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TEAM AROUND THE SCHOOL (TAS) Toolkit for all Somerset Schools and Colleges

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The following tools have been created using best practice from existing multi-agency meetings already in place. They are designed to be adapted for your use but provide core principles.

Contents

Section Page

Terms of Reference & Confidentiality Agreement 3

Consent letter and leaflet for parents/carers 4

Suggested Agenda and Minutes Template 5

Identification tools (BVPT) 6

Supervision Offer & Template 8

Local Context - District Needs Profile (Public Health Data)

9

Self - Evaluation 10

FAQ 11

Other useful links 12

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Topic: Terms of Reference (ToR) & Confidentiality Agreement

Description / Guidance: Terms of reference describe the purpose and structure of a meeting, negotiation, or any similar collection of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. The document below sets out recommended terms of reference for the TAS meetings. It is designed for schools to amend as appropriate. It is suggested that when you hold your first meeting this is the first item on the agenda with a view to everyone signing up to the content. It is recommended that these are reviewed on an annual basis. It is good practice to ask all members of the TAS meeting to sign a confidentiality agreement following on from the ToR. Any new professional joining the meeting would be required to sign. The document can then be hosted on Professional Choices. See simple template below.

Documents:

TAS ToR Confidentiality document v0.1.docx

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Topic: Consent letter and leaflet for parents/carers Description / Guidance: Please gain informed parental consent to discuss the pupil at TAS. Please note a safeguarding concern would supersede the need for consent when appropriate. Good practice dictates that written must be gained from the parent prior to the child being discussed at TAS. The consent can then be stored in the VMR for the duration the case is open to TAS before being archived. Seven Golden Rules It is recommended that if there are any concerns about information sharing, you should refer to the seven ‘Golden Rules’ guidance produced by the Department for Education.

1. Remember that the Data Protection Act 1998 and human rights law are not barriers to justified information sharing, but provide a framework to ensure that personal information about living individuals is shared appropriately.

2. Be open and honest with the individual (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.

3. Seek advice from other practitioners if you are in any doubt about sharing the information concerned, without disclosing the identity of the individual where possible.

4. Share with informed consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, there is good reason to do so, such as where safety may be at risk. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case. When you are sharing or requesting personal information from someone, be certain of the basis upon which you are doing so. Where you have consent, be mindful that an individual might not expect information to be shared.

5. Consider safety and well-being: Base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.

6. Necessary, proportionate, relevant, adequate, accurate, timely and secure: Ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those individuals who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely (see principles).

7. Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.

Documents:

Letter of informed consent v0.1.docx

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Topic: Agenda and minutes template Description / Guidance: The agenda should be circulated to all attendees prior to the meeting, allowing sufficient time for all parties to complete and return to the Chair. Any child of interest should be added with the relevant background information including names of parents/siblings and addresses to allow cross referencing with partner agencies (For example police checks) Agreement through the TAS Steering group is that only two meeting’s worth of information will be held on the agenda in order to keep the meetings concise and effective. This will be actions from those discussed at previous meeting (On going) and new Children added to the agenda. As decisions are made to remove children from the agenda then this is recorded on the minutes and they are removed from the agenda for the next meeting. All agreed actions by the TAS should be clearly allocated with a defined timescale for completion and all actions should be followed up at subsequent meetings and recorded until completed. It is considered best practice that agenda, minutes and actions are shared via virtual meeting room hosted on Professional Choices. Guides for using the Virtual meeting room & Who’s who directory can be found on the site. In order to meet data protection it is advised that when recording actions for individual children hardcopy information is stored in a virtual meeting room or only shared with the relevant agency. On the minutes this would be recorded as “Discussion around X, deemed service Y appropriate. Action all professionals to forward required information to service Y”. When utilising the VMR the Task function can be used to track agenda actions in real time and recorded as completed.

