6.5 Protocol with Education and Schools |
Contents
1. Purpose of Protocol
The purpose of this Protocol is to identify the framework within which professionals in the Education Service, including the Education Welfare Service and Schools will exchange information with Children’s Services, in order to facilitate delivery to Enfield children and their families of the appropriate services. This will include the exchange of non–personal information in the form of ‘consultation’.
2. Schools
Educational attainment and behaviour in school is a vital element of a child’s profile. School life obviously plays an important part in the child’s world and the daily contact between children and their teachers; together with the accessibility of other professionals e.g. Education Welfare Officers and Educational Psychologists, means that schools are well equipped to recognise a child’s difficulties and to monitor the child’s well being.
3. Education Welfare Service
The Education Welfare Service (EWS) receives referrals from Primary, Secondary and Special schools who have concerns regarding the attendance and punctuality of individual pupils. The EWS also works closely with those pupils with less than 80% attendance and to support schools in devising appropriate policies and procedures relating to attendance management.
The EWS carries out the local authority’s statutory duties in respect of the promotion and enforcement of regular school attendance, particularly as they relate to the Education Act 1996 and the Children Act 1989. In order to meet these statutory duties, the EWS will, in appropriate cases, prosecute parents in the Magistrates’ Court and apply for Education Supervision Orders in the Family Proceedings Court. In accordance with the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 the service also supervises parents made subject of Parenting Orders for the irregular attendance of their children at school.
In addition, the EWS undertakes duties on behalf of the local education authority relating to child protection, Looked After Children, child entertainment and child employment.
4. Children’s Services
4.1 Services
The Assessment and Care Planning Teams provide a range of services to children and families in Enfield including:
- Assessment of children who may be In Need and their families including children at risk of Significant Harm.
- Support and services to Children in Need and their Families including Disabled Children, Looked After Children and children who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan.
4.2 The Assessment Process
Children’s Services carry out assessments of children who may be In Need in line with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families.
Requests for assessments of Children in Need, including children at risk of Significant Harm should be made to the Referral and Assessment Team in Children’s Services using the agreed Multi-agency Request Form (available to all agencies on disk).Guidance and information on the Assessment Framework has been distributed to all agencies and teams along with the London Child Protection Procedures.
All Education and School staff should be familiar with the London Child Protection Procedures and the Assessment Framework Guidance.
4.3 Requests for Assessment/Services
The Request for Assessment Form is detailed and school staff and education staff are asked to complete the form as fully as possible as this will assist the assessment and decision making process.
Parents need to agree to the referral to Children’s Services (Data Protection Act 1998) unless there are child protection concerns in which case consent can be overridden. In child protection cases the parent should be informed that Children’s Services are going to be asked to do an assessment, unless by informing the parent this would increase the risk to the child.
The Referral and Assessment Team must make a decision within 24 hours as to what action they will take and inform the professional making the request.
4.4 Initial Assessment
An Initial Assessment will be carried out within 7 working days of the request and the service user and referrer will be informed of the outcome of the assessment within 7 working days of completion of the assessment.
4.5 Core Assessment
Core Assessments are more complex assessments and will include a Child Protection Enquiry when necessary. The Core Assessment must be completed within 35 working days and the outcome of the assessment sent to parents and referrers within 7 working days of completion.
If a Core Assessment is undertaken as a result of a request from a School, the EWS or other education professional it is likely that they will be involved in the assessment process.Key points at which the Schools, EWS or other education staff will be involved in the Core Assessment process are:
- In the setting up of the assessment, where decisions are made about its focus and its scope.
- As a contributor to the assessment process, in the form of direct work with the family or the provision of information.
- In making available their professional judgement, during the formulation of the Children’s Plan that will coordinate ongoing work at the end of the assessment stage.
- As a provider or facilitator of services to be offered as part of the final Children’s Plan.
5. Children who are Undergoing an Assessment for a Statement of Special Education Needs Under the Education Code of Practice
These cases will be referred by the Special Needs Section of the Education Service in the normal way. The duty officer at the Referral and Assessment Team in Children’s Services will check whether the child is known to them.
- If there is an allocated social worker the request for information will be dealt with directly by that worker.
- If the family has been known in the past, a Referral and Assessment Team manager will review the case and consider the request to decide whether there is any relevant information that can be made available to the Education Service.
- If the case is not known, Children’s Services will only become involved in the assessment if either there is evidence to suggest that the child may be at risk or if a residential school is being considered for a child out of the borough. If this is the case, and joint funding is requested, the case must be discussed at the Complex Issues Panel.
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