NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION
OF SOCIAL
WORKERS IN
EDUCATION
Founded 1884
ASSOCIATION
OF SOCIAL
WORKERS IN
EDUCATION
Founded 1884
News
Speaking at a recent seminar for Youth and Connexions workers, Dave Prentis, the General Secretary of Unison, called on the government to properly fund the Connexions service and ensure that the position of being a Connexions PA becomes a respected role that's placed on a par with teaching and social work.
Mr Prentis said: "With nearly one million young people unemployed, it makes no sense to start cutting funding for vital services such as Connexions, youth workers and youth support services. These cuts will leave many young people without the help they need to take their first steps onto the jobs ladder, creating a 'lost generation'. Young people should not be left to pay twice for a recession they did not create – with dwindling job opportunities and less services to help get them back on their feet."
However, whilst many of us might agree with Mr Prentis' views about the importance of adequately funding career services for young people, it's extremely disappointing that Unison has not made any similar supportive statements on behalf of the education welfare service. Indeed, by signing-up to the national job evaluation scheme that was introduced as part of their much hyped 'Single Status Agreement' to help tackle inequalities in pay, Unison has arguably contributed to the huge damage that's been done to Education Welfare Services up and down the country in recent years - despite assurances that "many will gain and none should lose".
The reality is that Councils' serving some of the most socially deprived boroughs in England have found themselves having to allocate more funds to protect their front-line social care staff at exactly the same time as their grant subsidies from central government are running dry. Consequently, Education Welfare Services in many Local Authorities are now experiencing massive budget cuts and/or a freeze on recruitment and access to professional training opportunities. Indeed, some Local Authorities have even disbanded their Education Welfare Services - which is ironic given that the majority of Education Welfare Officers are female and the Single Status agreement was supposed to address the imbalance between male and female workers!
It is very commendable for Mr Prentis to be shouting out for the Connexions service to be better funded, but it's a pity that Unison said hardly anything when Education Welfare Services like Bolton and Lancashire needed somebody prominent to speak up for them? If Unison is genuinely serious about safeguarding the delivery of quality support services to children & young people, then it also needs to ensure that the job of Education Welfare Officer remains a valued and respected role, in-line with its recent commitment about Connexions PAs.
Many of the Education Welfare Officers I know have now resigned from Unison. If you're one of these people, can I recommend you look at the pro-active work that NASWE has recently undertaken with ASPECT on the 'Duty of Care', and if you are concerned about the plight of the EWOs' continuing professional status, then you might want to consider taking advantage of NASWE's joint membership deal with ASPECT.
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The latest DCSF school attendance statistics published in December show that children eligible for free school meals (FSM) are three times more likely to be persistent absentees (PA) than their peers.
81,800 children who are eligible for FSMs are classed as PA, which constitutes 8.2% of the total number of FSM nationally eligible pupils, whereas there is a total of 146,300 PA pupils who are not legible for FSM, which makes up only 2.7% of the equivalent PA national cohort, i.e. there's is a disproportionate over-representation of FSM eligible pupils in the national PA figures.
These latest figures were released following yet another parliamentary question tabled by shadow children's minister, Tim Loughton.
It has just emerged that the cost of ministerial & staff expenses incurred by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) over the last year topped £7.6 millions. The figures were released following a parliamentary question tabled by Justine Greening, the Conservative's shadow minister for communities and local government.
The total figure is made up from car hire charges, train fares and hotel fees, but it does not include claims for meals in restaurants, and it has embarrassingly come to light at a time when the DCSF is having to find significant savings.
Back in April last year, the Department was forced to agree to make £650m worth of efficiency savings over 2010-11, facing the strong possibility that additional staff cuts will have to be made in order to meet this target.
Of the £7.6 millions paid out on ministerial & staff expenses, £5.6 millions was spent on train fares (an increase of 9.9% compared with 2008) and another £1.5 millions was paid out for hotel accommodation (up 26.8% compared with 2008), with a further £360,900 spent on care hire charges for the seven members of the "ministerial team" compared to a total of just £193,122 on car hire for the rest of the entire Department.
Documents published on the DCSF's own website show that Permanent Secretary David Bell claimed close to £50,000 in the first six months of the current 2009-10 financial year: between April - June 2009 he claimed a total of £20,914 in expenses (and this included £183 for a dinner with the managing director of APCO, a public policy & media relations firm) and then between July - September 2009 Mr Bell's expenses claims ran up a further £26,855.
