Published: Tuesday, 15th August 2017

The three year plan makes sure that every child has a happy and fulfilled childhood.

The plan is from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Metropolitan Police, NHS Greenwich and Greenwich Safeguarding Children Board.

The strategy builds on the organisations' vision to ensure that all youngsters - regardless of their background or circumstances - learn, belong, grow and achieve.

Priorities

The plan, which was officially launched at Brookhill Children's Centre in Woolwich on Monday (14 August), has the following priorities:

  • Creating strong foundations for children from disadvantaged backgrounds
  • Supporting disadvantaged boys and supporting men
  • Promoting healthy relationships and tackling violence and exploitation
  • Supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities.

These aims will be our focus while we also continue our core work of keeping children safe and secure, building strong foundations and working with families to prevent difficulties from getting worse.

About the plan

The Greenwich Children and Young People Plan will be delivered over the next three years. We will begin by carrying out research to identify what would help make the biggest possible difference to children and families.

This will be followed by targeted support for each priority, including helping families to better understand what support and activities are available to them. We will then review and evaluate the outcome.

Councils have not been required to produce a plan since October 2010 but the Royal Borough of Greenwich has continued to do so to provide a focus for improving the lives of children and young people.

Achievements of previous plan

The previous plan has led to many achievements including:

  • Greenwich children rated top in England for their achievement during Early Years with 79 per cent achieving a good level of development in 2016
  • Children from disadvantaged backgrounds achieving a closer level of attainment to their peers (there was a 20 per cent point gap at Key Stage 4 in 2016 compared with a 28 per cent point gap nationally)
  • Looked after children achieving better grades than the national average (a quarter achieved A*-C grades in Maths and English in 2016 compared with the national average of 17.5 per cent)
  • More young people going on to higher education (52 per cent in 2016 compared with 30 per cent in 2013)
  • Fewer children needing to be in care.

'Help make a big difference'

Councillor Miranda Williams, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: "All children deserve the very best start in life and a childhood which is memorable for the right reasons. This plan builds on our previous work to tackle issues at their core by strengthening families and helping them overcome the barriers that some face.

"By working collaboratively we will help make a big difference to the lives of many children and young people. I am pleased that we also give youngsters a chance to have their say through the Greenwich Young People's Council which will be open for nominations early next month."

Read the Children and Young People Plan 2017 to 2020