Children and Young People's Partnership Strategy Action Plan
Our vision
Make Gateshead a place where every child and young person has the building blocks to thrive and are supported to live fulfilled, safe, happy and healthy lives, with the education and skills to enable them to realise their potential.
Our priorities
Priority 1: For all children to be heard and have influence
1a Take action to protect the environment from Climate Change
We will:
- deliver our agreed Climate Strategy to help ensure that appropriate action will be taken
- we embed climate considerations into our decision-making and all employee roles
- schools will review policies to mitigate against climate related events such as heat waves and flooding
- work with North East Combined Authority to ensure that carbon reduction and climate resilience is effectively considered in the region
This work will be a success when:
- we monitor carbon emissions and see reductions
- we slow the negative impact of climate change now and in the future
The lead for this action is: Climate Change, Gateshead Council and Net Zero North East England - North East Combined Authority
1b Tackle discrimination and stigma for all, particularly those most vulnerable
We will:
- deliver on our council commitment to make Care Experience a protected characteristic in Gateshead
- deliver our SEND strategy priorities, including a shared vision of inclusion
- deliver workforce development to support all practitioners and managers to better identify needs of children with SEND, vulnerabilities and how we can respond to discrimination and stigma in our roles.
- deliver against our Corporate Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy commitments and our Workforce EDI strategy and policy
- deliver on our Youth Justice plan with a focus on equality diversity and disproportionality
This work will be a success when:
- there is wider awareness and consideration of the issues and discrimination faced by children and young people
- children and young people experience inclusion in education, training and employment, with professionals recognising their needs and listening to their experiences
- we work together as partners to tackle all discrimination and its outcomes
The Lead for this action is: Childrens services, Gateshead Council, Northumbria Police, Health Partners, Gateshead Council, VCSE
1c To be responsive to the issues that matter to children through regular listening, action and feedback
We will:
- empower young people as champions to lead our participation forums as people with direct lived experience, and listen to the voices of all young people, ensuring they are considered during service design, improvement and delivery
- ensure that children and young people with additional vulnerabilities such as; child protection, SEND needs, Care Experienced, a disability and/or young carer are heard and their views shape service delivery.
- analyse the feedback from the health-related questionnaire, which will be shared with all schools and follow up with individual schools to support changes to the school personal development offer
This work will be a success when:
- Young people tell us they feel included, listened to, they are regularly getting feedback and services improve as a result of their feedback.
The Lead for this action is: Childrens services, Gateshead Council, Northumbria Police, Health Partners, Gateshead Council, VCSE
Priority 2: For all children to be happy and healthy
2a Support communities and families to give every child the best start in life
We will:
- develop our Family Hub and Start for Life offer across all our Hub sites, outreach locations and commissioned VCS providers in our communities of highest need. Support will be focused on the key areas of; parenting support, infant feeding, perinatal mental health and the home-learning environment
- implement our action plan to protect, promote, support and normalise breastfeeding in Gateshead
- develop and pilot mid-teen health review in 0-19 public health nursing service and then fully implement across all of Gateshead
- adopt National Baby Week model for Gateshead and coordinate with partners to deliver free and low-cost programme of activities and package up the existing support offered by key council and NHS services into one week.
- implement the Early Years passport across all providers and schools so that appropriate support can be provided linked to school readiness, manage the introduction of 30 hours for working families with under two-year-olds and provide sufficient high quality places for the childcare expansion
- develop and promote an inclusive universal youth offer to increase social and peer support opportunities for young people including those with SEND, ensuring young people have access to arts and cultural opportunities that support wellbeing.
This work will be success when:
- we improve health and wellbeing outcomes for children, young people and their parents/carers through community-based early intervention.
- increase in breastfeeding rates (first feed and 6 to 8 weeks) and more local businesses will be breastfeeding friendly
- all teenagers in Gateshead receive offer to have a mid-teen review, have their health needs identified and young people are given the correct support from the right service
- our Childminder network is grown; eligible parents will be able to access their funded childcare entitlement with sufficient high-quality places for all families.
