'Glaring gaps' in assessment plans
UN agrees disability treaty text
Money idea for children in care
System 'failing children in care'
Little Britons Copy Teachers
Childcare providers told to improve safety
Call for a later start at school
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov
30 August 2006 - 'Glaring gaps' in assessment plans
The Department for Education and Skills is consulting on how councils will meet a new legal duty to make sure there are enough local childcare services. Under the Childcare Act, councils must secure sufficient childcare for all working families with children aged up to 14, or 18 if disabled.
Local authorities and children's organisations back the duty but are concerned about how it will work in practice.
James Hempsall, director of Hempsall Consultancies, which carries out childcare assessments for local authorities, welcomed proposals to accurately assess and analyse existing childcare services and what parents want.
But he said there was a "glaring gap" when it came to working out future childcare needs. "This is a planning exercise and the crucial factor that is missing from the guidance is anything about mapping trends, forecasting and anticipating future demand and need," he said.
He stressed that consultation would be a crucial part of the detailed childcare assessments local authorities must do from April 2007. And he added that authorities should not just gather information but try and break it down to at least district level before targeting priority areas.
Peta Cubberley, policy and parliamentary officer for the charity 4Children, said the Government's focus on working families could mean those most in need of childcare would miss out. A coalition of childcare organisations campaigned for the duty to be extended to all families before the Childcare Act became law. She added there were still deep concerns about funding the duty.
The Government estimates the duty, which comes into force in April 2008, will not mean extra costs but councils and other campaigners say this is unrealistic. "It is an extra burden that must be accounted for," said Cubberley.
Councils are expected to work with private and voluntary sector partners but they might not always be able to get them to provide childcare in the poorest areas, she added. They will then have to provide it themselves.
Liz Bayram, chief executive of the National Childminding Association, said assessments must include childminders. That includes highlighting childminding when consulting parents.
The deadline for consultation responses is 6 November. Final guidance is due in January 2007.
Source: www.childrennow.co.uk
Jo Stephenson, 30 August 2006
www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations.
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29 August 2006 - UN agrees disability treaty text
An international treaty that will give greater rights and freedoms to disabled people around the world has been agreed at the United Nations. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in New York.
This is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, and the UN hopes it will mark a significant improvement in the treatment of disabled people. The world's disabled population is estimated to be 650 million.
The convention will force states to develop a different way of thinking about disability issues.
Negotiations went past the deadline set by the chairman of the ad-hoc committee, ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand.
Welcoming the agreement, he said "I want to thank colleagues from the disability community for starting off the process and staying with it all along the way."
"As disabled colleagues say, nothing about us without us."
''It [the convention] will force states to develop a different way of thinking about disability issues" he said.
"Once you get the paradigm shift... and people adopt a 'can do' rather than a 'can't do' approach, a whole lot of other things flow from there."
The treaty is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly during its next session, which starts in September.
Those countries that sign up to it will have to enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights and also agree to get rid of legislation, customs and practices that discriminate against disabled people.
The thinking behind the convention is that welfare and charity should be replaced by new rights and freedoms.
Access to public spaces and transport will have to be improved. Currently only 45 countries have specific legislation that protects disabled people.
The convention recognises that a change of attitude is vital if disabled people are to achieve equal status - countries that ratify it will be obliged to combat negative stereotypes and prejudices and to promote an awareness of people's abilities and contribution to society.
Countries will also have to guarantee that disabled people will have a right to life on an equal basis with others.
Access to public spaces and buildings as well as transport, information and communications will also have to be improved.
Most notable among the countries that will not be signing the convention is the United States.
It says that it already has comprehensive laws on disability rights. But this is not something that concerns Maria Raina, coordinator of the international disability caucus which has been part of the negotiations.
"I think the USA is going to sign the convention as it did with other conventions," she told the BBC News website.
"When you sign the convention you are agreeing to the principles even if you don't have the obligation to apply them."
The treaty has been welcomed by the UK's statutory body, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC).
"The greatest significance will be a 'levelling up' of provision across the world, and the creation of civil and human rights for disabled people," said DRC chairman Bert Massie.
"Not every country has that now. Following the convention and when it's ratified by the UN, we will have approval for this enhancement of the rights of disabled people across the world."
Although current estimates are that about 10% of the world's population has a disability, the World Health Organisation estimates that this is likely to increase as a result of medical advances and the ageing process.
Negotiations had been delayed because of two issues: the situation of disabled people in situations of risk, and access to sexual and reproductive health services.
Although the treaty refers to "situations of risk", these were not specified; the wording had been taken to refer to war zones and natural disasters but some people wanted this to include occupation by a foreign power - a clear reference to the situation in the Middle East.
