Practitioner guidance News
New update
Below are recent containing relevant and up-to-date news, research, reports and consultations
News update - 15 May 2013
Below are a range of recent reports/guidance/consultation items that will be of interest to practitioners who work with children in Barnet.
Childminder grant from early May
A new grant scheme is being developed by the Government equalities office for new childminders.
News Update- 12 April 2013
Below are a range of recent news items, consultation updates and information about new guidance which will be of interest to practitioners who work with children in Barnet.
Consultation on proposal changes to the role of the local authority in early education and childcare
The Government values local authorities’ important role as ‘champions’ of disadvantaged children and their families. We want local authorities to focus on ensuring that all two, three and four-year olds, particularly the most disadvantaged, take up their entitlement to funded high-quality early education.
Capital funding for new school places
The National Audit Office says that one in five primary schools in England is full or near capacity and there are signs of “real strain” on places. The quick rise in England ’s birth rate has played a role in driving demand. The NAO advises that a quarter of a million extra school places will be needed in England by autumn 2014.
Teachers to strike
The NUT and the NASUWT has announced that teachers will stage a series of strikes in protest at changes to their pay, pensions and workload. The strikes will begin in North West England on 27 June, followed by walkouts in the autumn, region by region and a national one-day strike before Christmas.
Commission to examine youth work & school partnerships
Youth work’s educational role is to be assessed by an independent commission formed by the National Youth Agency (NYA). The group of youth work and education leaders will investigate how schools can work more closely with youth work organisations to improve young people’s social and personal development.
Lord Chief Justice calls for research into effects on children of giving evidence in abuse cases
The most senior criminal judge in England and Wales has said that research should be carried out into the long-term effects on those who give evidence about sexual abuse when they are a child; as such evidence would help improve the way in which young victims are treated by the justice system.
Police change approach to missing children’s cases
Senior police have revealed a new approach to investigating cases of missing people in light of the Rochdale child sexual exploitation case. This new approach aims to target investigations, in future the definition of missing people will be changes to ‘absent’ OR ‘missing’ after a risk assessment has been carried out by the police call handlers.
Primary school sport funding
The Departments for Education, Health and Culture, Media and Sport are jointly providing funding of £150 million per annum for the academic years 2013/14 and 2014/15 to improve the quality of sport and PE for children.
Government proposals to reform vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds
The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on proposals to reform vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds.
New Young Offender Assessment – AssetPlus
AssetPlus will be available to YOTs in April next year and youth prisons from January 2015. Assessment will be more needs based, taking into account factors such as communication needs and learning difficulties.
Children with strong maths skills at age 10 earn significantly more in their 30s
New research finding show that children with strong maths skills at age 10 earn significantly more in their 30s. The report uses data from the British Cohort study – a large group of individuals born in April 1970 – to look at the link between reading and maths scores at age 10 and earning at age 30, 34 and 38.
School Capacity: academic year 2012 to 2012
The statistics provided are based on information collected from local authorities as part of the school capacity 2011/12 collection. It also includes information on the number of places in academies.
NEET statistic: quarterly brief – quarter 4, 2012
This brief sets out the latest statistics available on young people who are NEET in England from the Department for Educations 16-18 participation statistical first release, the Labour Force survey (LFS) and regional NEET figures.
A Call to End Violence against Women & Girls
This action plan is the Government’s vision and ambition to tackle the blight of domestic and sexual violence. Recognising that tackling violence against women and girls requires a sustained, robust and dynamic cross Government approach.
Public views on Child Poverty: Results of the second poll undertaken as part of the measuring Child Poverty Consultation
A consultation had been undertaken to identify better measures of child poverty with the aim of developing new measure of child poverty that would provide a broader understanding of the real experience of child poverty in the UK .
The Child Protection system in England: Responses from the Government and Ofsted
This report is a compilation of responses from the Government & Ofsted to the committee’s fourth Report of Session; highlighting recent developments and identifying areas for the Government and local agencies to consider.
