Child-friendly Islington

We and our partners will put in place the building blocks for our children and families to build resilience. Our children will start well from conception, thrive by five, and develop and progress to adulthood well to be ready for life by 21 in safe, healthy, nurturing families. We will develop a child-friendly borough for our children to live and grow up in.

We will do this by working with partners and communities to design and deliver approaches that equip our children and families with the tools they need to grow. We will make sure the way we design and deliver services gives support to those who need it the most and in doing so, tackles inequality.

What Islington will feel like for residents

• Children will feel safe in the community, will keep physically active and eat healthily, which will all promote good mental health.
• Every child, including the most disadvantaged and whatever their background or ability, will have the same opportunities and ambitions beginning in early years to reach their educational potential in a good Islington school.
• All children and young people who attend our education settings will be well-equipped and empowered with the necessary learning and skills for life for their future in the world of work.
• Children, adolescents, and young people are kept safe across Islington through effective safeguarding, including preventative and violence reduction arrangements which respond to both familial and extra-familial harm. There will also be a focus on early identification and escalation of concerns.
• Young adults, particularly those we are corporate parents for and those with disabilities, transition well to and/or live healthy, independent, and fulfilled lives with strong networks.

What we are doing to get there

Read the full strategy for more on what we are doing, but this includes:

• making Islington a child-friendly place to live and grow
• putting children first with an inclusive and sustainable education system
• supporting families through an enhanced family help offer
• supporting progression to adulthood.

Here are some of the programmes we've launched to help us get there. 

Family Hubs and Start for Life

We will join up and enhance services delivered through Family Hubs, ensuring all parents and carers can access the support they need when they need it. We will move to a family hub model, improve the universal Start for Life offer and transform family help and support around families with children aged 0–19 (25 for those with SEND).

Child-friendly place

Together with other organisations in Islington, we will put in place the characteristics and framework to create a child and youth friendly Islington where the voices, needs, priorities and the rights of children play an integral part in public policies and programmes, as well as being involved in the decision-making process.

Progression to adulthood

We will develop an integrated system that ensures the best experience through transition to adulthood, and empowers young people to become independent, self-reliant, confident, and ready for life and the world of work. We will embed lifelong corporate parenting and redesign integrated support for adolescents with multiple/complex needs.

Education Plan

We will implement our Education Plan to:

• make sure all our pupils' exam results are in the top 25 per cent in London
• create a sense of belonging so that every pupil wants to and does attend school
• ensure we have a good local school place for all children
• work in partnership with schools and settings so that we make the best use of good practice and do more of it
• use our data to target support to children and young people who are not doing as well as they should
• be certain no child feels discriminated against in any school or setting
• increase the number of two-year-olds in free early education
• reduce the number of suspensions and permanent exclusions from school
• make sure every young person has the option of going on to further education, an apprenticeship, or work when they leave school
• ensure we take full advantage of Islington’s unique access to digital, cultural and music organisations
• get every child any extra support they need quickly.