Cultural differences on matters like abortion, contraception, aids prevention and sex education mean that reaching an agreed position was particularly difficult.
Given the economic, social and cultural differences across the world, it will be some years before the minimum standards set out in the convention will be universally applied.
But for campaigners who say that for too long the world's largest minority has been pushed to the margins of society, it will certainly be seen as a welcome first step.
Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news
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29 August 2006 - Money idea for children in care
Looked-after children should get money to pay for after-school activities, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggests, drawing attention to the dire educational prospects for looked-after children in England.
It said that if councils put aside £20 a month for children in care, it would cost the average taxpayer £1.32 a year. The money could then be spent on after-school activities associated with better educational achievement.
Councils would make an initial deposit of £200 to open the account, then £20 a month with a £500 lump sum at the age of 16. The IPPR put the total annual running costs at £27.4m.
It suggested that access to the special accounts should have to be via a "gatekeeper" care worker who, it said, would stop the money being used for drink and drugs.
Any that was not spent would accumulate interest and serve as a nest egg for adult life.
The institute's head of social policy, Jim Bennett, said: "Rightly, we hear a lot from the government about the importance of good parenting but the sad truth is that the state does a pretty bad job too.
"Looked-after children are taken into care because they have had the worst luck in life and they are most likely to leave school with poor exam results.
"With the government encouraging schools to extend their hours and offer more after school clubs, there is a real worry that looked-after children will lose out because they won't be able to pay to access those activities."
Some 80,000 children are in care at any one time. Last week a report from the charity Barnardo's said they were written off by the education system, with nearly eight out of 10 gaining no qualifications.
The IPPR said the average parent spent more than £9,300 on their child's hobbies by the time they were 21 and another £6,700 on their other leisure and recreational pursuits.
Research for the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) had shown that children doing out-of-school activities and study support did better than expected in terms of their educational attainment, attitudes and attendance.
The IPPR suggested looked-after children could use some of the cash in their proposed accounts to pay for:
after-school clubs, such as science or computer clubs
activities like rock-climbing or martial arts
treats which many of their peers take for granted, like an MP3 player or a pay-as-you-go mobile phone
essentials such as driving lessons
If a child left care, the money in their account would be frozen and transferred into their Child Trust Fund when they became 18. A spokesman for the DfES said: "We are actively looking at what more can be done to improve the life chances of children in care, and we will shortly be consulting on a wide-ranging set of proposals to achieve this."
Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news
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23 August 2006 - System 'failing children in care'
Children in care are written off by the education system, with nearly eight out of 10 gaining no qualifications, children's charity Barnardo's says. Its Failed by the System report assesses the experiences of the 80,000 children looked after by councils.
A survey of 66 children found they had multiple placements and school changes, which Barnardo's says is common. The government said reforms within its education White Paper would help cared- for children reach their potential.
Barnardo's chief executive Martin Narey said: "The cycle of disadvantage that haunts these children as they grow up shows no sign of being broken as they enter adulthood.
"Our report shows that many looked-after children have both academic potential and the desire to work hard and would have liked to succeed in education but the state, as a parent, fails them terribly.
"Dreadful GCSE results compound the disadvantages they face and commit them to unemployment and long-term disadvantage."
Barnardo's claimed multiple care home and foster care placements, repeated school changes, exclusion and insufficient support all contributed to a cycle of disadvantage.
Findings of the report included:
More than half reported being bullied at school as a direct result of being in care.
Four out of 10 said no-one had attended their school parents' evenings.
Nearly half said no-one went to sports days or other school events.
The number of care placements young people had lived in varied between one and 30 - half had been in more than four placements.
More than half were not currently in employment, training or education.
Almost half the group had attended six or more schools and 11% had attended more than 10.
Barnardo's said an NOP poll of 500 parents of children who took their GCSEs this year illustrated the contrast between experiences.
This found that 58% had never moved home, 96% had attended their child's parents' evenings and just 6% were expecting their child to leave school with no qualifications.
Barnardo's works with 120,000 children, young people and their families at more than 370 projects in the UK.
The charity has called for designated teacher posts to be created at all schools to help vulnerable children.
It also wants staff to be taught how the care system works and for bullying policies to take into account those in care.
A Department for Education and Skills spokesman said the government recognised that children in care underachieved significantly and that they needed to be put in schools that met their needs.
He said regulations were already in place to ensure looked-after children were the main priority for school admissions.
Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news
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23 August 2006 - Little Britons Copy Teachers
"Illiterate nursery staff who discuss their boozy nights out and hangovers in front of toddlers risk creating a generation of Vicky Pollards", a teachers' leader fears.
Too many students starting childcare training courses write using only text message shorthand, said Deborah Lawson, chair of the Professional Association of Teachers.