The Early Education Pilot for two year old children: Age five follow-up
Key findings of this pilot show that children who attended the early years education pilot when they were age two, showed no evidence of better outcome at age five as measured by the Early Years Foundation Stage profile, than those who did not attend the pilot.
Specialist Met unit in London to tackle gang-led child sex abuse
The Metropolitan police are setting up a specialist unit to counter child sex abuse in London similar to that in Rochdale, in response to a shocking report revealing the scale of incidents involving gangs across Britain .
Annual Youth Justice Convention 2013
This year’s annual Youth Justice Convention will be held in Birmingham at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 November 2013.
Monitoring visits guidance for local authorities
This Standards & Testing Agency guidance explains how local authorities should carry out monitoring visits to schools administering Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests.
Good practice resource – Tackling Child Sexual Exploitation: Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
‘Lessons from history and current practice tell us that the only effective way of identifying and supporting victims and prosecuting offenders is to do so in partnership’. Nick McPartlan, Team Manager, Engage Team
Participation in education, training and employment by 16 to 18 year-olds in England, end 2011
This DfE statistical release draws together information from the different post-16 learning options (school, FE colleges, work-based learning, higher education, etc.) to give a coherent and comprehensive picture of the participation of 16- to 18-year-olds.
Conception Statistics
The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales fell sharply in 2011 and is now at its lowest level since 1969.
Measuring up: the medical profession’s prescription to the nation’s obesity crisis
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is demanding a 20 per cent increase in the cost of sugary drinks, fewer fast food outlets near schools and a ban on unhealthy food in hospitals to prevent the country’s spiralling obesity crisis.
Ofsted warns schools taking physical out of PE
In a new report on physical education in schools, Ofsted says that PE lessons in more than a quarter of schools involve so little physical activity that they fail to improve pupils’ fitness at all with only a minority of schools playing high class competitive sport.
Online abuse warning
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) has warned that parents must do more to protect their children from the growing number of paedophiles grooming victims purely for online sexual abuse.
Launch of Ofsted’s ‘Data View’
Ofsted has launched a new data tool to enable comparison of regional and local performance of schools, further education and childcare providers. It also allows comparison with similar local authority areas.
Academies could take over teaching in youth prisons
As part of a radical plan to create “secure training colleges”, academies and free schools are to be invited to take over education in young offender institutions.
Trading Times- a service for job seekers
Here Dr Jonathan Collie describes the launch of an exciting new service in Barnet for job seekers:
Barnet Safeguarding Children Board launch new website
The Barnet Safeguarding Children Board recently launched a new website.
Double Dutch: The case against deregulation and demand-led funding in childcare
The Institute for Public Policy Research have written a report that critically engages with the arguments and ideas put forward in childcare minister Liz Truss’ paper Affordable Quality.
Arrangements for the inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass)
This is a consultation on proposals for the revised inspection framework for the inspection of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.
Safeguarding children peer review
The Children's Improvement Board will fully fund a Safeguarding children peer review until 31 March 2013 for any council.
Improving outcomes for looked after children and care leavers – London Borough of Ealing
This Ofsted good practice resource looks at Ealing’s ‘Horizons’ programme.
Major Young offender resettlement scheme announced for London
Crime reduction charity Nacro has won a contract to run a high profile payment-by-results resettlement scheme for young offenders in London.
Domestic violence awareness training
The Domestic Violence training programme has been revised and there is now an opportunity to undertake training at two levels. Please note that this training is available until the end of March 2013.
Action on Neglect Conference
You are invited to join us for the Barnet Action on Neglect Conference.
UK Youth Parliament election update
This year we have 37 candidates standing in the UK Youth Parliament Elections! Please support them by encouraging young people you work with who are aged 11 – 18 years to vote. Voter cards have been sent to schools, youth/community centres and some primary schools.
