Education and Young People

Michelle Ingoglia
TDA 3.2 (6.1- 6.3)

6.1. Summarise the roles and responsibilities of national and local government for education policy and practice

National Government – As well as developing new ways into the quality of services available to children under the five outcomes of Every Child Matters, it is responsible for drawing up education policy, setting up and administering school league tables, funding research into projects for education, developing workforce reform, promoting integrated working and developing the roles of voluntary and community organisations, charities and other sectors who work with children.

Local Government – As well as providing advice and support to schools in the local area they are responsible for providing staff training and development, special educational needs, the curriculum, community cohesion, school management issues, behaviour management and the development of school policies. Local Governments will provide documentation through their local Children and Young People’s Partnership plan, outlining their vision and plans for government-based initiatives. They will have their own policies and guidelines for schools and employ specialist advisors for different curriculum subjects and areas such as SEN. They also provide specifically trained teachers to support pupils who have special needs or need to be assessed for a specific learning need. These services are sometimes free but schools are usually expected to pay for them. They pass on any changes in education policy and offer training to key members of staff either through their local education development centre, INSET (In-Service Education and training or whole-school training.

6.2. Explain the role of schools in national policies relating to children, young people and families

Schools develop their own policies in line with national requirements i.e. child protection by following guidelines from local education authorities. They should show they are working from national policies, for example the Every Child Matters Framework. They also develop their role in local communities with projects like the extended schools programme and Ofsted inspect against this criterion.

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 an extensive range of organisations that will work with children and young people. All these organisations will delegate with each other as a team and share their knowledge and experiences to achieve the best interest of children and young people, by doing this they will develop links for pupil support for.

Social services – They will work with schools if certain information comes to light about a child or if they need to gather information for court reasons. If a member of staff in school becomes concerned for a childs welfare, social services may be contacted to investiagte further and to offer the childs family any support it may need.

Speech and language therapists - They may be called into school to work with children who have language or communication problems. They work in partnership with parents and teachers to maximise the child's communication and learning skills. Visits will usually be conducted on the school premises, the length and frequency depending on the childs individual needs. It's estimated that 10% of children will experience some kind of communication difficulty, in many cases a short-period of specialist intervention will suffice however in complex cases speech and language therapy will be an integral and substantial part of school and learning.

Occupational Therapist - OT programmes can be short or long-term and may focus on a key area such as handwriting or several areas. Different teaching approaches are needed according to the way children experience the world and an occupational therapist can help in planning and classroom management.
It will be geared to the age of the child and their particular problem areas, and might involve such things as maze games; throwing hoop games to improve hand-eye co-ordination and balance; practising lace tying, buttons and zips on large toy versions; games of strategy involving memory and sequencing; looking at the seating and desk the child uses to see if it gives the correct support and writing angle. The length and frequency of the visits will again depend on the childs individual needs.

Universal Health Team Service – They support the health and wellbeing of a child throughout their school years. In the Knowsley area, a team is based in a local clinic and every school in the area has a link with a school health practionier.

School Health Practionier – They are nurses trained in public health and are knowledgeable in problems such as obseity, mental health problems and bullying. They work closely with other services and the local community and act as a link between schools, hospitals and other professionals who have long term conditions I.e asthma, diabetes. They can help in deveoping a care plan so school staff are aware of the childs needs. They offer to measure a childs height and weight in reception and Year 6, a health questionnaire is also sent out to parents to gather any information. The school nurse can also offer advice on eating and nutrition, bedwetting, parenting classes, sleep problems and puberty.