And she said growing numbers of young staff in nurseries dress inappropriately, with long nails and "chunky" shoes, and discuss their social lives in front of children.
The situation risks creating a generation of toddlers who will resemble the infamous Little Britain character Vicky Pollard, famed for her "Yeah-but, no-but" catchphrase and lewd behaviour.
Ms Lawson said: "I don't want to trivialise this in any way at all, but we don't want a future generation of Vicky Pollards.
"I'm not saying that is going to happen, but that's the worst-case scenario.
"As a nanny or a nursery worker, you are acting as role models for children. Therefore it is no good if your spelling and understanding of language is only as good as your ability to text."
She added: "I don't want to stop anybody doing that (drinking): if that's what works for you, that's fine.
"But that particular baggage needs to stay at the front door when you walk in."
Her remarks followed a high-profile Government drive to raise the standards of nursery education in England, with moves to expand free childcare for three and four-year-olds.
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Skills said: "This completely ignores the true picture of what is happening and is profoundly insulting to those working hard in our early years and childcare sector. We are absolutely committed to creating a world-class childcare workforce."
Hempsall Consultancies say “We agree with the DfES response. The sector has many professional and experienced members, with much to share as positive role models for children.”
Reference: www.sky.com/news
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21 August 2006 - Childcare providers told to improve safety
Thousands of nurseries and childminders in England have been told by inspectors to tighten their safety measures. Ofsted, said there was "still some way to go" to make sure all young children were safe.
Almost half (47%) of the 25,000 childcare providers inspected over one year were advised on how to improve safety for children in their care.
But inspectors stressed that the vast majority of childcare providers did have adequate safety measures in place.
A total of 97% were considered satisfactory or better at keeping children safe from harm.
Yet inspectors made more than 14,000 recommendations to improve the way providers helped children to stay safe.
These included taking more care in supervising entrances and exits, more thorough checking of the identity of visitors, ensuring all staff and volunteers have been vetted for suitability to work with young children and removing children's access to sharp knives.
Inspectors conducted the inspections between April 2005 and March 2006.
During the year, Ofsted received some 1,500 complaints about safety issues.
One in 25 settings (4%) were judged to be outstanding in keeping children safe, 55% were good, 38% satisfactory and 3% inadequate.
Inspectors said that while the number of settings judged to be inadequate had risen from 1% the previous inspection year to 4%, this was because they had "raised the bar".
The watchdog will now no longer give a satisfactory rating to any provider which fails to meet any of the national standards or regulations.
Dorian Bradley, Ofsted's Director of Early Years, said: "Parents can be confident that the vast majority of childcare providers are meeting the national standards and providing good quality care and a safe and healthy environment for their children.
"However, there is still some way to go to ensure that every child in every setting is safe and sound, all day, every day.
"We will continue to monitor inadequate childcare providers closely and take enforcement action where necessary to ensure that all children are kept safe and well-cared for."
A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said the report showed the vast majority of parents could be "very confident" that their children were kept safe and healthy in their chosen childcare setting.
"We encourage childcare providers to consider how they can make additional improvements to their setting and raise the quality of provision further," the DfES said.
Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news
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03 August 2006 - Call for a later start at school
Children's formal schooling should not begin until they are seven years old, a leading Labour MP has suggested. Barry Sheerman MP, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, said a pre-school education could be helpful beyond the current age of four or five.
Mr Sheerman said pupils could still be in full-time education in England from the age of five, but would not sit in formal lessons until they were seven. He said the measures would stop pupils being "robbed" of their childhood.
"Well-led pre-school education is really very important - why should formal school start before seven?" said Mr Sheerman.
"Why not let early education last until seven? Why not have a pre-school that lasts from three to seven?"
Mr Sheerman, speaking ahead of an address to the Professional Association of Teachers annual conference in Oxford, said this structure worked well in Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Denmark.
But he stressed that staff working with under-sevens in these countries were highly qualified, well trained and well respected.
Mr Sheerman suggested pupils should study on a general curriculum from age seven until they were 14.
And he said specialist schools and other secondary schools would have to be built to accommodate such potential changes in educational structures.
"And why don't we have a common school from seven to 14, then let's do the specialism from 14?"
Mr Sheerman said the government had followed a concerted but flawed plan to widen choice for parents in recent years.
"The belief that parental choice can achieve good education for all is naive," he said.
Mr Sheerman also attacked national curriculum tests sat at age seven, 11 and 14, saying pupils in England were over-tested.
"Parents in this country understand that pressure of getting children into formal school quite young - and at the other end, the intense pressure from testing and exams, as well as commercial pressure."
Mr Sheerman, who has chaired the select committee for the past five years and has outlasted several education secretaries, said it was his job to "stimulate discussion".
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news
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