Policy to Pavement: ensuring the best start for Scotland's Children

This seminar is targeted at a multidisciplinary audience and will report on collaboration between the Early Years team at Education Scotland and the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in Glasgow. The presentation will demonstrate the inter-relationship of key policy documents, including the Early Years Framework and Curriculum for Excellence and how all professionals should be working together to ensure the best start for Scotland's children. Key messages for all professionals will include:

• Responsibility for Child Protection at an individual / service /organisation level

• Emphasis on collaboration and also real outcomes for children and families.

The presentation takes forward the work of VRU on ‘David’s Story’ which features in Scottish Government’s Early Years Framework. This original case study highlighted a downward spiral from poor parenting and family environment into disengagement, youth crime, substance abuse and eventually murder.

‘David’ has now had a son therefore the aim for the new resource is to demonstrate the impact of current Scottish Government policies and initiatives and how they can impact on vulnerable children. In other words, moving from Born to Fail to Born to Flourish.

Jacqué Fee, Development Officer, Early Years, Education Scotland

Jacqué Fee currently works for Education Scotland where a significant piece of work in the Early Years team has been revising the national Pre-Birth to Three guidance, including the supporting leaflet for parents.

Her previous post was as a Course Director for BAs in Education and Social Services and Childhood Practice. She has also been the senior researcher in various action-research projects involving children, families and communities.

Jacqué is particularly interested in the issue of service integration at different levels breaking down professional barriers and effecting new ways of working; most recently evidenced in the functional analysis of the childcare workforce for the Scottish Government.

Recent publications include: Henry, Jacqueline and Fee, Jacqué (2010) 'Multi-agency working in the early years: challenges and opportunities', European Journal of Teacher Education, 33: 3, 326 — 329 Dunlop, A-W., Seagraves, L., Fee, J., Henderson, S., Henry,J. and Martlew, J (2010) Policy Based Functional Analysis of the Children's Workforce. Edinburgh: Scottish Government (Children and Young People Social Care Directorate, Workforce and Capacity Issues Division)

Additional speaker: John Carnochan, Detective Chief Superintendent, Violence Reduction Unit