Department for Education announce decommissioning of 'ContactPoint;

The Department for Education has written to Directors of Children’s Services, Chief Executives of ContactPoint and National Partners, informing them that the ContactPoint initiative will be decommissioned as of 6th August 2010. 

The letter follows on from a previous communication to the same group in June 2010

The letter, which is attached to this item:

• "sets out the Government’s proposal to develop an alternative, signposting approach, targeted at vulnerable children; and

• confirms the closure of ContactPoint, setting out the timetable for its shut down and decommissioning. This letter provides guidance for local authorities, National Partners and other partners about the activities that need to be undertaken over the next few weeks, and funding and other support available during this period.

 

Mick Brookes commented

"The NAHT supports the establishment of a simple system that can quickly inform the receiving school of migrant children when there are difficulties.
However the system designed by the previous administration threatened to bury us all under the heavy weight of administration and regulation.
It is therefore right to decommission, but we must ensure that an efficient system is in place to ensure that there is precise information about pupils in receiving schools at the time of admission."