- children will be ready for school. Transition to school will be improved with needs identified at the earliest opportunity.
- young people across the borough are engaged with a wide range of youth activities through school programmes and youth opportunities.
The Lead for this action will be: Children's Services, Gateshead Council and Health Partners
2b Improve social, emotional and mental health and wellbeing of children and young people
We will:
- develop and promote a graduated response to support the emotional wellbeing and mental health of children and young people
- integrate the Mental Health in Schools Team Offer providing early intervention support and capacity building within schools
- re-design the Early Years Autism Diagnostic Pathway
- re-design the Access Route into specialist services
- re-design the Neurodevelopment Support Offer for Children and young People
- implement recommendations from CYP mental health needs assessment
The work will be a success when:
- Children's experiences of waiting times and waiting well for mental health and therapy services will reduce, and support will be put in place for those waiting to access services
The Lead for this action is: North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board and CNTW
2c Ensure affordable, sufficient, safe, stable and secure housing for families and children, and for young people living independently
We will:
- deliver our review of the Housing Strategy - including support, supply and standards
- deliver our programme to assure council homes are safe for families and children
- deliver our anti-social behaviour strategy to create safe areas to live for our families and children living in council homes and in our neighbourhoods
- review our supported accommodation provision for vulnerable young people
The work will be a success when:
- children and young people live in safe and secure homes with the right support to get them ready for independent living
The Lead for this action is: Housing Services, Gateshead Council
2d Increase access to affordable and safe places to go and to play and have fun for children and young people
We will:
- develop and promote an inclusive universal youth offer to increase social and peer support opportunities for young people.
- plan, deliver and evaluate holiday programmes for children and young people through Family Hubs and a funded Holiday Activities and Food offer for eligible families.
- deliver our agreed Gateshead Physical Activity Strategy and work with young people to gain a better understanding of barriers to activity and the opportunities they seek. New place-based opportunities and environments to be active will be co-created with children and young people.
- our leisure partner, GLL, will support Gateshead's leisure service 'pivot to active wellbeing'; introduce enhanced provision such as additional soft play at Gateshead International Stadium, an aqua play structure at Heworth and a multi activity space at Dunston.
- deliver arts and cultural programme to include opportunities to engage in creative activities that support wellbeing and connection with local cultural venues, green spaces, projects and festivals
This work will be a success when:
- we have positive feedback directly from our children and young people on the opportunities and all young people feel included.
- we provide free Holiday Activities and Food programmes across Easter, Summer and Christmas holidays with opportunities for physical activities and fun
- our young people feel more connected with creative opportunities that support wellbeing, aspiration and cultural engagement
The Lead for this action is: Public Health and Wellbeing, Gateshead Council and Local VCSE
2e Enable good levels of physical activity, healthy eating and reduce food insecurity
We will:
- deliver our Gateshead Physical Activity Strategy to promote and develop good levels of physical activity
- plan, deliver and evaluate holiday programmes for children and young people through Family Hubs and a funded Holiday Activities and Food offer for eligible families.
- our leisure partner, GLL, will deliver a life course approach 'Starting Well, Living Well, Ageing Well' delivering universal activities, targeted initiatives and specialist interventions.
- provide a balanced and diverse range of leisure activities and events to meet the needs of all sections of the community
- promote Free School Meals offer/ eligibility and increase registered children through auto-enrolment/ data matching working closely with our schools
- work with Gateshead food partnership to deliver our Food strategy to reduce food insecurity in Gateshead families
This work will be a success when:
- more children and young people in Gateshead will be physically active and achieving the Chief Medical Officer's recommended levels of physical activity
- more schools will have adopted a whole school approach to physical activity
- an increased number of children in low-income households accessing School Meal Standard food through school dinners and making the Holiday Activities and Food Programme available to more children in Gateshead.
