young people to help
26
them develop strategies for managing their own behaviour and resolving
conflict and, depending on the skills and experience of the individual SHL
worker, art or drama may be used as part of a programme. Individual
casework is often centred on issues of behaviour and successful anger
management courses have been organised in some secondary schools.
Children’s motivation and self-esteem are also raised through attending clubs
and other extra-curricular activities organised by SHL workers: these have
included lunchtime games, cookery, gardening and homework clubs.
A significant amount of work is also undertaken with parents/carers to help
them to develop more effective strategies for dealing with inappropriate
behaviour. This may take the form of individual casework or/and organising
groups to discuss parenting skills and good ways of supporting children at
school.
Targets
The following targets for April 2003 to March 2005 are as set out in SHL’s
Service Level Agreement with Westminster City Council and Westminster
Education Action Zone. They are:






To raise levels of school attendance;
To reduce authorised and unauthorised absence;
To reduce the number of pupils excluded from schools by improving
communication between the child, the parent and the school;
To encourage parents/carers to involve themselves in their child’s
schooling and to motivate children to achieve their full potential in school;
To raise levels of achievement in schools;
To stimulate and improve liaison between the agencies concerned with the
welfare of children.
27
Chapter 4: IMPROVING BEHAVIOUR
Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP)
The BIP is a national programme set up in July 2002 as part of the
Government’s strategy to reduce street crime. It is targeted on the 10 police
force areas which together account for over 80% of street crime. LEAs from
within those areas were selected to participate on the basis of an indicator
combining truancy and crime figures.
It also forms a central element of the DfES National Behaviour and
Attendance Strategy.
The BIP aims to improving poor behaviour and attendance in schools where
these issues form significant barriers to learning and pupil progress.
Westminster is funded through the BIP as follows:
Year 1 - May 2002-March 2004: £1.45m
Year 2 - 2004/5
£1.3m
Year 3 - 2005/6
£1.09m
A wide range of partners are involved in the delivery of the BIP, including the
Metropolitan Police, Youth Offending Team, Youth Service, Connexions,
Westminster Sports Unit, and the Central and North West London Mental
Health Trust.
The Safer Schools Partnership, Full-Service Extended School and elements
of Excellence in Cities form part of the wider BIP initiatives which have
common targets and are monitored by the DfES as part of the BIP. Quintin
Kynaston secondary school was selected during Year 1 to become the pilot
Full Service Extended School under the BIP programme. (Further details of
these projects are set out later in the Plan).
The four secondary schools selected for the BIP were identified using a
combination of data on truancy, exclusion and crime committed within the
locality of the school during school hours. The feeder primary schools were
selected using the average Year 7 intake figures for the secondaries. Due to
the close proximity of three of the secondary schools, some primary schools
are included in more than one cluster. The BIP schools are:
Cluster 1
Secondary
Pimlico
Cluster 2
North Westminster
Community School
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
St George’s
St Augustine’s
Feeder Primaries
Churchill Gardens, Millbank, Burdett Coutts, St
Barnabas, St Gabriels, St Matthews
Essendine, Gateway, Hallfield Junior, Queen’s
Park, Wilberforce, Edward Wilson, Paddington
Green, Christ Church Bentinck
St Edwards
St Augustine’s, St Luke’s, Essendine,
Wilberforce
28
The 2002/03 priorities for Westminster’s BIP were:





The development of whole-school approaches to promote good behaviour,
which build on current good practice.
A range of measures to provide early support for individual pupils at risk
Truancy sweeps and other direct action to reduce unauthorised absence
which involves pupils, parents and the wider community.
Extending and developing high quality Learning Support Units
Police officers based at all four targeted secondary schools and the Full
Service Extended School using the principles set out in the Safer School
Partnership (See page 60)
A Behaviour and Education Support Team (BEST) has been established in
each of the four secondary schools. The BESTs are led by a Lead Behaviour
Professional who is also a member of the school’s Senior Management or
Inclusion Team and includes Education Welfare or Attendance officers,
School Home Liaison workers, Learning Mentors, Early Intervention Workers,
specialist teachers, administrative assistants and the School Beat Officer. The
BESTs work jointly with other members of the staff to promote inclusion
through the curriculum and pastoral systems of the school.
A Secondary Schools Social Inclusion Managers group has been established
to disseminate good practice from the BIP across all schools and to share
information on new inclusion projects as they arise. Representatives of the
Westminster BIP have given presentations at national conferences and
several local and national publications have reported on successful aspects of
the programme.
Other measures closely linked to the above priorities which have been
identified for development in 2004/05 are:





Extend and develop good practice in early support for individual pupils at
risk, with a particular focus on primary/ secondary transition
Further develop cross-borough links with a particular focus on truancy and
attendance linked to the freedoms and flexibilities of the LPSA targets for
attendance
Extend and develop effective parent partnership working
Provide coherent packages of high quality training for schools, based on
identified needs using resources available through the KS3 Behaviour and
Attendance Strand (see page 38) and Excellence in Cities.
Expand the use of restorative justice as an alternative to exclusion.
A Transition Strategy is being developed through a BIP sub-group which aims
to help all pupils make a successful move from KS2 to KS3 and to put in place
preventative measures to identify and support children at risk who may be
particularly vulnerable at this time. It intends to build on the excellent practice
already in place in some of Westminster’s schools by disseminating
recommended protocols and procedures for all schools and will be
accompanied by a toolkit of strategies and resources to assist schools in their
work.
29
Cross-borough work on truancy is being taken forward through the truancy
patrol forum and London Challenge (See page 24). Projects to improve
effective working with parents are being developed around the issues of
extended school holidays taken during term time, developing classes for
parents on behaviour management linked to the new Anti-Social Behaviour
Act and providing information booklets to parents on a range of issues related
to attendance and behaviour.
Proposals have been made to establish a Restorative Justice Co-ordinator for
schools linked to CivicWatch and the Safer Schools Partnership. The
postholder would provide training for all schools on the use of mediation,
reparation and restorative justice and would work closely with the School Beat
Officers, Truancy Patrols, CivicWatch Teams and community groups. They
would also provide an immediate response to issues of anti-social behaviour
reported by the police.
Oversight of the BIP has been through a multi-agency Local Management
Committee and an Executive Group which have met regularly to review and
steer development. In addition, the progress of the BIP has been reported to
a wider audience through briefings to:








Governors’ Forum
Headteachers’ Consultative
School Improvement Board
Education Management Board
Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership Board
CAMHS Steering Group
Youth Crime Steering Group
Formal termly monitoring to the DfES
At the end of Year 1, the Westminster BIP was highlighted by the DfES as
one of the seven most successful programmes out of the 27 original LEAs.
Our Safer School Partnership and cross-borough truancy patrols have been
identified nationally as examples of good practice. The DfES Policy and
Innovations Unit have identified the work with parents at the Marlborough
Education Unit as a further example of good practice, and this has been
referred to in the Green Paper, “Every Child Matters”.
Positive comments on behaviour management were made by OfSTED in all
the inspection reports of BIP schools during the year. At St George’s School,
the report included comments on the success of the Safer School Partnership:
“The presence of a police officer on site full-time has had a very positive effect
on behaviour as he has established an excellent rapport with pupils who have
very high levels of respect for him”.
30
Case Study
A year seven pupil, attending a Westminster BIP Secondary school was referred to the
school’s BEST team because of his involvement in a series of violent incidents. The
school was considering exclusion but wanted to try a multi-agency approach first. The
combined expertise and knowledge of the BEST team and the school based police
officer meant that a consistent home school approach was agreed, a Behaviour Plan
established with his schoolteachers and a mental health intervention put in place.
Following a short time in the schools Learning Support Unit, and a programme of
reparation, the pupil was reintegrated successfully back into mainstream and with the
help of the measures outlined above, progressed to year eight where he is currently
making good progress.
Year 1 Achievements in BIP schools against national targets








An increase in secondary school attendance of 1.3%
An increase in primary school attendance of 0.5%
A decrease in secondary school unauthorised absence of 0.1%
A decrease of 29% in the number of fixed term exclusions from secondary
schools from 696 to 496
A decrease of 25% on the number of days of education lost to fixed terms
exclusions from 2113 to 1582.5.
Full-time provision for all excluded pupils in place from March 2003
Named key workers for every child at risk
A decrease of 29% in street crime committed by young people within 500
metres of secondary schools.
Targets





Improved standards of behaviour overall, and reduced numbers of serious
incidents
Reduced truancy and improved levels of school attendance
Lower levels of exclusions than at comparable schools
Providing a named key worker for every child at risk of truancy, exclusion
or criminal behaviour
Full-time education for all permanently excluded pupils from day one of
either permanent or temporary exclusion
Beachcroft House KS3 Pupil Referral Unit
The LEA has a statutory duty under Section 47 of the Education Act, 1997 to
make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or
otherwise than at school for those children and young people of compulsory
school age who have been excluded from school. This is commonly known
as ‘Education Otherwise’. Westminster fulfils its duties for children and young
people excluded from school through two Pupil Referral Units (PRUs):
31
Beachcroft House, which educates pupils up to KS3, and the Education
Otherwise Provision at the City of Westminster College, for pupils in KS4.
Full-time education must be made available for those pupils who have been
excluded from a Westminster school for a fixed period of over 15 school days
in a single block, regardless of their borough of residence, and for all pupils
permanently excluded from school who are Westminster residents.
The benefits of providing full-time education for excluded pupils are to:




Ensure they are not at risk of abuse, further disaffection or becoming
involved in anti-social behaviour
Ensure that they are able to continue their education and focus on areas of
particular weakness and behaviour management
Ease their reintegration back into mainstream schools
For those pupils in KS4, ensure they remain in education, training or
employment beyond statutory schooling.
Behaviour Services in Westminster are being re-structured from 1 April 2004
to improve service delivery. The Behaviour Support Team, Home Education
Service and KS3 PRU have been merged as a single team under a Head of
Behaviour Services based at Beachcroft House PRU.
Structure of Behaviour Service from April 2004
Head of Behaviour Services
Office Manager
Deputy Head of Behaviour
5 teachers
Learning Assistant
Reintegration Officer
Connexions PA
The team is responsible for:






Providing tuition for Westminster resident pupils in KS1,2, and 3 who have
been permanently excluded;
Providing tuition for all pupils excluded for fixed periods of more than 15
days;
Prevention and reintegration of excluded pupils
Behaviour audits, assessments and training in conjunction with the KS3
Behaviour and Attendance Consultant;
Providing home tuition for pupils unable to attend school for reasons of
illness;
The LEA’s statutory duties in relation to exclusion from school.
32
The Pupil Referral Unit can cater for a maximum of 15 permanently excluded
pupils and the key priority is to assess and address their behavioural
difficulties and to support their reintegration back to mainstream schooling.
PRUs are not required to provide the full National Curriculum, but at
Beachcroft House the importance of enabling pupils to successfully
reintegrate into mainstream education is dependent on the timetable closely
matching the KS3 Curriculum in schools, with each pupil being set individual
learning targets as well as those for behaviour.
A Management Committee comprising members of statutory and voluntary
services who have strong connections with disaffected young people, for
example, the police and Youth Offending Team, oversees the work of the
PRU. It also has representatives from the LEA and local secondary schools
who ensure that the provision forms part of the continuum of provision for
pupils with behavioural difficulties.
The cost of the provision of education otherwise than at school is met from
within the Local Schools Budget under the Local Management of Schools
within the requirements of the Schools Standard and Framework Act 1998.
Two members of staff are currently funded through the BIP and the
Vulnerable Children’s Grant.
Pupils who have been excluded from school and are not re-engaged with
education are highly likely to become involved in anti-social behaviour and/or
criminal activities. National evidence from the Youth Justice Board Annual
report is corroborated at a local level by the high percentage of young adults
who are the subject of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in Westminster
who were previously excluded from school. In view of the City Council’s high
priority for reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour the reintegration to
mainstream education of excluded pupils is a key priority for the KS3 Pupil
Referral Unit.
Schools who accept a previously excluded pupil are allocated a dowry to
support their reintegration. They are also provided with specialist
reintegration support from the Behaviour Service. Reintegration usually takes
place over half a term with each pupil having a reintegration plan with targets
agreed by the pupil and their family, the school, the Behaviour Service and
any other agency involved with the young person.
National statistics are beginning to indicate a growth in the number of out-ofborough pupils excluded from school. It is considered highly likely that this is a
direct result of the higher level of multi-agency support available to pupils
within their home authority which is not so easily accessible for pupils who live
elsewhere. The wider issues of cross-borough support for pupils will be
addressed through the Children Act 2004 and through initiatives including
extended schools and establishing systems for the early identification, referral
and tracking of those at risk.
Targets
33
Statutory
 Full-time education in place for every pupil excluded for more than 15
school days in a single block
 Full-time education in place for every Westminster resident pupil from day
15 of a permanent exclusion (BVPI 159)
 A minimum of 10 hours tuition to be provided for Westminster resident
pupils unable to attend school for reasons of illness.
EDP
 Develop the use of the KS3 PRU as a ‘revolving door’ and improve the
speed at which pupils are returned to mainstream education through
partnership working with secondary schools
 Enhance the curriculum on offer at the KS3 PRU through the use of
Advanced Skills Teachers and KS3 Strategy consultants
 Provide guidance for schools on implementing Pastoral Support Plans for
pupils at risk of social exclusion as a result of poor attendance or
behaviour.
Education Otherwise: KS4 Pupil Referral Unit
The Education Department has a contract with the City of Westminster
College until September 2007 to provide “Education Otherwise”, full-time
education provision to Westminster resident pupils at KS4 (14-16 year-olds)
who are permanently excluded from mainstream schools.
The role of the service is to:





Provide full-time alternative education provision which is purposeful and
helps the individual to recover lost educational ground
Enhance rates of progress into further education, training and employment
Maximise independence of students and enable them to take responsibility
for their actions and their lives
Minimise opportunities for being at risk from exploitation or abuse and to
secure appropriate support for those who have been exploited or abused
Reduce any risk of criminal involvement
The College aims to provide high quality and cost-effective full-time
educational programmes that enable referred students to overcome existing
impediments to learning and achievement. Each student has an Individual
Learning Plan that covers:





Co-operative working with families and carers to encourage participation
and responsibility for individual behaviour
Specific targets based on individual needs for academic and behaviour
improvement
Raising self esteem and providing a sense of purpose, encouraging
students to take responsibility for their actions
For students with Special Educational Needs, an Individual Education Plan
Behaviour management strategies
34
Forty places are provided and students are managed in groups of between
eight and twelve.
The 2002 OfSTED inspection report of the LEA praised the Education
Otherwise provision and noted:
“The LEA continues to make good provision for pupils at Key Stage 4 who
have no school place.”
“Pupils at Key Stage 4 receive full time provision. Attendance, attainment
and progression post-14 are closely monitored and results are very good.
Seventy five per cent of pupils show improved attendance and 90 per cent
go on to further education post-16. Young people and their parents/ carers
are very positive about the range of opportunities available. Full time
provision (25 hours) is in place for all pupils at Key Stage 4, well in
advance of the statutory requirement that comes into force in September
2002.”
In September 2002, the College provision was registered with the Department
for Education and Skills (DfES) as a KS4 Annex to the KS3 Pupil Referral
Unit.
In September 2003, the LEA commissioned OfSTED inspectors to carry out
an informal review of the joint PRU in order to establish whether the provision
met the revised OfSTED requirements for Pupil Referral Units which came
into effect in September 2003. The inspection report of the College provision
was very positive and included the following judgements:






