Dorset Council praises Children's Services staff after 'Good' Ofsted inspection
Dorset Council say it's taken a major effort from Children Services staff to improve its Ofsted rating.
Dorset Council praising its Children's Services staff following a 'Good' rating from Ofsted in their latest inspection.
The rating is the result of hard work and organisational change according to Council bosses.
Before that, inspectors say the service didn't really do enough for children. A letter from Ofsted to parents reads:
"In October 2019, Ofsted inspectors came to Dorset. There were new people in charge, who were looking at what needed to be done to improve services for children. Before that, children really didn’t get a good enough service. Social workers were trying to do their best, but they had too much to do."
Councillor Andrew Parry is the Portfolio Holder for Children, Education, Skills and Early Help.
He told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"We've asked an awful lot of people, when you think about it, we went through the whole local government reorganisation that delivered Dorset Council.
"We then, inside the new council, set about Blueprint for Change which was a fundamental reorganisation of how Children's Services in Dorset operated, in order to come up with a model that we felt would be effective.
"That was put in place in 2019/2020 and on top of everything else we've had to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
"A huge amount of work has gone on in the last two to three years to deliver what is incredibly welcome news for us."
The report, published today by Ofsted confirms the overall effectiveness of Dorset Council Children’s Services are of a "good quality and are continuing to improve" and that the council has delivered “an impressive pace and effectiveness of change, in the context of a pandemic and Local Government Reorganisation in 2019.”
Andrew Parry added:
"Outstanding is very much the journey we want to be one and Ofsted were very kind to recognise that we offered outstanding leadership but I do recognise that we do need to see things such as a delivery of inclusion as the model for our schools across Dorset, and more inclusion hubs in our schools.
"We want to see greater delivery in supporting those children who may have complex needs or additional needs that need to be met."