| 
The interim Director of Children and Young People's Service is Eleanor Brazil
The directorate covers the following areas:
- Learning Services
- Vulnerable Children and Corporate Parenting
The Children and Young People’s Services Directorate covers a broad range of services for children, young people and their families within Stoke-on-Trent. Our vision for children and young people in our city is for them to be:
- happy, safe and healthy; and
- inspired and enabled to succeed in all aspects of their life.
We work closely with our partners in the Stoke-on-Trent Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership and Safeguarding Children Board. Our Children and Young People’s Plan sets out how we will work to improve the lives of children and young people in the city. In 2011-12 our strategic partnership work will concentrate on those areas where we can achieve added value by working effectively together. Our three priority themes for 2011-12 are:
- Closing the attainment gap at all levels.
- Improving the health, wellbeing and care of disadvantaged children and families.
- Ensuring children, young people and families get the best deal from the way we work together.
In recent years Stoke-on-Trent has turned around its services for children, young people and families resulting in more opportunities than ever for them to succeed. Our continual improvements, clear commitment and political support for children’s services were formally recognised with the ending of intervention in 2010. Ofsted have praised our strengths in safeguarding and recognised our ‘outstanding’ fostering provision. The number of children in care has been stabilised and improved arrangements for engaging children in care are in place. In 2011 pupils made better progress than those nationally between Key Stages 1 and 2 in both English and maths. The number of schools and settings judged ‘outstanding’ or ‘good’ has increased and primary school absence reached its lowest ever rate. Superb joint working has delivered great improvements in health. Conceptions amongst under-18s are at their lowest rate in 10 years and we have more effective Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
Our services are structured around two divisions. We provide services at various sites across this city although our
main offices are the Civic Centre and Swann House in Stoke.