Members of the Isle of Wight Children’s Trust have come together to outline the successes and areas for improvement over the last year. The second annual Children’s Trust Planning Day was held at Northwood House in Cowes on 13th November.

More than 100 people attended the day, which included representatives from IW Council, police, health services, the voluntary sector and parent groups. It was also held in partnership with the IW Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and the IW Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership.

The Children’s Trust is a partnership of local agencies and organisations from the public and voluntary sector that work together to meet the needs of children, families and young people.

During the day, two young people, by using DVDs, enthusiastically described their experiences of using services.

Isle of Wight Council Children’s Trust Coordinator Kate Freeman said

“The day was a great success with visitors gaining further knowledge about the needs of young people on the Island and how the Children’s Trust can help meet those needs.

“It was also a day to celebrate the successes over the last year ,which included reducing the number of exclusions from schools and seeing fewer  children leaving school without a qualification.

“The Trust has a clear vision of where improvements can be made, such as narrowing the gap between children with special educational needs and those without, and members of the Trust are dedicated to making sure these goals are realised”.

Sue Wadsworth, Independent Chair of the Children’s Trust said

“It was a wonderful opportunity for everyone working with and for children and young people, together with families themselves, to come together to plan for the future”