So far, nobody from the DCSF has come forwarded to comment.
As part of Sunderland council's "Don't miss school, don't miss out" campaign, the parents of primary pupils are in-line to receive shopping vouchers if they manage to improve their children's school attendance over the month of February. Every pupil has been given a "fun attendance record card" to keep track of their days in school, and at the end of the campaign, the primary school with the best overall attendance will get visited by 'Spike', the Mackems mascot, who will run a "fantastic tombola prize draw." However, in a spirit of fairness for all concerned, there will be separate prize draws for the parents of pupils with 100% attendance records and the parents of "truants" who manage to improve their overall attendance rate during the month.
Previous attendance campaigns run in the city have awarded helicopter rides and Nintendo games consoles as prizes, but these ran into a barrage of complaints from some quarters, with accusations that the council was "bribing pupils to go to school."
By Lauren Higgs
Children & Young People Now
26 January 2010
Specialist professionals working with children face being marginalised in modern-day children's services departments, a report by the Children's Services Professional Network has found.
The Every Professional Matters report warns that the squeeze on public finances and move towards integrated services threatens the future of specialist disciplines such as educational psychologists and education welfare officers.
It found workers are increasingly expected to carry out "hybrid" roles, which water down professional expertise. It also revealed that specialist workers are ever more likely to be accountable to managers with no direct experience of their discipline, meaning managers are unable to offer all appropriate supervision.
John Chowcat, general secretary of the children's services union Aspect, which leads the network, said workers are in favour of integrated services, but warned that merging roles to save cash which could damage individual professions and children's services as a whole.
"If you integrate just to save money, professionalism can be lost. When you bring together different services, they have different interests. You can't just wave a magic wand and make them work together," he explained. "We've got to get past institutional rivalries, but we also have to protect expertise."
He added that asking staff to work from home or hot-desk saves money short term, but jeopardises informal learning and development.
Lauren Higgs
Kathleen Archibald, parent support advisor, Carlisle provides explains how she helps bridge the gap between the
requirements of Children Families, & Schools
Kathleen's objectives are to: -
On the Cumbria County Council website you can read a full account of how this is initiative is working in practice. Indeed, it's been so successful that one mum who has received helped has now started to support other mums in similar circumstances... Kathleen Archibald, parent support advisor, Carlisle
‘Dick’ Grimoldby started work as an Education Welfare officer in the Don Valley Division of the West Riding County Council back in April 1952. He initially covered the mining area adjoining Doncaster, and then moved to North Yorkshire, where in 1965 he was appointed as Senior EWO for Skipton and Settle.
Dick became active in the affairs of the Education Welfare Officers National Association (EWONA), and went on to serve at Branch, Federation and National Level, becoming President in 1970, the year the Association celebrated the centenary of the first Elementary Education Act. This was such a key event that Dick spent two Saturdays with me going through the archives of the Association in writing his Presidential Address – he wanted it to reflect the progress of Education and the significant parts our Service had played in key developments. After many drafts, I managed to get Dick down to a thirty minute address – but unfortunately on the day it still took him 45 minutes to deliver; probably one of the longest in the history of the Association.
With the help other colleagues he pioneered EWO training courses at Grantley Hall, the West Riding Adult Education College. Those who are in the Service today might not appreciate that back then, opportunities for training were very limited and mainly only available at weekends in your own time.
In the early 1970’s Richard and I produced a report on ‘Education: a Cause of Poverty.’ It was an exposé of the financial demands placed on parents by schools and which were causing problems for many families with limited resources. At the time it was acclaimed by the Child Poverty Action Group for highlighting this problem.
Dick was also a member of the West Riding Branch of NALGO, serving on their Executive Committee, and in 1977 he was awarded the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal for his work with children.
Richard Grimoldby was a champion for children and families, and on his retirement from the Education Welfare Service he left the communities he served a better place due to his tireless efforts on behalf of education, children and families.
Brian Field
A local authority has been forced to apologise for bringing a truancy prosecution against the parents of a boy who had a phobia of school.
A tribunal ruled Suffolk County Council should not have taken the family to court because of the effect it had had on the boy's mental health.