Over three-quarters of the pupils in the present Year 11 cohort are
actively re-engaged in education;
The provision is very well managed at all levels which ensures effective
teaching and learning;
Overall attendance is good being above the college average;
The quality of provision for pupils’ personal, social and health
education (PSHE) is very good and they are cared for well;
All teaching seen was at least satisfactory, with much that was good
and some which was very good;
A particular strength of the teaching is the good level of planning which
is well matched to pupils’ needs.
The inspectors also recommended that the KS3 and KS4 units were
registered with the DfES as separate PRUs as their provision was completely
independent of each other with no formal links. The LEA formally
implemented this recommendation in October 2003.
Approval has recently been given for a three-year extension to the contract
with the City of Westminster College starting from September 2004.
35
Targets
For Year 10 students who start in September:




90% to complete Key Skills Communications Portfolio Level 1
90% to complete Key Skills Application of Number Portfolio Level 1
90% to get modules from OCR CLAIT and
40% to get ASDAN Youth Award (Bronze)
For Year 11 students who start in September





65% to pass GNVQ Key Skills in at least two of:

Communication

Application of number

Information Technology
50% to pass ASDAN Youth Award (Bronze and Silver)
30% to achieve GCSE English
30% to achieve GCSE Mathematics
30% to achieve GCSE Citizenship
For students in both years who start at the College later in the year, the
targets are correspondingly lower.
Further targets for the service are:





All students on the course at the end of Year 10 progressing on to Year 11
of the course
100% of Year 11 students progressing into further Education, Employment
or Training (in line with Connexions target)
Consistent delivery of around 25 hours of activity per week, except in
exceptional circumstances for particular students where this has been
agreed by the City Council
All students to have a National Record of Achievement or equivalent
successor document; a full record and educational and vocational
achievement is to be kept for each student
All Year 11 students to have at least one work placement during the
course year
36
Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs)
Actual Actual Target Actual
2001/2 2002/3 2003/4 2003/4
BVPI 44 Number of pupils permanently excluded during
the year from all schools maintained by the local
education authority per 1,000 pupils at all
maintained schools.
BVPI 159 Percentage of permanently excluded pupils
provided with alternative tuition of:
(a) 5 hours or less
(b) 6 – 12 hours
(c) 13 – 19 hours
(d) 20 hours or more
1.8
1.4
Actual
2001/2
%
Actual
2002/3
%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
5
8
12
75
1.5
1.8
Target Projected
2003/4 outturn
2003/4
%
%
4
7
4
85
0
5
0
95
NB The years on this table refer to financial years.
Tuition for pupils on fixed term exclusions
One of the expected outcomes of the BIP is for all pupils on fixed term
exclusions to receive full-time provision.
The Youth Service provides tuition for all secondary aged pupils at the North
Paddington Youth Club. A Service Level Agreement has been established
with clear responsibilities for the LEA, the excluding school and the Youth
Service to ensure that the provision is able to meet the needs of young people
referred. Students are helped to continue their schoolwork during their
exclusion so that they do not fall behind with their studies. They are also
taught anger management techniques and helped to take responsibility for the
behaviour that led them to being excluded.
Case Studies
(taken from student evaluation reports)
F felt he had benefited from attending the Youth Service provision and that he was finding it
easier to focus on his work. He fears studying Shakespeare as he feels he may not
understand it.
T said that attending the Youth Service made a difference because he felt remorse for what
he had done. It had helped him to understand where he went wrong. He feels he is now
achieving as school and gets his homework in on time, but he still finds the lessons very
boring.
S said that he has not been in trouble since his exclusion. He has been ignoring
troublemakers and has been coping with class work and homework. Looking back, he now
felt that he could have ignored the situation that led to his exclusion.
P was still very angry and said that teachers show no understanding towards him. He feels
he needs more support in his lessons and that he is made to feel small and made out in class
to be stupid (especially in science).
37
R said that he had not had a fight since his exclusion. He has been controlling his temper
even though he has had triggers like getting ‘jumped’. He says that Tuesdays are not a good
day for him as he seems to get in trouble with the teachers – English is the only subject that is
OK on Tuesdays. His mother thought the Youth Service provision had been of benefit to him.
The BIP has provided additional Learning Mentor support for three schools in
each of the BIP primary clusters in order that they can accommodate pupils
on fixed term exclusions from other local BIP schools. A system for providing
information quickly to the receiving school has been established through
Service Level Agreements and each of the receiving schools has a protocol
for ensuring support is readily available from day one following the
Headteacher’s decision to exclude.
Key Stage 3 Strategy for Behaviour and Attendance
The Key Stage 3 National Strategy aims to raise standards by strengthening
teaching and learning across the curriculum for all pupils aged 11 to 14. The
behaviour and attendance strand of the Key Stage 3 Strategy provides
review, training and consultancy resources for all secondary schools, and
takes a whole-school approach.
The service includes development of a consistent cross-phase approach to
behaviour and attendance training. Training needs are identified as part of a
coherent LEA approach to school improvement, focusing on whole-school
approaches and linking the improvement of behaviour and attendance with
the strengthening of teaching and learning.
The strand is funded through The Standards Fund (matched funded) by the
DfES KS3 strategy, and the fund is used to employ consultants to ensure that
the approach to improving behaviour and attendance is closely linked with
improving teaching and learning.
The consultants work in partnership with the lead behaviour professional or
senior manager with the lead on behaviour and attendance in each school to
deliver this strand.
The work of the strand is to challenge and support schools to improve
attendance through an audit of existing policy and procedures and training in
how to manage and improve attendance both through whole school systems
and through approaches to teaching and learning.
Similarly, the strand works to improve behaviour by auditing existing policy
and procedures, working with schools to establish a whole-school ethos and
training in how to manage and improve behaviour both through whole school
systems and through approaches to teaching and learning. Whilst the strand
provides support for schools to manage the most extreme kinds of challenging
behaviour and non-attendance, its main work is with the lower levels of
misbehaviour and broken patterns of behaviour which can depress
achievement across the school.
38
The work of the strand has been brought together with the work of the
Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) to provide a coherent approach to
combating truancy and anti-social behaviour. While the BIP is targeted
support for schools within areas of high street crime, the KS3 strand provides
universal support to all secondary schools across the spectrum of nonattendance and anti-social behaviour. This national framework for improving
behaviour and attendance is reflected at a local level in Westminster’s
creation of a joint KS3 Behaviour and Attendance/BIP training post.
Case study
Following an initial whole-school behaviour audit, a programme of observation and training
for that school was set up with individual teachers. From this emerged a number of wholeschool themes for middle-manager training and whole staff twilight sessions. Ongoing
support has been provided for individual teachers to develop classroom management skills
whilst issues such as planning for teaching and learning that promote good behaviour have
been offered across the school.
Targets



Reduction in the number of exclusions from school
Improved levels of attendance
Reduction in incidents of bullying in schools
Primary Pilot Strategy for Behaviour and Attendance
The Primary National Strategy is piloting a comprehensive approach to
promoting positive behaviour in the primary school. At its heart is the belief
that positive behaviour requires a proactive, whole-school approach to
developing children's social, emotional and behavioural skills within a learning
community that promotes the emotional well being of all its members.
The pilot aims to test out a coherent model for work in schools where
behaviour and attendance are key school improvement issues.
Westminster commenced its pilot on a voluntary basis in January 2004,
involving the Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) primary schools. It
includes a behaviour and attendance audit, training materials for use in
primary school and a new SEBS (social, emotional and behavioural skills)
curriculum. Materials for the SEBS curriculum actively teach these skills and
are designed to strengthen existing PSHE and Citizenship programmes in
primary schools. The SEBS curriculum is planned to extend into secondary
schools if the primary pilot is successful.
Lead behaviour professionals, senior managers with the lead on behaviour
and attendance and PSHE co-ordinators in a number of primary schools have
volunteered to be involved in the pilot. Westminster’s PSHCE co-ordinator is
also involved in the pilot delivery. If successful, the pilot will be rolled out to all
schools.
39
There is no funding specifically for this pilot. Materials have been provided
free of charge to all Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) primary
schools and training to support their use is provided by the BIP training coordinator.
The audit and training focus on whole-school approaches to improving
behaviour and attendance. The SEBS curriculum teaches behavioural skills
and social and emotional competencies, strengthening a PSHCE curriculum.
Together these work to combat some of the underlying social, emotional and
attitudinal factors that can lead to truancy and anti-social behaviour.
Targets


To evaluate the initial phase of the pilot in BIP primary schools by July
2004
To roll out the pilot to all Westminster primary schools from September
2004
Excellence in Cities: Learning Mentors and Learning Support Units
Excellence in Cities supports schools to raise standards, reduce truancy and
exclusion rates by ensuring that every secondary pupil has access to a
professionally trained learning mentor. Learning mentors are available to
every secondary school pupil, and pupils in 20 primary schools.
Learning Support Units help to address the behaviour and learning needs of
pupils requiring intensive support through school-based learning. Funding
through the EiC Partnership is provided for Learning Support Units in all
secondary schools and three primary schools.
Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea have an EiC Partnership for the
delivery of services to schools. From April 2004 the LSU and LM elements of
EiC will merge with the BIP and KS3 Behaviour and Attendance Strategy to
provide a consistent approach to support for schools in managing behaviour
and attendance.
Funding for EiC is through a Standards Fund grant allocated to both LEAs
and currently guaranteed through 2005-06. The total grant for Westminster for
2004-05 is £1,727,548 of which £1,276,550 is ring-fenced for school provision
of learning mentors and learning support units, and central co-ordination and
training.
Support and guidance is also offered to parents, carers and families of pupils
accessing a Learning Mentor or Learning Support Unit.
40
Learning Support Unit case study
At primary school J was finding classroom life a challenge and as a consequence the
business of teaching and learning for everyone else was being affected. He demonstrated
his frustration through defiance, refusing to do set work, running out of school, becoming so
absorbed in a task that he would refuse to stop.
He did not know how to talk about his frustration and the more upset he became the more
difficult it was for him to find a way out. A plan was devised to teach him co-operative skills
and to develop an ability to resolve conflicts with others. The concept of ‘thinking time’ in the
classroom was introduced with supportive cues: ‘Stop, think, make the right choice’. He was
helped to take responsibility for his own actions and behaviour. The skills were practised in
the Learning Support Unit (LSU) with his small peer group then applied in his classroom in
the company of a member of the LSU staff. This pattern continued throughout the
programme until he became secure in his new way of thinking. His mother also became a
learner; through watching and listening to the staff she gradually changed her approach by
responding positively to the changes.
The changes J made were significant, not only in his attitude to the class and work but to
himself. He found a voice for his feelings and went on to suggest points for his own
development, to listen more carefully, to be more patient and to turn down the volume of his
own spoken voice!
T would also walk away from difficulties and refuse to return to the classroom. Her selfesteem was very low, she had prolonged sulks, concentration was poor and she lacked
personal organisation skills. The class teacher and the LSU staff focused on a programme
that aimed to reduce T’s rejection of the classroom. The LSU provided time for reflection and
self-assessment. Confidence began to grow and she found that she could become a role
model for others in the group. She continued to use these skills in the classroom and she no
longer felt the need to leave the room. At the end of the programme Teresa recorded in her
self-assessment book ‘I tidied up my mess and I remembered all the things I need’. She also
celebrated achieving her target to remain in her seat 90% of the time.
Targets
For schools benefiting from Learning Mentor and LSU programmes, the
annual targets are:
Primary Attendance
Secondary Attendance

94%
92.5%
Effective pupil tracking to show a measured improvement focused on
attainment, behaviour and attendance, fewer permanent and fixed term
exclusions and increasing numbers of children successfully reintegrated
into mainstream classes.
LSU audits to be carried out on an annual basis to show a marked
improvement.
EDP targets
 Maintain, challenge, support and guidance for LSU managers and
Learning Mentors in collaboration with the KS3 Behaviour and Attendance
Strategy and BIP behaviour audits
41



Conduct annual LSU and Behaviour audits and/or reviews
Maintain approved local training programmes for Learning Mentors and
provide consultant support
Develop the integration of BIP, EiC, KS3, Full-Service Extended Schools
through cross-borough working including the monitoring and evaluation of
shared targets.
Support for children with Special Educational Needs
The Special and Additional Educational Needs Service covers a range of
functions in relation to Westminster City Council’s responsibility towards
children with SEN.
The service takes the lead role in the Education Department for:




the development of SEN Strategy for the City Council
ensuring that SEN Services work collaboratively with other services,
particularly School Effectiveness and Social Inclusion
supporting the work of the Education Development Officer for Looked After
Children
working with other LEAs through the London SEN Regional Partnership on
SEN projects and developments
The SEN Administration and Support section has responsibility for:



referrals for Statutory Assessment of SEN
provision arrangements for pupils with Statements of SEN, including the
management of SEN budgets and resources
ensuring that appeals to the SEN and Disability Tribunal are defended
appropriately
The service’s SEN Achievement Co-ordinator provides a contact for all
schools for advice and support regarding strategy and provision for pupils with
SEN, as well as promoting the development of inclusive schools and Early
Years settings as part of the SEN Inclusion Strategy.
The SEN Assessment and Purchasing Team of Case Officers and Planning
and Placement Officers support parents and schools. Their role is to:





process referrals for statutory assessment;
co-ordinate the statutory assessment process;
draft statements of SEN;
make provision arrangements; and
manage the statutory annual review process.
All Westminster mainstream schools receive funding to support pupils with
SEN. There is a notional allocation of 5% of the age-weighted pupil unit
(AWPU) identified within schools’ Individual School Budgets (ISB) to support
pupils at Early Years/School Action. In addition, new funding arrangements for
42
Westminster mainstream schools will merge existing SEN and AEN formula
allocations from April 2004, to be distributed via a new formula using:



social deprivation factors (Free School Meals and unplanned pupil
mobility)
prior attainment using SAT results (weighted scores)
fluency in English (weighted scores)
These resources will provide funding to support pupils at Early Years/School
Action and Early Years/School Action Plus. Funding for individual pupils with
statements for high incidence (moderate) needs will also be allocated by the
above formula. This means that schools will be expected to provide funding
for all pupils’ SEN statements with a value below £5,000 from their ISB
formula share. However for the small number of children and young people
who have statements for complex and enduring needs, funding will continue
to be delegated according to the individually identified level of support.
Resources will continue to be allocated for pupils with statements of SEN
attending other LEA provision and special schools, and for pupils attending
independent sector special schools.
In January 2004 there were 715 pupils with statements of SEN. Of those, 81
had statements for behaviour, emotional and social needs (BESD) as the
main presenting need. Provision for these pupils can be seen as follows:
Placement of Pupils with Statements No of
pupils
of SEN for EBSD
Westminster mainstream schools
40
Westminster special schools
3
Other LEA mainstream schools
7
Other LEA special schools
12
Independent special schools
15
Education Otherwise (KS3 Pupil Referral Unit)
Education Otherwise (KS4 Pupil Referral Unit)
TOTAL
2
4
81
(January 2004)
There are a substantial number of other pupils who have BESD as an
additional need to the main presenting need who can be managed effectively
in mainstream schools. There are also pupils in Westminster schools at
School Action and School Action Plus who have a main presenting need of
BESD. In September 2003 there were 99 pupils with BESD at School Action
(61 in the primary phase; 38 in the secondary phase) and 51 at School Action
Plus (23 in the primary phase; 28 in the secondary phase).
As part of the SEN Inclusion Strategy, a detailed Inclusive Education SEN
Development Plan has been formulated, which summarises the key areas of
action to support the development of inclusive schools and Early Years
settings. Within the identified key activities, feasibility studies will be carried
out with regard to the development of resourced provision in Westminster
43
mainstream schools, in order to reduce reliance on the placement of pupils
with statements in out-authority placements. As part of this activity, the
studies will examine the cost-effectiveness of developing provision which is
additionally resourced for behaviour, emotional and social difficulties.
Support to individual pupils with SEN but without a statement is provided
either through interventions at Early Years/School Action or Early
Years/School Action Plus. The LEA has provided schools with Audit Criteria to
enable accurate identification of pupils with SEN including behaviour,
emotional and social needs, and a moderation exercise has audited the
identification and provision for a sample group of pupils at School Action and
School Action Plus across the authority.
Support for children with statements of SEN is allocated according to the
provision detailed in the statement. In mainstream schools this usually takes
the form of allocated support from a learning support assistant (LSA) and/or a
learning support teacher (LST). Any resource allocated in this way is
additional to the funding available to all pupils with SEN in the school.
Educational Psychology (EP) Service
Educational Psychologists provide professional consultation, assessment and
advice regarding pupils who have difficulty learning. They contribute to the
Statutory Assessment Process for pupils with Special Educational Needs
(SEN) and support teachers in developing inclusive classroom settings and
developing appropriate strategies for these pupils. The majority of referrals
are through schools Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) in
the context of consultation visits to schools. Additionally referrals can come
from the SEN team for pre-school children, children placed out of borough or
who are out of school.
Educational Psychologists collaborate with a wide range of other agencies
within Education, Health and Social Services. The range of projects with
which the service is involved include:




