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December Edition 2025

NEWSLETTER Where has the year gone? Can you believe it is Christmas again? Here in the Assurance of Quality and Improvement (AQaI) team, we have been busy with Themed Audits, Practice Reviews and ‘Special Projects’ and we are happy to let you know, you are all on Santa’s Nice List. On a serious note though, we recently had to review all open cases. This was not a ‘deep dive’ of every case, it was more of a ‘dip’ into every case, and we found not a single ‘inadequate’ case and, in fact, most were either ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. Obviously, there are some cases that will need extra work to bring them into line with other cases but we think our findings are worthy of a huge pat on the back for everyone because whilst you may feel this is aimed at the Family Support and Parenting Practitioners (FSPPs), no one in EIS works in isolation and it is due to the support of Intelligence and Operations (I&O), the Business Support Officers (BSOs), the Team Managers (TMs), the Children and Family Centre Support Officers and Support Workers (CFCSO/SWs), Creche Workers (CWs), and not forgetting, our Head of Service (HoS) whose vision we uphold, who combine to deliver the package of support and intervention to families. We are a Team and every compliment received by our HoS is a reflection on all of us.

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We feel it may be helpful to add a list of joiners and leavers to the newsletter. We are aware that everyone receives an email from Amanda B announcing new starters but this information is being included here as this, we hope, will be your ‘go to’ document if you need to remind yourself of anything. In the last, approximately, 6/9 months, we have said a big ‘hello’ to….. Wendy Murray, FSPP Patricia Oyewole , FSPP Sarah Scothern, FSPP Jordanne Frith, FSPP Barbra Wilson, FSPP Becky Hagues, FSPP Koko Douhoure, Early Years Practitioner Jamie Chin, Early Years Practitioner Aimee Nettleingham, Early Years Assistant Ghenwa Musa, Early Years Assistant Isha Lamptey, Early Years Assistant Nicola Finch, Early Years Assistant Zoe Jones, Early Years Assistant

Team Changes

The Big Picture

Hello all

Joanne Ransley, Creche Co-ordinator Anastasia Evryiaid, CFC Support Worker Nadine Richards, DWP Work Coach ‘Hello’ also to the Family First Team… Ibrahim Musah, Team Manager Ruth Osiguwa, Social Worker Eve Knowles, Social Worker Alexia Johnson, Senior Practitioner

In the last, approximately, 6/9 months, we have said ‘congratulations’ and ‘welcome back’ to….. Briege Bennett, promoted to Team Manager Jo Macdonald, promoted to Team Manager Kate Stride, promoted to Senior Business Support Officer Sunita Vaghela, BSO returned from secondment Tamara Dako, FSPP returned from maternity leave Debs Cole, returned on flexible retirement In the last, approximately, 6 months, we have said ‘farewell’ and ‘good luck’ to…... Rosie Langdon, Senior Business Support Officer Stefan Earl, Administrative Officer Charlie O’Malley, I&O Administrative Officer Megan Cox, FSPP on her 100 day Social Work placement and Sarahjane Dempsey, FSPP who will shortly be taking maternity leave

Updates and reminders to practice change

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The overall aim of the Families First Partnership Programme is to ‘transform the whole system of help, support and protection, to ensure that every family can access the right help and support when they need it, with a strong emphasis on early intervention to prevent crisis.’ (Gov.uk. The Families First Partnership Programme Guide, March 2025). The pilot is due to run for 6 months and, if successful, will be rolled out across the borough.

As you are aware, the Families First Programme is being piloted in Community Vision and started on 20th October 2025. The CV TM and FSPPs are working in a very different way from other FSPP Teams and the past 6 weeks or so have been a steep learning curve for them all. Please be mindful of this when you are in discussion/in meetings with them.

04 Personal Improvement Plans (PIPs) Rachel has always been a great advocate of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and whilst recognising that the Local Authority has financial limits to consider, Rachel is always open to consider additional training proposals. However, it is important that we remember a couple of things: 1.The training must be relevant to the role and discussed first with your Line Manager 2.Line Manager to bring training proposal to Rachel 3.All training and CPD must be added to your PIP which you should refresh throughout the year 4.Staff should not be released for training until the proposal has been approved

Family Group Information 05 It is really important that we have complete and accurate family records on EISi and this task is generally done at the start of an intervention. Please remember to check all the registration details of a family, including GDPR is in place. The ‘Initial Meeting Form’ is currently under review and will be launched by the end of January. This form will be called ‘Initial Contact’ and will ensure that we obtain all the basic information we need on a family at the start of an intervention. The TMs are all aware of the review and a number of FSPPs have already been consulted about it.

06 Compliments We mentioned this in our February 2025 Newsletter but felt a timely reminder was necessary. We know from looking at the 15 week evaluations, that parents are delighted with the service they receive in Early Intervention and Rachel loves to hear about it – it brings a little bit of sunshine to her day. Please, if you receive any comments from a family, including a thank you card or letter, please pass the information to your TM who will pass it to Rachel.

