09/11/2011 - Permalink

Shropshire’s children’s services praised by Government inspectors

Related topics: Community

The quality of services provided to children in Shropshire has been given a clean bill of health by Government inspectors. 

Government watchdog, Ofsted, has given Shropshire Council’s children’s services a rating of three out four in its annual assessment, which means the services are “performing well”. 

The report says: “The large majority of services, settings and institutions inspected by Ofsted are good or better overall, and provision helps children and young people to learn and stay safe.”

A number of strengths were highlighted by inspectors, including: 

  • The large majority of childminders and the very large majority of day care providers are good or better – with small improvements on last year.
  • For children under the age of five, the large majority of nurseries and primary schools continue to be good or better, with no facilities judged as inadequate.
  • The large majority of secondary schools are good or better.
  • Fostering and adoption services have improved, with five out of six services being good or better.
  • All three children’s homes run by Shropshire Council continue to be good. 

The areas for further improvement highlighted by the inspectors’ report included increasing the proportion of primary schools that are good or better, improving consistency in the quality of post-16 education, and working to narrow the achievement gap between children from low-income families and their contemporaries. 

Councillor Aggie Caesar-Homden, Cabinet member for education and skills, said:

“We are pleased with the outcome of the inspection, as it reaffirms our belief that children in Shropshire receive good-quality education and support.  We are not resting, however, as there are always areas where we can improve, and we will continue to work hard to ensure our services are as good as they can possibly be.”

Councillor Ann Hartley, Cabinet member for health and well-being, added:

“This report confirms that we are consistently providing our looked-after children with a stable and secure environment.  We are also working well with partners to ensure joined-up working for the good of the children and young people in Shropshire.  I would like to say a big thank you to the staff for their hard work and dedication.”