Author: Bridie Finnan

Ofsted has this week published a detailed and positive assessment on the care at Springbrook Short Breaks Home for Disabled Children.

Owned and managed by Sefton Council, the Home provides short breaks for disabled children and offers high quality care and enriching activities as well as much valued respite time and support for families and carers.

The Ofsted report gave Springbrook Short Breaks Home a rating of ‘Good.’ The Report cites the overall experiences and progress of children and how well they are helped and protected. It also notes the effectiveness of leaders and managers in making continuous improvements and providing a high quality service to our families.

The Report is similar to that of 12 months ago which saw a huge improvement from an ‘inadequate’ to a ‘good’ rating in just one year thanks to the dedication of staff to get the best for our children and families.

Another year on, this Report goes a step further praising the improved leadership and management in the home and confirming that the new team are raising standards even higher. They rate them ‘good’ as opposed to the ‘requires improvement’ rating last year.

Parents spoken to as part of the inspection, told the Ofsted Inspector that they were happy with the care their children received, saying, ‘staff understand the anxieties that we feel as parents and go above and beyond to include us.’ Children also benefit from the ‘passionate and enthusiastic’ attitude of the staff when they go on visits to parks and the zoo says the Report. It noted that staff and children ‘make the most of their stays in the home.’

Risthardh Hare, Sefton Council’s Interim Director of Children’s Services said:

“I am delighted to read the outcome of this Ofsted inspection and so proud of my colleagues who have worked so hard over the past few years to improve across all areas including management, leadership and quality of care.

“I am so proud that Sefton can provide such a highly regarded service to our children, young people and families and it is gratifying to see Ofsted recognise the passion of our staff when they work with our children.

“It is fantastic to see the recognition of the improvements we have made in terms of managing the home more effectively in order to create this enriching environment for children and young people.

“The whole of Children’s Services in Sefton is on an improvement journey and success like this give us a solid foundation to build from. This is only a small part of the services we offer but I am positive about improving our services across the board for children, young people and families in Sefton and keen to build on this momentum in the coming months.”

Sefton Council are throwing their support behind National Supported Internships Day and encouraging people to learn more about the opportunities available in Sefton.

The awareness day, founded this year by the DFN Project, supports young people aged 16 -24  with an Education, Health and Care Plan into paid employment and aims to open up supported opportunities for young people to get a taste of work in different sectors.

Here in Sefton, the Council works with local colleges  to find high quality, supported placements for young people with additional needs. The opportunities have ranged from placements with Solicitors to the NHS and the feedback from young people who take part has been extremely positive.

Watch our two videos to see how Supported Internships have had a huge impact on young people in Sefton.

Video 1

Video 2

Sefton Council is encouraging businesses to get in touch with the team if they can offer an opportunity to a young person in Sefton and play a role in helping people with disability find meaningful and fulfilling employment.

The Council also want to ensure young people are aware of the opportunities available to them and link in with colleges to ensure the continued success of the Supported Internships Programme.

Cllr Diane Roscoe, Cabinet Member for Education said:

“We want to make sure that education, skills and employment opportunities in Sefton benefit everyone in the community.

“I’m proud to see the Council and local colleges going some way to making this aspiration a reality through Supported Internships. They provide young people with vital experience, knowledge and crucially, confidence in the workplace.

“We’ve always known that young people with a SEND in Sefton have a lot to offer employers and it is brilliant to see that message breaking through as young people and local businesses continue to benefit.

“I would encourage businesses and young people to find out more about this superb programme and get involved this Supported Internships Day.”

Please contact stephen.evans@sefton.gov.uk for further information

Sefton Council, Sefton schools and partners from across the public and voluntary sector will gather tomorrow to launch Sefton’s Education Strategy. The strategy sets out the vision for educational services in Sefton over the next few years and lays out four key priorities for professionals to focus on.

The priorities will be:

• Excellent teachers, supported by excellent staff
• Raise achievement and ensure young people have the life skills to prepare for adulthood
• All children and young people achieve their full potential
• School systems to support children and their families

The launch will feature talks from Tricia Davies, Assistant Director Education and Ian Raikes, CEO of Southport Learning Trust as well as a talk on Education and Place’ by Stephen Watson, Executive Director of Place

School Improvement Groups will be given an opportunity to reflect on the strategy and consider how best to make it happen in their local school community.

