Photo by Andy Newbold

Service for the Judiciary

One of the highlights of the Shrieval calendar – the county Service for the Judiciary – was held at Guildford Cathedral for the first time this year.

The historic occasion was an opportunity to recognise the efforts of those in Surrey who worked tirelessly to uphold the Queen’s Peace throughout an extraordinarily difficult year. It also recognised the voluntary and community organisations who work with families who become involved in the criminal justice system and the emergency services who supported those in need.

A video of the full Service for the Judiciary is available on the Guildford Cathedral YouTube channel.

Among the highlights of the service were the Procession of Voluntary Organisations and the Civic and High Sheriff’s Processions.

Then the Conversation between the High Sheriff’s Cadet, Fin Wells, and His Honour Judge Robert Fraser MVO DL, Resident Judge and Hon. Recorder of Guildford and the Chief Constable, revealed the reasons behind offending by young people.

His Honour said the root causes and contributors included “things like school exclusion – that’s an area the High Sheriff is firmly focused on – homelessness, unemployment, mental health problems and domestic abuse”.

Afterwards, the Chief Constable asked Dr Llewelyn to reaffirm the Shrieval promise she made at the start of her year of office. She then invited the judges and magistrates to continue their faithful service to uphold the law for the good of all.

Towards the end, there were prayers for the Queen and Royal Family, the police and emergency services, prison and probation staff, voluntary organisations and community services, and the judiciary and magistrates.

After the blessing and the national anthem, the processions left the cathedral, and the High Sheriff invited everyone for afternoon tea in a marquee on the West Lawn.

Dr Llewelyn said: “If anyone deserves a thank you from Surrey, it’s all of you. I hope you’re extremely proud of what you achieved.”

High Sheriff’s first summit starts to ‘join the dots’ on school exclusion

Dr Julie Llewelyn’s first summit as Surrey’s new High Sheriff built on her theme of the year, ‘Every Child Included’, by bringing together multiple agencies to discuss what works to keep children and young people in full-time education.

The catalyst for the summit on 2 July was new independent research on the journey to school exclusion in Surrey by Dr Emily Glorney and Natasha Rhoden from Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL). Their in-depth study pulled together various separate and non-linked databases for the first time, which they cross-referenced manually.

Emily and Natasha shared the results – a marked difference between the different quadrants in Surrey – to the audience of about 60 people at the summit at RHUL. They also discussed the successful approaches in Surrey that prevent children’s permanent exclusion from school.

Dr Llewelyn said: “The research builds on the work of two previous High Sheriffs of Surrey – Robert Napier and Jim Glover.”

The summit, which followed Covid-19 guidelines, included representatives from education, Surrey Police, Surrey County Council, and the third sector, providing evidence-packed solutions that inspire a way forward and have already resulted in positive news.

Guest speaker Maureen McKenna gave one of the most striking presentations, showing how Glasgow City Council has almost eliminated permanent school exclusion by getting it right for every child.

Maureen said: “If we are going to create a society that we want for tomorrow’s children, then we need to invest in today’s children.”

Dr Llewelyn thanked the speakers and delegates for helping to ‘join the dots’ and the discussions and breakout groups that identified five action points to keep children in education in Surrey in future.

Evidence-packed solutions inspire way forward

At the summit, speakers from Surrey Police, Surrey County Council (SCC), Surrey Care Trust and Surrey Alternative Learning Provision (SALP) shared their promising approaches to preventing school exclusion and evidence-packed solutions that are helping children struggling with school attendance.

Since the summit and following several discussions and meetings, SCC has now agreed to fund SALP, which the research showed had prevented permanent exclusions through a coordinated approach.

The High Sheriff said: “There is still much to do, but this is a momentous first step, and I am hugely grateful to all concerned who have made it happen.”

Leaders pledge to take five steps

Agencies at the summit have committed to taking five steps to build on the foundations their organisations have already laid and make real progress towards equality of access for all children to education.

The five steps are:

1. The moral purpose of policy: adapting a more nurturing approach with more focus on relationships. 

2. Using the RHUL evidence to develop precision intervention tools for Surrey that facilitate early and timely intervention. 

