NI classroom assistants' strike could resume

2000 classroom assistants in Northern Ireland are to decide today (Thursday) whether to go back on strike.
Talks between their trade union, NIPSA, and employers have failed to resolve the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
Earlier this month ten days of strike action by the classroom assistants closed more than half of special schools in Northern Ireland.
Other unions including Unison who have not been on strike are to ballot their members on the employers' offer which includes a one-off payment to compensate for reduced allowances.

Children "overprotected"

Children are losing out on their childhoods because they are over-protected, an expert on child development has said.

Advisor to the government on child development, Tim Gill, sets out his concerns in a new book called “No Fear: Growing Up in a Risk Averse Society”.

Not allowing children to take risks such as walking to school on their own or play unsupervised means that children are not developing the vital skills previous generations have done.

Mr Gill: said: “Rather than having a nanny state, where risk aversion dominates the landscape, we should be aspiring to a child-friendly society, where communities look out for each other and for children".

TA of the year

A teaching assistant who inspired pupils to become interested in environmental issues has scooped a Teaching Award.

Anne Hegarty, of St Brigid’s Primary School, Magherafelt, Northern Ireland, won Teaching Assistant of the Year at the Teaching Awards 2007.

The annual awards celebrate excellence in teaching.

Ms Hegarty helped secure funding for a school sensory garden as well as running a number of special interest clubs for pupils.

"It is hard to describe just how important she is in the life of this school,” the judges said of her. “Anne is the heartbeat, the pulse and the brains."

Free meals for Scottish children

Free school meals are now on offer for more than 30,000 Scottish children.

Primary children in years one to three will receive a free meal each day until March as part of the £5 million trial project.

Five areas are covered by the pilot: Glasgow, Fife, East Ayrshire, the Borders and West Dunbartonshire.

It is hoped that the scheme will help get children eating more healthily, and the pilot will be closely monitored for signs of changing eating habits at school and at home.

"For too long, Scotland's health has been affected by a legacy of poor diet,” minister for Children and Early Years, Adam Ingram, said.

“This government is determined to change these habits, and we believe strongly that targeting our youngest pupils will bring health benefits for them now and in the future."

Children from poor areas still way behind others

Children under five in the poorest areas of the country are achieving significantly less than their more affluent counterparts.

An annual assessment of children in their first year of school, carried out by the government, has shown that the gap between rich and poor is not closing.

Forty percent of under-fives couldn’t write their own name or sound out simple words such as ‘dog’.

The assessments looked at development in areas including maths, communication, language and literacy, and personal, social and emotional development.

Girls outperformed boys in every category, and by as much as 17 percent in writing tests.

A 15 percent difference was found between standards of children living in the 30 percent most deprived areas of Britain.

This marks no change from last year’s results and falls far short of government targets.

Children and Families Minister, Beverley Hughes said: “It is disappointing that the gap between these children has not narrowed.

“Both we and local authorities must focus our efforts on improving the life chances of children who are the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.”

Five "too young for formal learning" - heads

Young pupils should learn through play and not start formal learning until the age of six, the National Primary Headteachers’ Association has said.

In their submission to the Primary Review, the biggest review of primary education for 40 years, they criticised a current ‘obscene rush’ to get children producing academic work.

The body called for reception classes to be extended a year and highlighted research from Scandinavia finding that delaying the start of formal schooling could lead to higher academic results in the long run.

Views sought on speech and language care

Parents, education and health professionals are being asked for their views on specialist provision for children with speech, language and communications needs.

An independent review into services for children and young people with speech and language difficulties has been set up by education secretary Ed Balls.

Over 89,000 school-aged children have speech and language difficulties as their main special educational need, and many more are undiagnosed. The needs range from mild stammering to serious communication difficulties caused by accident or illness.

MP John Bercow who is leading the review said: “I am determined that this independent, non-partisan review should make a real difference to the lives of young people with communication needs, their parents and the professionals that work with them.

“I know that where the system works well, young people get the support they need and deserve. But there is more work to be done to ensure that young people get the support they need, at the earliest possible opportunity."

The Bercow Review

TA concerns about lost childhood

Teaching assistants have raised concerns about a ‘loss of childhood’ affecting primary children today, in the biggest enquiry into English primary education for over 40 years.

They also highlighted the ill-effects of technology such as play stations, the internet, television and mobile phones in allowing children access to material ranging from ‘unsuitable’ to the ‘pernicious’.

In the survey by the independent, Cambridge University-based Primary Review, 64 teaching assistants were interviewed, of a total of 750 children, teachers, parents and others.

Teaching assistants generally felt that school stress, family breakdown, and consumer and media pressures was leading to a loss of childhood.

