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News

Encouraging Results for Services to Children and Young People

The Borough of Poole have gained very encouraging results in the '2006 Annual Performance Assessment of Services for Children and Young People', carried out by Ofsted and the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

The Annual Performance Assessment (APA) covered three areas which focused on:

· children's services
· social care services
· the council's capacity to improve its service for children and young people

In all three areas the Borough of Poole received grades of either 'excellent / outstanding' or 'good', meaning that the council is delivering a service that is consistently above the minimum requirements.

Some areas which were highlighted in the report as key strengths included:

· the promotion of healthy lifestyles through physical and health education programmes
· contributions made to ensuring that children and young people are provided with a safe environment
· improvements of results for many subjects in Key Stage 1,2 and 3
· GCSE results, which are consistently  at a high level, with the proportion of pupils achieving five or more higher grade passes - well above the national average
· plans that focus on areas of the Borough which are most deprived, including working closely with the community to promote life chances for young people through pro-active interventions
· effective working partnerships with health organisations and neighbouring councils and engagement with children, young people and their families

The assessment also suggested areas for improvement, which included reading and English in key stages 1 and 2 for schools, performance management in social care and ensuring that the referral system identifies all children in need.

Councillor Tony Woodcock, Cabinet Policy Holder for Children's Services said; "I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work and commitment, this is an excellent achievement for the Borough of Poole."

John Nash, Strategic Director of Children's Services said; "We are extremely proud of the results from the assessment and are committed to maintaining the high standard that has been set. We accept the areas of improvement as highlighted in the report, and will be reviewing our current practices in the relevant areas."

Lisa Gaskell, Communications, Borough of Poole, tel: 01202 633060