- specific support for low-income families experiencing food insecurity to access food
The Lead for this action is: Public Health and Wellbeing, Gateshead Council and Local VCSE
3. For all children to feel safe in their families and communities
3a Support children and parents to live in safe, supportive families
We will:
- develop a new Family Help model to deliver integrated services to children and families close to where they live within localities
- promote strong multi agency team around the family arrangements to make sure that support is coordinated
- deleted the first bullet on this list
- utilise funding to introduce a detached youth work offer in areas with high rates of youth-related anti-social behaviour
- maintain and enhance a robust Reducing Parental Conflict (RPC) offer to reduce relationship difficulties in families, and support couples and co-parents to develop positive relationships in the best interests of their children.
- develop a graduated offer of support to enable Families to find their own solutions when there are needs and risks
- develop Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (CAPVA) offer to support
This work will be a success when:
- more children are supported through family help services
- less children need formal child protection plans
- less children need to come into care
The Lead for this action is: Gateshead Childrens Social Care and Early Help services
3b Ensure that the most vulnerable children are supported and protected from harm
We will:
- embed a Contextual Safeguarding approach across services to better identify and respond to risks to young people outside the home, including in peer groups, schools, and public spaces.
- strengthen multi-agency responses to extra-familial harm through shared intelligence, joint planning, and place-based interventions
- deliver our action plan - Preventing Harm to Children and Young People work, focussed on domestic abuse and unhealthy relationships and behaviours
- ensure robust and well developed management oversight and supervision which makes decision making clear and ensures that actions are swift and timely
- reduce the risks of homelessness fir young people through enhanced family support
This work will be a success when:
- young people will be better protected from harm in the places they spend time
- services will be more responsive to the full range of safeguarding risks
- all children and young people understand healthy relationships and are safe from the harm caused by domestic abuse
- any child experiencing harm caused by domestic abuse, unhealthy relationships and behaviours have access to specialist support tailored to their needs
The Lead for this action is: Gateshead Childrens Safeguarding Partnership
3c Address negative influences that affect how young people make decisions, so we can help them avoid risky behaviour
We will:
- strengthen multi-agency collaboration through the Prevention Partnership Panel pilot, led by the Violence Reduction Unit, to identify and support young people at risk of serious violence and exploitation.
- expand detached youth work in identified hotspot areas to provide early intervention and diversion from anti-social behaviour and criminal exploitation.
- deliver our Serious Youth Violence Strategy
- embed our Knife Crime protocol across all schools to develop a pathway of support for young people
- develop our response to child on parent aggression and violence
- Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service will work with partners to provide universal and targeted programmes to support our Children and Young People who are identified as vulnerable
This work will be a success when:
- less children in the criminal justice system. Fewer children excluded from school.
- vulnerable young people diverted from Anti-social behaviour and unsafe behaviours.
- young people tell us that they have a stronger sense of belonging in their communities, in public services, and with their peers
- reduce anti-social behaviour and damage to spaces for our children and young people
The Lead for this action is: Children's Services, Gateshead Council, Northumbria Police and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue
3d Develop and enhance the physical and digital environments and public spaces where children live, play and socialise to promote better health and sense of safety
We will:
- seek additional funding to support local growth of youth centres and provision.
- re-introduce a detached youth work offer to areas with high levels of Youth anti-social behaviour
- introduce and promote an online youth offer and promote this offer across the borough
- explore developing Young Futures Hubs - community-based Hubs to provide youth work, mental health and information, advice and guidance support
- IT services to develop strategy, and matched resources linked to AI safe use for schools.
- support schools to make changes from the curriculum and assessment review linked to online and digital safety
This work will be a success when:
- young people will receive targeted youth services
- young people and their families will know what is on offer throughout the borough to support them.
