Schools, social services and safeguarding children

The NSPCC have released this useful review of the literature into schools and social work cooperation. The authors refer to past reports and inquiries to show the complexities of the issues. Although some of the main ideas have since being implemented or are in the process of been implemented, it gives a useful theoretical background.

Key recommendations:
- Definitions of important concepts are needed to ensure clarity and prevent unnecessary tensions.
- More cross-agency working is needed (such as work shadowing, attending joint seminars

Parenting Early Intervention Pathfinder Intervention

The DCFS have completed a study into Parenting Early Intervention Programmes by questioning local authority officers and school staff.

Key points:
- The majority of schools (90%), in each of the 15 funded LAs, are involved in some way.
- Headteachers are central to the success of parenting early intervention.
- The involvement of schools benefits parents in a number of ways including through parenting support.
- Benefits to schools include increased involvement of parents, improved student behaviour and improved understanding by teachers of the challenges parents face.
- Barriers to continuing the programme include: lack of facilities, lack of dedicated staff, sustaining funding beyond the pathfinder and ensuring parents feel comfortable attending sessions in the school.

The authors recommend that schools and especially extended schools should play a crucial role in developing parental support and parenting early intervention.

Early impact of "integrated children's services"

The Local Authority Research Consortium (a collection of 14 local authorities and research organisations) have researched whether the change for children agenda is having an impact on three specific groups: looked after children; children with autism; and children not attending school at key stage 3.

They assessed impact using a 4 leveled model: changes to processes & inputs; changes to routines, experiences, attitudes; changes to outcomes; institutional/systemic embedding.

Key points:
- Most managers interviewed had a clear grasp of the vision and challenges of integrated children's services
- Changes tended to dominate the lower levels of the modeld
- Few were able to describe outcomes targeted or expected
- The higher levels were difficult to evidence for

What schools think about their local authority

The Audit Commission has released their annual survey on what schools think about the local authority's (LA) services for children and young people.

Key points:
- Overall schools have given a good rating and this is an improvement on the previous year.
- The most improved services are around child protection and school improvement support, for the second year running.
- The weakest area was in provision for children with mental health needs, where 40% of respondents reported this as below satisfactory. Again this is similar to the 2006 survey results.
- The biggest improvements between the 2006-07 survey are the effectiveness of the LA to work with other departments and other agencies to deliver the Every Child Matters outcomes and the effectiveness of the schools meal service.
- There is a wide variation in the ratings different LAs recieved.

Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children

Following consultation the government have released their response and the reforms they intend to introduce.

They are:
(i) Ensuring that the Border and Immigration Agency, in exercising its functions, keeps children safe from harm while they are in the United Kingdom.
(ii) Putting in place better procedures for identifying and supporting unaccompanied asylum seeking children who are the victims of trafficking.
(iii) Locating unaccompanied asylum seeking children with specialist local authorities to ensure they receive the services they need.
(iv) Putting in place better procedures to assess age in order to ensure children and adults are not accommodated together.
(v) Resolving immigration status more quickly and, in turn, enabling care planning to focus on integration or early return to the country of origin.

Realising Britain's Potential

The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit have taken a look at the long term challenges facing the UK and released this paper in response.

- Global competitive forces will intensify increasing the need for the UK's education and skills to become and remain world-class.

- There will be increased emphasis on the high value-added sectors, with the creative industries and financial services seeing growth.

- The UK will need to become more flexible and entrepreneurial.

- Investment in early years education is proven to improve educational attainment in other countries.

- Staying on track and developing talent throughout school is key to making a successful transition to university or work.

- Higher level skills as well as "soft skills" (such as interpersonal skills, team working skills) will be needed.

- Tailored and personalised support will be required to ensure those currently seen as hard to reach are supported effectively.

- Parental support is crucial to their children's success, supporting parents therefore helps their children.

- Innovation and diversity in supply is needed to ensure effective public services are delivered.

- Shifting resources from problem solving to prevention and early intervention will assist.

- Increasing emphasis on professional development in public services alongside continued focus on value for money.

The clip below is a few months earlier (October 2007) but summarises the main themes.

Effective teachers for at risk schools and students

The National Comprehensive Centre for Teacher Quality, in the USA, have released this large report into at risk schools and students and the impact teachers can have. It aims to build on the "No Child Left Behind" strategy of the USA.

Key points:
- Highly Qualified Teachers are shown to have a significantly positive impact on their pupils.
- High qualifications in certain subjects (such as mathematics) has a stronger link to pupil attainment in that subject than other subjects (such as reading).
- Teacher experience has big increases in the first 4-5 years of teaching, after that the benefits of additional years teaching are minimal.

