Tuesday 25 February 2025

A message from Sara

Welcome back. I hope you managed to take a break over half-term and feel recharged as we head into the second half of the academic year.

On the last day before the break, many of you joined our first Together summit, focusing on the Local First Inclusion programme. I was pleased to join Mark Vickers MBE, Independent Chair of the Local First Inclusion Executive Board, to talk about the importance of collaborative leadership and our shared vision for the system in Norfolk.

There were workshops throughout the day, on a range of subjects including transitions; relationship-based working between schools and our education professionals, and multi-agency support from health partners to support inclusion. I hope those who attended found it as useful as I did and will share the learning across their schools and zones.

On that subject, this half-term we roll out the next phase of our SEND and Inclusion Support Model with the next phase of Zone Inclusion Partnerships going live. You can read more on this below.

You might also have seen the First schools confirmed for landmark free breakfast clubs have been announced this week, with 12 of these in Norfolk. This is separate to the wraparound childcare pathfinder that we are delivering in partnership with the DfE but another positive step in supporting early childcare and education.

As we head into this new half-term, I also want to remind you that we're keen to hear your good news stories, so please do sure your achievements and innovations. You can email Jonathan.nice@norfolk.gov.uk.

Thanks

Sara Tough OBE

Executive Director of Children's Services
Norfolk County Council
Chair of the Children and Young People Strategic Alliance