The goal is to keep children and classrooms Covid safe
as well as they should, may have had, has seen the eyes of partners including social work, school staff and children’s services teams on them.
Swift responses to solve such problems early on before they become serious and required protection orders are key and done through the Front Door project.
The end of 2020 saw the creation of an Early Help Hub to further target quick responses, favourably commented on by the inspectors all this cannot be done alone and training provided to partners including early years practitioners means the system is proactive, said Ms Jenkins.
“It is really working on relationships with families, not being punitive but what they think they might need to make things better. Ofsted said that was really good,” she said. Each school has a child protection expert and each “pod” of four social workers and a team leader were a part of the key worker force, making crucial home visits. “Workers’ Wednesdays” sessions, allowing social workers putting in irregular hours some regular time to relax, also received praise from the inspectors, said Ms Jenkins.
Using technology allowed support to be given to foster families and to hold case conferences.
The return to school on March 8 had brought fresh challenges, she said. This had seen ongoing support from the council’s Public Health team, and Coun Wilkinson said he had gone into one of Calderdale’s high schools Ryburn - to help deliver COVID rapid tests, which the children will have to start undertaking themselves at home.
Youngsters seemed to be coping well, although the year had been challenging for headteachers often dealing with changes in Government guidance at short notice, he said.
“It’s important to stay in touch with our schools regularly to advise them on what measures they can take to keep schools as safe as possible, and if they do have cases - it will be inevitable and all will have cases coming in.
“Going forward there is the whole issue of pupils trying to catch up with what they have missed.
Also important is the wellbeing and mental health of children and staff, particularly young children for which this has been a huge proportion of their lives.
“They have not had much social interaction with children or other people and it’s important to strike a balance between ensuring we look after children’s wellbeing and ensuring they are catching up as much as possible,” said Coun Wilkinson.
Ms Jenkins said schools had become expert miniassessment experts as well as teaching, stepping up remote learning to meet educational challenges.
“It is important to aim high because we want the best for all our children in Calderdale. “We want to be in a place where all our children are healthy, safe and successful”: Councillor Adam Wilkinson