NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION
OF SOCIAL
WORKERS IN
EDUCATION
Founded 1884
ASSOCIATION
OF SOCIAL
WORKERS IN
EDUCATION
Founded 1884
2005 Conference The following are notes from the speakers at the Conference. They are not intended as a verbatim record.
Opening Address - Lawrence Warburton, President of NASWE
Lawrence welcomed everyone to the 114th NASWE training conference.
National Audit Office - Angela Hands and Paul Wright-Anderson.
Angela introduced the role of the NAO - it scrutinises public spending on behalf of Parliament. The NAO is barred from making political comment on policy itself. NAO and Audit Commission work closely together in England. They are merged in Scotland and Wales.
Recent and current work outline
New study just starting re tackling poorly performing schools. NASWE Conference delegates had the opportunity to contribute to that report at the conference, as our views were considered valuable in this area. Please contact Paul or Angela with any comments. This new NAO study is looking at reasons for underperformance and how the problems are tackled and how to identify them before the schools fail. They aim to publish the report in December Please contact the NAO on 020 7798 7000 or e-mail Firstname.surname@nao.org.uk
Why study school attendance?
If pupils don't attend = can't learn. PSA targets missed. There is a feeling that they're not realistic and difficult to measure. Large sums have also been spent therefore a review is in both Public and Parliamentary interest. The sources of evidence have included PEWOs and focus groups of PEWOs. NFER had the contract to carry out sophisticated statistical analysis. Absence stats 2003-4. 6.7% absence. 450,000 pupils absent everyday. £1.6 million educational loss each year to pupils, schools and communities in terms of life chances missed etc. Total absence is a downward trend and the lowest on record (since records began in 1994). Unauthorised absence is up and down and sometimes not all that reliable.
The costs of reducing absence
Initiatives have cost £885mill since 1997-8 (for attendance and behaviour) Costs are not high compared to POTENTIAL benefits. Strong relationship between poverty and absence. School types make a difference to absence rates. Behaviour Improvement Programme (BIP) -331 million over 4 years. Lots of EWSs involved in this. Started in April 2002. Looked at the effects of BIPs on rate of absence. Has declined at twice the rate of the decline in LEAs = impressive. Although 20% didn't reduce at all and some of these had gone up, some problems with setting up of BIP. Unauthorised absence has also gone down in BIP areas which is against the national trend, which is static.
This initiative is highly regarded by Headteachers - more so than probably any other initiative. 80% of heads thought it was effective in reducing absence. It is estimated that 60% of secondary and 40% of primary schools have e-registration.
28,200 truanting pupils identified in 4 sweeps. Effective but not cost effective. Wider impact is uncertain.
Wider Initiatives
Excellence in Cities, KS3 Strategy, EAZs, Leadership Incentive grants seem to be contributing to lower absence.
The NAO report sets out 10 key practices that all schools should have in place. These are:
Absence is difficult to reduce, better attendance is crucially important. There are a lot of small things that schools can do - they need to do them all and do them consistently. Efforts of schools, LEAs, DfES are starting to have an impact but need to consistently reinforce the importance of attendance to parents and pupils.
The NAO kindly brought enough copies of the report for each delegate to have one or more for their Authority. The report retails at £11.25 each and can be obtained from www.tso.co.uk/bookshop.
Keynote Address - Peter Lewis (Director Education, Children Services & Leisure London Borough of Enfield) 'Delivering a Children's Service'.
NASWE were pleased to be able to welcome Peter back to address our annual Conference. Some of the key points that Peter made during his address were:
"I can think of no other professional group with as much to offer. For Every Child a Chance in NASWE pre-dates Laming by at least 30 years"
A Challenge to us all - Each week Peter asks us to celebrate the good work that goes on in our work that makes a difference to children.
We all know bullying and racial bullying hurts children, schools and communities. A Video clip can be downloaded off DfES website.
The government's Anti-Bullying initiative started in 2000 with the 'Don't Suffer in Silence' anti-bullying pack for schools that has now been updated. It is a summary of effective practice, thought by Ofsted to make a difference, so it is worth mentioning to schools if they're not familiar with it.
The Anti-bullying charter was launched at ministerial conferences to bring together those in the front line.
There has been the 'Make a difference' series of conference throughout the country (at which NASWE had representation-ed) Larger grant to the Anti-bullying Alliance to carry on the work. They are doing a lot of capacity building and network building alongside direct work with schools.
There is an Anti-bullying week in November. It is hoped to be the same week every year. They have launched a Blue wristband, launched by a celebrity advert, which is designed to be a coveted item. They have been identified as a useful talking point for schools and learners. Over a million have already been sold - even appearing on e-bay!
Schools have told the DfES that the most difficult bullying to combat is racist bullying and homophobic bullying. If you are interested in being involved with consultative papers on racist bullying with the aim of producing guidance to schools please contact Teresa. They are also working closely with lots of organisations, including Gypsy Traveller and Islamic organisations etc.
It was felt missing from the charter was giving someone from the SMT of the school the responsibility for bullying as we would, for example, for attendance. We still need to ensure the whole school takes responsibility for bullying.
Further information on any of these initiatives can be found at: www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying.
The President of NASWE opened Ronnie's presentation with this quote:
"Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan of or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people may be engaged in. That everyone may receive at least a moderate education appears to be an objective of vital importance" - Abraham Lincoln.
Ronnie presented both Lawrence Warburton and Ani Griffith (President Elect) with plaques from his association thanking them for their invitation to our conference. He also brought the Gavel that was presented in 1959 by NASWE to IATDP which is still used at every meeting!
Ronnie introduced us to his state of Louisiana and gave us some background to his association www.iatdp.org. He is currently Media Director for the IATDP and also Past President. His job is as the Director of Child Welfare and Attendance. He outlined his role in the States, which is very similar to that of a British EWO. He works with families to ensure school attendance and also uses legal sanctions, including at times imprisonment to enforce school attendance. He also works with children who are at risk of being permanently excluded and makes the decision as to whether or not to allow the exclusion to go ahead. He also runs parenting classes to better support parents in meeting their responsibilities to their children. 'No child left behind' - a new motto for USA which is comparable to both NASWE's motto 'For Every Child a Chance' and the Government's 'Every Child Matters'.
Ronnie outlined how each one of us makes an impact on a child's life and their family. He advocated the need to fund staff to training events such as these to ensure we can share our practice. He feels some of the best info he has ever had to help him do his job has been from training conferences, and is saddened that budget cuts affect this.
There was a Bullying Law passed 2 years ago. If a student is identified as being bullied or bullying they are focused in on especially due to the prevalence to firearms in the USA. They are expelled for 1 calendar year if students are caught in the proximity of a school with a firearm. If they are found near a school with drugs, they can be expelled for 2 calendar years.
Ronnie invited all NASWE members to join their association for $35 (£18). He also invited members to attend their national conference in October in South Carolina. There is also the opportunity to put examples of our good practice onto their website.
He thanked us for inviting him to our conference - he and his wife are enjoying themselves meeting all our members.
Coference notes from Friday.