Setting up Child and Adolescent Mental Health outreach work at College
Park Special School
secondment of EP time to the team for Looked After Children
project work commissioned by School Effectiveness team contributing to
the Council’s Education Development Plan with work on inclusive
classroom environments and guidelines on secondary transition for
vulnerable pupils;
working with Quintin Kynaston Full Service Extended School offering
family therapy and NQT training on relationship building and dealing with
emotional / behavioural factors.
Educational Psychologists provide advise and consultation to the SEN team
for young children, notified as having special needs by the Health Authority or
parents. The Principal EP is part of the multi-professional Early Years panel
involving Health, Social Services and Education. The EP team also
44
collaborate with the Early Years Inclusion Manager on developing good
practice to support learning and behaviour. A new EP post has been
established with 0.5 Early Years practice, providing delivery within Children’s
Centres and the Woodfield Road services for children with disabilities.
A Senior EP has specialist responsibility for autistic pupils and has contributed
to the development of resources and support within Westminster. In
collaboration with the Specialist Teaching team joint training and INSET has
been provided to schools, covering learning and behavioural issues.
Educational Psychology is also contributing to developing multi-professional
guidance on developing effective cross-agency practice and pathways for
children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
Educational Psychologists work directly with approximately 150 pupils every
year within the DfES SEN Code of Practice. It is estimated that about 50% of
these pupils have special educational needs arising wholly or partly from
behaviour difficulties.
The vast majority of pupils’ special needs are provided for at the early stages
of the Code of Practice through early intervention and joint planning between
the EP and SENCO focused on Individual Educational Plans and Pastoral
Support Plans. The Educational Psychologists play a key role in the
implementation of the SEN Inclusion Strategy as even when pupils have
complex learning needs, behavioural elements are likely to be the most
challenging issue for teachers.
The service works directly with pupils, parents and teachers to support
emotional and behavioural difficulties. In their regular consultation to schools,
the Educational Psychologists respond to the concerns of the SEN Coordinators about pupils on the SEN register. They observe individual pupils,
groups of pupils or the whole classroom in order to work with the teacher and
SEN Co-ordinator on behaviour management and meeting the emotional
needs of the pupils in order to improve their learning.
When individual pupils are referred to the service, the Educational
Psychologist will complete an assessment with the pupil, and discuss
appropriate referrals and liaison with the teachers and carers.
A new project will be starting from April 2004 in Quintin Kynaston Full-Service
Extended School which will work directly with the families of children who
have a pattern of under-achievement. This will include work with families in
the feeder primary schools.
Case Study
Support is offered when needed to schools after any Critical Incident affecting schools or
pupils. This was most recently delivered to a local Secondary School after the sudden death
of a pupil. Emergency visits were provided to the school offering advice and emotional
support to staff and pupils as they coped with the situation and planned an appropriate
response within the school and in relation to the family.
45
Targets
The service’s on-going targets are:



To provide regular consultation days to schools
To provide a service to the SEN team for pre-school and out of school
children
To provide statutory reports within the given timescales
EDP targets
 Reduce the over representation of pupils at School Action Plus from fixed
term exclusion figures through a targeted programme of support to
identified schools.
Support for children with mental health difficulties: Marlborough
Family Education Centre and Early Intervention Workers
The Education Department holds a contract with the Central and North West
London Mental Health Trust for the provision of a comprehensive assessment
and therapeutic intervention service for children between the ages of five and
sixteen with complex psychological, psychiatric and learning difficulties. The
service is delivered through the Marlborough Family Education Centre
(MFEC). The contract term has recently been extended until 2009.
The service is staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of teachers, who are also
trained as child and family therapists, social workers, nurses, a clinical
psychologist and a psychiatrist. Staff form a bridge between mental health
and education services in order to make family-based intervention acceptable
and accessible.
The service is able to support up to nine children at a time, and on average
supports 40 in one year at the on-site Centre. It also provides a range of
school-based out-reach support for staff, pupils and families.
The MFEC delivers part of Westminster’s continuum of provision for children
with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The service supports children who
are consistently unable to behave acceptably in the classroom and are at risk
of exclusion, and their families.
The on-site programme at the Education Centre is designed to tackle blocks
to learning by focusing on repeating cycles of disruptive, worrying and antisocial behaviour. In order to improve academic achievement, each child has
measurable behaviour targets, which are rated by mainstream class teachers,
parents and the pupils themselves on a daily basis.
Attendance at the centre is between two and four mornings per week, with the
children attending their schools for the remainder of the school day.
Pupils return to full-time education only when they have managed acceptable
classroom behaviour at least 85% of the time consistently over a six-week
46
period. The time taken to achieve this varies between three months and one
year, depending on the level of difficulties the child presents with on arrival.
The involvement of parents in the programme promotes change in the parent/
child relationship and challenges destructive behaviours and beliefs.
Successful parents are actively encouraged to share their knowledge and
experience with new and nervous parents by becoming “trained peers”. Their
role is valuable in encouraging participation and developing trust with families
new to the service.
The work of the Centre was referred to favourably in the LEA OfSTED
Inspection report in May 2000. The OfSTED re-inspection report of July 2002
also spoke of the Centre as “a highly rated local unit” which provided
“excellent value for money”. The Green Paper "Every Child Matters" cited the
MFEC as an exemplary model of service delivery.
Case Study
Twelve year old Michelle was referred to the Marlborough Family Service Education Unit
because she was constantly involved in serious physical fights in her secondary school. She
was described as being verbally abusive to staff and peers and seriously underachieving
academically. She attended the Unit part time for four mornings each week over a period of
six months mainly with her father.
Michelle had originally live with her mother in the North of England and following her parents’
separation when she was six, had increasingly taken on the role of a young carer. Her
mother was unable to cope with Michelle and her three brothers and became more and more
dependent on alcohol. As her mother’s condition worsened, Michelle’s school attendance
gradually began to decrease as she took greater responsibility for the care of her brothers.
Social Services became involved when she was eleven and the decision was taken for her to
move to live with her father in London. He was suffering ill health and had been unemployed
for a number of years. Michelle was very angry and was acting in a very self-destructive way
at that time.
Over the period of engagement with the Education Unit’s multi-family programme, Michelle
was encouraged to talk about her difficult experiences with her mother and brothers and was
helped to adjust to the sudden change of moving to live with her father and his current
partner. Having been responsible for the home in the north, she struggled with accepting the
authority of father and the teachers in school. Although initially Michelle found talking very
difficult, she and her father were able to come to terms with many of their family difficulties.
Through working to specific behavioural targets, she gradually started to calm down and her
attitude and performance in school improved remarkably. As a consequence her ability to
make use of learning opportunities changed significantly; in contrast to her earlier disaffection,
she became an active learner, such that her academic achievements rapidly became evident.
She is now fully reintegrated into her original school.
Targets


Delivery of a continuous programme for 9 children and family members in
a multi-family classroom providing appropriate teaching and therapeutic
interventions for children with emotional, behavioural and /or
developmental difficulties
Support the LEA’s EDP targets to reduce exclusions and improve
attendance
47
Early Intervention Workers (Child and Adolescent Mental Health)
Three Early Intervention Workers (EIWs) two of whom are are clinical
psychologists provide school-based early interventions for children and their
families when they are at risk of exclusion from school, and may be at school
action and school action-plus on the SEN register. These families are often
hard to reach, and many have declined to attend off-site support from
specialist child mental health services. The EIWs liaise with established
clinics and family support units to improve access and take up of services.
Training is also provided for school staff on child and family mental health
issues and their impact on learning.
One of the workers is funded by Westminster Education Action Zone core
grant until March 2005 and two through the Behaviour Improvement
Programme until 2005/6. The EAZ and the BIP are working on a joint Service
Level Agreement for all of the Early Intervention Workers in order to develop a
common set of protocols, monitoring and reporting arrangements and develop
joint staff development and training activities for psychologists working in the
field.
The Early Intervention Workers are based at the Marlborough Family
Education Centre where they provide:



school-based early intervention for children and their families at risk of
exclusion, with a particular focus on those at the school action and schoolaction plus stages of the SEN register.
specialist advice and support to school staff in the identification of
psychological needs of children, and accessing appropriate resources
training for school staff on mental health issues and their impact on
learning
The EIWs support children and families in schools who have been referred
either by the Head Teacher or Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator.
Priority is given to children who have received or are at risk of having a fixed
term exclusion, but the remit includes any child with mental health difficulties.
The service is provided directly to the children and families, but the EIWs also
provide consultation and training to staff, and information about and liaison
with mental health services.
Targets
Education Action Zone
 To develop improved and effective joint working between the Health Trust
and schools in responding to the psychological needs of children
experiencing fixed term exclusions and on the early stages of the SEN
register;
 To offer an early intervention service for pupils in need;
 To undertake assessment and short-term intervention work with children in
need and their families referred by schools;
48

To provide specialist advice and support to school staff in the identification
of psychological needs of children and accessing appropriate resources.
Behaviour Improvement Programme
 To reduce fixed term exclusions
 To reduce the number of serious incidents which take place in schools
 To improve attendance
 To provide a key worker for every young person at risk of social exclusion
Support for school leadership and management: School
Effectiveness
The School Effectiveness Group in the Education Department brings together
all the services focusing most directly on school improvement. The Head of
School Standards and a small team of Senior School Development Officers
(SSDO) fulfil the LEA’s duty to monitor, support, challenge and intervene in
schools to ensure continuous improvement. The duties are set out in the
Code of Practice for LEA/School Relations. Primary and Secondary Delivery
Groups monitor the progress of schools causing concern. These are attended
by all officers working in the identified schools.
The SSDO (inclusion) works closely with the Head of Social Inclusion and the
Head of SEN and Additional Needs so that the service has a shared
approach. All SSDOs work closely with other services such as the
Educational Psychology Service and the Education Welfare Service. The link
inspector role in the secondary sector is supplied through a contract with Nord
Anglia. This contract is managed by the Head of School Standards.
The Educational Development Plan (EDP) includes a section on improving
behaviour and attendance (EDP Priority 6). This plan is produced in
consultation with officers and schools and includes the DfES targets for
attendance and exclusions. The EDP acts as the over-arching workplan for
the department.
SSDOs and Nord Anglia consultants make termly visits to all schools. They
are available to provide support and advice to schools on all aspects of
inclusion, including behaviour management. Other officers from the SEG
team, such as the Key Stage 3 consultants, Early Years Advisory Team and
the Language Service, provide support to this priority. Where behaviour has
been identified as an issue by OFSTED, the SEG team supports schools to
write action plans and monitor the subsequent actions. In these instances,
schools are considered a priority for LEA support.
49
Education of Pupils in Care Team (EPiC)
The team provides developmental, direct and casework support with the aim
of raising the achievement of children looked after by Westminster City
Council.
The key partners involved in service delivery are Social and Community
Services, schools and the Education Department. The team is funded by
mainstream Social and Community Services funding and through the
Vulnerable Children’s Fund.
In February 2004 there were 319 children looked after by Westminster City
Council of whom 190 were of statutory school age. They attended 122
schools in 44 different LEAs. 60 of the children (32%) attended Westminster
schools. Although Social and Community Services retains responsibility for
their care, it is the responsibility of the 44 other LEAs to ensure their
educational needs are provided for in the majority of cases. 37 (20%) had
statements or draft statements of special educational need. A large proportion
of these statements are the result of emotional and behavioural difficulties.
On average, 2-3 young people in care to Westminster are permanently
excluded during any one year.
Particular issues for Westminster include the high numbers of unaccompanied
asylum seekers who have entered the care system over the past 5 years. For
example, 21 (62%) of young people in Year 11 in 2003/4 were received into
care from this category. The challenge for EPiC is to support carers and social
workers to find school places across London in Key Stage 4 whilst there is a
London-wide shortage of vacancies. In 2003, 45 young people were found
school places with the support of the EPiC Caseworker. It is then necessary
to ensure that their language needs are met as well as providing the
opportunity to take GCSE examinations wherever possible.
The team highlights the educational needs of looked after children and
intervenes and advocates where required. This is especially important when
the high likelihood of care placement moves is taken into account. There have
traditionally been low levels of awareness about the education system
amongst social workers and carers, and this has problem has been
substantially improved upon in recent years.
EPiC Teachers and Educational Psychologists provide advice to schools,
social workers and carers to address the behaviour problems of children
looked after by Westminster. There are also good links with primary mental
health workers who are based in the same team as EPiC workers who can be
consulted about children whose challenging behaviour may be linked to
mental health problems.
Children are consulted about their education as part of their Personal
Education Plans and targets to improve behaviour, and adult support
available is detailed and reviewed though these plans.
50
Direct individual support is given to pupils either at school or in their
placements, for example to develop literacy, support development of English
language (for unaccompanied asylum seeking children), or to prepare for
examinations. A Learning Mentor provides direct support for children who are
becoming disaffected or who have behaviour problems which are not being
effectively addressed by school based pastoral programmes.
The team aims to visit all newly approved foster carers to provide them with
advice and information about the education system and to encourage them to
seek out local initiatives and resources to support the education of the
children they look after. This is particularly important with Westminster’s
profile of looked after children as the majority are placed in other boroughs all
of which have different services available. Longer term direct work is carried
out with some carers to empower them to provide appropriate support for
children’s education at home, for example by finding strategies to encourage
reluctant readers. The team will provide advice and training for carers on a
range of educational issues.
The team also provides support, advice and training for social workers and
will make suggestions on how social workers might tackle educational issues
for children who are not in the care system.
Case Study
Sam was a child identified by the EPiC team when he was in Year 2 and attending a local
primary school. This was the third school he had attended in less than three years. The team
were targeting all children in this year as part of an effort to raise attainments in SATs for 7,
11 and 14 year olds. An EPiC teacher held a meeting with Sam’s teacher and his school’s
designated teacher and was advised that the school had some concerns about his literacy
and a high level of concern about his emotional well-being. They wanted Sam to be more
confident, to take more care over his work and to not be afraid of making mistakes. In the
playground they wanted him to demonstrate the skills he had shown in the school nurture
group.
The EpiC teacher provided 11 sessions of direct support in school for Sam, sharing picture
books to extend his reading skills and confidence. He had the opportunity to take the books
home each week but chose to keep them in his tray and shared them with a classmate.
At the beginning of the programme Sam would ‘pretend’ that he could not read very well - he
did this by reading slowly and substituting words. When challenged he admitted that he
could read a lot better. He tended to pick easy books to read, but was clearly capable of
reading more challenging texts.
He was observed as having poor fine motor skills and took little pride in the presentation of
his work. Towards the end of the programme he was accepting and acting on advice from
the EpiC teacher and class teacher about how to improve his work and learning. He became
particularly keen to improve on his work enough to obtain a level 3 in his SATs.
Sam was observed in the playground and was clearly able to join in games with other
children although could become fiercely competitive. This could result in him breaking the
rules of a game in an effort to come first. Through the programme he became aware that he
had a loud voice and when he used this in the playground it could seem that he was
shouting at children. He made clear efforts to try and use a quieter voice.
At the end of the programme, Sam’s PEP was updated and it was recommended that:

