Tam's diary

Dundee visit. Maire and I visited St John’s High School, Dundee. We met with the head teacher, Fiona McLagan, and were introduced to three pupils from the additional support unit within the school, which we then visited. We later met with a group of 12 senior members of the school and discussed a RIGHT blether with them. We heard some interesting insights about the issues that most concerned this group – particularly around adult perceptions of young people. Maire and I later met with Michael Wood (Director of Education) and Alan Baird (Director of Social Work) and discussed in detail the work streams from a right blether - Michael said he would be interested in following up on the education agenda.  We also had the opportunity to discuss the potential impact of legislation, particularly around any potential proposals within the Children’s Services Bill and what lessons can be learned from developments in the adult care field.

I met with the new Minister for Children and Young People, Aileen Campbell. The meeting was attended by Scottish Government officials, Elizabeth Campbell and Scott Wood, along with me, Katie and Maire. I am pleased that the Minister prioritised this meeting, which was an introduction to the work of the office, and I expect to follow up with more detailed topic-based meetings. It is worth noting that the Minister has since visited Wales to receive an update on the development of the Measure on the UNCRC.

Katie and I attended the formal opening of the new Scottish Youth Parliament offices. This was a useful networking meeting and a chance to catch up on interesting developments at SYP – including the fact that 84,000 votes were polled in the election of their members.

I met with Bill Ellis, Scottish Government. Bill and I discussed the measurement of outcomes for children and young people as part of the GIRFEC  Programme Board.

I attended the Early Years Taskforce meeting.  This group has responsibility for providing added impetus to the implementation of the Early Years Framework. I am encouraged by the measured approach adopted towards culture change and the willingness to be more specific on what should be included and developed in early years services at a local level.  However, the current change fund requires guidance at this stage and I hope that we do not repeat previous mistakes of having a change fund with a weak vision as to what it is expected to achieve.

I met with Belinda Greer, (Head of Education, Stirling  and Clackmannanshire Councils) and two members of the senior amalgamated management team.  This provided an opportunity to outline the blether results and the work resulting from them.  I visited St Mary’s Episcopal Primary School in Dunblane where the children performed a nativity play, after which I gave a short address to the audience of at least 75 pupils and a similar number of parents/carers, and I later met with the staff.

I met with Joe Morrow, President of the Mental Health Tribunal and President of the Additional Support for Learning Tribunal. In his capacity as President of the ASL Tribunal, Joe talked about his concerns with regard to the views of children being fully taken into account and also the lack of a right of appeal for young people within the process. In his role as President of the Mental Health Tribunal, he expressed concerns with regard to children’s lack of engagement in the appeal process and his view that there needs to be a more specific response to their engagement. He also informed of proposals to amalgamate up to five Tribunals into one in Scotland (the proposals have not yet been finalised) and his general concerns around the voice of the child being further lost in the process. It was helpful to have advance notice of all of these issues although no specific action on my part was required at present. I visited the Lothian Family Nurse Partnership, based in Craigmillar. This was my second visit to the unit and it was a pleasure to share views with them on the approach to early years and the important role that can be played by FNP as a targeted service within the overall universal early years services. It was encouraging to hear about the development of the work and the low attrition rates with the young mothers with whom they work. There was also an interesting discussion about the importance of basic cookery skills. I expect to maintain periodic contact with the staff at this unit.

I spoke at the Capita conference, Early Intervention for Vulnerable Families in Scotland. I choose to focus on the critical position for health visitors, using evidence from GPs in Greater Glasgow Health Board, and I added my own take on the need for increased use of health visiting to be given priority in the development of the implementation of the Early Years Framework. I received strong supportive feedback and I expect to develop this line in the coming months.

I met with Alan Sinclair, who is developing an analysis of necessary changes to our approach to early years, based on his recent visits to Holland and Finland.

A day totally disrupted by stormy weather with numerous meetings and events cancelled.

I chaired the Hannah Mackay conference, Strengthening Child Protection in Scotland.  This was attended by 70 delegates and there were some interesting inputs.  I had the opportunity to attend a presentation on domestic abuse in Blackpool, where multi-agency assessment conferences (MARAC) have been developed over a long period of time.

