Government Offices have an important role in helping the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) deliver its education strategy for the next five years and beyond. It focuses on giving children an excellent start in education, enabling young people to equip themselves with life and work skills, and encouraging adults to achieve their full potential through learning.
More information on the national picture
Our role:
- we work with local and regional organisations and partnerships such as local authorities, the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and the five Learning and Skills Councils in the South East to put Government policies - on skills and workforce development, for example - into practice
- we encourage organisations to work together to get the most from the resources available to them locally and work to ensure organisations share best practice
Our priorities are:
- educational achievement - focusing on priority localities for intervention in the region to help in the achievement of specific targets. We also work closely with Learning and Skills Councils and Local Authority Advisers on curriculum developments affecting 14-19 year olds
- behaviour and attendance - focusing on identifying and sharing good practice. We have also supported innovative approaches to improving attendance, such a multi-agency event targeting an individual school
- adult skills - focusing on support for Skills for Life (basic skills such as reading and numeracy) and working with partners such as SEEDA, Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Councils on the development of the South East Regional Skills for Productivity Alliance and its local partnerships. We are also supporting three South East 'Testbed Learning Communities' for people in deprived communities to stimulate greater involvement in learning
We play a role, too, in the broader 'Change for Children' agenda set out in the Department for Education and Skills’ 'Every Child Matters' paper. Further information is available on our Children and Young People section.