He continued to receive small group support or a mentor to support his emotional needs
in school.
51


He should be given opportunities to raise his self- esteem through drama activities or
school performances.
He completed and handed in homework on a regular basis with the support of his foster
carer.
Four months after the programme began Sam took his key stage 1 SATs and obtained a
Level 2a in reading as well as a Level 3 in maths. He requested occasional visits from the
EPiC teacher who agreed to come and see how he was progressing on a monthly basis.
The team supports social workers and schools in ensuring that looked after
children have Personal Education Plans (PEPs). School attendance is
monitored through PEP meetings and strategies to tackle poor attendance
agreed for individual children. All members of the EPiC Team have a potential
role in overcoming any particular barriers which contribute to poor school
attendance. The team regularly sends to the Education Welfare Service lists
of children looked after on roll at Westminster schools. The purpose of this is
to enable monitoring of attendance of these children and preventative action
where necessary. There are national performance indicators which expect the
local authority to monitor and report on the number of children looked after
who, for whatever reason, miss more than 25 school days each year
Targets for children in care
Public Service Agreement Targets for 2006
These apply to children in care for more than a year and the overall aim is to
“substantially narrow the gap between the educational attainment and
participation of children in care and that of their peers by 2006”.
The target will have been achieved if, by 2006:



Outcomes for 11 year olds in English and Maths are at least 60% as good
as their peers;
The proportion who become disengaged from education is reduced, so
that no more than 10% reach school leaving age without having taken a
GCSE equivalent exam; and
The proportion of those aged 16 who get qualifications equivalent to five
GCSEs graded A*-C has risen on average by 4 percentage points each
year since 2002; and in all authorities at least 15% of young people in care
achieve this level of qualification.
One of Westminster’s twelve Local Public Service Agreement targets is to
improve outcomes for care leavers up to the age of 21. The targets are as
follows:
52
Baseline
performance
(2002/03)
Performance
expected
without the
Local PSA
%
%
Interim
performance
target
(2004/05)
%
Performance
target with
the Local PSA
(2005/6)
%
In touch with
Council on or
around 21st birthday
With recognised
educational
qualification
In suitable
accommodation
65
80
80
90
45
50
55
65
77
80
85
Involved in
education, training
or employment
42
50
No interim
target
50
70
Pump-priming funding of £105,500 is being used for a project manager post
for three years to support this target.
Education Development Plan targets for 2005 include:




51% of looked after children to achieve level 4 or higher in Key Stage 2
SATs in English (LEA target for all children is 84%)
51% of looked after children to achieve level 4 or higher in Key Stage 2
SATs in Maths (LEA target for all children is 84%)
5% of Year 11 looked after children entering GCSE/GNVQs and not
achieving a pass
19% of Year 11 looked after children entering GCSE/GNVQs and
achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A* to C.
Social and Community Services targets for 2004/2005 include:





70% of school-aged children looked after for at least six months to have a
Personal Education Plan either written or reviewed in the previous 6
months.
Educational outcomes for 11-year-old looked after children in English and
maths to be at least 60% as good as those of their peers.
Fewer than 40% of looked after children to reach school-leaving age
without having sat a GCSE equivalent exam.
60% of young people leaving care aged 16 or over to have at least one
GCSE or a GNVQ.
For six 16-year-old looked after children to obtain at least five GCSEs at
grades A* to C.
53
Drug and Alcohol Action Team
The Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) is a commissioning body for drug
and alcohol services for young people. The services provided range from
universal, such as drug education in schools, to targeted interventions, such
as part payment of treatment for young people.
The partners involved in service delivery are Westminster Drug Education
Team, Healthy Schools Co-ordinator, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator,
Positive Futures, Westminster Drug Project, Hungerford Drug Project,
Connections at St Martins, Connexions, and the Youth Service.
The DAAT administers various funding streams from the Department of
Health, the DfES, the Home Office and the Communities Against Drugs Fund.
Young people who are at risk of social exclusion including those who truant or
are excluded from school are at more risk of developing alcohol problems in
later life. Nationally between 30% and 80% of young people admit to trying
drugs at least once. It is believed that the figure is relatively high in
Westminster due to its unique profile and location in the centre of the capital
city.
The main services are the delivery of a 48 hour callout service for schools,
which deals with those threatened with exclusion in a drug related incident or
where drugs appear to be an issue in a young person’s life. The Children and
Adolescent Mental Health Services work with young people in schools whose
drug use may affect their mental health.
The service provides support to individual pupils through one to one
counselling and support, and referral to other services where appropriate.
Parents are also supported through information, community outreach, and
telephone helplines.
Targets
The service works towards the fulfilment of the following national targets:



To reduce the harm that drugs cause to communities, individuals and their
families
To prevent today’s young people from becoming tomorrow’s problematic
drug users
To reduce the use of Class A drugs and the frequent use of any illicit drug
among all young people under the age of 25, especially by the most
vulnerable young people and reduce drug-related crime, including as
measured by the proportion of young offenders testing positive at arrest
Key Performance Targets are:
KP1: Minimise harm for those young people in PRUs as the result of
exclusion from school
KP2: Target work with the more vulnerable young people already in touch with
Children’s Agencies other than schools.
54
KP3: Collect information on young people already in touch with agencies
KP4: Drug testing of some young offenders at police stations piloted outside
of Westminster.




Number of schools and other educational institutions assessed as Level 3
against the National Healthy Schools Standard, expressed as a
percentage of all schools and other educational institutions
Number of vulnerable young people receiving targeted education,
including harm reduction information, as a percentage of all young people
in children’s agencies
Number of young people receiving early intervention and treatment by
children’s or young peoples agencies or services as a percentage of all
young people in touch with children’s or young peoples agencies or
services
Number of young offenders testing positive for Class A substances as a
percentage of all young offenders tested on arrest each year
Support for pupils from ethnic minority groups
Young people from ethnic minority groups are often highlighted in statistics as
under achieving and are over represented in exclusions from Westminster
schools. In 2003, pupils from the DfES ‘Asian other’ category were six times
more likely to be permanently excluded from a Westminster school.
The School Effectiveness Team co-ordinates a range of services to ethnic
minority groups most of which are funded through the EMAG Standards Fund
Grant. These services include a Refugee Co-ordinator, the Language and
Ethnic Minority Achievement Service, and The Bilingual Language Assistant
Service. A refugee Support Officer (0.6) is funded by the EAZ and is provided
on a buy back basis.
Within Westminster overall, 27% of all residents are from Black and Ethnic
Minority (BME) groups, according to the 2001 Census. This is a misleading
figure for the school-age population, however, which has a significantly higher
proportion from BME groups – 64% according to the school roll census.
Furthermore, the 2001 census records the percentage of “white British” as
49% of the population, meaning that there is a 24 percentage point gap of
residents who are white but not British. A proportion of this group is taken up
by “hidden minorities” such as recent arrivals from areas such as the Balkans,
who often have significant needs with regard to schooling and other support.
The following table sets out the proportion of pupils who are classified as
“White UK”, “Other White”, and “BME”. The purpose of listing the “other
white” group separately is to draw attention to the fact that an unmeasured
proportion of the “other white” group have ethnic minority status needs.
55
White UK %
Primaries
Secondaries
Special schools
Total
School Census, January 2003
21
22
21
21
Other White %
17
12
12
15
BME %
62
66
67
64
The proportion of school pupils known to have refugee and asylum seeker
status are as follows:
Refugee %
Nurseries
Primaries
Secondaries
Special schools
Total
14
14
13
13
14
Not a refugee %
58
53
42
46
48
Not known %
28
33
45
41
38
School roll, September 2003
The proportion of pupils who speak English as a second or additional
language is:
Nurseries
Primaries
Secondaries
Special schools
Total
%
57
68
60
61
65
School Census, January 2003
The City Council’s Refugee Co-ordinator supports schools by:






the accurate collection of data
improving the co-ordination of voluntary and Local Authority support to
refugee pupils and their families
providing training, advice and support for staff in schools within the LEA to
ensure refugee pupils. access and entitlement to high quality education
preparing and disseminating information on guidance, teaching materials
and other resources
developing whole school systems for the admission and induction of pupils
from refugee and asylum seeking families
assisting vulnerable pupils and their families to access school places
The Language and Ethnic Minority Achievement Service supports schools to
ensure that young people do not become disaffected because of their inability
to communicate and, therefore, to achieve in English. The Primary and
Secondary Co-ordinators specifically:
56







provide support and training directly to teachers
work in partnership with Westminster schools to raise the educational
achievement of bilingual and minority ethnic pupils
ensure that equality of entitlement to the National Curriculum is reflected in
the provision
monitor the use of the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) in
schools
assist schools in developing a social and learning environment which is
supportive and responsive to the needs of minority ethnic pupils and their
carers
support schools in analysing data
support schools in responding to under-performance through the
development of innovative projects and initiatives
Bilingual Language Assistants are a vital part of the support network.
Approximately 60 assistants, representing twenty languages, are employed
on a sessional basis. They are available to support pupils through their first
language. They carry out a range of tasks including:






interpreting at meetings with carers
supporting pupils in the classroom
making contact with home
offering advice on how best to support pupils and carers new to education
in this country.
supporting vulnerable pupils in accessing school places and facilitating the
quality of admissions, assessment and induction
supporting the initial literacy of those new to schooling
The Refugee Achievement Project, which is funded through the Education
Action Zone, provides innovative models of work in the field of supporting
Refugee pupils and their families which are piloted and evaluated within the
Zone before being disseminated to all Westminster schools. A Refugee
Support Teacher is employed to support the main objectives of the project
which are:



Develop mainstream curriculum programmes for primary schools
Evaluate and extend the development of first language assessment
materials
Develop models of practice to enable families of refugee and asylum
seeking pupils to be fully engaged with the British educational system.
Bilingual Language Assistants work with the Refugee Support Teacher to
provide a working model of practice for schools. The work of the Bilingual
Language Assistant with one community group acts as a model of good
practice for the school to adopt with other community/language groups.
57
Case Study
Comments from Year 4 pupils
“ I thought I am lucky to live in England because there is no war here and I have some very good
friends and the school and all the teachers”
“I have never thought how it would be to be a refugee but this helped me”.
“I have learnt that if someone is a refugee never tease them”.
“The lessons taught me that we have happy feelings and sad feelings”.
“I never really thought about refugees before but now I understand what they are going though”.
Attainment Levels for Refugee pupils
GSCE
GCSE - % of pupils with 5 or more A* to C passes
All pupils
Refugee pupils
50
44
% of pupils
45
40
42
39
39
35
30
33
29
25
2001
2002
Year
2003
GCSE - % of pupils with 5 or more A* to G passes
All pupils
Refugee pupils
% of pupils
90
87
85
85
85
83
80
79
78
75
2001
Year
2002
2003
58
The gap between the attainment of all pupils and refugee pupils is closing. This is
seen as a direct result of the work undertaken through the EDP to raise the
attainment of this group of vulnerable young people.
59
Chapter 5: COMBATING CRIMINAL AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
This chapter deals with those agencies that divert children and young people
away from crime and anti-social behaviour.
Safer Schools Partnership
The Safer School Partnership involves the location of police officers in
selected schools in areas with high levels of street crime. It is part of the
Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) initiative. In Westminster, five
School Beat Officers (SBOs) are based at the four BIP secondary schools: 2
at North Westminster Community School and one each at Pimlico, St
George’s and St Augustine’s. Once recruited, an SBO will also be based at
Westminster’s Full Service Extended School, Quintin Kynaston.
The high level aims and objectives of the partnership are:




To reduce the prevalence of crime and victimisation amongst young
people and to reduce the number of incidents in schools and their wider
communities
To provide a safe and secure school community which enhances the
learning environment
To ensure that young people remain in education, actively learning and
achieving their full potential
To engage young people, challenge unacceptable behaviour and help
them develop a respect for themselves and their community
The partners involved are the schools, the BIP, the LEA, and the Metropolitan
Police.
The SBOs are funded by the Metropolitan Police Service, although their
success is dependent upon being able to utilise the school’s facilities. The
SBOs are members of the schools’ Behaviour and Education Support Team
(BEST) working closely to provide services to improve behaviour both in and
out of school.
In April 01 – 02, there were 229 street crime allegations involving suspects or
victims aged 17 or under occurring during school hours in term time. Of
these, just under half occurred within 500 metres of a Westminster secondary
school. 19% of these involved children as the victims of crime.
The scheme involves a full-time police officer (SBO) being operational within
and around the school. The SBO works in partnership with children, young
people, school staff, other education services and related agencies across the
community, to identify, support and work with children and young people
regarded as being at high risk of victimisation, offending and social exclusion.
60
Objectives include the prevention and reduction of crime, anti-social
behaviour and related incidents in and around the school, including bullying
and violence experienced by pupils and staff, truancy and exclusion, damage
to school buildings and drug related incidents. One important focus of the
officer’s work is to enable pupils to move through the transition phase from
primary to secondary school without being victimised. Another part of the
SBO’s role is to work with schools to establish appropriate means of dealing
with incidents, including through restorative justice (where the offender makes
reparation to the victim, for example by repaying money stolen or repairing
damaged property).
The SBOs are also very active in the Police Voluntary Cadet Corps (PVCC)
which currently has 20 cadets from schools in Westminster. The SBO from St
Augustine’s helps organise the cadets and has taken a group away for the
National Games at Hendon. The Cadets also undertake non-confrontational
police work such as helping with crime prevention programmes, handing out
leaflets and assisting with policing of ceremonial events such as Trooping of
the Colour. One of the positive outcomes arising from the Safer Schools
Partnership is a significant increase in the number of young people attending
BIP schools who are expressing an interest in joining the police as a career.
When the Safer Schools initiative was proposed, there was a significant
amount of scepticism from schools, governors and others, but this was very
quickly overcome through consultation meetings to address concerns, by
establishing joint protocols and procedures with schools and by the
enthusiasm and professionalism of the officers concerned. Headteachers at
all four schools now praise the initiative and fully endorse the positive
outcomes achieved. Westminster’s Safer Schools Partnership has been sited
as an example of good practice and officers have delivered presentations at
national conferences as well as being the subject of positive media interest.
New recruits to the Police Service now visit schools to see the work in action.
Case Study
Local newspaper article
“There is very positive feedback from pupils who feel far safer in their schools as a result of
the Safer Schools Partnership. At one of the schools, large numbers of officers were
frequently called to deal with fights and disruption after school on many occasions prior to
the placement of the SBO. Now his presence forestalls trouble before it escalates, keeping
pupils safe and avoiding the need to deploy large numbers of police officers in vans”.
Target

