Amanda Spielman at the 2021 ADCS conference
Ofsted's Chief Inspector discussed the impact of COVID-19 and recent work at the Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) annual conference.
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me 바카라 사이트“ though here바카라 사이트™s hoping that virtual by default will soon be behind us!
I think to say it바카라 사이트™s been an incredibly challenging year and a half for you all would be putting it mildly. At the sharp end, you바카라 사이트™ve been helping schools get back on their feet, working with children and families in the most difficult circumstances, and so much more. Thank you for everything that you바카라 사이트™re doing.
Looking back
No one here would disagree that the pandemic has been extremely damaging for many children. And of course, COVID has been tough on everyone. But, like you, we바카라 사이트™re concerned with what바카라 사이트™s best for children. And looking back, it바카라 사이트™s children who바카라 사이트™ve come last on the national priority list time and again.
We all want children to get the best start in life, and a good education lays solid foundations. Take these away, and what comes next becomes unsteady and uncertain. Most children have taken a knock over the last 16 months. But for some, the damage runs deeper and will take longer to fix.
Education sites have been closed to most children for so much of the last 16 months. Schools and colleges have struggled through, relying on remote learning 바카라 사이트“ in some places better than others. But as we now know, even with good technology access, remote learning is no substitute for real classrooms and real teachers. Many young people are demoralised, and many have significant ground to make up.
Teenagers doing more practical courses at college lost out too 바카라 사이트“ it바카라 사이트™s been impossible to get the same experience at home. Not to mention young people doing on-the-job training or apprenticeships 바카라 사이트“ so many facing severe disruption, at worst being furloughed or even losing their jobs. And for young people leaving school or college, the job market is clearly in turmoil.
Then there are the emotional side effects. Cooped-up children aren바카라 사이트™t happy children. They miss their friends, the important social side of being at school or college. Children are resilient, and many are bouncing back now that life is opening up. But at the more severe end, some are really struggling, needing support for eating disorders, anxiety, self-harm and other serious issues.
And many toddlers and pre-schoolers have spent most of their young lives in lockdown 바카라 사이트“ hardly an ideal start. Stuck inside, playgrounds shut, parents trying to work. We even saw some children regressing, reverting to nappies, losing the most basic skills during the first lockdown.
This disruption isn바카라 사이트™t in the past, sadly. We바카라 사이트™ve all seen the recent steep rise in absences 바카라 사이트“ around 1 in 20 children out of school because of COVID. And of course, the vast majority haven바카라 사이트™t got COVID, but are still being forced to miss out on school.
We seem to have carried on using children as an infection buffer for a very long time, given what we know about the risks to them and the risks that children pose to others. So, I바카라 사이트™m pleased to see that the policy on bubbles and managing infection in schools is shifting. Children do just need to be in school.
Vulnerable children
And you바카라 사이트™ll share our concerns about the most vulnerable children, the ones who fell from view. Last year, I talked about the COVID 바카라 사이트˜pressure cooker바카라 사이트™ taking its toll. So many families struggling to keep their heads above water in more ways than one.
With lines of sight obscured, and referrals down, it바카라 사이트™s been hard to keep a watchful eye on children. And even though schools and colleges opened fully in April, referrals are only just returning to pre-pandemic levels. That바카라 사이트™s a lot of missing referrals, and some of them would have been for children suffering significant harm.
And then there are the children who haven바카라 사이트™t yet returned to school. The Centre for Social Justice reported that almost 100,000 children were still out of school last December. This fits with what we heard in our school visits last autumn.
Many parents have gladly stepped back from teaching duties, but some have kept their children at home. But for many children, there is so much ground to make up, and not every parent is equipped to be a teacher. This could seriously derail the catch-up effort.
And these are disproportionately children with various kinds of problem or need 바카라 사이트“ schools can바카라 사이트™t help children who aren바카라 사이트™t there.
