Welcome to the South West Regional Page
Ashley Ayre
South West regional chair
Update from the 2010/11 Annual Report
The South West Regional Group meets four times a year (including an annual residential two day conference) and has continued its work to streamline effective leadership and improvement across issues such as the five Every Child Matters outcomes, RIEP activity, roles and responsibilities and to maintain purposeful representation at local and national level.
The RIEP work has concentrated upon issues relating to the workforce, commissioning and (most importantly) safeguarding, as its three main priorities. All local authorities have contributed financially to the RIEP programme, and DCSs have engaged fully to ensure the best targeting of the resource available.
Safeguarding continues to be the top priority where Action Learning Sets have helped share best practice.
Directors continue to work closely with the South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL), and are pleased with the level of support (at an economic cost) to the South West’s schools in terms of broadband provision and e-safety.
Directors are also very mindful of the national and local financial climate and plans are in hand to meet the challenge of the budget 2011-2013.
Much work has been done with regard to workforce reform. Work is also progressing on a programme for Director of Children’s Services Succession Planning, developing second and third tier staff.
The annual residential conference will be held at the end of March and a packed agenda is planned to cover a wide range of national policy including the need to develop a new relationship with schools. Eleni Ioannides will also be working with South West DCSs on developments in sector-led improvement.