Manchester offers childcare providers a unique opportunity
Manchester City Council is committed to ensuring that its diverse population of young people get the best possible start in life, regardless of background, and are well supported throughout their earl
Elizabeth Truss speaks at the Policy Exchange on childcare
Speaker: Elizabeth Truss
Speech date: 29 January 2013
Location: London
Early education and childcare staff deployment
Consultation
Start date: Tuesday 29 January 2013
End date: Monday 25 March 2013
More great childcare - Raising quality and giving parents more choice
More great childcare is vital to ensuring we can compete in the global race, by helping parents back to work and readying children for school and, eventually, employment.
Careers Fair
The London Borough of Barnet and its partners invite you to join us at this year’s working with children and young people careers fair.
Young Carers are everyone’s business’ Barnet’s Young Carers Plan
The new Barnet Young Carers Plan suggests there may be as many as 4,000 young carers in Barnet, although we cannot identify exact numbers as few services identify this group.
Final call for UK Youth Parliament candidates
Young people have the chance to represent Barnet in the UK’s Youth Parliament Elections 2013 which take place on 4 February to 15 February 2013 .
Parkfield Children's Centre
Management responsibility for Parkfield Children’s Centre has passed over to the Local Authority as of 1 January 2013. The Centre Manager and staff are now directly line managed by Sue Hillsden, Early Years Services Manager, Early Intervention and Prevention Team.
Work Club
Work Club is for young people aged 16 – 21 (up to 25 for young people with a disability or learning difficulty). Work Club helps young people find a job, apply and prepare for interviews.
Weekly drop-in service at Finchley Youth Centre
In addition to its regular arts programme Finchley Youth Centre now offers a weekly drop-in for young people offering information, advice and guidance.
Help is at separating parents' fingertips as new web app is launched
The Government have launched an easy-to-use web app.
Consultation: Ofsted sharing locations of Children's Homes
Consultation on proposed revisions to the registration regulations so that Ofsted can share the names and addresses of children’s homes on their register.
Closing date: 10 January 2013
Preparing for Adulthood
Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) is a two year programme funded by the Department for Education as part of the delivery support for the 'Support and aspiration: A new approach to special educational needs and disability' programme of work.
A-Z guide to the Children’s Improvement Board
The CIB has published a new A-Z guide which brings together in one place a snapshot of current activity nationally and in regions.
Establishing Local Healthwatch: engaging with children and young people
Establishing Local Healthwatch (LHW) is a series of briefings produced by the LGA to assist local authorities and their partners in local communities and the NHS to support the commissioning, setting up and early development of LHW.
Children’s views on restraint
Over a period of years children have raised concerns about restraint in Ofsted consultations about other things.
Children and young people in custody 2011–12: an analysis of the experiences of 15–18 year-olds in prison
This report sets out how young people aged 15 to 18 describe their own experience of imprisonment in 2011-12.
Transition of careers guidance from local authorities to schools
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) produced this LGA commissioned report, on examples of how local authorities are supporting schools in the transition of the careers guidance duty, effective from September 2012.
Education Select Committee report into child protection
The Education Select Committee has published its report into child protection, which found that there was improvement among professionals and that the direction of travel championed by the Munro Review is the right one.
The Office of the Children's Commissioner's Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in gangs and groups
Recent high-profile court cases and reports have raised awareness of the widespread problem of child sexual exploitation and related issues such as children going missing.
Annual report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2011/12
This year's Annual Ofsted report found that schools in England are getting better, though there were variations in the performance of schools across different council areas.
Barnet Youth Shield wins London Safeguarding award
A Barnet project led by young people to raise awareness among their peers about issues which threaten their safety has won the prestigious London Safeguarding Children Award.
Census data release
There was a second release of 2011 Census data this week.
Autumn Statement
The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his Autumn Statement to Parliament last week.