I attended the GIRFEC  Programme Board meeting.  This group is considering options for legislation.  The main proposals at this stage, in line with the principles of GIRFEC, are around having a named person and lead professional for children.  There seems to be agreement on this but the proposals on information sharing are more contentious.  Further thought is to be given to this area.

I visited Greenfaulds High School, Cumbernauld.  This visit was by invite of Carole Ewart who, along with one of the teachers, had put together four workshops on various aspects of rights.  I spoke to four groups of young people – 80 in total – informing them of my role and the work of the office.  The event was introduced by Jamie Hepburn MSP.

I visited Colquhoun Park Primary after-school care, in Bearsden, managed by the YMCA.   I spoke to six primary aged children who had been doing some work on children’s rights, informed them about my role and took some questions.

I met with journalist Julia Horton to give an interview to the Times Educational Supplement Scotland, due to be published on 9th December.

I met with representatives of a group of health practitioners and clinicians known as Maintaining Universal Child Health (MUCH).  They are particularly concerned with the number of children with additional needs who are not receiving health services.  Their view is that there is a need to develop health visiting services to better respond to universal health needs of children. I expect to meet with this group in the New Year.

I chaired the Incorporation Working Group. The group is attended by Scottish Government and provides the opportunity to exchange views as the process of development of the proposed Rights of Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill unfolds.

I attended the launch of the Voice Against Violence legacy film.  This is a call for numerous actions as a better response to the position of children and young people affected by domestic abuse.  I was part of a Q&A along with Nicola Sturgeon (Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing) and Harry McGuigan (COSLA spokesperson) and it provided an opportunity to link the event with this area of work from a RIGHT blether.

Midlothian visit – Chris and I met with Donald Mackay (Director of Education and Children’s Services) and Colin Anderson (Director of Communities and Well-being). I provided details of the RIGHT blether results and work areas.  Donald accompanied us as we visited Stobhill Primary and Nursery School.  The nursery visit involved a session with the children, who excitedly showed the work they had done to produce their ‘wee book about me’.  We then met with a group of 20 pupils from the school council which developed into a Q&A about the role of the Commissioner.

Stefan and I attended the launch of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission report on trafficking, from the inquiry chaired by Baroness Kennedy.  The event was attended by Kenny MacAskill (Cabinet Secretary for Justice) and it is anticipated that we can link with ECHR to press the case for action on trafficking (including child trafficking) in Scotland.

I provided the opening address at the launch of the Mental Health Indicators for Children and Young People.  This audience for the event was mixed, with a large health contingent. I believe the indicators are very significant and if we can develop them along the lines proposed, they will put Scotland at the leading edge in this field.

Cathy and I attended a GLOW meet at Broxburn Primary and Nursery School. The meet involved at least 15 children and was joined by 10 sites from around Scotland. This was another engaging session and confirmation that a RIGHT wee blether has captured people’s imaginations. I chaired the Domestic Abuse working group which is progressing well in identifying the key areas for the future work plan on this issue.

Stefan and I attended the Scottish Children’s Rights Implementation Monitoring group (SCRIM).  The meeting agreed to a more focussed approach on the issues linked to implementation and changes to the running of the group which reflect this change.

Maire, Katie and I met with Robert Nicol and Kathy Cameron (both COSLA) to discuss and share views on the Rights of Children and Young People and discuss proposals for further engagement with COSLA groups and Committees.

I attended a Save the Children event which focused on giving young people the opportunity to consider how they could campaign on issues of child poverty.

Aberdeenshire visit. Pauline and I met with Maria Walker (Director of Education, Learning and Leisure) and Ritchie Johnson (Director of Housing and Social Work) and Heather Hamilton.  This was an opportunity to outline a RIGHT blether and work areas.  There was some limited discussion around the proposed legislation from Scottish Government.  We moved on to Portlethen Academy to meet with 12 members of the school council and observe a session assisting pupils reflect on their work experiences as part of S3/4 activity.  Finally, we visited Westhill Academy, where we met school-based youth workers and I addressed 25 members of the School Council.  I informed them of a RIGHT blether and the results and it developed into a Q&A on my role, as well as a discussion on the role of the School Council.  They used a whiteboard link to the website, which may be worth developing in terms of work within schools.