There are also suggestions for special educational needs, behaviour management, succession planning and initial teacher training.

What parents say about bullying

Parentline have conducted research into parents views on bullying. It finds that parents still believe not enough is done to help the parent and the child where bullying is an issue, but the response from schools is improving.

Key findings:
- Parents are more aware of how to spot bullying.
- Parents feel responsible and feel that they have let their child down if they do not notice bullying.
- Some parents encourage a "fight back" attitude.
- Links between the school and the parent are needed if bullying and a violent culture is to diminish.
- Families of bullies need an appropriate response also, especially where there is violence within the home.

Children & Families in the Asylum Process

Barnardo's have released a report looking at the experiences of asylum and refugee children. They argue that such children should be included in key government initiatives, such as the pledge to eradicate child poverty and ironically Every Child Matters, which currently excludes these 111,000 children.

Key Recommendations:
- They welcome the New Asylum Model but advise that case workers receive training so they can address the needs of children.
- In clearing the backlog decision makers should consider that children may have spent many years living in the UK or been born here.
- To allow asylum seekers the right to work after a certain time period, if certain conditions are met.
- To give asylum seekers the same benefits as other claimants, especially those related to children.
- To end the donations of vouchers, rather than cash benefits.
- Not to house asylum families in areas of likely community segregation or tensions.
- To allow families some preference over where they live and to allow them to remain there during the whole application process.
- To offer housing which would be suitable for UK families.
- Not to be moved where it disrupts schooling.

Structure of Primary Education

The Primary Review released a interim report, this one examining the structure of primary education. By investigating changes to English education since the 1967 Plowden Report and comparing to international cases the authors found that:

- Most changes are a result of the 1988 Education Reform Act, which introduced competition between schools.
- Internationally there is a wide variation in the school starting age or point of starting school.
- Evidence suggests that school starting age or the school size has little impact on attainment, but overall evaluation of school structures on impact is limited.

Budget 2008 & Yorkshire and Humber's children's services

The Budget 2008 announced several spending plans of interest to children's services in Yorkshire and Humberside.

- A strategy for providing "seamless enterprise education from primary schools to higher education" which will benefit 324 secondary schools in Yorkshire & Humber (see video below).
- Increases to child benefit and child tax credits which will benefit 620,000 families and 338,000 families respectively.
- Money to support the National Challenge (83 schools regionally) and money to support the 14 academies to be opened by 2011.

Young People's Participation

The "Key Players": NFER, Local Government Association, CfBT Education Trust, National Young Agency and National Children's Bureau discussed participation of young people through various workshops involving young people.

• Across society and across organisations the participation of young people is patchy and can be seen as a good thing to do rather than essential for societal development.
• It is important that participation recognises individuals involved and is genuine (not tokenistic).
• Schools and Local Authorities have a vital role to play in supporting young people to recognise the value of participation.

The paper sets out what is not known about participation, the main drivers behind the participation agenda as well as the barriers to participation. It goes on to suggest recommendations around policy, practice, spending/funding, evaluation/research and campaigning/advocacy.

Study of School Business Managers

The National College for School Leadership (NCSL) have followed up on their earlier (2003-04) study of School Business Managers (SBMs) to explore how business management is currently carried out in schools so as to inform future developments. Click for links.

Key findings:
- There has been a 21 per cent increase in the number of business managers employed in schools, with 91 per cent of secondary, 49 per cent of primary and 31 per cent of special schools now employing SBM's.
- 81 per cent of SBM's are female.
- 72 per cent of SBM's come from the following four sectors: finance, education, government and industry with the biggest increase between 2004 and 2007 being in finance.
- There is a shift in the number of minimum qualifications held by SBM's. 38 per cent gained their highest qualification at school, 32 per cent hold FE level qualifications and the number holding bachelors and masters degrees has remained constant between 2004 and 2007.

There are three career categories emerging:
Emergent role – professional development specialises in one of the school business management responsibility areas
Established role – often hold Certificate in School Business Management or Diploma in School Business Management, HE certificates, foundation degrees or bachelor's degrees
Expert SBM's – usually hold doctoral or masters qualifications, NBA licentiate or other executive diplomas from professional associations.

Recommendations:
- Provide further management training for key skills e.g. project management, reports writing, negotiating skills, team development and customer awareness.
- Develop higher level courses in response to the complexity of the educational environment in which school business managers operate and facilitate access to a consultant leader programme linked to that of headteachers.

Extended Diplomas

The DCSF is to accept the advice of the Expert Advisory Group and also offer Extended Diplomas. These will be designed to challenge the most able students by having added depth and breadth to studies along with a strengthen core of English and maths. They should also offer more opportunity for research intensive and independent study. The DCSF will release a strategy for the 14-19 qualifications soon.

