nces. ‘’If the DfE can coordinate that, to enable us to get in the room with each other and have conversations with each other, not through the DfE. Because we need to talk to the people who are doing it on the ground. How did you do this? What have you done?... what we need is to have the conversation directly. I need to speak to my equivalent in another LA, to say, what are you doing for this? How did you do it?’’ – Frontline worker [LA], Wave 2 (February 2025) 43 Strong engagement across local Education teams in Wave 1 areas Evidence from the latest round of fieldwork (February 2025) highlighted increased engagement across Education partners in Wave 1 local areas. For example, in one Wave 1 area, an ex-headteacher was seconded into the new ‘Education Lead’ role, acting as the voice of Education across all pillars. This, according to stakeholders, brought an educational focus across the overall programme of child protection and Family Help. Similarly, one Wave 1 local area reported increased engagement from schools through the Education Safeguarding Board, where 38 Education partners joined to help strengthen relationships between schools and LA staff. FGCs support families in specific contexts In Wave 1 and 2 areas, social workers and Family Network teams highlighted the positive feedback from families on Family Group Conferences (FGCs), particularly at the Early Help stage, because they helped to bring wider family networks together to support them to come up with shared solutions to their problems. Frontline staff felt FGCs work well for families particularly when they have an engaged and supportive network of family and friends, are willing to collaborate, and are open to family-led decision-making. Conversely, this was also a limitation as FGCs may not work as we