Inspectors give seal of approval to services for children and young people

Waltham Forest’s Joint Area Review (JAR) inspection findings are that we are providing good services for children and young people and have good capacity to improve. The JAR is the major inspection of children services, and is conducted by Ofsted inspectors.

The Ofsted report shows how much we have to be proud of in Waltham Forest and commends the work that we do together to improve outcomes for our children and young people, particularly those who are vulnerable. Having emerged from an intensive inspection with such a positive outcome demonstrates the calibre and commitment of the staff that we are fortunate enough to have working in children and young people services, the council and its partners.

We will continue to strive for improvement, and will be taking action to address the areas for action identified in the JAR report.

Short summaries of the report are available for council staff, partners and children, young people and families.

» The full JAR report is available on Ofsted's web site.

What was the JAR?

The JAR was an inspection which took place between 27 May–6 June 2008. Inspectors came to Waltham Forest to look at how we have improved outcomes for Waltham Forest’s children and young people. Its results were a key influence on the Council’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) rating 2008.

What happened during the JAR?

The work included gathering evidence from children, young people, their parents and carers, front-line workers, senior managers, elected council members and the council’s partner agencies and organisations. The Inspectors also reviewed a significant amount of written information including case files, policies, procedures and strategies.

Which areas did the Inspectors look at?

The Inspectors looked at how services work together to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable children:

  • Children in need of safeguarding
  • Looked after children
  • Children with learning difficulties and disabilities
  • The quality of our service management, and
  • Our capacity to improve

They also examined two additional areas identified in the Annual Performance Assessment (APA) 2007:

  • The impact of the partners’ strategy on improving the provision of CAMHS
  • The impact of the partnership in addressing the needs and well-being of children and young people from black and minority ethnic groups

Was the JAR only important for the Council?

Definitely not. The JAR Inspectors looked at how people work together to improve outcomes for our children and young people. Interviews and focus groups included staff from Children and Young People Services, VTE&S Waltham Forest, schools and colleges, early years, youth support services, departments across the council and organisations such as the Police, Primary Care Trust and voluntary sector. Partnership working was a key focus in the JAR.

Final briefings on the JAR

We have prepared a number of briefings about our JAR result. You can download them below.

Our original JAR briefing pack

The JAR briefing pack included useful information about Children and Young People Services and partners, key information on the inspection lines of enquiry and useful tips for those who were involved in interviews, visits or focus groups.

» You can download the original Children and Young People Services JAR briefing pack (566KB PDF file).