Documents:

Data protection.docx TAS Agenda V0.1.docx

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Topic: Identification Tools If you are a professional concerned about a pupil at the school Please complete a Behaviour & Vulnerability Profile (BVPT). This can be found on Professional Choices or alternately on the SIMS system. Once complete if the score flags as amber or red then the child is suitable to be brought to your TAS coordinator. Using the agenda and minutes template found on page 5 of the toolkit. Description: Behaviour and Vulnerability Profile Tool (BVPT) The BVPT is based within SIMS and is available to all schools. The BVPT is a guidance measurement tool that is a means of identifying, prioritising and tracking vulnerable pupils, to enable planning to support individuals and groups. Guidance: The BVPT is a valuable contribution to pupil progress tracking systems and safeguarding. In addition, it provides essential documentary evidence for Ofsted by informing school self-evaluation, Also as supporting documentation evidencing all the steps taken within level 1 and 2 in the event a referral to PEVP is necessary. The tool looks at data which is held in SIMS which includes:

- Gender - National Curriculum Year - Free School Meals - SEN Status - Looked After - Percentage Attendance

An assessment will then need to be made on each child by scoring them on the below indicators. The indicators are based on the following:

- Behaviour is the presentation of social and emotional needs. The behaviour could present in structured and/or unstructured times.

- Social Development includes interactions with others and participation in peer group. It is concerned with the development of relationships with adults and peers and the adoption of a moral code.

- Emotional Development includes personal traits such as self-awareness and self-esteem. It is concerned with the demonstration of feelings and emotions that are appropriate for a child’s chronological age and the situation in which they occur. The appropriate development of feelings and emotions allows children to enter into reciprocal emotional relationships.

- Attendance.

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- Attainment.

- Special Educational Needs (SEN) including Disabilities.

- Mobility.

- Family Circumstances.

- Neglect Physical care

- Neglect Health

- Neglect Safety

- Home/School Partnership.

- Other factors - This category can be adapted for a particular need in your school, for example pupils with English as an Additional Language, the long-term absence or resignation of the pupil’s Class Teacher or key worker.

Once the profiling is complete the numbers will need to be added onto SIMS and it will calculate the data and produce the results. This will be in the format of a colour coded system as to levels of concern: Green (0-4), Amber (5-10) and Red (11 and above). An action plan can then be put into place to help work with each child and family to improve the level of attainment and the BVPT score. Links to the current SIMS circulars: SIMS Circular 056/2016 – for Primary age range schools SIMS Circular 009/2017 – for schools with Years 7 upwards They are on the Education MIS website Documents:

BVPT 1718 v0.3.xlsx BVPTguidance 2017 - Neglect ammendments.doc

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Topic: Supervision Offer & Template

Description / Guidance:

We understand the importance of providing the right support to staff. Supervision is a key element of that support and providing a dedicated space to reflect upon roles and case work is essential.

Although the TAS approach provides the platform to provide early help we acknowledge that there will be different methods of delivery in place across Somerset. For example, some areas will have a dedicated TAS coordinator in place and others will have Community Learning Partnership (CLP) coordinators or other lead roles. There is also a mixed approach to how Parent and Family Support Advisers (PFSAs) are line managed.

Principles of group supervision

The TAS lead will provide group supervision once every half term to each of the CLP areas.

If appropriate, The TAS lead can meet with the TAS/CLP co-ordinator to agree discussion points before the group supervision session.

The TAS lead will discuss any arising themes at their regular meeting and report back to each TAS Steering Group on any themes and learning.

Advice and guidance will be provided but will not decision make on individual cases. Improves quality of work by encouraging reflective practice. Chance to learn from others. Dedicated time for supervisees to reflect upon their role and case work. Develop understanding and skills within the supervisee’s professional practice. Receive another professional perspective on case work and share good practice. Create space to explore and express the personal emotions brought up by the work. Keep up to date with professional developments and policies. Builds a network for PFSAs and TAS key roles. The TAS lead responsible for recording key action points and forwarding to TAS/CLP

coordinator for distribution to relevant staff. Group supervision does not replace 1:1 case management supervision.

Documents:

Group supervision record V0.1.docx

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Topic: Local Context – District Needs Profiles Description / Guidance:

Public Health Children and Young People Needs Profiles

In February 2015, Public Health at Somerset County Council published Health and Wellbeing Needs Profiles for each Somerset district, in collaboration with getset

Summary findings included:

Mendip is significantly better than the Somerset average in terms of levels of child poverty and in terms of child hospital admissions due to accidents.

