Walsall Council Project Description

I developed, with the help of Walsall Council's statistician, a standard target setting spreadsheet to assist in the setting of targets across 150 Children's Services targets. The spreadsheet analysed Walsall's performance with respect to geographical nearest neighbours and statistical nearest neighbours and graphically presented the most appropriate target choice.
Children's services targets are often structured as SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound)—focus on family welfare, safety, education, and development.

Examples of targets across different areas of children's services include

Neglect & Family Support

• Routines & Home Conditions: Parents will establish a structured morning and evening routine for school-aged children, verified through weekly home support visits over a 6-week period.
• School Attendance: The child’s school attendance will increase from its current rate to at least 95% over the next academic term.
• Health & Medical Care: The parent will complete an asthma treatment review with the GP and ensure medication is administered as prescribed daily.

Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH)

• Emotional Regulation: The child will be able to name at least 5 facial expressions (happy, sad, worried, safe, kind) and describe what they mean during weekly check-ins.
• Transition & Separation: The child will separate from their carer within 10 minutes upon arrival at school or nursery in the morning, 4 out of 5 days a week.
• Physical Wellbeing: The child will participate in structured physical exercise to build stamina, aiming to run or stay active for 30 minutes without stopping.

Extra-Familial Risk & Safety

• Engagement & Mentoring: The young person will attend weekly mentoring sessions with an intervention service (such as St Giles or a local youth project) for 3 consecutive months.
• Curfew & Agreements: The family will consistently adhere to an agreed evening curfew and update guardians if plans change.

Speech, Language, and Communication

• Adult-Led Activity: The child will engage in an adult-led communication or play activity for more than 5 minutes in a 1-to-1 setting, using verbal or visual prompting as needed.