Barnet UK Youth Parliament Elections 2013 - Barnet
The current members of the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) will be coming to the end of their term of office in the New Year.
CAF and Social Care Thresholds booklet
We would like to inform colleagues that the CAF/Children’s Social Care Thresholds Document, launched by the Safeguarding Children Board in 2009, has just been re-printed and refreshed.
Barnet Youth Shield wins London Safeguarding Children Award
A project led by young people to raise awareness about issues which threaten their safety has won the prestigious London Safeguarding Children Award.
Daycare Trust and Family and Parenting Institute to merge
The Daycare Trust and the Family and Parenting Institute are to merge under a new name from next year, the charities have announced.
Measuring child poverty: a consultation on better measures of child poverty
The government believes that poverty cannot be defined by income alone.
Strengthening the NHS Constitution-Department of Health
This consultation seeks views on proposals to strengthen the NHS Constitution.
Troubled families case studies
This document from the Department for Communities and Local Government describes how families were helped in Sheffield, Bradford, Lancashire, Leeds and Norfolk.
Young people and savings: a route to improved financial resilience
This report examines the financial resilience of young people today, their attitudes to saving and their future aspirations for financial security.
Apprenticeships - Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee
This report highlights the areas of the government's apprenticeships programme that need urgent reform.
Caught in a trap: the impact of grooming in 2012
In this report, Child Line found that the shame experienced by the young person and the belief that grooming is their fault plays a significant part in preventing them from seeking help.
Participation by 16-19 year olds in education and training
The government updates its response to the Education Committee’s report of July 2011 on the participation by 16-19 year olds in education and training.
The Edlington case: a review by Lord Carlile of Berriew
Lord Carlile’s independent review looks at the actions taken and improvements made following the Serious Case Review (SCR) of the Edlington Case from April 2009.
Homeless bound? Homelessness in London, the South East and East of England
This report from the National Housing Federation found that a ‘perfect storm’ of rising rents, insecure private tenancies and a lack of affordable housing has led to a sharp increase in homelessness.
YJB stakeholder survey 2012
The Youth Justice Board has opened a survey asking for views on how it operates and how it communicates with stakeholders; the survey closes Friday 7 December.
‘Women are at the heart of economic growth’ – speech by Maria Miller
The Women and Equalities Minister, Maria Miller has set out government plans to get more women into work and help drive economic growth.
NHS Information Service for Parents
The NHS Information Service for Parents will give new parents information and advice they can trust covering a wide range of issues related to staying healthy in pregnancy, preparing for birth and looking after their baby.
New vaccine to help protect babies against rotavirus
A new vaccination programme, planned to begin in September 2013, will see children under 4 months vaccinated against the highly infectious rotavirus.
The poverty trap
The Children’s Society has launched a new online game which shows the reality of living below the breadline.
Flexible Parental Leave to revolutionise parents’ lives at work and home
The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, promised a ‘properly flexible’ system of shared parental leave in Britain by 2015, in a speech at the think tank, Demos.
NHS mandate published
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has delivered the first mandate from the government to the NHS.
New £1m initiative to boost disability sport
Sport England has launched a new initiative to ensure the inclusion of disabled people in community sport.
Awards recognise the best of restorative justice
Justice Minister, Jeremy Wright, presented two awards to recognise the achievements of those working in Restorative Justice, victim support and with young people.
Automatic library membership for young people
The Arts Council has announced 22 test projects across the UK sharing £55,000 to test automatic library membership for children and young people.
Government calls for more adopters
New figures show more than 4200 children are ready for adoption but have not yet been able to move in with a family – a figure that has grown by 650 in each of the last two years.
Government bans calculators in tests for 11-year-olds
Elizabeth Truss, Education and Childcare Minister, has announced that calculators will be banned in maths tests for 11-year-olds from 2014.
Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Attainment by Pupil Characteristics in England, 2011/12
An overview of the national and Barnet data profile for 2012.