Sedgemoor is significantly better than the Somerset average in terms of infant/childhood mortality and child hospital admissions due to accidents. The district is significantly worse than the county average in terms of child poverty and breastfeeding prevalence (at 6-8 week check).

South Somerset is significantly better than the Somerset average in terms of child poverty. The district is significantly worse than the county average in terms of child hospital admissions due to accidents.

Taunton Deane is significantly better than the Somerset average in terms of breastfeeding prevalence (at 6-8 week check).

West Somerset is significantly worse than the Somerset average in terms of levels of child poverty.

Links: http://www.somersetintelligence.org.uk/public-health-cyp-needs-profiles/

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Topic: Self – Evaluation Description / Guidance:

The aim of this document is to ensure that each TAS is operating as effectively as possible. In order to quantify the benefits team around the school has enabled it is a requirement that all schools undertake a self-evaluation report. This will need to be completed and feedback to the CLP leads to take to TAS steering group on an annual basis. The self-evaluation should be used to provide a benchmark and can been used at the end of the first term and then taken again six months later in order the evidence the best practice in terms of early help for young people.

Documents:

TAS Self-Evaluation yr2 v0.2.docx

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Topic: FAQ

Description / Guidance:

Why would I make a referral to TAS?

A referral to TAS would be appropriate if there were concerns around a child or family that would not reach level 3/4 under Effective Support for Children & Families but was felt more advice and support from multiple agencies would be beneficial.

Why do TAS meetings use a VMR? TAS have agreed to adopt the use of a virtual meeting rooms on Professional Choices as a means of meeting the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 as it pertains to children & families confidential information when working across numerous agencies each with their own data protection and systems. This will enable more efficiency when working cross agency towards a shared outcome. All professionals attending a TAS and being added to the VMR will be required to sign the terms of reference and confidentiality agreement. From there the VMR provides an online forum and document store for secure information sharing and collaboration. Agendas and actions can also be circulated in this method which reduces the risk of a data breach. Guidance on the use and operation of VMRs can be found in the user guide.

Why do I need to complete a BVPT to refer into TAS, What are the

benefits? The Behaviour & Vulnerability Profiling Tool, (BVPT) is the agreed method by which a standard, measurable approach to identification and prioritisation can be made of all children & young people in Somerset. These young people will have a range of factors that make them vulnerable & potentially in need of early help and intervention. The BVPT will also evidence a graduated response in terms of support needs and will provide evidence for OFSTED, Early Help assessment, Transitions Panels, Children & Families Assessment and referral to the Panel for Excluded & Vulnerable Pupils (PEVP). The BVPT will also help to quantify the need and measure improvements for the individual in addition to helping identify trends in need across Somerset.

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Topic: Useful links Title

Description

Resolving Professional Differences Protocol

In the event of disagreement between agencies involved in TAS this protocol will support timely and effective resolution. This can be found on Professional Choices

Step up Step Down Policy This protocol describes the application of ‘Step Up’ and ‘Step Down’ mechanisms across Somerset to ensure a seamless journey for children, young people and their families through services. The term ‘Step Up’ and ‘Step Down’ is commonly used to describe children moving between levels of need and is used to describe the process by which a child’s needs change. This can be found on Professional Choices

Effective Support for Children and Families in Somerset – Thresholds for Assessment and Services

Guidance for all professionals working with Children & Young people in Somerset to how to refer for support and understanding thresholds for that support. This can be found on Professional Choices

Early Help Assessment Guide Guidance for completing an EHA for professionals. This can be found on Professional Choices

Professional Choices A Somerset professional’s share point with Who’s who directory, Virtual meeting rooms and access to the Early Help Assessment.

Somerset Choices A provider service directory of all social care services and providers across Somerset open to all This can be found on Professional Choices

PEVP Terms of reference

Terms of Reference for Area Panels - Excluded Vulnerable Pupils Sept 17-20 - yr2.doc