The boy developed anxiety while off sick with a virus shortly after starting at the east Suffolk school.
In the meantime, officials have been told they must write to formally apologise to the family before 1 December.
The boy, whose identity cannot be revealed, had been diagnosed by a clinical psychologist as suffering from a school phobia.
He is now 16 and has since taken up his studies at a different school.
Gary Nethercott, the council's service director for learning, said: "We are committed to ensuring all young people in Suffolk receive the education they are entitled to".
"We are pleased that the child is now back in education."
Secondary schools who have benefited from having dedicated parent support advisors as part of the DCSF's pilot programme are reported to have cut their PA rates by almost a quarter over the period September 2006 - July 2008, at least according to researchers from the University of Warwick.
The claims are made in the final evaluation report of the Government's £40 millions funded pilot programme, which saw PSAs placed in schools across 20 different Local Authority areas.
The PSA pilot programme was developed & delivered by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, with the aim of providing improved advice to parents/carers who needed help with supporting their children accessing education. In addition to improving pupil attendance, outcomes from the pilot included parental engagement with their child's learning and improved relationships between parent and child.
A spokesperson for the Training and Development Agency for Schools told 'Children & Young People Now' reporters that: "Parent support advisors help schools deliver extended services, in particular, parenting support and swift and easy access to targeted and specialist services. The evidence shows that PSAs can help improve school attendance and reduce the number of referrals to services."
Review of elective home education in England Review parent support advisors.
Graham Badman's useful report to the Right Hon Ed Balls MP, the Secretary of State, on his recent review of the arrangements for elective home education in England' - in his report Badman concludes that urgent changes to both the regulatory & legislative frameworks are necessary if local authorities and other agencies are to effectively carry out their safeguarding responsibilities in relation to home educated children and improve their access to support services.
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Review of elective home education in England |
Reply letter from Rt Hon Ed Balls MP Secretary of State to Mr Graham Badman CBE |
For information on Education Supervision Orders (ESO's)
A child-protection service has been condemned after a 12-year-old was left with no schooling for two years.
The Local Government Ombudsman concluded that West Sussex County Council was guilty of “maladministration with injustice” - the first such finding against the council in more than seven years.
It is the strongest reprimand available to the ombudsman, and the case has been deemed so sensitive that, exceptionally, the report will not be made public.
The complaint centred on a 12-year-old child who was temporarily excluded from school in 2004.
Apart from a short period in a pupil referral unit, the child did not attend school again until September 2006.
The investigation uncovered that: * crucial reports were not being written or followed up, * staff were not listening to children * social workers had threatened care proceedings instead of trying to gain the trust of the child.
This criticism follows a report by Ofsted, the education and care watchdog, in December 2008 which said protection for children at risk was inadequate.
West Sussex was named and shamed as one of eight local authorities, including Haringey council in London, which dealt with the fatal case of Baby P, to be criticised for the way it worked to keep children safe.
The Ombudsman concluded the council had failed to provide adequate education while the child was out of school and made an inadequate initial social service assessment.
An education fund for the child has now been set up, following the investigation, and a “small payment” has been made to the complainant.
A review has also been ordered to ensure social care casework is written up promptly, staff shortages are addressed and to ensure staff “adopt a culture of listening to and engaging in dialogue with children”.
The report to the council’s children and young people’s services select committee reveals: “This individual case is sadly an example of the difficulties that the social care service has experienced, resulting in an Ofsted annual performance assessment judgment of “inadequate” for its 2007/8 performance.
“Since April 2008, the county council has worked hard to support children’s services in responding to this area of difficulty.
“This has focussed on improvements in undertaking initial and core assessments.
“This has resulted in increased capacity and renewed focus on producing timely assessments.
"The council has already implemented the ombudsman's recommendations to put things right for the complainant.
“The Ombudsman has also recommended reviews of procedures in order to learn from what happened.”
The committee will scrutinise the council’s response to the Ombudsman’s recommendations at a meeting on Wednesday, March 11.
To see the article in context and follow-up comments.
NASWE is sad to report the death of one of its much loved and fondly remembered former Presidents, Mike Davis MBE.
Mike originally trained to become a draughtsman but in 1974 he decided to change career and joined the Sandwell Education Welfare Service, where he rose through the ranks to become the Principal Education Welfare Officer.