Of course, the vast majority of parents are responsible and competent. But, as you know all too well, a minority aren바카라 사이트™t. I바카라 사이트™m sure you share our concerns.
A more normal way of working
This bleak backdrop makes it all the more important for Ofsted to get back to normal working. You have a mammoth task ahead, and I genuinely believe that we have a constructive role here. Our insights are vital for you 바카라 사이트“ the sector 바카라 사이트“ just as parents and government need to understand how children are getting on.
No matter where we are on the roadmap, alas, COVID is still a live issue. So of course, we are fully aware of the pressures.
For children바카라 사이트™s services, we바카라 사이트™ll have managed to get to over half of you in some form by the end of this term. And so far, all indications are that you바카라 사이트™re working hard to steady the ship and get back to some normality.
Some of you have managed to make improvements despite the pandemic, which is really good to see, while others have maintained a strong performance. And, more broadly, we바카라 사이트™ve seen good work in response to COVID, from local authorities with lower ILACS judgements, as well as the more highly rated.
But some areas are struggling. This tends to be where authorities haven바카라 사이트™t created an environment where good practice can thrive. I바카라 사이트™m talking about lack of leadership oversight, large caseloads, and too many children not getting the services to keep them safely with their family. And some, sadly, experiencing harm for far too long before action is taken.
Throughout the pandemic, we carried on visiting children바카라 사이트™s homes where we had concerns, and inspections restarted fully in April. Again, many homes have fared well. But some have deteriorated significantly, and unregistered placements are still a real concern. We know there바카라 사이트™s a continuing sufficiency issue, and you바카라 사이트™re often caught between a rock and a hard place in finding somewhere for children to live. But some placements have been patently unsafe and frankly unacceptable.
Looking to the autumn, we expect to be back to full ILACS in September, though of course, we바카라 사이트™ll be taking local circumstances into account if we need to. And we바카라 사이트™re working on the next iteration of the JTAI model. We hope that some of you will help us pilot a new model later this year.
For schools and colleges, we바카라 사이트™re most concerned about making sure education is as normal as possible, as soon as possible. Everyone recognises what children have lost. It바카라 사이트™s clear from many directions that remote education has been less effective than the normal kind. But for most children, as I바카라 사이트™ve said so many times before 바카라 사이트“ catch up will happen mainly in their usual classroom, with their usual teachers.
We바카라 사이트™ll be returning to full routine inspection from September. There will no doubt be some trepidation about this. Though in fact, inspections this term have been welcomed by the dozens of schools that have been taken out of a category. And understanding how schools are getting children back on track couldn바카라 사이트™t be more important.
Everything that we바카라 사이트™re doing is about making sure children get as good an experience as possible. Our focus on education substance 바카라 사이트“ the curriculum 바카라 사이트“ hasn바카라 사이트™t gone away, and I firmly believe it바카라 사이트™s a positive lever here. We want to encourage schools to think properly about reshaping their curriculum, not just racing through to cover everything superficially.
Special educational needs and disabilities
This year has been so hard for many children with SEND. We바카라 사이트™ve seen families exhausted to the point of despair. Children missing out on education, and struggling without their usual support services 바카라 사이트“ despite the efforts of those working with them.
Nearly all our inspections either have a strand relating to children with SEND, or are entirely about them 바카라 사이트“ in the latter category we have inspections of special schools and alternative provision, as well as area SEND inspections which restarted this term.
Local SEND systems were under pressure before COVID, which has only made them worse, particularly with the disruption to children바카라 사이트™s health services.
Many of the old issues remain. Misdiagnosis is still a problem 바카라 사이트“ children being wrongly labelled, simply because they haven바카라 사이트™t been taught well, or given enough time and support to learn. While children with genuine needs are being missed or identified too late.
And joint working and commissioning across education, health and care 바카라 사이트“ really the key in all this 바카라 사이트“ are so often weak, with little clarity about who is responsible for what in an area.
