Minutes:
The Head of Children’s Social Care introduced this month’s proud moments by reminding the Panel that Luke is an ambassador for the Children’s Commissioner for England. As part of his role, Luke took part in a podcast in which he gave a candid interview about being a care leaver and he shared his thoughts on initiatives to support and nurture young people. Members were encouraged to view the full interview which is available on the Children’s Commissioner’s website. The Head of Children’s Social Care commented that the podcast illustrated why Luke is such an excellent ambassador and she added that Durham is proud that Luke is engaged in the national agenda. The link to the podcast was circulated to Panel members:
The Head of Children’s Social Care explained that the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Panel had established a regional Corporate Parenting Chairs’ and Vice-Chairs’ network, to share good practice between local authorities in the north east. At the most recent meeting, a film was shown of Billie-Leigh presenting her ‘Megaphone’ poem at the Council meeting. Those in attendance at the meeting had been so impressed by the beauty of the poem that they had asked that their thanks be conveyed to Billie-Leigh.
Rachel Harris, Service Improvement Manager, concluded the proud moments by thanking the young people for the positive comments they made at the recent Ofsted visit. The Service Improvement Manager informed the Panel that the inspectors met with a group of young people and the young people agreed that staff could observe the meeting. A particularly proud moment came for the staff when the inspectors asked the young people whether they had heard of, or, were involved in, the Corporate Parenting Panel. The positivity and enthusiasm displayed by the young people when answering the question was overwhelming for the staff to hear and the Service Improvement Manager thanked the young people for their kind words.