Context and background to practice – Cohesive work to safeguard and improve learners’ well-being
Anglesey authority’s Learning Service has made great strides during the last three years. Purposeful restructuring to add a number of senior managers has allowed the Learning Services to employ a senior manager with specific responsibility for co-ordinating and safeguarding learners’ well-being. The Learning Service’s senior leaders place great emphasis on promoting the well-being of the island’s children and young people and work closely and successfully with different departments within the authority smoothly and without barriers.
There is a strong culture of planning services that are aligned closely with the Well-being of Future Generations Act. The Learning Service has developed a ‘Tîm Môn’ ethos and mindset, where everyone works together and everyone’s contribution is valued, nurtured and used for the benefit of the island’s children and young people.
Within the Learning Service, a Senior Officer was appointed to pay particular attention to promoting well-being and cooperating across services and partnerships. The Well-being of Future Generations Act is at the heart of all of the work plans. Schools are aware of how their contributions to providing inclusive provision in their schools contribute within a wider context to regional and national priorities.
The principle of preventative working is at the heart of all of the authority’s work. For example, an integrated method of co-operation has ensured that families in need have quick access to food banks.
The strong co-operation between different departments and agencies provides an integrated experience of support for all learners in the county, including those who are at risk of becoming disengaged and their families. The Learning Service works productively with partners, including social services, welfare officers, the Gwynedd and Anglesey inclusion services and youth services. They work proactively to prevent problems at an early stage to respond to the needs of vulnerable learners who are showing symptoms of anxiety to encourage attendance.
An ‘Early Intervention Hub’, which includes around twenty different agencies, is a good way of working together and planning efficient support for vulnerable learners and their families jointly, without duplicating the support unnecessarily. This, in turn, ensures that the children and young people of Anglesey are able to continue with their education at school, and exclusions due to anti-social behaviours are decreasing.
There is a strong focus on developing all practitioners’ awareness of trauma and the effect of trauma on children and young people. Training is co-ordinated at several levels, including teachers and assistants in schools and non-maintained settings, in addition to other stakeholders within the council who support children and young people. This practice has equipped the workforce to be able to communicate clearly when discussing the effect of adverse experiences on the development, self-image and confidence of individuals.
The preventative strategy ensures that there is a youth officer in every secondary school on the island. They facilitate the ‘drop-in’ service for learners and support provision of personal and social education. They also prepare employment courses for learners who are at risk of becoming disengaged so that they can gain alternative qualifications and experiences. Units from Agored Cymru, the John Muir Certificate and First Aid have been provided. Youth workers ensure that all secondary schools have established a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer + (LGBTQ+) group and evening youth clubs strengthen the link for young people to activities in the community and the link with school. As a result, projects such as ‘Prison Me No Way’ and ‘Gangs Getaway’ have had an influence within communities.
The ‘Y Daith i Saith’ (The Journey to Seven) scheme by the Family Support Team promotes the development and well-being of the youngest pupils and is being developed jointly with a range of stakeholders, including a health service and a group of primary schools. As a result, this work strengthens the ethos of community focused schools and the preventative strategy at an early stage and provides the best opportunity for children on their learning journey.
The Learning Service ensures a strong link between national, regional and corporate priorities in terms of well-being and the practical and preventative work that takes place in non-maintained settings and schools across the authority. The close co-operation with different departments within the authority facilitates the work of schools in ensuring that inclusive provision in the classroom is manageable. The corporate strategy of providing training to improve practitioners’ understanding of the effect of trauma and adverse childhood experiences on pupils’ achievement and well-being is having a positive effect on the quality of provision in schools and now across services.
One of the strengths of the co-ordinated work is the way in which the Learning Service succeeds in involving headteachers in different forums to seek their views, influence, shape and plan new provision. For example, Safeguarding Champions has succeeded in raising the status of preventative work within safeguarding across their clusters and, as a result:
- all schools submit safeguarding referrals of a high standard when concerns arise
- investment in a common electronic platform has provided consistency in recording causes for concern across the county
- all schools have adopted robust trauma-informed styles that align with a good safeguarding ethos
In addition to this, schools take confident action to make referrals to the Children’s Services Early Intervention Hub in conjunction with parents, where appropriate. All of this strengthens preventative work in schools and there is an ongoing commitment to safeguard and improve the well-being of learners. As a result, the most vulnerable pupils are given the best opportunities to engage with their education.