The Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel met to discuss complaints, performance monitoring, and the Wellbeing in Schools Hubs (WiSH) initiative. The panel reviewed the Complaints, Compliments and Representations Annual Report 2024-25, the Quarter 1 Performance Monitor 2025-2026, and received an update on the WiSH programme. No decisions were taken during the meeting, but recommendations may be made to the Executive based on the discussions.

Wellbeing in Schools Hubs (WiSH) Update

The panel received a presentation on the implementation, impact, and future direction of the Wellbeing in Schools Hubs (WiSH) initiative. The WiSH programme is an initiative designed to address reduced attendance in schools by providing support to children and families, particularly focusing on mental health challenges. The programme works in partnership with nine secondary schools in the borough:

• Royal Greenwich Trust School
• Plumstead Manor School
• Woolwich Polytechnic School for Girls
• Thomas Tallis School
• The John Roan School
• St Mary Magdalene School
• The Halley Academy
• Harris Academy Greenwich
• Leigh Academy Blackheath

The WiSH programme aims to work with over 100 children and their families for up to a year, using a whole family approach divided into three stages: relationship building, being alongside, and cheering on. Interventions are delivered using systemic and compassionate concepts.

Data from the first cohort of 76 pupils showed that:

• 76% were persistently absent¹ at the time of consent.
• 20% were severely absent.
• 88% had been previously open to Children's Social Care.

Mental health data, gathered using the Core 10 assessment tool², indicated that 60% of parents were experiencing mild psychological distress or worse, with poor sleep patterns and anxiety as presenting symptoms. For the children, two-thirds were suffering from mild psychological distress or worse, with similar symptoms along with an inability to cope when things go wrong and a feeling their problems are too much for them.

Attendance data headlines showed that, on average, attendance for the cohort was 76.2% in 2023-2024, dropping to 62.7% in September 2024 (the effective date of consent for WiSH), and then to 60% in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Analysis of the data indicated that WiSH is having more of an impact on girls, black and mixed-race pupils, and year 10 pupils, but a negligible impact on boys, white children, years 7 and 8 pupils, and pupils who are receiving SEN support.

The presentation also highlighted hypotheses about the data, including that attendance might be the last measure to shift and that the cohort may lack resilience. It was noted that using attendance as both a selection criterion and a performance measure may not be ideal, and that mental health measures may be more independent.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) for the programme include:

• Improvement in mental health and wellbeing measures in 80% of the children.
• Improvement in 'family functioning' in 80% of the children and families.
• Improvement in school attendance in 80% of the children.
• Following closure from WiSH, 80% of cases will not escalate to FaASS³ or statutory Children and Families' Social Care for at least 12 months.

A 'Proof of Concept' is being carried out to evaluate the work of WiSH so far, with findings scheduled to be published in late September 2025.

Quarter 1 Performance Monitor 2025-2026

The panel reviewed the Quarter 1 Performance Monitor 2025-2026, which focused on core Children's Services business. The monitor is framed around the following areas:

• Children achieve throughout their education
• Supporting children with special educational needs
• Missing education / at risk of falling out of education, employment and training
• Risk outside the home
• Children at risk, suffering harm or in our care

Key points from the report included:

• 97% of Greenwich schools are judged good or outstanding for leadership and management.
• Provisional key stage two results demonstrate that pupils in Greenwich schools continue to perform better than England averages.
• The volume of requests for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessment continue to average around 200 each quarter.
• 3,349 EHCP plans as at the end of Q1 reflects a 16% increase in the past 12 months.
• Suspension and permanent exclusion rates saw increases across the board at England and regional level for the academic year 2023-24.
• 17 young people entered the Youth Justice System in Q1 of the reporting year.
• There were proportionately more repeat child protection plans than the same period last year, however this is within the context of fewer plan starts overall.

Complaints, Compliments and Representations Annual Report 2024-25

The panel considered the Complaints, Compliments and Representations Annual Report 2024-25. The report provides an overview of the operation and effectiveness of the management of complaints and representations received by Royal Greenwich Children's Services.

A total of 359 representations were recorded from 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025, of which 251 were complaints or concerns. This represents 0.94% of those people receiving a service who were dissatisfied and raised a complaint, which is an increase of 0.1% compared with last year, but the same percentage as in 2022-23.

The report detailed the different types of complaints, including those under the Children Act 1989⁴ and corporate complaints, as well as compliments and other representations.

Key findings from the report included:

• Children and Families Social Care received 18 Stage 1 complaints, the lowest number in the last 10 years.
• The number of stage 1 corporate complaints received increased from 79 to 85.
• A total of 107 compliments were received in 2024/25.
• There was a 25% reduction in the number of complaints referred to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO) compared with the previous year.

The report also included information on equalities, detailing the ethnic breakdown of complainants and the gender of complainants.