To recruit a School Beat Officer to Quintin Kynaston School in 2004
61
Youth Offending Team (YOT)
The YOT is a multi –agency partnership set up to prevent offending and
incidents of anti-social behaviour being carried out by children and young
people. The YOT fulfils a statutory role and is part of the Youth Justice
System. It is responsible for identifying, assessing and making interventions
in the lives of children and young people who offend and are either “Warned”
or “Reprimanded” by the police or who are prosecuted and appear at the local
Youth Court. The YOT provides information on Westminster children and
young people to the Youth and Crown Courts and responds to sentences
handed down by those courts by either providing community interventions or
working with young people serving custodial sentences. Interventions consist
of specially designed programmes which challenge the offending behaviour of
children and young people and a range of specialist interventions which
address risk factors which may cause the offending behaviour.
The YOT also manages a number of non-statutory preventative services
designed for children who are displaying risk factors linked to offending or
anti-social behaviour. These include:



Acceptable Behaviour Contract Scheme
Connect mentoring Project
Supporting Children Project.
These schemes all identify and assess younger children from the age of eight
upwards who display risky behaviour, and offer multi-agency packages of
support.
The YOT is a multi-agency team consisting of staff funded from the following
agencies: Social Services Children and Families Division, Education, Police,
the Probation Service, the Mental Health Authority, Connexions and the
Hungerford Drug project. The YOT also receives an annual support grant from
the Youth Justice Board. Short term funding is focused on the preventative
services with the Youth Justice Board providing funding of approximately
£100,000 per year to the Mentoring Project. This funding ends at the end of
2004. The Children’s Fund provides funding for the Supporting Children
project until 2006. The ABC project is funded by a combination of funds from
City West Homes and the Community Protection Department.
25% of people suspected of street crime committed in Westminster are under
the age of 17, but only 15% of this group live in Westminster. The YOT is
only able to provide services to the young people who are resident in the City;
for the other young people, referrals are made back to the home borough.
During 2003 a total of approximately 300 children and young people attended
the YOT as statutory clients. That means they were either reprimanded or
warned by the police or they were convicted at the Youth or the Crown Court.
In addition there were a total of 50 Acceptable Behaviour Contracts made and
approximately 20 young people referred to the mentoring project. The
Supporting Children Project has a target of working with 200 children and
young people per year.
62
The YOT has a National Performance Target of ensuring that 90% of children
and young people known to the YOT are in full-time education, training or
employment. Those children and young people who are of school age are
supported in either attending school if they have a place or securing a place.
In the same way the YOT identifies and supports those who are not attending
school through exclusion or unwillingness to attend and explores alternatives.
Liaison with secondary schools in Westminster involves informing Head
Teachers about pupils who are known to the YOT and discussing individual
cases when necessary. There is no planned contact with children of school
age during school hours in order to ensure they are able to attend school.
The YOT will discuss the behaviour of individual pupils at school through the
contact they have as part of their supervising role. The team will also work
closely with parents to support their skills in ensuring that their children take
full advantage of the learning experiences on offer. Much of the work which
takes place at the YOT emphasises the importance of good behaviour, anger
management and respecting other people.
The Youth Offending Team runs a parenting programme on a quarterly basis
and parents are either required to attend the programme as part of a
“Parenting Order” imposed by the court or they are invited to attend on a
voluntary basis.
Staff from the YOT participate in the regular Truancy Patrols which take place
in Westminster. Information regarding children known to the YOT is shared
with other colleagues on the Truancy Patrol. The YOT will always encourage
children and young people of school age to attend school and challenge nonattendance.
Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs)
ABCs are individual written agreements between youths aged over 10, the
local housing office and the police in which the young person undertakes not
to do anything that could be construed as anti-social.
Each contract lasts for six months. Although not legally binding, the
agreement may be cited at court should enforcement action be necessary at a
later stage to provide evidence of attempts to amend behaviour.
The young person signs the agreement after their behaviour has been
discussed with their parents, police and housing staff. Serious breaches of
the contracts may lead to court proceedings for possession of the family home
or to enforcement action such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. As well as
supporting the monitoring of the young person, the YOT will assess their need
for any support which will enable the young person to avoid any repeat
behaviour.
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Supporting Children Panel (SCP)
Funded by the Children’s Fund, the SCP accepts referrals for 8 to 13 year
olds who are displaying risk factors that could lead to offending or anti-social
behaviour. The referrals are assessed and cases requiring intervention are
discussed at a multi-agency panel when information is shared and a multiagency support package drawn up which is tailored to the needs of the child
and their family. The child and their family take part in the scheme on a
voluntary basis.
Connect Mentoring Project
The mentoring project is funded directly by the Youth Justice Board. The
scheme takes referrals of 11 to 14 year olds who are deemed to be at risk of
offending or anti-social behaviour. There is a priority to work with children
from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups. The young people are
matched with an adult mentor who meets with them on a regular basis and
provides a positive role model, supporting and advising their mentee as
appropriate. Joint activities involving the mentors and the mentees are
organised, including at least one residential event per annum.
Targets
The YOT has a range of targets relating to its statutory responsibilities set out
in its Youth Justice Plan for delivery by 2004/5. These include targets to
reduce the involvement of young people in various categories of recorded
crime, as well as the following:





90% of young offenders supervised by the YOT to be in full time
education, training or employment
At least 70% of parents attending Parenting Programmes at the YOT to
complete the programme
Supporting Children Panel: To provide Integrated Support Packages to
200 children per annum
ABCs: to increase the appropriate use of ABCs, targeting “hotspot” estates
and achieve 70% full compliance with ABCs
Connect Mentoring Project: to provide the service for 25 children per
annum
Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) Target
One of Westminster’s twelve LPSA targets is to reduce the rate of reoffending by young offenders resident in Westminster.
Baseline
performance
(Oct-Dec
2001 cohort)
%
Re-offending
rate
33
Performance
expected
without the
Local PSA
%
28
Interim
performance
target (January
2005)
%
Performance
target with the
Local PSA
(January 2006)
%
No interim
target
25
64
A pump-priming grant contribution of £85,000 is being used to fund additional
staff to manage education and housing provision relating to young offenders.
Targets



To ensure that young offenders who are supervised by the YOT are either in fulltime education, training or employment: 80% by December 2003; 90% by
December 2004.
Ensure restorative justice processes are used in: 60% of disposals by December
2003; 80% disposals by December 2004.
Reduce the number of young offenders committing offences of domestic burglary,
vehicle crime and robbery.
Crime and Disorder Reduction Team (CDRT)
The Crime and Disorder Reduction Team is a joint Police and Council team
responsible for leading and co-ordinating initiatives to reduce crime, antisocial behaviour and fear of crime in Westminster. The CDRT is responsible
for the Crime and Disorder Reduction Strategy, of which the diversion of
young people from criminal and anti-social behaviour is a key priority. The
team also comprises an Information and Intelligence team, Anti-Social
Behaviour Unit, CCTV Unit, Police Problem Solvers, and Crime Prevention
Design Advisors. The team is funded through a combination of Council and
Police budgets, and external funding streams.
A very wide range of partners are involved in service delivery: Metropolitan
Police, Council, Probation Service, PCT, British Transport Police, Drug and
Alcohol Action team, voluntary sector groups, London Underground, and the
business community.
The Crime Audit shows that about 12% of people resident in Westminster who
are accused of crime are between 10 and 17 years old.
The Metropolitan Police estimate that young people under the age of 18 are
responsible for up to three-quarters of street crime. The peak time for
offences is between 3 and 5pm on weekdays when children and young
people are returning home from school.
Although the main ‘hot-spot’ for youth crime is in the West End, there is a
concentration of crime around secondary schools. Prior to the
commencement of the Behaviour Improvement Programme Safer Schools
Partnership (see separate section), the Police estimated that 48% of street
crime took place within 500 metres of schools.
Young people also represent approximately 30% of victims of street crime.
The Team reduces crime and anti-social behaviour through:

An analyst in the Anti-social Behaviour Unit monitors information and
intelligence on people involved in anti-social behaviour
65





The Building Safer Communities Fund from the Home Office is used to
support a number of diversionary projects relating to young people
The Police based in the Crime and Disorder Reduction Team take part in
the Truancy Patrols
CCTV systems are sometimes used to gain evidence of youth crime and
anti-social behaviour and to identify truants
CCTV and City Guardians (neighbourhood wardens) contribute to young
people’s feeling of safety in an area and are made available to the truancy
patrols
The Anti-Social Behaviour Unit leads on Anti-Social Behaviour Orders,
some of which relate to young people.
The Team also co-ordinates CivicWatch, a Police and Council project
launched in November 2003 which aims to target and reduce anti-social
behaviour in selected pilot areas by tackling environmental and anti-social
behaviour problems jointly. The project deals with anti-social behaviour,
street drinking and illegal street trading in three “hot spot” areas: Church
Street, West End and Soho.
During the last academic year the Team worked with the Education
Department on a pilot scheme to tackle the selling of fireworks to young
people. Schools were asked to inform the Team immediately when pupils
were found to have fireworks in schools. This was followed up by interviews
in school with parents and Trading Standards taking action against those
selling the fireworks to children. As a result of the success of the pilot, the
Team, together with colleagues from London Fire Service and Trading
Standards, has offered to carry out an assembly in every Westminster
secondary school in the run up to Eid and Bonfire Night to deter children
purchasing fireworks and bringing them to school.
Case study
A project that the CDRT is currently funding through the Building Safer Communities Fund is
being piloted in the Avenues Youth Club. This project involves a group of 10 young people
being trained to challenge their peer’s attitudes, from within the Youth Club and the wider
local community, to reduce crime and disorder. The Youth Club and the area has a very
high black population and it is expected that the young people’s work will be a positive step
forward in the area. This project has been selected as black young people are significantly
over-represented compared to their numbers in their general population at all levels of the
youth justice system.
Targets
The majority of the relevant targets set out in the Youth Crime Reduction
Strategy 2003-2005 are elsewhere in this report.



Reduce the involvement of resident children and young people in domestic
burglary by 25% by 2005; and robbery by 15% by 2005
Reduce the proportion of resident young people using drugs which cause
the greatest harm (heroin or cocaine) by 25% by 2005
To evaluate the CivicWatch pilot by April 2005, and then to roll it out to
other identified “hot spots” in the City
66
Chapter 6: PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION
This chapter deals with a wide range of partnerships and services which are
preventative or early intervention measures which contribute towards good
behaviour and good school attendance.
Early Childhood Services
Early Childhood Services has responsibility for strategic planning and
development of the Government's National Childcare Strategy which is led by
the Sure Start Unit in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). Key
areas of work include:




Planning early years and childcare places for children (birth – 16yrs)
Supporting early years education
Managing the Westminster Children’s Information Service
Quality Assurance, training and recruitment for childcare.
The Strategy is delivered through local authorities with the involvement of
Early Years Development and Childcare Partnerships (EYDCPs). An EYDCP
is a partnership of childcare professionals, representatives from Primary Care
trusts, social services and any other agency that works with children and
families. The EYDCP co-ordinates the work of statutory and voluntary sector
and private partners in response to the National Sure Start Guidance. This
ensures that national and local priorities are met.
The service has a key role to play in providing the best possible start in life for
all children and supporting parents and carers in meeting the challenges of
parenthood through the provision of high quality childcare and early education
services (birth – 14yrs). By supporting the well being and development of
young children and their families, children will be better able to flourish when
they reach school.
Within Westminster, in addition to the delivery of childcare and early
education throughout the City, there are:




Five Children’s Centres
Three Sure Start programmes
Three Neighbourhood Nurseries
Play and out of school hours childcare services
Children’s centres must offer core services to the local community, including
early education integrated with day care; family support and parental
outreach; and child and family health services. The centres have a target to
create 153 new integrated childcare places. The centres must be developed
and delivered between 2004 and 2006 and be situated in the most deprived
areas. Westminster’s five centres are in: Harrow Road and Queen’s Park;
Westbourne and Bayswater; Soho, Church Street, and South Westminster.
67
The three Sure Start programmes are area-based programmes based in the
most deprived areas in Queen’s Park, Church Street and South Westminster.
Each one has specific delivery targets concerning outreach and home visiting,
support for families and parents, access to good quality play, learning and
childcare experiences, primary care and healthcare, and support for children
and families with special needs, including access to specialised services e.g.
speech therapy. Each programme is managed by a local partnership.
Neighbourhood Nurseries aim to support families by providing affordable
childcare in one of the 20% most deprived areas with the aim of helping
parents to get work or access training. Start up funding only has been made
available for the first three years by the government via the Early Years
Development and Childcare Partnership to create sustainable childcare
places in the private, voluntary and maintained sectors, with the target of
creating 240 new childcare places. The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative
target is being partly delivered in Westminster through the construction of two
new nurseries and a large extension to an existing setting by March 2005.
Targets
Early years education
 Provide all 3 and 4 year olds with access to a free part-time early years
education place where parents want a place
 Raise quality of early years education
 Continuous support and professional development to Foundation Stage
practitioners through Advisory Teams
 Roll out the requirements of the national “Birth to Three Matters”
programme
Childcare
 Meet specific targets to increase daycare, out of school and childminding
places
 Development of wrap-around childcare for early years education places
 Sustaining existing childcare provision
 Deliver Full Service Extended School childcare initiative
Integrating services
 Delivery of Children’s Centres in five deprived areas, including the creation
of 153 new childcare places, by 2006
 Delivery of the three Sure Start programmes
 Opening of Micky Star, Lisson Green and St Stephens Neighbourhood
Nurseries by March 2005
 Play services
68
The Children’s Fund 2004-2006
The Children's Fund is a central Government fund allocated to local
authorities to support disadvantaged children and young people targeting 5 13 year olds. The Fund aims to stimulate a shift towards coherent local
preventive strategies for children and young people at risk of social exclusion.
Westminster’s Children’s Fund allocation is as follows:
2004/5:
£425,000
No funding has been guaranteed for 2005-2006 at the current time.
he Fund is overseen by a partnership steering group including representatives
from health, social services, education, the voluntary and community sectors.
The Westminster Children’s Fund’s priorities for 2004-2006 are to: Access,
Challenge and Engagement. In line with these priorities, the Fund has been
allocated to the following services for delivery during 2004-2006:







