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Dear Colleagues,
There are several developments in our Children and Young People’s Futures Directorate that I would like to share with you.
Stuart Collins, who has been our Director of Children and Young People’s Futures since September 2023, has been appointed to Corporate Director of Children, Young People and Education at Croydon Council. Croydon has the largest population of children in all the London borough councils and is about to embark upon a new Transformation Programme which Stuart will lead. This work is starting imminently so Stuart will be joining them from Monday 25 November 2024.
Stuart has led our improvement journey in Children’s Services for the last year. We thank Stuart for his leadership and direction and wish him all the best in his new role, which will also enable him to be based much closer to home.
Stuart said:
“I want to thank everyone in the Children’s Service for their diligence and enthusiasm to always put children first. I have worked with some outstanding leaders and practitioners – at every level of the organisation – and enjoyed learning and improving with you all. I want to thank Chief Executive, Donna Manson and the Strategic Leadership Team for their support, guidance and patience and Councillor Andrew Leadbetter and Councillor Lois Samuel for their challenge and support. Thank you all; Devon will forever hold a special place in my heart.”
Many of you will have previously worked with Julian Wooster, who was our Interim Director of Children’s Services from January 2023 to September 2023. Julian is returning to us with immediate effect to oversee our continued improvement journey in Children’s Services. He already knows both Devon County Council and our Children and Young People’s Futures Directorate well, enabling us to provide consistency and pace for our teams.
Julian has a wealth of experience as a highly respected Director, particularly for his technical abilities as a senior leader in Children’s Services. Prior to joining us in 2023, he was Director for Children’s Services at Somerset County Council where he steered the service from inadequate to good. He is also Chair of Northamptonshire Children’s Trust. Before joining Somerset, he was Director of Children’s Services at Portsmouth City Council and has worked as Deputy Director for Hillingdon and Wandsworth London Borough Councils.
Ofsted inspection update
You will be aware that we were inspected by Ofsted in October. As with any local authority currently in intervention we are in discussions with Ofsted regarding the outcome and this includes a period of enhanced quality assurance. We will share more with you when we are able.
Our Education and Learning Service
We are changing our approach to be more focused on inclusion and learning. To reflect this, the Education and Learning Service will now be known as the Inclusion and Learning Service.
Keri Denton, the County Council’s Director of Performance and Partnerships, will take the lead in overseeing Education and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the Safety Valve, and will join the Children’s Leadership Team.
The challenge we face in delivering the Safety Valve is one of our top organisational priorities and will be well placed being overseen by Keri. Clear links and connections already exist across the teams, with Keri’s Directorate’s work in relation to post 16 Education. To free up capacity, the Joint Trading Standards Service currently in Keri’s Directorate will revert to being part of the Public Health and Communities Directorate.
We are also delighted to announce that Kellie Knott, who has been leading SEND transformation for us on secondment from the Department for Education since July 2023, has now been permanently appointed to SEND Strategic Director.
Providing additional focus in this area, Phill Adams, who was most recently Service Manager for Employment, Skills and Learn Devon, has been seconded as SEND Improvement Assistant Director to lead the delivery of the Safety Valve.
Jack Newton has also joined us in an interim capacity to lead the development of our Inclusion and Learning Service. A senior leader with a background in the education and public service sector, Jack is an experienced executive head teacher including holding the position of Chair of the London Association of Headteacher Ambassadors for the Youth Sport Trust. He facilitated intensive school improvements as a Principle Challenge Advisor and was part of a Local Authority Improvement Board focused on improving the partnership between schools, early help and social care.
Jack is taking over from Ceri Morgan who finished his role as Interim Deputy Director of Education and Learning earlier this month. Ceri led work on our systems and partnerships, building on our ambition of delivering the best outcomes for our children and young people. We thank Ceri for his work on these priorities and wish him all the best for his next role.
We welcome these changes to our Children and Young People’s Futures Directorate and support colleagues in the delivery of our priorities as we continue to move forward with our journey of improvement.
Donna Manson, Chief Executive
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