ing the gap between strategic planning and day-to-day operational support through the provision of timely information and guidance to social workers, thus ensuring they are well- prepared for key meetings, such as governor hearings related to exclusions. • Better Handling of School Exclusions: With the new reporting mechanisms in place, Virtual Schools are notified of permanent exclusions within child protection cases, enabling coordinators to assist social workers in preparing for meetings where crucial decisions are made about the child’s future. "A secondary school talked about the work that they had done with a specific family… It was interesting as the school articulated how they were quite offended when the Education Progress Coordinators first approached them, it put them on the backfoot. But they were now absolutely glowing about how they'd all worked together and how that education progress coordinator had been able to navigate that sort of bridge between social care and education. So they were able to make contact with a whole range of people in our education side of [the] County Council, that they otherwise wouldn't have known about, so that's really powerful. I think there were four children in the family and their attendance has shot right up." – Strategic Lead [Education], Wave 1 (February 2025) 30 FFCP delivery approach and progress The following summary on delivery approach and progress is based on data collected via proformas submitted to us by local areas in February 2025, providing a snapshot of the FFCP implementation progress to date. Our findings show that while there is some local variation, all areas have demonstrated the delivery of the core elements of the FFCP. The proforma template, designed in collaboration with the DfE, aimed to adopt a str