3. Getting rid of the fragmentation that exists in Surrey around exclusion practice (some quadrants have double the number of exclusion than others) and spreading the SALP approach.

4. Making sure the criteria used for exclusion are more consistent across Surrey and spreading the use of the Surrey Permanent School Exclusion Threshold document. Also, developing a new training pack for governors who, often being unaware of alternative options, rarely challenge an exclusion decision. 

5. Timely sharing of data about a child to help professionals provide the best support. Adding a ‘knowledge hub’ to help solve the difficulty in finding out what support is available locally.

A second summit next year, funded again by Surrey County Council, will explore the results from this year’s event to inform the next steps.

Agenda

Summit agendaDownload

Royal Holloway Research Summary

Summit research summaryDownload

Presentations

Permanent school exclusions in Surrey – Emily GlorneyDownload
The inclusion agenda – Ron SearleDownload
What is the ‘Third Sector ‘doing in Surrey – John DowningDownload
An active partnerships approach to school inclusion – Jacky FysonDownload
The consequences of school exclusion – Mairead WarnerDownload
The Glasgow Model: A holistic approach – Maureen McKennaDownload

Saluting Armed Forces Day

The High Sheriff was delighted to join Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey Michael More-Molyneux, the Dean at Guildford Cathedral, and military cadets at a flag-raising ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day on 26 June.

During the event, which marks the start of Armed Forces Week, Michael thanked those serving in Surrey, ex-service personnel, and veterans.

Dr Llewelyn was also the guest of honour at Waverley Borough Council, where she raised the flag and recognised the contribution the armed forces make in Surrey.

Hats off to Hambledon volunteers

Surrey’s High Sheriff helped celebrate the magnificent work of volunteers at Hambledon Community Shop when she joined the Lord-Lieutenant at an award ceremony on 14 June.

The Lord-Lieutenant presented The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, the UK’s highest award for volunteer groups, to the people who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to deliver groceries.

Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford—first live show post lockdown

Bravo to everyone at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for the excellent ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’. Great to see live theatre back again and the outstanding acting brought a big smile to the faces of the audience.

Camberley Heath Youth Engagement Officers visit

Learning ‘How not to die from a stab wound’ with the Camberley Heath Youth Engagement Officers.

High Sheriff visits exemplary school

St John’s C of E Primary School in the Goodwin area of Dorking “does a tremendous job of keeping all children in education regardless of their backgrounds,” said Dr Julie Llewelyn during a visit to the school in June.

The school is in a deprived area with a high proportion of children entitled to school meals. However, it is now the number one primary school in Surrey, thanks to the efforts of headteacher Jacky Fyson and her team.

Visited Hambledon Pre-School

Dr Llewelyn is pictured answering questions from children during her visit to Hambledon Pre-School. The teachers had asked the children to think about the role of a High Sheriff, prompting some imaginative answers. Happily, killing or chasing away dragons isn’t part of Dr Llewelyn’s duties!

School support and training on ADHD

Children’s charity Barnardo’s is rolling out a free training course to empower all school staff to help children across Surrey with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Dr Llewelyn attended the training on Zoom and said: “You learn about recognising and managing ADHD, and anyone in a school is welcome to participate, whether you’re a receptionist, catering staff, teaching assistant or teacher.”

First visit as High Sheriff

Dr Llewelyn’s first visit as High Sheriff followed her theme of ‘Every child included’ and was at Spelthorne School in an area with pockets of deprivation alongside more affluent ones.

Her theme focuses on keeping young people in school through the proper support at the right time and is particularly appropriate now. After the pandemic, returning to school has posed significant challenges for many young people who did not fully engage with online learning during the lockdowns.

The issue is that if a young person hasn’t had the early help they need and misses a lot of schooling, they often fall into antisocial behaviour and become involved with county lines.

Another school, Thamesmead School in Shepperton, leads the way in the Borough with its Inclusion Unit. The unit works with students to identify problems early and ensure they are supported. Early intervention is key to preventing all sorts of school-related issues from happening later.

Dr Llewelyn said: “The local Youth Engagement Officer and the team at Family Services are busy doing all they can to help these young people, and demand is enormous as Surrey emerges from the pandemic.”