Ofsted welcomes regulation of supported accommodation
Ofsted has welcomed the government’s plans to introduce national standards for supported accommodation for young people.
In a letter to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, Ofsted’s chief inspector Amanda Spielman said the regulator would be “very happy” to develop and implement a new system of regulation and inspection in line with the timeframe that is set [...]
Innovative mental health service hailed a ‘game changer’
Psychologists have hailed an award-winning mental health service based at Great Ormond Street Hospital as a “game changer”.
The Lucy Booth drop-in centre based in the reception of Great Ormond Street Hospital allows children and their parents to self-refer to it at the point of need, talk about their mental health needs, be assessed, receive [...]
Threefold increase in online sexual imagery of 7-10 year olds in 2021
Younger children are being targeted online for sexual abuse “on an industrial scale” by internet groomers, the Internet Watch Foundation has warned.
There was a three-fold increase in imagery showing 7–10-year-olds who have been targeted and groomed by internet predators in 2021, the charity warns as it outlines that more reports were investigated in 2021 [...]
Reform of children’s social care needed as current system “not good enough”
The current children’s social care system is “not good enough” and needs the reform currently being undertaken in the independent review of children’s social care, the children’s commissioner for England has warned.
In a meeting on residential care and answering a question on how the children’s care system should deal with money being diverted from [...]
Study links child poverty to entry in care system
Rising rates of child poverty are resulting in more children entering the care system, according to a new study.
The research, carried out by academics from Liverpool and Huddersfield universities, found that between 2015 and 2020, a 1% increase in child poverty rates was associated with an additional 5 children entering care per 100,000 in [...]
Ofsted to register and inspect unregulated accommodation as government renames provision
The government has introduced national minimum standards and Ofsted-led registration and inspection for providers of unregulated accommodation for looked after children and care leavers in a bid to drive up standards.
The Department for Education has also announced that it will no longer use the term “unregulated”, deeming it unhelpful and carrying “negative connotations even [...]
