Local Education Support Networks - Chair Registration of Interest

As part of the Cornwall Education Partnership, we are working together to develop the current Locality Schools Meetings into Locality Education Support Network (LESN) meetings. These networks aim to further strengthen collaboration between education settings and partners, ensuring they remain relevant, valuable and responsive to local needs. 

The new Local Education Support Network (LESN) meetings will happen across 12 areas (2 per locality):

• Penwith 
  • Penzance 
  • Hayle & St Ives
• Kerrier
  • Redruth & Helston
  • Camborne & Pool 
• Carrick 
  • Truro 
  • Falmouth & Penryn
• Restormel 
  • St Austell 
  • Clays & Newquay
• North Cornwall 
  • Bodmin 
  • Launceston 
• Caradon 
  • Liskeard 
  • Tamar

The Purpose, Objectives and Key Functions for the LESN meetings are:

1. Purpose

The purpose of this group is to provide a structured, multi-agency forum that strengthens collaboration and improves outcomes for children, young people, and families. The group ensures that education settings are connected to and actively engaged in local networks that support effective early intervention, information sharing, and coordinated practice. All work will be underpinned by the principle of acting in the best interests of the child (UNCRC Article 3).

 2. Objectives

The group will:

• Ensure education settings have access to and are part of networks that provide information, advice, guidance, and support
• Strengthen mechanisms to enable early identification of need and the implementation of appropriate support for children, young people, and families
• Facilitate multi-agency collaboration, promoting coordinated responses to local need, using local assets 
• Raise awareness of available services, support, and provision across the local area
• Support education settings and community connections, enhancing partnership working
• Promote networking and relationship building between services and settings
• Identify and respond to emerging local needs and challenges, sharing ideas and solutions
• Encourage the sharing of best practice to support continuous improvement
• Foster a culture of collective accountability, where partners act as constructive “critical friends”

3. Key Functions

The group will:

• Share information, intelligence, and learning across services and the local area
• Support early help approaches by improving pathways for identifying and responding to need
• Enable education settings to navigate and access appropriate support for children and families
• Provide a forum to discuss local challenges and develop coordinated solutions
• Highlight effective practice and support the spread of successful approaches
• Strengthen partnership working through regular engagement and communication

We are therefore looking for 12 colleagues from across the Education Sector, to Chair these network meetings moving forward. There will be a phased introduction to these meetings over the 2026-27 academic year. Please complete the following registering your interest by Friday 18th September 2026. 

If you are interested in registering your interest to be one of the 12 Chairs, please complete this survey. Those who register their interest will be invited to attend a Teams meeting on (w/c 28th September) to find out more about the role, the structure, the support and the vision for these meetings. After this meeting we will ask for confirmation of your interest.

The information collected will be used to create a meeting for education staff who wish to register their interest in becoming a Chair of a Local Education Support Network. 

Our data protection and confidentiality statement

How will you protect my information?

Your data will be stored securely and will only be accessible by members of Together for Families. Your consent for your data to be used in the evaluation will be assumed from you starting the survey.

Who am I giving my information to? 

The evaluation is being carried out by Together for Families. You can view our privacy notice at www.cornwall.gov.uk/tffprivacynotice.

How will you store my personal data? 

Survey responses will be collected using the Let’s Talk Cornwall survey software. By completing this survey, you consent to this transfer of your information. This includes any information which may represent your personal data.

All the information you share with Together for Families will be stored safely for the duration of the evaluation. It will be destroyed one year after it has finished.

Let’s Talk Cornwall is the system used to collate the data and create reports from it. You can view the privacy statement on the Let’s Talk Cornwall website