Cllr Diane Roscoe, Cabinet Member for Education said:

“I am immensely proud of the work our school communities do every day for the children they teach and the families they support. This strategy is a vision for the future; it sets out what we want to achieve for our young people and reflects our aspirational ambitions for young people in Sefton, not just educationally but in terms of their health, wellbeing and preparedness for adult life.

“Tomorrow’s event will be a chance to bring everyone together, learn from each other and agree a way forward that puts children and young people at the heart of everything we do.”

You can read the Sefton Education Strategy here

Sefton Council are marking Child Exploitation Day by promoting a national campaign aimed at encouraging people to ‘think twice, think abuse’ in their everyday life to ensure abuse does not go unrecognised, unchallenged or unreported.  

The campaign highlights the issues surrounding Child Exploitation; encouraging everyone to think, spot and speak out against abuse and adopt a zero tolerance to adults developing inappropriate relationships with children or children exploiting and abusing their peers.

The focus this year is Child Sexual Exploitation, a type of abuse that has significant impact on a child for the rest of their life, causing intense trauma and can impact future development and relationships.

Communities can tackle exploitation together and should know the signs to look for and the vulnerabilities that put young people at risk. The right support at the right time can be crucial in preventing abuse. Child Exploitation Awareness Day aims to promote the message that safeguarding is a concern of everyone in the community. If you have concerns, contact the police or the local authority who will work together to follow up those concerns. If you see something, say something.

This type of abuse is just one form that will be the focus of work for the MySpace team based in Sefton Council and including professionals from health, police and other agencies. Named by cared for young people, the new team (Sefton Protection and Child Exploitation) will work on preventing abuse and safeguarding children. The team will be holding an official launch in May where professionals will gather together with the sole objective of improving preventative services and the services they offer to those suffering abuse.

Cllr Mhairi Doyle, Cabinet Member for Children’s Social Care:

“Child exploitation is an awful thing that can be happening to children and young people with very few obvious signs. It is heartbreaking to think that abuse can go unchallenged and unreported for a long time and the impact this has on individuals and families can extend for decades.

“All of us in Sefton are throwing our weight behind this campaign and urging people in the community to consider safeguarding as a top concern in their day to day life. We all have a part to play and if we ‘think twice, think abuse’ then I know we can all make a difference in our communities.”

Cared for and care experienced young people had the chance to meet one of Merseyside’s largest businesses this week and learn more about the shipping and logistics sector on a visit to Peel Ports in Seaforth.

A group of young people were given a very special tour of the port and got the chance to talk to the different businesses which operate at the port. They were able to learn more about the work each of the different businesses do within the port  and the equipment and machinery used.

This visit to Peel Ports gave our young people a valuable insight into the jobs which exist in the industry and make useful contacts for the future. The young people on the visit came away with an enthusiasm for the work placements and work experience opportunities that Peel Ports are offering as part of Sefton’s Caring Business Charter.

The visit was the latest initiative to come out of the Charter which aims to link our cared for and care experienced young people with local employers opening up opportunities for them in their chosen sectors. Just as traditional parents would try to link their children up with professionals in industries they were interested in, the Council, as corporate parents, are aiming to do the same via the Caring Business Charter, with the support from local businesses and partners who already work with the Council.  

Phillip Hall, Port Director, Peel Ports Group said:

“We are really proud to be part of the Caring Business Charter, and hope that the attendees felt that it was worthwhile for them. I thought it went well and we enjoy showing people behind the Port gates, it’s a full ecosystem that is made up of many different customers and tenants, each undertaking their own specific business. We are the enabler to allow those customers to operate.”

The Charter represents a commitment from local business and partners to offer high quality opportunities to young people who have experience of the care system. Some businesses have committed to guaranteed interviews for care experienced young people or work experience, while others have committed to paid roles and apprenticeships.

The list of signatories to date stands at over 50 businesses and covers a range of industries from construction and project management to hospitality and healthcare.

We are still keen to hear from any local organisations who may be interested in signing up to the charter, or who want to know more about how they can take part in our scheme.

Please contact Macy Loasby (macy.loasby@sefton.gov.uk) for a chat about how your business can help our young people here in Sefton.