- youth anti-social behaviour reduces
- young people will be able to access services in their local area which are inclusive and they report a stronger sense of belonging
- pupils will understand how to manage risk linked to the digital environment
The Lead for this action will be: Children's Services and Gateshead Community Safety partnership
4. For all children to achieve their potential and be ready to take the next steps
4a Increase the number of children and young people participating and engaging in learning through removing barriers to education
We will:
- deliver our Gateshead Attendance Strategy and Action Plan, including additional investment in Attendance Officers
- establish a RESTART Hub for children with SEMH unable to access school, to support successful and sustained reintegration to education
- develop a Primary ReSTART Hub for younger students to support access to inclusive mainstream education
- implement assessment provisions for children and young people with SEMH needs
- deliver our Gateshead Alternative Learning Provision Strategy to remove barriers for students in mainstream school and provide an appropriate education offer, to engage them in learning
This work will be a success when:
- rates of school attendance improve
- rates of school exclusion reduce
- fewer children and young people require alternative education provision
- we have an Inclusive education offer to all children in Gateshead, regardless of need or vulnerability, to allow them to access and engage in learning
The Lead for this action will be: Education Gateshead, Gateshead Council and all Gateshead Schools
4b Improve achievement and attainment for all pupils through inclusive education
We will:
- quality assure and review embedding of the Gateshead SEND Thresholds to ensure a consistent approach to the identification of needs
- provide workforce development in relation to barriers to inclusion and deliver training about the complexity of needs in mainstream schools
- support all school colleagues through the Virtual School to understand how the impact of trauma can affect achievement and attainment and how we can best support those children to access education
- virtual school will work with schools to explore how interventions can support children to stay engaged with education
- develop through the SEND and Alternative Provision Change Programme a Vocational Pathway to support the achievement and attainment of young people
- launch the strategy to support pupils with English as an Additional Language
The work will be a success when:
- our young people achieve 5 GCSE's grades 9-4 (all and specific groups) or progress 8 score at end of Key stage 4
- we improve the destinations at post 16 for our young people
- we improve the numbers of young people in Education, Employment and Training post 16
- outcomes in primary statutory tests are in line with the national average for all groups of pupils and for learners with English as an Additional Language
Y6 pupils are prepared for secondary transition
The Lead for this action will be: Education Gateshead, Gateshead Council and all Gateshead Schools
4c Improve educational progress for pupils vulnerable to poorer learning outcomes
We will:
- focus on educational outcomes for children with a social worker through enhanced joint working via the new locally based family help service.
- set robust targets through Personal Education Plans to help to track interventions and monitor progress
- ·planned interventions with schools through Personal Education Plans are put in place and supported by the Virtual School and impact is monitored in terms of impact
- increase participation in Family Learning opportunities for our most vulnerable families
- work closely with the youth justice service to improve pathways, joint work with schools and outcomes for young people
The work will be a success when:
- we track the destination of young people with SEND and/or a disability when they leave school
- at least 75% of children in care in years 12 and 13 are in education, employment or training
- at least 70% of families on family learning programmes live in a more disadvantaged area, are entitled to free school meals or 1 or more parents are not working
The Lead for this action will be: Education Gateshead, Gateshead Council
4d Help young people into adulthood, to develop life skills and be ready for education, training and work
We will:
- ensure all young people have access to good quality careers information, advice and guidance
- develop a borough-wide employability programme
- develop the supported employment forum to enable more young people to access workplace experiences
This work will be a success when:
- more young people have knowledge of post 16 options
- more of our young people are in education, training and employment
The Lead for this action will be: Education Gateshead and Business, Employment and Skills, Gateshead Council
4e Improve access to safe and affordable transport for young people to access education, skills, work and social opportunities
We will:
- deliver against the North East Combined Authority Local Transport Plan of young girls' safety as public transport users
- work with NECA to deliver the pledge on affordable public transport
- work with existing young people forums to improve engagement
This work will be a success when:
- young people feel safe and confident in using public transport for education, learning, social activities and work
- young people can afford to use public transport, as they need to
- voices of children and young people are heard on transport issues as part of our decision-making
The Lead for this action will be: Transport Strategy, Gateshead Council