Inspection of Sure Start Children’s Centres
There have been a number of changes in the government’s vision for Sure Start Children’s Centres and the way in which local authorities have chosen to commission and deliver services from them. Ofsted is therefore consulting on a revised framework for the inspection of children’s centres.
Social and emotional wellbeing: early years: Public health guidance, PH40
This NICE guidance aims to define how the social and emotional wellbeing of vulnerable children aged under 5 years can be supported through home visiting, childcare and early education.
Counting the costs of childcare
This Resolution Foundation briefing assesses how changes in support for childcare since 2008 have altered the costs of childcare for families, looks at the burden of childcare costs for families across the income distribution and analyses how the costs of childcare affects work incentives
Children’s Service budget proposals for 2013-14
As you’ll be aware, the Government’s spending review has reduced the amount of money available for the Council to spend over the coming years.
VSC funding of £60m is 'great news for the sector'
Despite fears that the Government would not continue with the Voluntary and Community Sector grant beyond 2013, it has now launched a new grant programme worth £60m over two years.
Qualified staff improve learning of nursery children, report says
Being taught by highly qualified staff makes a difference to the education of nursery school children in Scotland, a report has concluded.
Affordable childcare is one of my key goals, says Clegg after fury over spiralling costs
Nick Clegg has vowed to make affordable childcare one of his top priorities.
The studio schools movement
Speech at the Studio Schools Trust conference by Lord Hill, Under Secretary of State for Schools, on the future of studio schools.
Increase in popularity of the DofE Award participation
The Youth Support Service has supported the schools, academies and colleges within the borough to deliver the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) programme for the past five years.
Making the most of the Games in Barnet
Back in 2005 when London was selected to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was with the promise that a lasting legacy would be delivered that inspired a generation to lead a more active lifestyle and, more broadly, to fulfil their potential.
Family Focus Practitioners' Guidance
This new, web-based guidance has been produced for practitioners working directly with the 'Troubled Families' agenda and for partners involved in the work.
Exam marking inquiry
Ofqual, the exams watchdog, is to carry out an investigation into A-level and GCSE marking following claims from independent school heads that up to one in four 16-year-olds receives the wrong marks every year. Glenys Stacey, Ofqual’s chief executive, said “We need to respond to what we hear about the quality of marking…we need to look closely at whether our marking schemes are good enough”.
EBacc means twice as many take key academic subjects
Newly published figures reveal how the introduction of the English Baccalaureate has led to an increase in the proportion of young people studying the core academic subjects.
Equality and Human Rights Commission launches careers education resource for schools
Developed by the EHRC together with a panel of education and careers experts, and tested in primary schools, Equal choices, equal chances, a free toolkit for Key Stage 2 teachers, helps to challenge any stereotypical ideas which pupils may already have started to form around the world of work.
Transforming Childcare, Changing Lives: Making sure that work pays
How to maximise Universal Credit by reforming childcare.
A position paper by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
Inquiry into proposed reform of provision for children with SEN
The Commons Education Committee is conducting pre-legislative scrutiny of the government’s proposed reform of provision for children and young people with special educational needs. Interested parties are invited to consider a range of points. The closing date for written submissions is 12 October 2012.
Developing children’s zones for England
This report for Save the Children by the Centre for Equity in Education considers what the cumulative impact would be if children in deprived areas received high-quality support over time and across all the contexts in which they learn and develop. The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) in New York is a well-known US example of this holistic approach and the authors explore how similar children’s zones in England might look and in which type of areas they should be located.
Protecting disabled children: thematic inspection report
This Ofsted thematic inspection looks at the effectiveness of child protection work for disabled children in 12 local authorities, tracing the child’s journey through the system to understand how well disabled children are protected from harm. The study found that disabled children are at risk of slipping through the child protection net because social workers, teachers and medical staff are missing the signs
Destinations of Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5 pupils in 2009/10
This DfE statistical release on education destination measures shows the percentage of students progressing to further learning in a school, further education or sixth-form college, apprenticeship, work-based learning provider or higher education institution.
