Memorandum submitted by the National Association
of Head Teachers
1. The National Association of Head Teachers
(NAHT) recognises and supports the five aims contained within
Every Child Matters. The Association would wish to see
these aims furthered through the joint working of all services
involved with children and young people.
2. It must be recognised that, whereas health
and social services may be involved with children on a needs-led
basis, education is a universal service. This needs to be recognised
in the overall outcomes of the proposed reforms.
3. There is an overall willingness on the
part of staff to integrate, but current systems and regulations
can prove to be barriers. There is also a problem with shared
understanding, or lack of it. In its response to both Every
Child Matters and The Children Bill, the Association
has stressed the need to establish a common language, a shared
understanding between all the services concerned. Without this,
we run the risk of perpetuating the lack of joined-up approach
that can bedevil our work with children currently.
4. Services which are essential to delivering
the aims work under different guidelines with confusing and sometimes
conflicting definitions of what is possible and/or even desirable.
Clear and mutually acceptable definitions of what is acceptable
practice must be established to enable multi-agency working to
operate effectively and flourish. Voluntary agencies must be seen
as part of the overall picture, rather than an "add-on".
5. Recognition needs to be given to the
fact that, despite there being a willingness to integrate, there
does exist within all the services an inherent mistrust of the
other services involved. This is based on past experience, myth
and legend! It is sometimes seen by some of the services involved
that, rather than being under a duty to co-operate, other services
are under a duty NOT to co-operate. However, this will need to
be faced and dealt with to ensure the desired outcomes for all
children become a reality.
6. Pooling of budgets may well prove to
be a necessity across the Authority's services to facilitate rational
integrated working. It is also essential that clarity is established
as to the routes for access to available funding. This will help
ensure that collaborative working is at an optimum level, within
the realms of all legislation.
7. The Association's recent paper on the
0—4 agenda, a copy of which is attached to this evidence,
outlines the Association's position on many of the areas detailed
in the Committee's request for evidence. Although written specifically
with the 0—4 agenda as its theme, the issues raised are
generally of universal application and should be seen as part
of this evidence to the Committee.
8. The issues of training, team-building
and leadership are of paramount importance. To ensure that integrated
working is established and enabled, those delivering this on the
ground need to see the necessity and the benefits to the children
they serve. This will take time and resources.
9. The recent Ofsted report on Early Excellence
Centres, June 2004, highlighted key features with regard to excellent
provision. It is worth noting that one highlighted area was that
of "breaking down the barriers between different groups of
staff, amalgamating groups of staff into a cohesive team that
shares common goals, induction and training to manage other services".
It is clear that this must apply across all children's services
for the integrated services delivered to be excellent, and to
achieve the desired outcomes for children.
10. It is often the case that policy makers
do not fully appreciate that initiatives move slower at grass
roots level than one might wish. Policy deliverers need to be
given time to take on board the changes required, the benefits
that will come from the changes and their part in the whole plan.
Only then will the changes begin to take practical effect.
11. The document, Every Child Matters,
stresses throughout the need to improve parenting skills. Schools
continue to work to strengthen and develop the links between parents
and their own children, and between parents and the school community.
We must be careful, however, that in seeking to improve the access
to childcare to enable return to work for some parents, we are
not negating the work done on improving parenting skills.
12. Handling the rights and responsibilities
of parenthood can often be difficult and parents may sometimes
need support. This support may be more appropriately delivered
by one service rather than another or by joint working. It is
important that all the services involved work together to develop
a coherent approach that is relatively straightforward for parents
to access and does not create unnecessarily bureaucratic systems.
Work currently going on with regard to the Common Assessment Framework
may facilitate this.
13. Record-keeping across all the different
services varies enormously and access issues with regard to these
records must be resolved. Needless to say, this will bring issues
of confidentiality to the fore. Mutual trust across the services
will need to be established. It may well be that information sharing
protocols will need to be established.
14. It is true to say that schools sometimes
feel "left out of the loop" in terms of information
and record sharing. What would be useful, sometimes vital, information
with regard to a particular family may be withheld from the school
on the basis of perceived confidentiality—a need-to-know
basis and the school was not seen as needing to know. This is
not helpful with any child. It is particularly unhelpful with
vulnerable children.
15. To ensure that the desired outcomes
are achieved for all children, it is essential that sufficient
time and resources are set aside to deal with issues and challenges
as they arise. A culture change of this magnitude will not be
achieved overnight—nor even solely by legislation. All those
involved must be convinced of the benefits and given the right
tools to make the changes work on the ground and thus permeate
the whole children's services system.
| 
