Group membership
Preparation for children and young people and parents and carers
Setting the Agenda
Chairing/Facilitating Meetings
Minuting Meetings - The Action Plan
Reviews
Practice around these meetings is changing. The solution focused meetings which have become embedded in practice over the last few years are now being meshed into the 'Getting it Right for Every Child ' processes.. The core group of professionals may vary according to the nature of support needed for the child/young person and their family.
Solution Focused Meetings are multi-agency in nature as they aim to support the key principle of providing Integrated Children’s Services for children, young people and their families.
Core Group
Although individual Solution Focused Meetings may vary in terms of their membership, the Core Group may consist of:
- The Head of Establishment (early years)
- The Head Teacher (primary) or the Depute Head Teacher (secondary).
- The liaison Educational Psychologist.
- The Integrated Services Officer.
- The Community Paediatrician and/or the School Nurse.
- The Health Visitor (early years).
Wider Group
Additional members of the team may be invited for specific meetings if they are already involved with the child, young person or family or if it is thought that they may be able to provide a useful contribution to the meeting or service to the child, young person or family:
- Other pre-school/school representatives e.g. – Nursery Assistant,
class teacher
- Pupil support staff (school based).
- Other Education Service representatives e.g. Pupil Support Teachers (Pupil Support Service), Autism Outreach etc
- Other Social Work Service representatives e.g. Childrens' Service Workers, Social Workers, Community Children's Worker
- Other Health representatives e.g. – Primary Mental Health Worker, Psychiatrist, Clinical Psychologist, Community Nurses (learning disabilities) etc
- Representatives of voluntary organisations and parent support services e.g. solicitor/counsellor/advocate.
Children of primary school age who are considered old enough and competent enough to participate in the meeting should be invited to attend. Unless it is felt not to be in the child’s best interest, young people of secondary age should always be invited to attend.
Where children and young people are not invited to the meeting, or decide not to attend the meeting, some time must be taken to discuss the key issues with them and to ask them for their views and possible solutions in a way that is appropriate to their age and stage of development.
Parents should always be invited to Solution Focused Meetings.
In order that parents/carers and children/young people can contribute effectively to the meeting process, there needs to be appropriate and targeted preparation.
Preparation can take many forms, but must cover issues such as why the meeting has been called, who will attend, what format the meeting will take, what contribution the child/young person and/or parent/carer will be expected to make.
The Solution Focused Meeting will be part of a staged approach within the school and so will not be the first point of contact for the child/young person, parent/carer, except under exceptional circumstances.
An individual and personal invitation for parents to attend the Solution Focused Meeting is generally best. A personal contact also gives parents an opportunity to discuss any issues they may have prior to the meeting and to clarify who will attend, how the meeting will be run and why the meeting has been suggested.
Even when a personal invitation has been extended to parents/carers however, this should be followed up by a formal written invitation, confirming the details of the meeting – venue, date and time. To signal that a meeting is solution focused, and to ensure that people are clear what the focus of the meeting may be, it is helpful to give a title for the meeting which is quite general, but worded using solution focused language e.g. ‘To Consider Possible ways to Support John with his Friendships’; ‘To Discuss Possible ways of Helping John Feel Happier’.
Particular consideration should be given to the specific support needs of children/young people, to ensure they understand the Solution Focused Meeting process and how they can effectively contribute to this. Preparation for them should include discussion about the key issues and how they would like their views expressed at the meeting. This could be done verbally by themselves or a supportive adult or in writing and conveyed to the group by a supportive adult.
At the start of any meeting, the scene should be set by the chair or facilitator. People should always be introduced. A brief explanation of the purpose of the meeting should be given, along with a summary of the way the meeting will be run, since parents may not be too familiar with a solution focused style and need to be prepared for participating in a meeting which may have an unusual format.
Names of children/families to be discussed at the Solution Focused Meetings should be set in advance, in order that core members coming to the meeting can come prepared with relevant information to share with colleagues and families where this is available. Advance notice also allows parents to make arrangements to attend eg. arrange time off work, child care etc.
Care should be taken to ensure that adequate time is allowed for full discussion of each child/family. Generally 45 minutes would be sufficient for each discussion.
Consideration should be given to ensuring that siblings are discussed – this may mean that staff from other schools will be invited. This can reduce the number of meetings families may need to attend and also the replication of work by Services. It also better coordinates the support and interventions by Services.
The role of the chair or facilitator of a Solution Focused Meeting is crucial. This person has to have a commitment to the process, be able to have the group agree solutions and an action plan.
They need to be able to communicate well, organise meetings and events well in advance and ensure minutes are accurate, clear, circulated timeously etc. The power of emotional intelligence and the softer skills of management and leadership are key aspects for the chair to possess. An effective manager of meetings ensures full cooperation and engagement of participants but also manages any conflict between the various partners involved.
The chair should ensure that the meeting membership is big enough to generate discussion and be representative of a number of different agencies, but if too big will not be effective in their functioning. Generally it is accepted that group effectiveness is best around 6 to 8 and falls when numbers exceed 10.
Because many Solution Focused Meetings take place in schools or pre-school settings, it is found to be most efficient if the notice of meetings, invitations, agendas, minutes, are sent out by school based staff. Given the skills required to be an effective chair, the meeting group core membership may wish to consider who would be best placed to provide these skills and therefore chair the group and not always rely on the Head Teacher. It may be agreed to have a single chair and minute taker, or consideration could be given to rotate these responsibilities. Alternatively, the group may agree that the Head Teacher will formally host and chair the meeting, but that another member of the group, more experienced or skilled in group management, will lead discussion etc.
It is essential to include a review date as part of the action plan, especially for complex situations. This could be a review by a subgroup from the meeting, or a school based group only where it is expected that a monitoring role only is required and progress is anticipated. This process must also include feedback to parents and where appropriate further face to face discussion with parents.