20 September 2004 - Schools' race relations challenge Secondary schools in England should fall foul of Ofsted inspectors if they do not take race relations seriously enough, a government adviser says. Secondary schools are all being sent "community cohesion standards" to aim for. The aim of the Home office guidelines is to tackle discrimination and promote good race relations. Keith Ajegbo, head of Deptford Green School, London, who chaired the group behind them, said "going through the hoops" should not be enough. The idea arose from the Cantle report on the disturbances in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley in 2001. That said that schools were central to breaking down the barriers between young people. They define a cohesive community as one where everyone has a common vision and sense of belonging. People's different backgrounds would be appreciated and valued and would not affect their "life opportunities". Among the objectives are that testing does not put any group at a disadvantage. he curriculum has to be accessible to all and allow everyone to learn about their wider communities. Behaviour and discipline policies are supposed to reflect this mutual respect and acceptance of diversity. And, unlike now, there should be no significant differences in exclusion rates between social or ethnic groups. Mr Ajegbo said the aim was to support the excellent work already developed by many schools across the country. "If you are an inner city, multi-ethnic school you have probably thought this through anyway because the issues are pressing," he told BBC News Online. But teachers from minority backgrounds should feel able to go to schools in other areas. He did not think that legislation or quotas were the best ways forward. Being realistic, a lot of schools would want to work through the standards - but others would regard it as an exercise in "going through the hoops". he test should be: if you were a school with poor "community cohesion" but in some regards achieving well, could you be put into the Ofsted classification of having "serious weaknesses"? "Everyone sees league tables and Sats as important, because if you don't you are hammered," he said. Community cohesion should be regarded in the same way. But change, in areas such as Bradford - where some good work was being done - had to come from the community itself. That was why schools were so important in the process, Mr Ajegbo said. source bbb.co.uk/news 09 September 2004 - 'Too few' early years workers A lack of suitably trained staff poses a serious threat to the government's early years programme, MPs warn. The House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts highlights the high turnover of staff in the sector. The committee urges the government to improve training opportunities for potential childcare workers in England. Government spending on childcare and pre-school education has increased by £1.6bn since 1997 as ministers encourage mothers to return to work. The Sure Start programme/National Childcare Strategy aims to increase the accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare and early education. But, MPs warn, the biggest risk to sustaining growth in the sector is the high turnover of staff. Other issues such as increasing staffing costs, the cost and difficulty of finding locations and parents' ability to pay the fees are also identified as a problem. The committee's report also points to the need to tackle regional gaps in provision. London is identified as having particular problems, with a shortage of places and high fees. The report cites statistics from the Daycare Trust which suggest the typical cost of a nursery place in January 2004 was £168 a week in London, compared with £107 in the West Midlands. Concern is also raised about deprived children living outside the most disadvantaged areas. "There are pockets of deprivation in otherwise affluent areas and there is a danger that these people will be overlooked in a strategy focusing on the 20% poorest wards," the report says. The committee of MPs wants the government to demonstrate that childcare has become more affordable and remains so. While acknowledging the working tax credit and the free part-time places for children from the age of three, the MPs say research is needed to assess whether cost remains a barrier to the take-up of childcare and early years education. "For those eligible for the tax credit, it does not meet all costs and only represents a small proportion of the amount parents spend on childcare." The report also suggests school premises are "an under-used resource" and could meet demand for childcare in deprived areas. A spokesperson for the Department for Education and Skills said: "We welcome this report which acknowledges the progress that has been made in creating new childcare places." "We will study the report and will respond in due course." Anne Nelson, director of Early Education, which represents parents and childcare workers, welcomed the report. But she called for "a programme of continuous professional development leading to a specialist qualification" to be set up, along with better pay for the sector. Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news 02 September 2004 - Change to Ofsted Inspection Notice "Likely" Registered childcare providers are "likely" to be given less notice before inspections, the Ofsted has said. Ofsted revealed that proposals to cut warnings to as little as three days - put forward earlier this year - had received "no opposition". The announcement comes after a BBC documentary showed secret footage taken at three nurseries and alleged children were being badly cared-for. But Ofsted said the broadcast had not had an effect on its decision. At the moment, when Ofsted conducts childcare inspections, it tells providers during which month the visit will take place, but not the week or day. Critics say this may allow some businesses to alter their staff rotas and practice in advance to ensure they get a good report. But inspectors do sometimes arrive unannounced if Ofsted has received complaints about a nursery. Plans to reduce notice periods for nurseries generally, put forward in February, have received no opposition during public consultation, Ofsted says. Nurseries Undercover: The Real Story, broadcast on BBC1, alleged there were problems at three nurseries, including understaffing at all three and poor hygiene at two of them. Ofsted said it was likely to introduce reduced-notice inspections from next April. Source www.bbc.co.uk/news 02 September 2004 - Child abuse cases 'being missed' The number of children dying from abuse could be much higher than previously thought, according to the NSPCC. The charity believes that some deaths may be going unnoticed because cases are not being tracked properly. It has called for a new national system to enable doctors, social workers and other professionals to gather information on possible abuse cases. The NSPCC has also called on the government to ensure every child death is investigated fully. At present, doctors only declare that a child has died as a result of abuse if the evidence is overwhelming. In many cases, they will only make such a verdict if there are clear signs of abuse or if the abuser has confessed. The NSPCC wants doctors, social workers and other professionals to be able to gather and share information about possible cases of abuse. In a report it says such a system would enable doctors to identify those children who are killed by abuse much more easily. A survey of 121 paediatricians by the charity found that three out of four believe the monitoring of children at risk needs to be a higher priority. Three out of five said they needed better training to identify children at risk. The charity also called for child death liaison officers in every hospital to gather information from staff and families when a child dies. Procedures should be extended to take account of the relationship between the child and their carer, it said. Doctors were most often alerted to child abuse by parents or carers changing their stories, or by unusual bruises, the report found. The death of another child in the family was also a factor in alerting doctors. "Judging whether or not a child has ended up in hospital as a result of abuse is difficult," said Corinne May-Chahal, who wrote the report. "Medical professionals dealing with child deaths are faced with tough decisions, often based on fragmented information. "In an increasing climate of litigation they are becoming reluctant to identify child maltreatment, even when they believe it is probable." Mary Marsh, NSPCC chief executive, called on the government to make it easier for professionals to identify children who had been abused. "The government needs to introduce a national standard for collating information relevant to child deaths as a result of maltreatment, as a matter of urgency. "Without such information, cases of children who die as a result of maltreatment could be missed and their siblings left at risk." source: www.bbc.co.uk/news