As we return to normal, I hope things will improve for children and for families. But we바카라 사이트™ve yet to see the impact on children whose assessments and diagnoses have been delayed. And we바카라 사이트™re now in a position where children with SEND are even further behind their peers.
There바카라 사이트™s no doubt that children and young people with SEND need to be front and centre of education recovery. But wholesale system changes are needed to make sure children are getting the best deal.
The government바카라 사이트™s SEND review is an important opportunity to make the system work better, and we are using our insights to contribute all we can to it. Hopefully, you바카라 사이트™ll have seen our reports setting out the findings from our recent interim visits.
Over the last year, we바카라 사이트™ve been working with CQC on new area SEND inspections, and we바카라 사이트™ll be consulting on the new approach soon. We want inspection to have a much sharper focus on how all partners are working together for children 바카라 사이트“ encouraging everyone to play their part.
Ongoing challenges/joining up
So, COVID has brought new challenges and intensified old. This is true of the care system, too.
Mental health problems, substance abuse and domestic abuse all seem to be on the rise 바카라 사이트“ with a knock-on impact on already stretched services.
The expected spike in children coming into care hasn바카라 사이트™t happened, though the picture isn바카라 사이트™t uniform nationally. But what바카라 사이트™s clear is that the children you are identifying have very high levels of need. Meanwhile, jams in the family courts are stopping children both from entering and leaving care 바카라 사이트“ with all that entails for children바카라 사이트™s safety and welfare.
COVID restrictions have only increased the pressure, making it harder to meet children바카라 사이트™s needs. We saw a small number of foster carers having to end placements due to shielding, for example. But children바카라 사이트™s homes, foster carers and kinship carers have also been supporting children well in extremely difficult circumstances.
As I바카라 사이트™ve mentioned, sufficiency is a huge challenge across the board. It바카라 사이트™s widely accepted that there are too few foster and kinship carers to go around. And at the more severe end, we바카라 사이트™re seeing high court judges still, reluctantly, having to approve unregistered placements.
We urgently need better analysis of children바카라 사이트™s needs, and better planning 바카라 사이트“ beyond local authority level 바카라 사이트“ for children needing highly specialist placements.
There are no easy solutions here. But joining up is a start. Helping and protecting children and families can바카라 사이트™t just rest with social care. This is about all agencies working together, and joined-up policy thinking across government.
For example, there have been some very good policies to reduce the numbers of children in the youth justice estate, or in in-patient care. But we haven바카라 사이트™t had that joined-up needs analysis and commissioning to make sure there are the right community-based services to meet some children바카라 사이트™s needs.
An unexpected benefit of COVID 바카라 사이트“ at least at a local level 바카라 사이트“ has been some green shoots when it comes to joining up. In some cases, the pandemic has helped agencies come together, with remote working and online meetings bringing the right people around the table. Let바카라 사이트™s not lose those gains.
Sexual abuse review
This brings me on to our sexual abuse review, which I hope you바카라 사이트™ve seen.
What we found was certainly shocking, if not surprising. Everyone knew that sexual harassment and online sexual abuse was happening to young people 바카라 사이트“ but the sheer scale is appalling. Even more so, that so many children 바카라 사이트“ especially girls 바카라 사이트“ feel they have to accept this behaviour as part of normal life, to the point that they don바카라 사이트™t think it바카라 사이트™s worth reporting.
Everyone working with children 바카라 사이트“ not just schools 바카라 사이트“ needs to accept that this is an endemic issue. That means working on the assumption that sexual harassment will be happening, even if it isn바카라 사이트™t evident.
And of course, schools and colleges have a vital role to play, but working between education and local partners needs to be stronger too. These issues aren바카라 사이트™t just confined to the classroom or the playground.
We found a mixed picture in the review when it came to joining up. Some local safeguarding partnerships work well with schools, looking at the issues strategically as part of wider safeguarding work. But this isn바카라 사이트™t happening everywhere.
