Wokingham Council's Children's Services Celebrated for Improvement

Wokingham Borough Council has transformed its childrens services after a "long history of under-performance", following its first Ofsted inspection in three years.

Ofsted said the authority had "largely succeeded" in turning services around. The experiences and progress of children in care were rated outstanding. Services for children needing help and protection and the impact of council leaders were rated good, but support for young people leaving care still requires improvement.

Director of childrens services Emma Cockerell said inspectors found nothing the council was not already working to address.

This is a big change since the full inspection in March 2023, when Ofsted judged overall effectiveness as requiring improvement and found support quality was "too variable" with delays in assessments, inconsistent management oversight and weaknesses in child protection planning.

The councils improvement work began under interim director Helen Watson. Emma Cockerell became permanent director in April 2024, joining from the London Borough of Newham.

Inspectors said children in care now feel "listened to", "celebrated" and "valued".

"Practitioners become incredibly animated when talking about children,"

"They know the children exceptionally well, and the sense of pride and joy they express about children can be felt and seen."

Wokinghams virtual school was described as "highly effective", with attendance and academic performance improving. Child protection was called a "clear strength", including work on domestic abuse, physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse.

However, inspectors found the experience of care leavers remains variable. Staffing instability in the small care leavers service meant some young people had repeated changes of personal adviser, irregular contact and no support around stressful life events. Some appeared to have "lost faith" in the service.

Ms Cockerell told councillors the care leavers team was the "key area" for development. She said there was a real focus on stabilising the team, recruiting more staff and increasing its size.

The council will share an action plan with Ofsted. Inspectors said the authority must increase capacity in the care leavers service, ensure visits reflect individual needs and involve young people in decisions to step back from support.

Despite remaining weaknesses, inspectors said stable leadership, investment and an increasingly permanent workforce had helped improve services. Most children in Wokingham now receive a strong service, marking a significant turnaround from three years ago.

Katie French, Local Democracy Reporter