Mike quickly became one of the most respected PEWO’s in the country; he was an active member of both NASWE and ACESW (former name of the AEWM) and he regularly attended conferences & ran workshops, and for many years he was a member of the joint Training & Advisory Group (TAG) where he met with Government ministers on several occasions.
During his time in Sandwell, Mike was responsible for organising an annual holiday for disadvantaged children and this was typical of his generous nature.
After retiring from the EWS, Mike started working as a regional Child Protection Co-ordinator with the DCSF and then as an Independent child protection trainer, sharing his in-depth knowledge and experience of dealing with child protection issues.
In his private life, Mike spent a lifetime involved with the Scouts (along with his wife and daughter) where he rose to become Assistant County Commissioner for the Explorer Scouts.
In 1998 Mike was extremely proud when he was awarded the MBE for his services to education. He was a quietly spoken, unassuming man who knew his job and cared passionately about children. Those of us who were lucky enough to know Mike will remember him as helpful & warm-hearted man with a good sense of humour – which he often needed at times as a committed Aston Villa supporter.
He leaves behind his wife, Chris, his adored daughter Sian, son-in-law Graham and 2 grandchildren, whose photos he would quickly pull-out of his wallet and show you at the drop of a hat. He has touched many of our lives and will be a deeply missed colleague and friend. We will all miss him very much.
Funeral details:
Thursday 5th February @ 3pm - Newton Road Crematorium, Newton Road, West Bromwich.
Please note that it’s family flowers only – others are requested to make donations to the NSPCC in Mike’s memory
According to an article published on 8th September in the education section of The Daily Telegraph, doctors have reported an increase in the number of children & young people who were diagnosed as suffering from school phobia over the first week of the new academic year. School phobia, which is sometimes also referred to as school refusal, now affects one in twenty children in England and Wales; its symptoms include: -
Dr Nigel Blagg, a psychologist and author of 'School Phobia and its Treatment' told The Telegraph that "the saddest thing about children going undiagnosed is that it can lead to lifelong problems."
2007 Small Area Pupil Absence by Pupil Characteristics.
The following site can take you to the latest set of data that's available on pupil absence in small areas. The tables have been put together by the DCSF for the Neighbourhood Statistics Service (NeSS) and are based on the geographic location of schools and pupil residence.
In addition to providing historical information monitoring your Local Authority's progress towards national and local targets at a local level, the information can be also broken down by gender, free school meal eligibility and ethnicity, and if used correctly, it can help you gain a much better understanding of the dynamics of school non-attendance in different types of neighbourhoods.
www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/. If you are looking for neighbourhood statistics from a well respected source this site provides a wealth of information.
Tips on using this site: -
If you look down the lists you will come to for example: -
Education, Skills and Training (6 datasets)
Includes information on educational attainment, school absence, enrolment to higher education and numbers of students.
In this instance the data available contained in formation on Education, Skills and Training: -
If you cannot find the data you want there is a list at the foot of the page to more sources of data.
www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/.
If you are looking for a summary of neighbourhood statistics from a well respected source this site provides a wealth of information.
CWDC's online survey to gather
the views and feelings of the children's
workforce on training and development in order
to inform our Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) is now closed,
find out what its all about and the results.
More...
National Truancy Patrols dates are to end, local authorities to decide as and when to run them in the future...More
ContactPoint because every child matters read the
full details.
For more detail including the ContactPoint Fact Sheet.
Howard League Lobby to Abolish ASBOs for children
A report by the National Audit Office Improving School Attendance has highlighted the major challenge faced by the Department for Education and Skills in reducing pupil absence from schools. The Department, together with local authorities and schools, has made some progress in reducing total absence.
Scotland's - Review of Social Work (March 2005)
The Scottish Executive are reviewing the role of Social Work and are inviting peoples
views. More information available from:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/social/21csw-00.asp
A year ago the DfES published Drugs: Guidance for Schools, the Government's new guide for schools on how to develop and implement drug policies encompassing prevention and education, how to avoid drug-related incidents and how to deal with them, should they occur. As part of the launch of its new website.
www.drugeducationforum.org.uk - the Drug Education Forum has undertaken a short, small scale, study in London to find out from teachers, governors and pupils what difference the new guidance has made.
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