Sharing Information

Working Together

Scottish Ministers have agreed that "in order to become confident individuals, effective contributors, successful learners and responsible citizens, all Scotland's children need to be: safe, nurtured, healthy, achieving, active, included, respected and responsible." As a consequence, the target that every school in Scotland would be an Integrated Community School, has been overtaken by the 'impact driven' target to ensure that every school is participating in the delivery of the Integrated Children's Services.

The relationship between the drivers for the planning of Integrated Children's Services, the National Priorities for Education, Orkney's Community and Corporate Plans and the Education Authority's Visions and Values have been plotted in the department's Service Improvement Plan.

The Quality Improvement Framework for Integrated Services for Children, Young People and their Families, Scottish Executive 2006, provides an approach to ensure that service provision is of good quality. By both definition and default, the Improvement Framework also articulates quite clearly the characteristics of good partnership working.

These characteristics are "consistency and coherence". Both are deemed to apply universally to a wide range of matters such as the language used to discuss issues amongst professionals, the processes used to identify and meet needs - integrated assessment framework and the perception of the service by the user, be it a child, their parent or carer or a young person.

Numerous relevant website links are available from the 'Related Sites' section of this page.

To successfully plan for consistency and coherence, the following questions need to be asked:

• What key outcomes have been achieved?
• What is the impact on children, young people, their families and the wider community?
• How good is the process of service delivery?
• How good is the management of the services?
• How good is the leadership of, and within, the services?
• What is the capacity of the services to improve?

Key, but not exclusive partners, in this process are:

School Based Partners

• Early Years worker or assistant.
• Class teachers.
• Auxiliaries, janitors, clerical and admin staff.
• Early intervention nursery nurses.
• Behaviour co-ordinators.
• Support for Learning teachers including those with specific responsibility e.g. behaviour or ASD.
• Support for Learning assistants.
• Home-school support workers.

Local Authority Based Partners

• Active Schools staff.
• Community Education.
• Community Safety Team.
• Outdoor Education staff.
• Papdale Halls of Residence staff team.
• The Educational Psychology Service.
• Pupil Support team including Home Link.
• Children and Families team.
• CAMHS team.

Other Partners

• Advocacy Orkney.
• Allied Health Professionals - Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy.
• Aurrida House.
• Book Start.
• Childcare Partnership.
• Children's Panel.
• Crossroads.
• Employability Orkney.
• Family Mediation.
• Health Promotion.
• Health Visitors.
• Home Start.
• Orkney Blide Trust.
• Orkney College.
• Orkney Disability Forum.
• Orkney First Training.
• Orkney Housing Association.
• Maternity Unit.
• Police.
• Pre-school Child Development Team.
• Salvation Army.
• School Nurses.
• Skills Development Scotland.
• Visiting NHS Specialists e.g. Audiology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics.
• Women's Aid.