Children and Young Peoples Partnership

IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE - BRIGHT FUTURES

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Trafford’s children and young people will shape and influence the future of the Borough and we have a responsibility to ensure that all of them are given the best possible opportunity to succeed and to enjoy growing up in a safe, secure, healthy and economically prosperous environment.

Trafford is a place where most children and young people thrive, succeed and enjoy their childhood. Schools in the Borough are amongst the most highly regarded in the country and Trafford is one of the best performing education authorities not only in the North West but also in the country. From entry into school through to leaving and beyond we see year-on-year improvements and consistently better outcomes for children and young people.

There is, however, recognised educational, social, economic and cultural inequality between some areas and communities, with the existence of a smaller group of less advantaged, vulnerable children that need our additional support. This group includes children with disabilities, children with special educational needs, children who are looked after and Black and Minority Ethnic children and young people, including Travellers and asylum seekers.

We have already seen improved education and health for children in care, but further work still needs to be done as they remain behind their peers. Criminality amongst this group remains an issue and concerns around youth nuisance are increasingly being recorded. Achievement of Black and Minority Ethnic and Traveller children and young people is locally, like the picture nationally, behind that of their peers with the gap increasing as they move through their school career. This gap has, however, started to decrease for some groups but does remain a key area of concern.

Trafford is committed to supporting children with disabilities, and has invested heavily in supporting special educational needs (as one of the highest spenders in this area in the country). We will work towards better co-ordination of this funding in order to maximise the potential of these children and young people.

We have established partnerships with the Police, health authorities, the Learning and Skills Council, schools and increasingly with the voluntary sector in order to tackle these issues and effectively meet the needs of children and young people in Trafford.

WHERE WE WANT TO BE 2021

Our vision is simple: every child will achieve and fulfil his or her potential and become the adult that they want to be. They will be healthy, feel safe, enjoy what life has to offer, achieve their goals and make a positive contribution to themselves, their family, their community and their society, whilst having an appropriate place to live and opportunity to succeed.

WHAT WE WILL DO TO GET THERE

Working together is the key to achieving our vision. The Children and Young People Plan will set out the vision of brighter futures for children and young people and underpin the activities.

Its success will require:

• The integration of children’s services ensuring simple access for all
• Developing new partnerships and enhancing our existing ones.
• A joint purpose, to ensure that from the early years opportunities begin at the beginning and potential is realised.
• Recognition of the importance of the family through family-centred support services, targeting the most vulnerable and promoting their inclusion into our rich society.
• An understanding of the support required for those with mental health, emotional and behavioural needs.
• The development of schools of the future, where every school is excellent and educational inequalities are minimised and removed, thus providing choice and opportunity for learning and helping to bring communities
  together.
• A strategy for 14-19 year olds in order to help realise the potential of our young people, through flexible educational provision, employment opportunities and innovative schemes creating the workforce, managers,
  leaders and entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

PRIORITIES FOR 2006-2009

This vision of a bright future for the children and young people of Trafford is ambitious and to make it happen we need to be clear about what we can do:

Deliver, in partnership, an integrated children’s service
Critical to better services for all, and in particular the most vulnerable, is an integrated service. This requires joint commissioning of services between the Council, the Health Service and other partners, so that our resources are pooled, our processes joined-up, and our support for the most vulnerable is co-ordinated to support and be led by the children, young people and families.

Create an integrated referral and assessment process
How people contact us and who they contact needs to be co-ordinated and an integrated referral and assessment process is currently being developed. This will include the establishment of a team with a mix of skills and experiences which works under one Lead Professional.

Begin at the beginning
We will develop a network of Children Centres ensuring better access to health, education and quality childcare for all our communities.

Foster even better schools
We will focus our resources and support on those schools in challenging circumstances in order that they can realise the vision of excellence and community.

Engage young people in the decision-making process
Young people are important members of our community and their voice needs to be heard and, more importantly, listened to.

Celebrate
Young people do many good things and we will celebrate this. Working to reduce youth crime will be complemented by positive activities for young people supporting their communities and reducing the fear of crime.

Deliver suitable and affordable housing
Young people need a place to live and finding somewhere suitable, yet affordable is a key issue raised by young people and communities.

Deliver services to meet the needs
Services for children with mental health, emotional and behavioural needs are as diverse as the needs that they aim to meet. We will review what we do, how we do it and more importantly what we should do.

HOW YOU WILL KNOW THAT WE ARE SUCCEEDING

We will be making progress when:

• Educational Standards rise for all;
• There are fewer vulnerable children, young people and families;
• There is a reduction in the actual crime and fear of youth crime and nuisance;
• There are fewer referrals to mental health services;
• Improved and easier access to a range of services within each local community.

And, most importantly we will know we are making progress when children and young people TELL US that they are healthier, that they feel safer, are enjoying and achieving to their potential, making a positive contribution and live in an economically prosperous environment and look forward to a bright future.

If you would like to play a part in making this vision a reality, please contact

Milorad Vasic - (Head of Access and Assessment)
Stretford Public Hall
Chester Road,
Stretford,
MANCHESTER,
M32 0LG