Queen’s Park Family Service Unit: professional art therapy service to meet
the mental health and psychological well-being of children
London Tigers: Sports and health programme targeted at 8-13 year-old
boys and girls from BME communities, particularly Bangladeshi and Arabic
young people
National Pyramid Trust: after school clubs in primary schools to raise selfesteem and resilience of children who are quiet, withdrawn and having
difficulty making friends
Paddington Arts: after school drama and dance workshops in three
primary schools and one special needs school
School Home Liaison: School-based workers supporting parents with
issues which may prevent them from supporting their children’s education
and accessing other services
Westminster Befriend-A-Family: Client-led volunteer service for children
and families in their homes
Supporting Children Panel: Multi-agency early interventions for young
people aged 8 to 13 at risk of involvement in criminal or anti-social
behaviour
Targets
The relevant national Children Fund targets are:

To promote attendance in the schools attended by the majority of 5 – 13
year olds living in the area.
69


To achieve overall improved educational performance among children and
young people aged 5 – 13.
To ensure that fewer young people between 10 and 13 commit crime and
fewer children between 5 and 13 are victims of crime.
Full Service Extended School (FSES)
Funded by the DfES through the Behaviour Improvement Programme, the
FSES provides a range of services beyond the school day to meet the needs
of its pupils, their families and the local community.
Quintin Kynaston School was selected during 2003 as the FSES for the City.
QK has decided to include its feeder primary schools within the scope of its
FSES services, particular George Eliot Infants and Junior Schools which are
adjacent to QK.
The school has established a comprehensive partnership structure with
delivery groups working on support for the community, early intervention for
pupils with needs, improving health and access to sport, and after school
hours and youth club services. A wide range of partners from the Council,
health, police and voluntary sectors are involved. It is intended that the
partnership structure will enable the learning from the FSES to be extended
across the City to other schools which are extending the range of services
they offer.
Any school may extend its services, but the FSES provides a full range of
services which must include:








Childcare
Health and Social Care
Lifelong learning
Family Learning
Parenting support
Study support
Sports and Arts provision
ICT provision
The school’s pupil profile indicates a range of risk factors leading to social
exclusion and long-term disadvantage, including high levels of child poverty,
deprivation, homelessness, asylum seeker and refugee status.
By increasing the support available locally to pupils and their families, QK
intends to address many of the deep-rooted issues concerning confidence
and resilience, health and well being which affect the ability of pupils to
perform to the best of their ability. The support for parents and other family
members which will be provided through lifelong learning opportunities and
parenting support are aimed to improve the well being of the whole family
environment. Through opening its facilities to the local community, the
70
relationship between the schools and the community will improve, with the
school becoming a focus for the local community.
Although some services are already being provided through the school, April
2004 marks the beginning of the delivery of the FSES. The school will deliver:






An after-school club and a youth club for students, which will provide a
wide range of activities to promote resilience and self-esteem, as well as
support including healthy living advice and education, group and one-toone work, careers advice, homework and study support
Adult education classes provided by Westminster Adult Education
Services, focusing initially on the needs of the parental community: basic
skills, ICT, English as a second language, accessing employment, health
and fitness, art, drama and self expression
One-Stop Shop – monthly advice and counselling clinic for a range of
services from drugs, homelessness and debt advice to accessing
employment, open to students, parents and the community, attended by a
wide range of partner agencies
Parenting Support Groups – provided in partnership with the Marlborough
Education Centre to support parents and their children where the child
exhibits challenging behaviour
Community access – to the sports, drama, arts and ICT facilities of the
school
Childcare – a nursery and early education centre providing places for up to
50 pre-schoolers (from January 2005)
It is expected that the partnership delivery groups will devise a range of
projects to improve the health and well being of students, parents and the
local community.
Targets
As this plan is being drafted, the FSES is still in the development stage and
targets for reducing exclusion and raising attendance have not yet been
finalised.
Vulnerable Children: Standards Fund Grant 210
This is a DfES grant which must be used to:



Secure improved access to education for vulnerable children, and in
particular, to provide high quality education for those unable to attend
school or whose circumstances make it difficult for them to do so
Support attendance, integration or re-integration into school
Provide additional educational support to enable vulnerable children to
achieve their full potential
The grant is designed to give LEAs the flexibility to help meet the needs of
vulnerable children as dictated by local circumstances and priorities.
71
The fund for 2004/5 is £224,000.
For 2004/05 the grant is divided between the following projects, which are
detailed in separate sections in this Plan:








Employment of a Connexions Personal Advisor for teenage mothers to
meet Education, Employment and Training targets
Employment of a teacher for the EPiC team
Tuition for sick children and the tuition/ reintegration of primary pupils
without a school place
Outreach Behaviour Support Teacher for pupils at risk of social exclusion
due to behaviour and attendance
Reintegration officer based at the KS3 Pupil Referral Unit
Bursaries to provide access to school places for refugees and asylum
seekers
Joint funding of Education/Housing officer for pupils in temporary
accommodation
Contingency for emergency cases and bursaries for reintegration of pupils
without a school place from targeted groups on the Pupils Without School
Places list. For example, funding for a Teaching Assistant to settle a ‘hard
to place’ pupil into school.
Targets
The allocation of the fund in 2004/5 is designed to support the following
targets:




Reduce the number of children and young people who are not in school by
providing reintegration packages and bursaries to meet the individual
needs of the child
Support the teenage pregnancy and Connexions targets to increase the
number of young people in education, employment or training
Support the Public Service Agreement and Education Development Plan
targets for Looked After Children and vulnerable children
Support action to achieve the Local Public Service Agreement targets for
unauthorised absence from school.
Support for refugee and asylum seeker pupils: Mid-phase admission of
refugee pupils
This project develops effective and sustainable processes for the mid-term
admission, assessment and initial induction of refugee and asylum seeking
pupils into school.
The partners involved in service delivery are the School Admissions
Department, Social Inclusion, School Effectiveness Group, Bilingual Support
Service, Vertex SW1, One Stop Shops, Community Neighbourhood Centres,
Surestart programmes and a range of other local community settings
including supplementary schools.
72
Westminster is home to a significant refugee and asylum seeker community.
As at February 2004, there were 46 children from a refugee background in
Westminster without school places.
The main drive of project is to help refugee and asylum seeker pupils locate
and access school places and to ensure good admission and induction
practices. This should instigate an effective relationship between school, the
pupil and parents/carers from the outset with clear understanding of
expectations, detailed assessment and appropriate provision of support to
meet the young person’s needs. The sooner the pupil is able to access their
school place and the better their experience, the more likely they are to attend
and perform well at school.
The services encompasses all aspects of accessing a school place, including
a direct worker for the family, interpreting, assistance with the completion of
necessary forms, introduction of a school befriender of the pupil to support
their induction and familiarise them with the school, and on-going support to
both the pupil and family over at least a six-week period.
Education Action Zone: Speech and Language Therapy Project
Children who have difficulty expressing themselves to others are more likely
to become disaffected and can turn their frustration into poor behaviour. The
aims of the EAZ Speech and Language Therapy Project were:


to empower Early Years practitioners by helping them to identify and
support children with speech and language difficulties, and
to enhance the nature of interaction in the Foundation Stage so that better
and more frequent opportunities to support language development were
created for all children.
The project has been successful in meeting these aims and has now been
extended to work in ten schools until March 2005, building on the good
practice methods of collaborative working learnt during the first two years.
Speech and language therapists visit the nursery classes of the schools
involved on a weekly basis and have input into the reception classes in some
of the schools. Joint planning and running of activities with school staff has
enabled some children of concern to access more specialist support. This
has also enabled the speech and language therapist to model specific
strategies and the staff to support children more effectively in the classroom.
Case Studies of staff comments
“I am more confident in my ability to plan for all the different stages of language development
so that all children can achieve”.
“I feel more confident in gaining background information on an individual child’s speech and
language development and in responding accordingly”.
73
Healthy Schools
As well as providing guidance and support in the implementation of Personal,
Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PSHCE) programmes in school this
service co-ordinates:



Sex and Relationship Education
National Healthy Schools Standard
Drug education in schools
The service works in partnership with a wide range of services, including
schools, Drug and Alcohol Action Team, Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator,
Behaviour Improvement Programme, Primary Care Trust and voluntary sector
organisations such as the Hungerford Drugs Project, The Westminster Drug
Project as well as other boroughs. The Drug Education Team is funded by the
Drug and Alcohol Action Team from a national grant.
The PSHCE curriculum provides a range of programmes and strategies to
build self-esteem, and promote pupil participation and active citizenship. It
provides young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to
promote social inclusion, resolve conflicts and reduce bullying and unwanted
negative attention. It provides opportunities for pupils to recognise and value
all aspects of student achievement both in and out of school.
The National Healthy Schools Standard is a joint partnership between health
and education services which promotes a holistic, whole school approach to
health and education issues, through pupil participation and engaging the
school community in a Healthy Schools Programme. Westminster has access
to an accredited local KCW programme. Phase two of the programme
requires all schools with a 20% free school meal equivalent to be operating at
level 3 (the highest level of engagement) by 2006. Westminster currently has
29 schools involved in the programme, eight operating at level 3.
The Drug Education Team (DET) is a multi-agency team providing drug
education for all students in primary and secondary schools, the Pupil Referral
Unit and special schools. The DET also provides support and alternatives to
exclusion for pupils experiencing drug-related problems. Training for staff as
well as awareness raising for parents and guardians is also provided.
One-to-one counselling and support is also provided to vulnerable young
people experiencing substance misuse problems. There are programme
incentives to help such young people to continue to attend school regularly.
74
Case Study: Drug Education Team
DET delivers informal lunchtime information stalls providing young people with leaflets,
information and support at a school. A member of staff refers an individual to the team for
1:1 support to avoid excluding this individual for substance misuse. The young person,
school, DET and family work together to explore the reasons behind the substance misuse
and construct an individual action plan to tackle both of the underlying issues and the
substance misuse. The pupil is able to maintain his school place.
Teenage Pregnancy Project:
From April 2004, Teenage Pregnancy Reintegration support will be funded
through the Vulnerable Pupils Grant. Sex and Relationship Education in
schools will be funded through the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy Grant.
The Connexions PA for Teenage Pregnancy improves attendance to school
by providing re-integration support to young women who have conceived,
regardless of the outcome of the pregnancy. The young women are also
supported with liaison with all key agencies, such as benefits, health and
housing.
Case Study: Teenage Pregnancy
A young woman (Yr 11) has conceived and no longer wishes to attend school. The reintegration officer liaises closely with the woman’s family, and school. Arrangements are
made for the young woman to attend ante-natal classes, and with support she does after all
continue to attend school and takes her exams. She takes 10 months maternity leave and is
then given support to attend college part time.
Targets
The targets for these services are as follows:
PSHCE: All schools are to engage in an active PSHCE programme consistent
with LEA advice, statutory and non-statutory guidance.
Teenage Pregnancy Project:
 To reduce the number of teenage conceptions by 50% by 2010 from 1998
baseline
 60% increase in the participation of teenage mothers aged 16-19 in
education, training or employment by 2010
Healthy Schools Standard: All schools with a free school meals allocation to
20% or more pupils to be taking part in the Healthy Schools Programme
operating at level 3 by 2006.
Drug Education Team: To ensure that all students in Westminster’s
maintained schools and pupil referral unit receive age-appropriate drug
education which fully meets their needs. Schools are also required to review
their drug policies by 2005.
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Westminster Youth Service
The Youth Service directly provides and also funds a variety of youth clubs
and projects open to all young people, but particularly targeting those most in
need. The service supports young people through adolescence, particularly
in relation to their personal development. This includes offering support in
behavioural issues, such as challenging behaviour, conflict resolution and
anger management.
Partners involved in service delivery include a range of voluntary sector youth
groups, Positive Activities for Young People, Connexions, Westminster Sports
Unit, Youth Offending Team and the Westminster After Leaving Care Team.
The service receives mainstream Council funding, plus shorter term funding
for specific projects.
The service contributes towards key behaviour support outcomes in the
following ways:




Improving school attendance
Project for young people on fixed term exclusions – gives one-to-one
support and challenge to young people to help them change their
behaviour so they can re-enter school
Giving support to individuals with personal issues that reduce their ability
to attend school, in order to remove the barriers
Accreditation of achievements improves self-esteem and confidence which
can have a positive affect on school attendance
Case study
A young man was in regular contact with the Youth Offending Team, had regularly missed
education, and had no academic qualifications. He attended a scuba diving taster session
and wanted to do more. He was offered a chance to do a full course, fully paid for, in return
for which he had to agree to keep out of trouble. He was aware that if he broke the
agreement he would not be allowed to continue with the course. He changed his lifestyle,
leaving his old friends because he felt that he would not be able to keep to the agreement
otherwise and qualified as a diver. He was supported by a youth worker, and was able to
share his feelings that sports were his ambition. The worker arranged a volunteer placement
for him at a sports centre, where he thrived and developed. They supported him to gain
sports qualifications, gave him part-time work, and eventually he found full time employment
with them.
Local Public Service Agreement (LPSA) Target
One of Westminster’s twelve LPSA targets is to increase the number of
participants in the youth service achieving accreditation; and to increase the
number of young people achieving accreditation who are from a
disadvantaged background.
76
Baseline
performance
(2002/3)
No achieving
accreditation
No achieving
accreditation &
from deprived
background
Performance
expected
without the
Local PSA
Interim
performance
target (2004/5)
Performance
target with the
Local PSA
(2005/6)
294
1,445
1,324
1,493
20
144
199
448
A pump-priming grant contribution of £100,000 is being used to fund 1.5
additional posts for two years and pay exam fees.
Connexions
Connexions work with young people to remove their barriers to learning and
achievement. Connexions helps 13-19 year olds (up to 24 years for people
with learning difficulties) access a wide range of support, advice and guidance
services. The service is delivered through a network of Personal Advisers
(PAs).
The partners involved in the delivery of the Connexions service include:
Westminster Youth Service, Positive Activities for Young People, Secondary
Schools, Social Services, Youth Offending Team, Westminster Adults Leaving
Care service, voluntary sector organisations, Drug and Alcohol Action Team,
Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinator, Capital Careers, Housing, Children with
Disabilities team, Westminster Primary Care Trust, Child and Adolescent
Mental Health services, further education colleges.
Connexions is funded from central government via Central London
Connexions.
PAs are based in all secondary schools. They support cross cutting local
targets to improve attendance and reduce truancy. PAs provide support to
behaviour specialists in schools through the provision of one to one support
and group work.
The service provides a wide range of information and advice services, one to
one sessions, support with accessing education, employment and training, life
skills, personal development, out of school and holiday activities, as well as
services specific to different age groups.
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Case study: PA intervention with Yr 11 pupil
S was referred in April 2003 and her assessment showed significant or critical issues in the
areas of attitudes and motivation, social and community factors and participation. She had
been attending school sporadically and when she did attend, did not seem motivated to
make any effort with her schoolwork. She had no idea what she would do after she left
school and had few aspirations for her future. Although she could achieve well, she had little
self-esteem and did not believe that she was good at anything. Out of school, her peer group
spent a lot of time on the street and was involved in petty crime and substance use and she
was not involved with any meaningful extra-curricular activity.
After successful initial engagements, interventions focused on:
-planning for change using a Personal Action Plan
-motivational interviewing, including life planning and exploration of interests
-providing a safe and confidential space for her to talk about issues that were concerning her
-referral to and follow up from careers guidance interview
-investigation of post-16 options, including further education
-engagement with Performing Arts placement through school work-related learning scheme
-referrals to outside agencies including PAYP and the Hungerford Drugs Project
-home visits and school meetings to support links between home and school
S has recently completed a full seven weeks at school with no unauthorised absences and
attended most of her Yr 11 mock exams. Although she still feels that she has little chance of
doing well, she is making an effort to attend and take some responsibility for her learning.
She is staying at home more in the evenings and is beginning to have other interests. She
has enrolled in dance sessions near her home and is keen to take part in PAYP activities.
Although she is still unsure of her post 16 plans and is reluctant to stay in formal learning,
she is engaging fully in discussion about her future and seems more positive about her
range of options. At her last assessment, the critical and significant issues are currently
more general issues. She has found support from Connexions to be beneficial and intends
to continue her regular sessions to access further support.
Targets
The Connexions service supports the achievement of the following relevant
targets:








