Heather Flinders, divisional director for children and families at Waltham Forest council, talks to Community Care about the ‘good’ judgment the service recently received from Ofsted.
The council was praised by Ofsted for the “effective interventions” that children who are assessed as being at risk from domestic abuse receive, the increased use made of “purposeful individual work” by social workers, and the sensitivity applied to the “diversity of culture, religion and ethnicity of families in Waltham Forest”. Senior leadership, graded ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in this latest inspection, was said to be “highly aspirational” with the regulator highlighting robust governance arrangements, and “much improved” quality assurance.
Flinders explains how the service has responded to the challenges in the borough, including knife-related crime, deprivation and gang-related activities. She discusses the senior leadership team’s approach to shadowing staff, and how the council was committed to a ‘business as usual’ approach rather than distinct preparation for an Ofsted inspection. We also hear how Waltham Forest uses audits and data to inform quality assurance, and how partnerships are established and maintained.
The full list of questions, posed by Community Care associate editor Sarah Dennis, is:
1) What would you say are the key areas for the council that have ‘significantly’ improved, to quote Ofsted since the previous inspection in 2015, and how were these improvements implemented?
2) How were staff prepared for and communicated to during the Ofsted inspection, and indeed the outcome?
3) Ofsted particularly highlighted the quality of service for children assessed to be at risk from domestic abuse? How does the service embed its work with adults and children?
4) Can you tell us more about the service towards vulnerable adolescents, including initiatives such as gang intervention programmes, and how has the service responded to, or will respond to a potential continued rise in demand for these services?
5) How has the service managed to significantly improve its children in care and care leavers services – Ofsted, for example highlighted sustained performance in edge of care services, and the cultural sensitivity social workers demonstrate towards asylum seeking children?
6) How will the service continue its improvements around children’s health assessments, and pathway plans for care leavers?
7) How has the senior leadership developed its knowledge of the service’s strengths and weaknesses, and what have been the challenges towards developing this?
8) How have effective partnerships been developed and sustained, to the point where such partnerships have been deemed a real strength?
9) Can you tell us more about the initiative among senior leaders to shadow those staff on the frontline, and how involved the senior team get with staff on this basis?
10) What have been the main initiatives to improve quality assurance, and how are social workers involved in this?
11) And finally, what are the priorities for Waltham Forest council in terms of continued development of its children’s services, and what do you see as potential challenges to achieve these?