Sheffield’s Children’s Services have been rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted in their first grading since 2019.
Alongside this overall rating, Sheffield also received its first ever ‘outstanding’ rating for the “experience and progress of children in care”, says Sheffield Council. The inspection took into account several different factors, including the impact of leaders on social work, the experiences and progress of children and the experience of care leavers.
The council says the Children’s Services are making a “tangible and positive” impact on the lives of families in the city.
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Councillor Dawn Dale, Committee Chair for Education, Children and Families at Sheffield City Council, said: “This is the most welcome news for us, and I congratulate everyone who had a part to play in this achievement.
“We are delighted to be recognised for the outstanding work that we do with children in care. The Ofsted report highlights the strength of our leadership team in Education, Children and Families and our child-focused, stable, consistent, and skilled workforce. It’s an incredible achievement and I particularly thank the professionals who work to achieve high standards of service for our children and young people.”
“Our Children’s Services are supported with cross party support and this inspection recognised the high aspirations of political leaders and officers across the council to make sure that every child and young person from Sheffield has a strong sense of belonging and excellent experiences.”
Ofsted also released a letter saying that the service had “improved” since the last inspection. They also praised the council for hearing the views of children in care, a well as care leavers, to inform development.
The inspectors said the services had been improved by the “impressive Youth Voice and Influence Service workers” who are young people with care experience. They work to influence senior leaders and to hold the Children’s Services to account.
Ofsted said: “Services for children and families in Sheffield have improved since the previous inspection in 2019. Services for children in need of help and protection are now good, the experiences of children in care are now outstanding and services for care leavers are good. Senior leaders know what else they need to do to make sure that services for all children and young people continue to get even better.
“There are lots of great services in Sheffield that help children when difficulties arise. This means when families have small problems, they get help quickly so that they do not become big ones. This means that more children can continue to live safely and happily at home with their families.
“When children are at risk of serious harm, social workers act very quickly to make sure they are kept as safe as possible.”
Councillor Dale then added: “I am confident that we will continue to improve until all our services provide an outstanding service for children and families in the city. We are determined to do this and it’s reassuring for us to know we will be doing that based on this positive, well-received Ofsted outcome.”
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