Reduction in the proportion of young people who are not in education,
employment or training by 10% by November 2004
Increase in proportion of asylum seekers who are in education,
employment or training aged 16 to 18
Increase the number of 16-18 year olds in structured learning to 81.4% by
August 2004
To reduce the under 18 conception rate from 57.6 per 1,000 in 1998 to
27.9 per 1,000 by 2010
To increase the proportion of teenage mothers in employment, education
or training by 60% by 2010
To increase the proportion of 19-year-old care leavers in employment,
education and training by to 75% by 2004
To increase the proportion of 16-19 year olds with learning difficulties in
employment, education and training
To increase the proportion of young offenders, supervised by YOTs, in
education, training and employment to 90% by 2004
78

To refer all young people with a substance misuse problem to appropriate
specialist support.
Positive Activities for Young People
PAYP is a government-funded programme managed by the Youth Service
which provides activities for ‘at risk’ young people in school holidays, with year
round support, through designated key workers, for those most at risk. The
fund is secure until 2006, and it is expected that it will then be extended.
Partners involved in service delivery include Connexions, Youth Service,
Schools, Youth Offending Team, Pupil Referral Units, Housing Department,
Looked after Children Team, Westminster Sports Unit and the voluntary and
community sectors.
Pupils are referred to the service by the schools and other agencies, having
been identified as being at risk in some way. The service supports the
following objectives in the following ways:
Improving school attendance
 Keyworkers give individual support with this as a key aim
 Giving support to individuals with personal issues that reduce their ability
to attend school, in order to remove the barriers
Improving behaviour of pupils
 Conflict resolution
 Anger management
 Advocacy
Combating truancy and anti-social behaviour
 Work with small groups of young people to challenge their behaviour and
offer positive alternatives
 Paid work experience programme for young people linked to a contract to
improve behaviour
 Programmes of exciting activities for young people linked to a contract to
improve behaviour
Case study
A young woman had very poor interpersonal skills. She would only go to school if taken by
her mother, and if her mother was waiting outside at the end of the day. She would not
communicate with adults and peers. She was not achieving at school and there were serious
concerns about what she would do after the end of year 11, as she would refuse to go into
an unknown environment, which would make college or work impossible. She received oneto-one support from a youth worker, who gained her trust over a period of a month, and
participated in PAYP, but only for one activity with her keyworker. She agreed to a paid work
experience placement with the Youth Service, where she was to work alongside an admin
officer who was near her age. By one-to-one support she gained confidence and skills,
began to talk to other adults, developed her role, and applied to college. She has now
started, and goes alone, and is making friends with peers, and relating to adults.
79
Targets
The annual targets for the service are:



Run innovative and attractive programmes for young people in school
holiday periods
Offer nationally recognised accreditation for achievements and where
appropriate, qualifications
Offer keyworker support to 130 young people
Westminster Sports Unit
Westminster Sports Unit, which is located within the Education Department,
promotes sports development in the community. The sports unit promotes,
and conducts numerous sporting programmes within a school environment
and the community. Based at its own sports and education centre, the
service has been able to use sport as one of its four objectives in assisting
with is the reduction of anti-social behaviour.
The service has used a mix of core revenue streams to attract external
funding programmes to assist in the reduction of anti-social behaviour with its
maximum effect such as the Positive Futures Programme funded from the
Home Office until 2007, and sponsorship/sportsmatch funding from Pinnacle
Housing.
The Unit works in partnership with a number of other agencies including YOT,
Housing, Social Services, Sports National Governing Bodies, Youth Service,
Social Inclusion Services – BIP & PRU, DAAT, Crime & Disorder and CCTV,
City of Westminster College, Youth Clubs, Sport England, Football
Foundation, Sports Clubs, Paddington Development Trust, City West Homes,
Police. Housing Associations and Neighbourhood Renewal.
Funding is available through:





Positive Futures 2nd Wave Funding until 2006 £35K per annum
Positive Futures 3rd Wave Funding until 2007 £50K per annum
Urban Sports Van Programme until 2005 £20K per annum
Seeking Active England funding for a Project in 2005 – 2007 working in
partnership with Citywest Homes
Sports Events and Summer Programmes funded through external funding
mechanisms e.g. Children Fund, SRB, NOF Programme is dependent on
receiving external funding streams to decide the scale of projects.
The unit runs pilot programmes with the BIP and the KS3 PRU and has
encouraged the use of sports activities as a magnet to tackle school
attendance.
80
Programme objectives are:





To identify a group of vulnerable young people who are at risk of under
achieving, non- attendees and socially excluded.
To provide young people alternative activities with learning outcomes,
outside school premises and in different environments.
To engage 8 identified young people from North Westminster Community
School onto the scheme.
Allow young people to formulate the programme with guidance from the
programme co-ordinator.
Work in partnership with schools SEN unit and to complement their
ongoing work.
Utilise 20 mountain bikes sponsored by the Metropolitan Police.
The aims of programme are:






To increase young people’s confidence, communication skills and team work.
To improve young people’s concentration level and commitment on the
programme and at school
To refocus young people towards schoolwork and their personal life,
encouraging them to think positively.
Teach young people the skills involved in planning activities and running
programmes.
Teach young people about finance and budget setting.
Young people to gain two accreditation through the scheme
1. AQA award – Biking level 1
2. Duke of Edinburgh’s award
Young people to develop the skills and knowledge to seek funding, filling in
forms and plan trips and residential.
The Urban Sports Programme is sued as a magnet to divert crime within
Westminster and develop learning opportunities has seen a reduction in
community issues and increase participation in sport. This has resulted in a
higher participation for these young people and reduced community issues such
as truancy, and anti-social behaviour developing behaviour improvement projects
and creating lifelong learning sporting opportunities, which could result in local
employment.
Urban Sports Provision occurs in the needy wards of Westminster-Queens Park,
Westbourne, Harrow Road, Church Street, Churchill, and Tachbrook. The Unit
programmes and external projects have achieved the following ‘SEVEN STEPS’
to support the individual pupils (Sports Taking Effective Positive Solutions):1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Build Confidence
Introduce team work
Improve communication skills
Allow them to interact with other young people from different backgrounds
Give them focus
81
6)
7)
Use sports as a stepping stone to get into mainstream provisions e.g.
clubs, competitions, training courses, work experience.
Keeping young people more active and improving health.
The Unit has delivered over 600 hours of free sports provision in the six identified
wards of its Positive Futures Programme in 2002/03, and is on course for
achieving its Civic Renewal Target of Providing 720 hours of estate-based sports
activities in Queen’s Park, Harrow Road, Church St., Westbourne, Tackbrook and
Churchill wards in 2003/04.
The Unit has increase After School Sports Provision within the estates delivered
by Westminster Sports Unit by 100%.
By engaging young people referred by the Youth Offending Team who are
completing their reparation hours, the Unit provided a learning achievement
atmosphere through sport as a choice for young people which was not an option
before.
In total Westminster has achieved through Positive Futures 1,532 hours of sports
activities for 7,532 attendees.
Targets

Civic Renewal Target 21 – Develop a new Urban Sports programme on our
housing estates
Case study
A young person was having severe behaviour problems in a school and home environment,
and was on the verge of being a TOP 50 candidate. Through the intervention of sport,
particularly Judo, the young person was able to use his behaviour problems into a positive
sporting opportunity. This resulted in the young person competing at the highest level of
Judo for his club and has allowed that same person to represent his country at this sport.
His family is volunteering at the club and is also working to assist other families with their
own particular behaviour problems of showing how sport can become a major tool to tackle
such issues.
Westminster Domestic Violence Forum (WDVF)
The WDVF runs a project to raise awareness in schools (10 to date in
Westminster) about domestic violence, then and chosen teachers to take a
range of prevention activities into the classroom, linked to national curriculum
requirements. Activities are available for primary and secondary age children/
young people. Each school receives the WDVF Schools Pack and supporting
video. The project focuses on helping schools identify children living with
domestic violence and to refer the child and their families to appropriate
support and protection services.
The partners involved in service delivery are: Education, Education Action
Zone and PSHE Advisor, Wilberforce Primary School, Social Services,
82
WPCT, Westminster Women’s Aid, FSU Queens Park, Marlborough Family
Service, and the Domestic Violence Intervention Project
Until 2003/4 the service was funded through the Children’s Fund. Alternative
funding will now be required to continue the service from April 2004.
Domestic violence is known to be a hugely under-reported crime, and so
exact figures on pupils likely to be living with domestic violence are unknown.
However, research indicates that domestic violence amounts for almost a
quarter of all violent crime. Domestic violence perpetrated on women in the
home is also known to increase the risk that children are being abused.
Children living with domestic violence are also more likely to under-perform at
school, and exhibit emotional and behavioural difficulties.
The project supports schools to identify domestic violence issues, deal with
them appropriately and refer pupils and parents to appropriate services.
Feedback from the schools demonstrates that the service:



Improves school attendance: Young people living with domestic violence
who have been referred to services, for example Educational
Psychologists, are more stable in their attendance at school
Improves behaviour of pupils: Wilberforce Primary School reports that the
project has strengthened relationships between pupils, and increased cooperation in the classroom.
Combats anti-social behaviour: The project supports schools’ anti-bullying
strategy and there is less violence in the playground since its introduction
Case study
A school informs WDVF that a family experiencing extreme violence from the father /
husband over 20 years has now been able to ask him to leave permanently. The teenage
son is referred to recovery services through WCC Education dept and a local family centre
(voluntary sector) provided emotional support and guidance for both mother and two older
female children.
Until these combined services were provided the teenage son was at risk of exclusion.
Several WDVF agencies were able to provide ongoing guidance to the school whilst they
engaged the mother and assisted her to use local services and make choices to protect
herself and her children.
Targets
Current targets for the service include:


To include a further two schools within the service
To produce and supply leaflets about domestic violence to all schools in
the City.
83
Support to Homeless Pupils: Housing and Education Liaison
Officer
Based in the Housing Advice and Assessment Unit, the Housing and
Education Liaison Officer works with all Westminster homeless families to
alleviate the impact of homelessness on educational attainment including
pupil mobility and the effect on the stability of communities. The officer
champions the cause of mobile children and improves the information
exchange protocols between departments, and with other local authorities
departments where Westminster homeless families are placed. The post is
funded by the Education Action Zone, Vulnerable Children’s Grant, Housing
and Social Services.
The key responsibilities in relation to education are:





To participate in the Pupils Without School Places Panel
To develop networks and maintain records of referrals for school places in
all boroughs where the City Council has temporary accommodation
To advise the homeless on how to access school places in Westminster
To liaise with other boroughs about school places for households placed
outside of Westminster
To develop links with the Education Welfare Service.
The disruption to education suffered by young people in temporary
accommodation is well documented. In the five months to February 2004, the
service has dealt with 107 families needing assistance with accessing
education. A large proportion of children on the list of those without a school
place are living in temporary accommodation.
Many families are required to move often before they are provided with
permanent accommodation. These moves frequently take place across
borough boundaries, meaning that young people often have to change
schools or travel long distances. The nature of temporary accommodation
often means that young people do not have a space conducive to study.
The City Council is committed to achieving the Bed and Breakfast Unit target
that from 2004/05 no family may be placed into bed and breakfast for more
than six weeks. Whilst this is positive in moving families out of bed and
breakfast, it does have the effect of increasing child mobility.
The Liaison Officer attends the Children Without School Places Panel and
makes referrals to the Panel for homeless young people. They advise families
of available school places and assist them with applications and appeals.
Where non-attendance is identified, the young person is referred to Education
Welfare Service. If there are concerns about the family, they are also referred
to Social Services for extra support. Where children are experiencing
problems such as bullying, they are referred to the pastoral support of the
school or the School-Home Liaison worker.
84
As a result of recommendations arising from the Laming Enquiry,
comprehensive notification systems have been developed and all children
who pass through the Housing System are checked for social services child
protection involvement, and are referred to the relevant services if they do not
have a school or a GP.
Case study
The service has recently dealt with a family consisting of a mother and four children who
were fleeing domestic violence. They were initially re-housed to Redbridge. After seven
weeks, the mother had not found school places for her younger children and the two oldest
were attending school in Kensington and Chelsea, a significant distance away. The mother
was travelling to Westminster to work shifts and paying for childcare for her school age
children. The service contacted Redbridge about schools and was told they had a massive
backlog. Strain on the family was great, and the youngest sons, one of whom had SEN and
the other who had psychological difficulties, were becoming upset and depressed. The
family had no support network in Redbridge. The service found accommodation for the
family in Westminster and assisted with finding schools. Now all children are in schools
within reasonable travelling distance to their home, mum does not have far to travel to work,
doesn’t have to pay for childcare, and gets to spend more time with her children. As a result
the family is more stable and financially secure, the children are attending school, and they
will be able to continue in their schools in the long term knowing that they will not be moved
out of Westminster.
Targets


To alleviate the impact of homelessness on educational attainment
To improve the educational attainment of children from homeless families.
Housing: Community Partnerships Team
The Community Partnerships team in Housing Partnerships and CityWest
Homes’ Service Development, Community Development and Residents’
Choice teams all deliver programmes targeted at improving the lives of young
people at risk of disaffection and social exclusion.
Much of the work is focused at the neighbourhood level working with a range
of partners to deliver holistic neighbourhood renewal. A key focus has been
in Church Street where backing was secured from the Westminster City
Partnership to make it the priority area for the coming year to see what
improved outcomes can be delivered through mainstream resources.
Housing works across the City to develop links with housing associations and
with voluntary youth clubs to further improve the quality of youth work for
young people living on estates. Other key partners include Schools,
Registered Social Landlords, the Police, Social Services, Youth Service,
Residents Associations, the Sports Unit and the voluntary and community
sectors.
Some work is funded through mainstream housing budgets, but the services
also draw in external funding such as Neighbourhood Renewal Funding and
85
the Children’s Fund which enables the programme to run jointly with
Westminster Youth Service.
Most of the work carried out is estate-based and falls into the following main
categories:





Providing and refurbishing premises for youth clubs and other provision
Funding local youth workers and voluntary sector youth clubs
Direct funding of youth workers on two estates
Direct provision of youth diversion projects on estates, including youth
clubs, homework clubs, sports programmes and programmes leading to
AQA accreditation
Improvements to estate-based sports facilities
Targets
Targets from 2004 onwards are:




Spend £1m capital per annum from 2004-2007 to improve security on
housing estates
Spend £400K per annum from 2004-2007 on local initiatives to combat
nuisance on estates
Expand services for young people by delivering outreach and/ or detached
youth work on estates
Secure resources to implement results of sports audit and develop sport
and play facilities
Westminster Information Sharing Hub (WISH)
WISH is Westminster’s Identification, Referral and Tracking project. It aims to
improve services to children and young people by improving information
sharing amongst professionals in the statutory and voluntary sectors in order
to improve early identification of children at risk and referral to appropriate,
multi-agency services.
The partners involved in developing WISH are Social and Community
Services, Primary Care Trust, Education, Connexions, Sure Start, Children’s
Fund, YOT, Voluntary sector, Corporate IT, Youth Service, and the
Metropolitan Police.
The project was allocated £100K funding to September 2004 from the DfES.
Funding to continue this work is being sought from core partners.
Once operational, WISH will impact on school attendance through
development of efficient information sharing at key points such transition from
primary to secondary schools. Schools will have relevant information about
children in time to make some provision for any identified needs.
Eventually concerns about a child missing school will be recorded on the IT
hub and be an indicator of need for the child, thus prompting action to identify
and address any underlying issues which may need to be resolved.
86
As above, the potential to record incidents of concern on the IT hub as
indicators of need will be used to prompt action on identifying and addressing
issues that may be affecting the child’s behaviour or placing them at risk of
criminal or anti-social behaviour.
One of the developments of WISH will be a service directory outlining all
services available to children in the borough with links to regional and national
organisations. This will enable parents and pupils to identify relevant services
for themselves.
87
Chapter 7: Performance to 2003/4
OfSTED Inspections




Since January 2002 there have been no schools judged to have
Serious Weaknesses, require Special Measures or which under-perform
Six primary and one secondary schools have Beacon Status and four
secondary schools are Specialist Schools.
One nursery school is a Centre of Excellence, and has formed an Early
Excellence Network including two other nursery schools
Westminster has no Schools Causing Concern to OfSTED
Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) September 2003
The CPA is an integrated performance framework to help local councils
deliver better services for their communities. The assessment, conducted by
the Audit Commission, judged whether Westminster City Council has a
proven ability to improve services and the quality of current services. In
December 2003, it was announced that Westminster had maintained its
excellent (three star) status in the way it provides services for local people,
with excellent prospects for improvement.
Within the CPA, Education received a 2 star (good) rating, with proven current
improvement and with secure prospects for future improvement.
OfSTED inspection of Westminster LEA, July 2002
The following is a an extract from the inspection summary:
The first inspection, in 2000, judged the LEA to have more weaknesses than
strengths. This has been reversed and the authority, in a period of transition,
is improving rapidly. While there remain some important areas of weakness,
some of which were identified at the time of the first inspection, substantial
improvements have been made. In corporate leadership there has been a
shift in political commitment and support for education. Good progress has
been made with school improvement and there is a greater trust and
confidence between the council, education department and Headteachers.
There is good evidence of improving performance in the schools and a
readiness in the LEA to work with outside partners.
Overall the performance of the LEA is now satisfactory. Corporate leadership
is now strong and has a recent record of tackling difficult areas successfully.
The LEA has good capacity for further improvement and the ability to address
the recommendations in this report.
88
City of Westminster Youth Service Inspection 2003
The overall judgement of the inspection team was that the service is judged to
have made good progress overall and continues to be well led. Progress
against each of the key issues identified in the 2002 inspection is also judged
to be satisfactory or (more often) good.
OfSTED will not now re-inspect the Youth Service outside the standard
national 4-year cycle.
Data on School Exclusion
Data on all exclusions, fixed term and permanent, has been collected since
September 1998 to inform future target setting and provision of services.
Information from schools is recorded by the Research and Information Team
(School Strategy Division) and stored on a database. Schools are asked to
verify the accuracy of the information at the end of each term, and full lists of
exclusions are forwarded to the DfES.
Collated information is reported on at several points throughout the year.
Behaviour Improvement Programme school exclusions are reported on every
half term and a report covering all schools is produced every term. At the end
of the academic year, a more detailed report analyses each school’s
exclusions by the following factors:
• gender
• year group
• reason for exclusion
• ethnicity
• length of exclusion
• Special Educational Needs
• membership of the BIP and EAZ initiatives
• term of exclusion
Permanent Exclusions
Permanent Exclusion Trend (All Schools) - 1997/8 to
2002/3
4
Westminster
3.5
National
Rate per 1000
3
2.2
2
2.2
1.9
1.6
1.4
1.1
1
1.2
1.8
1.4
1.2
89
0
1997/8
1998/9
1999/00
2000/1
Year
2001/2
2002/3
Permanent Exclusions from Westminster Schools 1997 - 2003
Primary
schools
Secondary
schools
Totals
1997/98
6
1998/99
2
1999/00
2
2000/01
2
2001/02
1
2002/03
5
55
38
37
32
26
36
61
40
39
34
27
41
Permanent Exclusion by ethnicity
Statistics for 2002/03 shows that for the second year running, permanent
exclusions of Black, African and Black Caribbean pupils were broadly in line
with the pupil profile, but there is a significant over-representation of pupils
within the DfES category of ‘Asian other’.
Secondary School Permanent Exclusions 2002/3, %
Breakdown by Ethnicity
11.9%
20.0%
22.2%
th
er
O
W
hi
te
B
W
hi
te
O
th
er
ri t
is
h
3.3%
6.7%
5.1%
B
C
hi
ne
se
ac
kg
ro
un
d
0.0%
1.8%
6.7%
2.2%
16.7%
16.4%
% of Westminster Roll
M
ix
ed
10.0%
9.6%
16.7%
14.1%
20.0%
3.2%
0.0%
1.4%
0.0%
1.5%
Pa
ki
st
an
As
i
ia
n
O
th
er
Bl
ac
k
Af
ric
Bl
an
ac
k
C
ar
ri b
ea
n
Bl
ac
k
O
th
er
In
di
an
sh
i
0.0%
10.2%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Ba
ng
la
de
% of exclusions/roll
% of Permanent Exclusions
Ethnic Group
Figures for Westminster Roll refer to January 2003; 'Other' does not include unclassified pupils
Exclusions of pupils with Special Educational Needs
Pupils with SEN continue to be over-represented, with those at School Action
Plus being five times more likely to be excluded. 43% of those permanently
excluded were on the SEN Code of Practice. Nationally, pupils with
Statements of SEN were approximately four times more likely to be excluded
than those without.
90
82.0%
Secondary School Permanent Exclusions 2002/2003,
% Breakdown by SEN Code
90%
70%
60%
56.7%
50%
3.3%
10%
2.9%
10.0%
20%
% of Westminster Roll
5.1%
30%
% of Exclusions
26.7%
40%
13.3%
% of exclusions/roll
80%
0%
N
A
P/Q
Statement
SEN code
Figures for Westminster Roll refer to January 2003
Primary School Exclusions
In the 2002/03 academic year, there were five permanent exclusions from
primary schools. This was a significant increase on the three previous years.
Four of the five pupils were on the SEN Code of Practice.
Primary School Permanent Exclusions Exclusions/1000, 1998/9 to 2002/3
Exclusions/1000 pupils
0.70
0.60
0.62
0.50
0.47
0.40
0.30
Westminster
0.3
0.20
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.20
0.20
0.20
England
0.3
0.10
0.10
0.00
1997/8
1998/9
1999/0
2000/1
2001/2
2002/3
Exclusions of Children in Public Care
There were no exclusions of Children Looked After by the Local Authority
from Westminster schools in 2002/03.
91
Reinstatements and Independent Appeals (all schools)
Independent Appeals 1998 – 2003:
Number of
Appeals
Reinstatements
1998/99
10
1999/00
5
2000/01
4
2001/02
6
2002/03
8
5
1
1
2
1
Home boroughs of Excluded Pupils
In the 202/03 academic year, twenty two (63%) of permanently excluded
pupils were Westminster residents. Thirteen (37%) were residents of other
LEAs. Ten Westminster resident pupils were permanently excluded from
schools in other LEAs.
Fixed term Exclusions
Fixed term exclusions decreased by 20% from 1036 in 2001/02 to 824 in
2002/03
Fixed Term Exclusions from Westminster Schools
Primary
Schools
Secondary
Schools
Special
Schools
Totals
1998/99
49
1999/00
72
2000/01
124
2001/02
71
2002/03
83
899
776
956
950
733
0
0
6
6
8
948
848
1086
1036
824
Secondary Schools fixed term exclusions – days of education lost
2000/1
2001/2
2002/3
956
950
733
2579.5
2662.5
2165
2.7
2.8
2.9
No of fixed term exclusion
No of days education lost
Average length of exclusion in
days
92
Fixed Term Exclusions by Ethnicity
Westminster Secondary Schools, % Breakdown of School Exclusions &
School Roll by Ethnic Group, 2002/3
LEA
LEA Roll
% of total exclusions/roll
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
er
th
O
W
hi
te
B
rit
is
h
up
d
O
th
er
G
ro
kg
ro
un
W
hi
te
ix
ed
A
ny
ne
se
B
ac
C
O
ck
hi
th
er
ea
n
B
la
M
B
la
ck
C
ar
rib
A
fri
ca
n
er
B
la
ck
O
th
ni
A
si
an
In
di
an
P
ak
is
ta
B
an
gl
ad
es
h
i
0%
Ethnic Background
Roll figures refer to January 2003; 'Any Other Group' does not include unclassified pupils
Fixed term exclusion statistics above show Black Caribbean and Black ‘Other’ pupils
as the largest groups disproportionately represented with Indian and Chinese pupils
being the highest groups under represented.
93
Data on School Attendance
The following graphs set out the attendance trends at primary and secondary level.
Secondary Schools
Secondary Attendance
% Attendance
93.0
92.0
91.4
91.1
91.0
91.0
91.0
90.0
89.0
89.0
1997/8
1998/9
89.5
89.3
1999/0
2000/1
91.3
90.6
91.991.7
89.0
88.0
87.0
All City Schools
2001/2
2002/3
National
Secondary Authorised Absence
% Auth. Absence
10.0
7.8 7.9
8.0
7.1
7.8
7.4 7.6
8.3 8.0
7.6 7.6
6.5
7.2
6.0
4.0
2.0
0.0
1997/8
1998/9
1999/0
2000/1
All City Schools
2001/2
2002/3
National
94
Primary Schools
Primary Attendance
% Attendance
95.0
94.0
93.0
92.0
94.3
94.1
93.8
94.1
93.9
93.4
92.3
92.6
92.6
1999/0
2000/1
94.2
93.8
91.4
91.0
90.0
89.0
1997/8
1998/9
All City Schools
2001/2
2002/3
National
Secondary Unauthorised Absence
% Unauth. Absence
5.0
4.0
3.9
3.2
3.1
3.0
2.4
1.8
2.0
1.6
1.1
1.1
1.0
1.1
1.1
1.1
1997/8
1998/9
1999/0
2000/1
2001/2
2002/3
1.0
0.0
All City Schools
National
% Unauth. Absence
Primary Unauthorised Absence
1.6
1.4
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1.4
1.2
1.1
0.9
0.8
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
1997/8
1998/9
1999/0
2000/1
2001/2
All City Schools
0.6
0.4
2002/3
National
95
Appendix 1: Social Exclusion Risk Factors
Community profile















Inadequate housing
Disadvantaged neighbourhood
Significant proportion of:
minority ethnic families
families with four or more children
families with teenage parent(s)
lone parent families
workless households
low income families
families living in Bed and Breakfast and other temporary housing
transient families
Poor quality/ failing school(s)
Community disorganisation and neglect
High turnover of residents and lack of neighbourhood attachment
Availability of drugs
Family profile












Poor parental supervision and discipline
Parental abuse and/or neglect of child(ren), inconsistent & violent discipline
Domestic violence
Family conflict or acrimonious family breakdown
Family history of problem behaviour and low basic skills
Alcohol or other substance misuse by parents or other family members
Parental or sibling criminal convictions
Parental involvement or condoning problem behaviour
Children have poor relationship with both parents
Having refugee status
Being socially isolated or alienated
Parents with English as a second language, or no English language skills
Child(ren) profile(s)











Troublesome behaviour in school/home, difficult temperament
Friends condoning or involved in risky behaviour – responding to peer pressure
Low educational achievement
Teenage pregnancy and parenthood
Unaccompanied asylum seeking children
Truancy and authorised absence
School exclusion
Homelessness
Aggressive behaviour and bullying, or being bullied
Physically, sexually or psychologically abused
High rates of attendance in accident and emergency units
96














Alcohol and substance misuse
Poor nutrition
Smoking
Mental health difficulties, including depression, eating disorders, self-harming
Low self esteem
Specific developmental delays
Learning disability, Autism and ADHD
Speech/communication problems
Long term physical illness especially chronic and/or neurological
Physical disability
Not enrolled at school
Low birth weight
Carers for another family member, such as being a sibling of a child with a
physical disability
Looked after children
SUMMARY OF MAIN EXTERNAL FUNDING STREAMS TO EDUCATION
The Funding below is available through grants for targeted areas of work linked to
behaviour and attendance. All these initiatives are time limited and due to end by
2005/06 at the latest.
Behaviour Improvement Programme
Education Action Zone
Excellence in the Cities
Children’s Fund
Vulnerable Pupils Grant
TOTAL
2003/04
£ 1.45m
34,000
302,500
946,000
208,000
2,940500
2004/05
£1.4m
42,000
339,000
486,024
224,000
2,491,024
2005/06
£1.09m
Not yet confirmed
339,000
0**
1,348,000
Note: **This figure is yet to be confirmed.
97
Appendix 2: Westminster Education Department structure as at February 2004
Director of Education
Head of Learning Services
Adult Learning; Youth Service;
Sports Development; Student and Pupil
Support; 14-19 Strategy; Connexions
Head of
Westminster
Adult Education
Service
Community
Partnerships
Manager
Head of
School
Standards
(School
Effectiveness
Group)
Assistant Director
Inclusion
Special Education &
Additional Needs;
Early Childhood
Services;
Social Inclusion
Schools Strategy Manager
Research & Information; Admissions &
Planning; Capital Programme;
Secondary Review; Health & Safety
Health & Safety
Manager
EIC
Co-ordinator
Head of Social
Inclusion
Student & Pupil
Support
Manager
Head of Youth
Service
Sports Unit
Manager
Connexions
Manager
Secondary
Project Director
(Nord Anglia)
Head of Special
Education &
Additional Needs
Funding &
Resources
Governor
Development
Officer
Assistant Director Strategy &
Performance
Education Policy & Performance
Team
Common & Shared Services
Admissions &
Planning
Manager
Head of Education Finance
Head of Early
Childhood
Services
Westminster
Education
ICT
Manager
Project Director
Secondary
Review
EAZ Project
Director
Education Management Board
Core team
Senior Contracts Manager
98
(Education and Children's
Services)
Research &
Information
Manager
Extended Team
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