Last year I was grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the yearbook, soon after my appointment as Oxfordshire County Council's Director for Children, Young People and Families.

In that article I drew attention to the fact that we must now look at our services for children in the round.

The previous patterns of silo' working in which, for example, a pupil's education, social care and health needs etc were dealt with in isolation was becoming a thing of the past, with this Directorate taking a key role in ensuring that these services are all joined up'.

There has been a great deal of progress in this area over the last 12 months, but much remains to be done.

One of our key ambitions is that the child, young person or family should have just one principal link with the panoply of services which might be providing support, through the person we refer to as the lead professional'.

This should make it easier for those concerned to access the services they require and, importantly, reduce the constant requests for basic details and information, something we know is a source of frustration to those who use our services.

Another element of this new way of working is the establishment of what we are calling the team around the child (or TAC) and, increasingly, the team around the family (or TAF).

These teams comprise representatives of key services, drawn together, actually or virtually, in response to the needs of a particular case, thus providing a bespoke service compared with the sometimes clumsy (but always well intentioned) way in which services were delivered in the past.

We have a duty to ensure that children are healthy and safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and benefit from economic wellbeing.

If any of these ambitions are compromised we must act where we are in a position to do so. It is clear that intervention sooner rather than later is always a better option.

Last year, I talked about multi-agency locality teams. Services delivered at a local level allow swifter intervention.

In the last year we have made some progress in setting up these teams but the next 12 months will see a significant strengthening of our work in this area.

This directorate is being restructured, with the express intention of enabling more resources (people and money) to be available locally and so respond more swiftly and easily to needs as they arise.

I am conscious that I am writing in the context of the education' yearbook and you may ask what, if any, of what I have said has got to do with education'! The answer is everything!

A child or young person's learning is inextricably linked to other aspects of his or her life. Safety, security, happiness and healthiness all contribute to better educational outcomes.

Janet Tomlinson, Director for Children Young People and Families, Oxfordshire County Council