A few partnerships said they weren바카라 사이트™t aware of harassment and abuse being a significant problem in their area at all, which was clearly at odds with children바카라 사이트™s experiences. Others found it hard to work well with the full range of schools. Equally, some schools with pupils from several areas said it was challenging to work with multiple local authorities.
As a first step, improving information-sharing with schools is crucial 바카라 사이트“ so that everyone understands the effects on children and can respond appropriately. Clearer guidance would help to overcome some of these difficulties, as would more sharing of practice between partners, schools and colleges.
Looking ahead
Looking ahead, the road is challenging 바카라 사이트“ both in the aftermath of COVID, and in terms of addressing the persistent system problems I바카라 사이트™ve been talking about.
But there are some positives. The long-awaited care review is under way 바카라 사이트“ and as you know, these opportunities to make real, lasting change don바카라 사이트™t come around very often. We바카라 사이트™re sharing our insights with the review team, and will be responding formally to the .
So far, there are many areas we agree with. Not least around our own role, and creating a regulatory regime that fits the market as it operates today. We need clear regulations that set high standards for all types of care, and that are flexible enough to respond to children with complex needs and bespoke care arrangements.
The Case for Change also echoes what we바카라 사이트™ve said about a more joined-up approach to vulnerable children across government, and better early help 바카라 사이트“ making sure children and families are getting the right support at the right time.
And it raises some important questions about child protection investigations. As you know so well, these investigations are a significant event for any family, and never taken lightly. Decisions must be made quickly, sometimes with very limited information. Social workers rely on the quality of referrals and risk assessments from partners.
So, given this is a complex, nuanced area, we all need to look carefully at the reasons why these investigations are rising. We바카라 사이트™ll be looking at our own data and findings to share them with the review team.
Our understanding is that many families do receive help after a section 47 investigation. We risk over-simplifying things if we look at child protection plans as the only route to help and support. We must look at the full picture.
And when authorities struggle, our inspections tend to show that they are too slow to get involved on a statutory basis, leaving children at high risk for too long. It바카라 사이트™s not often that we find that the wrong child has been brought into care, or that child protection inquiries shouldn바카라 사이트™t have been made.
Thresholds for removing a child are rightly very high, but sadly there will always be cases where it바카라 사이트™s too risky or harmful for children to stay with their families. Raising that threshold would need careful planning, and everyone to play their part. And, crucially, significant investment in local services.
Ultimately, this is a multi-agency system, and we mustn바카라 사이트™t lose sight of that. Safeguarding children requires a multi-agency response. It can바카라 사이트™t be done by local authorities alone.
The review also raises some important questions about Ofsted 바카라 사이트“ are inspections looking at the right things? Are they too bureaucratic?
We바카라 사이트™ve worked hard over the years to make sure that inspection doesn바카라 사이트™t take social workers away from that all-important direct work with families, and that we focus on the things that matter to children. Equally, there is always more we can do, more to learn, more to improve on.
But it would also be a mistake to underplay the importance of some core tasks, like reflective conversations between social workers and managers, and of course, case recording. These are children바카라 사이트™s lives. Being able to see and understand decisions that have been made are so critical. And importantly, children and the care-experienced community tell us how valuable their records are to them as young adults, helping them make sense of a complicated past.
We look forward to discussing these issues with the review as it progresses.
Conclusion
I바카라 사이트™ve spoken a lot today about challenges. Yes, there바카라 사이트™s a hard path ahead, but I바카라 사이트™m confident you바카라 사이트™re up to the task.
Over the last year and a half, you바카라 사이트™ve shown commitment and tenacity in the face of great adversity. While there바카라 사이트™s much to do, it바카라 사이트™s also clear that the wheels of recovery are well in motion. I바카라 사이트™ve no doubt that when we meet again 바카라 사이트“ in person I hope 바카라 사이트“ children will be in a much better place.
Thank you.