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TMs to remember to send the compliment to the EIFS.feedback@bromley.gov.uk email box.

Research Keeping Children Safe

Jim Gamble (Independent Chairman of Bromley Safeguarding Children Board) is an expert in child protection; he lives and breathes children’s safety. He acknowledges ‘the internet is important for information and communication but stresses it also exposes children to potential dangers such as cyberbullying, online predators and inappropriate content’ (Keeping Children Safe). Jim’s advice, which we need to be aware of, is to: Ensure parents speak with their children to find out which sites they visit. Parents need to talk openly and honestly so the child has someone to share worries or concerns. If a child makes an error and shares something they regret, it is not the end of the world as there is, for example, technology to hide pictures. Parents should stay calm, don’t judge and don’t blame. Parents need to ‘parent’ online activity as offline activity. This means parents need to state where they can use the internet, for how long, which games etc. He also suggests children need to learn the old adage of ‘if it feels too good to be true, then it probably is’. For Jim, the most important thing to remember is the child’s mental health and wellbeing. The Digital Safety webinar reinforces this message and is a programme which should be mentioned to all parents as we are in an age where children can so easily be targeted for abuse and bullying.

Big Changes Coming to 08 Ofsted Inspections Starting April 2026, Ofsted will remove the single word (i.e. Inadequate, Requires Improvement, Good, Outstanding) “overall effectiveness” judgement from children’s services inspections. This is being done because professionals have told them it oversimplifies the complex work involved in supporting children and families. This is part of a major overhaul of the Inspection of Local Authorities’ Children Services (ILACS) framework to better reflect social care reforms, including the shift towards Family Help, Early Intervention, and keeping families safely together. What’s new? Inspections will focus on how well councils help children stay safe and thrive in loving homes. Inspectors will receive extra training and guidance from a new advisory group of experts and sector reps. A consultation with children, practitioners, and local leaders will launch in 2026 to shape a refreshed framework for 2027.

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Sir Martyn Oliver calls this “a significant first step” toward making inspections fairer and more meaningful. More details on the consultation will be published next year. (Ofsted to remove headline judgement from children’s services inspections from 2026 | Social Work Today, 03.12.2025)

09 Family Court Reform - Prioritising Child Safety Over Parental Presumption

The UK government is set to repeal a key provision in the Children Act 1989 that presumes contact with both parents is always in a child’s best interest. This move follows evidence that assuming contact with both parents is always in a child's best interest can, in some cases, enable abuse. The change is a result of long-standing campaigns by Women’s Aid and advocate Claire Throssell, whose two sons were tragically killed by their abusive father in 2014. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Justice Minister Baroness Levitt KC emphasised that a child’s safety and wellbeing must be paramount. The reforms will also include restricting parental responsibility for individuals convicted of serious child sexual offences or in cases involving children born of rape. Women’s Aid welcomed the decision as a crucial first step but called for further reforms to address the “pro-contact culture” in family courts. The government plans to implement these changes as part of broader family court reforms, with further details to follow.

So...What’s New? Courts will no longer be bound by the presumption of parental involvement and will place children’s safety and wellbeing above automatic parental rights. Judges will have clearer authority to restrict contact where a parent poses a risk. Additional measures will limit parental responsibility for those convicted of serious sexual offences or in cases involving children born from rape. (Government to repeal parental involvement presumption to strengthen child protection, Social Work Today, 22.10.2025) There is no published timescale for the implementation of these measures but they are being taken forward in current family court reform proposals. Anyone interested in finding out more about this should look at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/presumption-of-parentalinvolvement-review

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There have been cases over the years where parents have outlined their growing concerns about children having contact with an estranged partner. This gives us the opportunity to have a different narrative when engaging with parents in these situations.

10 Rising Needs in Early Years Children An independent Local Government Area (LGA) report warns of rising and increasingly complex needs among under 5s, especially in communication and interaction. Contributing factors include poverty, family stress, neurodivergence and pandemic impacts. Better funding, more specialist provision and a national workforce strategy have all been suggested to improve the situation. More interestingly for us, is the Department for Education shows a growth in Education & Health Care Plans (EHCP) for under 5s which now overtakes older cohorts with ages 4 and 5 years most common for new plans. The LGA has urged the government to prioritise early years, stressing that early intervention is critical for children’s development and outcomes. (Rising Needs in Early Years Children seen by councils and Practitioners, Social Work Today, 03.12.2025) This obviously has implications for the work of Early Intervention and our Creche Team work tirelessly to ensure that children in the creches are spoken to, sung to and are helped to learn how to share and play nicely with everyone. Where we work with a family who has an under 5, we should encourage them to join in with creche activities – either with the parent or without, because this is an excellent and invaluable service.

Thank you for the work you do and your support of EIS. We wish you a happy and restful Christmas.

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Bern & Gill x