Corporate Plan, Chapter 3: Our Corporate Priorities
A bright future for children and young people
Children and young people in Barnet have many opportunities to fulfil their potential. We have very good schools that consistently achieve excellent examination results. Along with our partners, we provide a wide range of other activities to give young people the opportunity to participate in sport, play, creative and other activities. We are committed to maintaining this success, while also addressing the needs of the minority of children and young people who do less well or face significant obstacles in their lives. Working in partnership, our targeted and specialist services provide support to children and their families, building their resilience to ensure children living in Barnet continue to gain the skills and qualifications that will help them succeed.
Our work is reflected in our three year partnership Children and Young People Plan. This sets out how the council and its partners will work to improve children’s health and well-being, ensure children are safe in Barnet; that they achieve the best possible results at school and college, and to give children the chance to make a positive contribution to their local communities. All this will help children and young people on the path to successful adult lives.
Objectives for 2008/9 and beyond
We have set six challenging objectives, to ensure a bright future for children and young people in the borough. These are:
- Ensure that every school is a good school for every child
- Improve the employability of our young people
- Ensure children are safe at home, safe at school and safe in the community
- Personalise services for children and young people in vulnerable groups
- Building resilience, supporting independence
- Help children and their families to make healthy choices.
Priority Improvement Initiatives
Every school a good school for every child
- Develop leadership capacity in schools and settings
- Challenge and support all schools and settings to aim for excellence
- Raise achievement by improving rates of progress
- Improve learning outcomes through cultural and recreational activities
- Improve primary attendance
- Improve school buildings.
Improving employability
- Broaden the range and level of qualifications for 14-19 year olds
- Improve school-based information, advice and guidance on training and employment
- Increase access to education, employment and training
- Increase opportunities for young people’s civic engagement.
Safe at home, safe at school, safe in the community
- Promote safeguarding as everybody’s business
- Minimise the risk to children of harm and neglect
- Promote positive behaviour at school and in the community
- Reduce the misuse of alcohol and other substances
- Publicise the range of opportunities for things to do, places to go
- Keep children and young people safe on the streets.
Personalising services for children and young people in vulnerable groups
- Improve educational outcomes for children and young people whose attainment is at risk
- Reduce the number of children in care through better prevention
- Reduce the number of children in care through more children moving into permanence
- Improve the health of children in care
- Improve the placement stability for children in care
- Personalise services for disabled children and young people
- Increase identification and support for young carers
- Improve the co-ordination of services around the needs of young offenders
- Improve the transition into adult services for young people in vulnerable groups.
Building resilience, supporting independence
- Improve emotional well-being and mental health of children and young people
- Reduce the impact of domestic violence on children and young people
- Equip people with skills to be good parents
- Identify and engage with families with early risk factors
- Increase take up of early education in deprived wards by assuring access, affordability and availability of provision
- Increase the range, scope and quality of extended services in and around schools.
Healthy choices for a healthy life
- Help schools to achieve ‘healthy schools’ status
- Increase children and young people’s participation in high quality PE and sport.
- The targets underpining these objectives can be found in the performance tables - A bright future for children and young people.