The Extended Diplomas are scheduled to be available as from 2011.

Some commentators believe that the introduction of the Extended Diploma makes the whole scheme too complicated.

Impact of children's centres

The National Evaluation of Sure Start have released a report on the impact of Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLP) by contrasting the areas served against similar areas not served by a Sure Start.

- Parents of three-year-old children showed less negative parenting while providing their children with a better home learning environment.

- Three-year-old children in SSLP areas had better social development with higher levels of positive social behaviour and independence/self-regulation than children in similar areas not having a SSLP.

- The SSLP effects for positive social behaviour appeared to be a consequence of the SSLP benefits upon parenting (i.e., SSLP -> Parenting -> Child).

- Three-year-old children in SSLP areas had higher immunisation rates and fewer accidental injuries than children in similar areas not having a SSLP; it is possible that instead of reflecting positive effects of SSLPs these health-related benefits could have been a result of differences in when measurements were taken of children living in SSLP areas and those living elsewhere.

- Families living in SSLP areas used more child- and family-related services than those living elsewhere.

- The effects associated with SSLPs appeared to apply to all of the resident population, rather than suggesting positive and negative effects for different subgroups as detected in the earlier (2005) report.

- The more consistent benefits associated with SSLPs in the current study compared with the earlier study may well reflect the greater exposure of children and families to better organised and more effective services, as SSLPs have matured over time, though it remains possible that differences in research design across the two studies could also be responsible.

Development of school business managers

The National College of School Leadership have announced an extension of the professional development for school business managers.

• A new advanced diploma of school business managers is to be launched.
• To support the new advanced diploma, the number who can undertake the current diploma in school business management will increase.
• Piloting of new roles: Advanced School Business Managers and School Business Directors has started throughout England.

Being the Best for Our Children Today

In March (2008) the DCSF launched their development strategy towards the workforce. Although they promised an action plan later in the year, the main blocks have been outlined:

• The launch of a "Transition to Teaching" programme to ensure more professionals from science, technology, engineering and maths enter teaching. Tailored advice will be given to applicants to assist identify whether skills are transferable and to help with transition into teaching.
• The TDA is continuing research into the barriers of teacher recruitment and retention and following their final report (June 2008) will recommend next steps.
• The National Leaders of Education programme (a scheme intended so that strong schools can support weaker schools) will be extended from 120 schools to 500. This will be linked to the National Challenge scheme to ensure no school is below the 30% GCSE pass rate.
• The Future Leaders programme (a leadership development programme aimed at the schools in challenging areas) will continue.
• The NCSL is to radically review all of their provision for current and aspiring leaders to ensure it is the very best provision.
• Masters in Teaching & Learning (MTL) will focus on teachers who have entered the profession in the last five years initially; experienced teachers will be trained to act as coaches; TDA and ASCL will cooperate to develop this.

Faith Schools and Commuity Cohesion

Runnymede Trust have released an interim report on the impact faith schools have or could have on community cohesion. Through questionnaires, interviews and workshops they conclude:

• Local expertise cannot replace the professional expertise of teachers.
• Teaching for diversity, especially incorporating faith and religious diversity is an urgent need.
• Support for teachers needs to be addressed by those developing policy at local and national levels.

Inclusion of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Children and Young People

The DCFS have released updated guidelines which build on earlier versions (2003) of a similar nature. It highlights that although Gypsy/Roma and Traveller children have been recognised as two distinct groups since 2003 the majority of people are not prepared to declare themselves to be of either origin due to fear of negative discrimination. This is leading to a poor resource allocation amongst local authorities and schools and these groups are still the lowest attaining of any ethnic group and the group most at risk. It highlights that both groups are recognised under the Race Relations Acts and that schools have a duty to promote community cohesion.

To help with this there is to be a Gypsy, Roma and Traveller history month in June 2008.

The paper goes on to give recommendations for schools and local authorities as well as providing several case studies.

National Challenge

The Prime Minister & Schools Secretary have promised that all schools will be achieving at least 30% of students gaining 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE including English and Maths by 2012. To ensure this happens they will launch the "National Challenge" in May and all Local Authorities will be expected to have an action plan for each school by the summer.

Nationally there are 638 schools which would fail to meet this threshold, 81 of which (approximately) are in Yorkshire & Humber region and in all but one of the 15 Local Authorities (City of York being the exception).

Part of the solution the growth of academy schools, which is being accelerated to 55 a year.

In 2007 Yorkshire Futures released a report investigating why the Yorkshire and Humber region has consistently poor GCSE result. Read summary here.