Explain the role of schools in national policies relating to children, young people and families.
As part of the National Governments incentive to help provide backing and encouragement to practitioners in schools 2 new funding programmes were introduced by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as part f the Government Children Plan. These programmes; Every Child a Talker (ECAT) and Social and Emotional Aspects of Development (SEAD). These were launched to increase the skills of early year’s specialists and were a part of the government’s wider pledge to the education workforce development. These packages were designed to address the need for children in schools to experience a language rich setting through staff in ensuring that they work successfully with both parents and families. Through SEAD, staff in schools would gain the knowledge and understanding to help engage parents more effectively in order for them to be better prepared to support their child’s social and emotional needs.
It was the abuse and ultimate death of Victoria Climbie in 2000 which prompted changes in children’s services. The Every Child Matters paper set out a national agenda and plan with the aim of providing more services that were accessible for the needs of children, young people and families which stated that schools and other child care providers must demonstrate ways that they could work towards each of the outcomes. The 5 key aims and intentions were;
Be healthy: schools needed to play a leading part in health education towards children and young people which included questioning the significance of snacks and the nutritional contents of school meals, as well as enabling children to enjoy a good physical and mental health by being part of a healthy lifestyle.
Stay safe: a survey among 11~16 year olds in mainstream schools claimed that almost 46% had been the victim of some form of bullying, in order to break these statistics it is vital that pupils need to feel that they are being protected in school, in order for schools to do this they must continue to make behaviour management and anti bullying an significant issue.
Enjoy and achieve: in order for students to get the most out of life and develop the necessary skills for adulthood children and young people must enjoy their lives and achieve their potential. In order for schools to assist with this they must make improvements in failings across different ethnic groups and unauthorised absences that are unacceptable.
Contribute: children and young people need to be involved in their community rather than involve themselves in anti social behaviour. Schools can teach children the ethics of social responsibility and a feeling of ‘belonging’ by providing link to a pupils own community and how they can become a part of it.
Achieve a good standard of living: children and young people with parents who are unemployed or existing on low incomes must be encouraged to aspire to a better career and lifestyle for themselves. Schools can develop strategies to enable all students to reach their full potential.
At Parkhill School we are part of a walk to school programme which encourages pupils at the school to walk rather than take other forms of transport, for every child who participates they are awarded with a different badge at the end of each month which they proudly display on their bags. We also are part of War Child International; this is a charity which works across the world to support children that are affected by war. Each Christmas the children at our school are asked to provide a shoe box filled with items that would be suitable for a child living in a war torn country. The children feel a great deal of fulfilment and happiness when they know they are helping a child and that gives them a sense of realization about children who have a lot less than themselves.
6.3 Explain the roles of other organisations working with children and young people and how these may impact on the work of schools.
There are numerous organisations that will have an impact on the work in schools. Multi agency teams bring together professionals from different agencies to provide an integrated way of supporting children, young people and their families. As well as giving advice and guidance to teachers and other staff in schools. It is a way of working together that guarantees children and young people who need additional support have the professional that is needed to give them that support. Professionals who work alongside schools are likely to include Social Workers, Early Years Intervention Agencies, Youth Workers, Police and Youth Justice.
Social Workers: their central role is to offer help and assistance to children, young people and families dealing with children at risk. They play a major role of gathering information about a pupil’s social, emotional and behavioural development in school. Conducting interviews with the student as well as making classroom observations. They will conduct interviews with senior members of staff and parents on strategies that will benefit the child in school.
Early Years Consultants: offer support and advice to teachers and other members of staff in school. They work closely with both children and parents to identify, assess and respond to a child’s additional need and to ensure that the appropriate intervention is given to that child in order to develop their learning within school.
Youth Workers: promote the personal, educational and social development of young people aged between 13~19, they respond to the needs and interests of young people and attempt to resolve issues involving health awareness and education by developing positive skills and attitudes within a young person.. Youth Workers have an influential role in empowering young individuals to take on issues that are affecting their lives.
Police: hold debates in schools to children and young people on issues such as knife crime and anti social behaviour in order to discourage children from imitating that behaviour. They hold open discussions in order for the child or young person to give their opinions and views.
Youth Offending Teams: will offer support to young people in education who are at risk of offending, they liaise with schools and the Education Department when a young person is experiencing difficulties at school. They will often assist with school work and enable communication between the young person, school and their families.