“You have someone to trust”: outstanding safeguarding practice in primary schools
Cutbacks in support services, pending changes in statutory guidance, and a lack of professional confidence, has led to a number of schools and services reporting that it is hard to keep up to date and uncertainty within the workforce around vetting and barring procedures and statutory child protection and safeguarding duties. This report from the Children's Commissioner aims to support teachers and other education professionals to identify early and help children at risk of neglect or abuse.
Social Work Practices: report of the national evaluation
This research report presents the findings from an evaluation of the social work practice (SWP) pilots covering the period December 2009 to March 2012.
Children’s social mobility improved by educated early years staff
The degree to which early years professionals are educated has a bigger impact on improving social mobility than the ratio of staff to children in pre-school settings, a report by The Sutton Trust has claimed.
Implementing evidence-based programmes in children's services: key issues for success
Across the government in England there is an increasing trend towards promoting programmes that have been rigorously evaluated and have a strong evidence base. This research brief brings together the latest international thinking about the implementation of evidence-based programmes in children’s services.
Review of multi-agency responses to the sexual exploitation of children
This report on the organised sexual exploitation of young girls in Rochdale says that police and children’s services had numerous opportunities over several years to protect the children who fell victim to a network of sex-grooming offenders.
Listening to troubled families
Louise Casey’s report for the DCLG highlights the personal histories of some of the families targeted as part of the government's ‘Troubled Families’ initiative. It identifies common characteristics such as family histories of being in care, extended violence, and physical and sexual abuse through generations.
Intergenerational transmission of worklessness: evidence from the Millennium Cohort and the Longitudinal Study of Young People In England
This DFE report presents the findings from a study on the extent of parental worklessness in families with young and teenage children, and determined how parental worklessness impacts on children’s cognitive ability, education attainment, behaviours, attitude to school, and experience of the transition from school to work.
£100m Capital Investment for two year-old entitlement
The Deputy Prime Minister has announced councils across England will receive £100m of capital funding to help nurseries and childminders increase the number of places they offer.
Nick Clegg unveils catch-up premium
Pupils struggling with English and maths when they start secondary school are to be given intensive tuition funded by a £50m “catch-up premium”. This will be allocated to schools in January and guaranteed every year for the rest of this Parliament.
Haringey Council appoints new chief executive
Haringey Council has appointed a new chief executive to help deliver its ambitions for the borough.
Council launches
As part of Barnet Council's policy to build on it's existing corporate presence and to make greater use of social media, the Children's Service now has the following accounts on Facebook and Twitter:
'MAKE YOUR MARK' young people of Barnet.
Barnet Members of Youth Parliament will be making sure the young people of Barnet help decide the national UK Youth Parliament campaign for the year ahead.
Childcare vouchers and provider tax breaks among proposals to childcare commission
The government should broaden access to childcare vouchers to ease financial pressures on families and offer tax breaks to early years providers, according to leading childcare groups.
News roundup- 4 September 2012
A round up of recent news, reports and research that will be of interest to Barnet's children's practititioner workforce.
Secretary of State agrees two free schools for Barnet
Two further free schools have been agreed by the Secretary of State to open in Barnet in September 2013 – the Archer Academy and the New Jewish Primary School.
New college for young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
The council, in partnership with our special schools, Barnet and Southgate College and Enfield Council, has been successful in its bid for £804,000 of government funding to build a specialist college to meet the gap in local provision for young people with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities.
New roundup- 10 August 2012
A round up of recent news, reports and research that will be of interest to Barnet's childrens workforce.
News round up-20 July 2012
A round up of recent news, reports and research that will be of interest to Barnet's childrens workforce.
News round up-6 July 2012
A round up of recent news, reports and research that will be of interest to Barnet's childrens workforce.