They made comparisons to being allowed to play freely outside unsupervised without the fears common today such as strangers and traffic.

Concern was also expressed about children using bad language, a loss of mutual respect, and a sense that ‘society doesn’t function as well as it did’.

In the classroom, teaching assistants said they would most like to see teaching concentrating on the basics of literacy, numeracy and ICT, without ignoring the need for life skills such as communication.

In the survey children said they suffered stress about exams and anxieties about modern life.

Climate change and terrorism were frequently cited, as well as the gap between rich and poor.

In addition children worried about traffic, knives, guns, strangers, and other personal safety issues.

The authors of the report say the line of questioning at the sessions was open, not leading, and that responses were very consistent although the sessions were held in very different regional venues, and people often referred to specific local issues to illustrate their views.

The Primary Review

More TAs mean children are better cared for - Ofsted

A ‘revolutionary shift’ in school working practices has led to better care for vulnerable children, says Ofsted.

Pupils generally are getting more support as a result of the huge growth in the number of teaching assistants and other support staff in schools. Deploying adults with different skills means schools have improved care and guidance for vulnerable children and those at risk of exclusion.

But some schools don't pay enough attention to the training, career development and performance management of support staff, and don't match skills and expertise closely enough to school needs.

The workforce reforms have also transformed teachers’ lives by reducing their workload – although there is little evidence to show this has led to improved standards says Ofsted.

Changes implemented, such as making greater use of support staff for administrative and routine tasks, had led to teachers having more time to plan lessons, mark books and liaise with colleagues.

In almost three quarters of the 99 schools visited, 51 of which were primary schools, it was strongly believed that standards had risen as a result.

But as few of the schools had officially monitored the impact of the changes on pupils’ learning there was a lack of firm evidence to support this.

The changes are the result of a deal struck between the government and unions, which sees the changes being brought in over a four-year period.

According to figures from the Department for Children, Schools, and Families there are now 100,000 more teaching assistants than in 1997

Reforming and developing the school workforce.

"Nearly all" children have been victims of a crime

Nearly all children have been the victim of a crime, according to a new report.
A survey of children in primary and secondary schools found that 19 out of 20 pupils had been the victim of a crime at least once.
Nearly half said property had been stolen from them at school, and one in six had experienced a theft between school and home.
Nearly three quarters of children in the survey had been assaulted.
Children mostly told only friends and family about what had happened. Only one in three had told the police or teachers.
The survey was conducted by the Howard League for Penal Reform . More than 3000 children across the country were surveyed over seven years.
"These crimes are often not reported as children think adults will not listen to them, or the crime will be viewed as too small to bother with, said the Howard League's director Frances Crook.
Most of the incidents were low level crimes taking place in schools and playtrounds but "to children these crimes are serious enough, and do matter".
She said it was ironic that children are most commonly victimised at school - "the very institutions where children should feel safest, set up and patrolled by adults".
Children as victimes: child-sized crimes in a child-sized world.

Probe into video games harm to children

A ‘call for evidence’ about potential harm to children from video games and the internet was launched today.

Anyone with an interest is invited to respond to questions about the risks from exposure to inappropriate material, such as violent video games.

Clinical psychologist Dr Tanya Byron has been appointed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to head the independent review.

“New technology is giving kids opportunities to learn, have fun, be creative and communicate in ways that previous generations could only dream of,” she said.

“But many parents still feel ill-equipped to help their children navigate this technology safely.

“I want to start a debate about how Government, industry and society as a whole can support parents to guide our children into the virtual world, with the same confidence as when we show them how to stay safe in our local community.”

Byron Review

Boring playtimes increase bullying

Boring breaks and badly designed playgrounds contribute towards bullying, a charity has claimed.

In a survey of 1,146 children aged between six and 11 years-old, a quarter said they had been bullied in the playground and one in six said they had been bored in the playground. But more than nine out of ten of the children said they enjoyed playtime overall.

Bullying was higher in Wales and Scotland, with 47 per cent and 34 per cent having experienced it respectively. Eight was the age when children were most likely to be bullied.

Catherine Andrews, chief executive of the national school grounds charity, Learning Through Landscapes, said: "A proven solution is to engage them in more stimulating play. Whilst it is said that children will play anywhere, the quality of the experience is undoubtedly related to the quality of the environment.”

Crackdown on expensive uniforms

The government is to take action against schools with expensive, compulsory uniforms.
Schools minister Jim Knight said he would like all schools to have uniforms, but these "should never be a barrier for poorer families."
"We will take action where schools have a uniform policy that is needlessly and prohibitavely expensive, " he said. In addition, exclusive contracts with particular suppliers may be illegal under the Competition Act.
New guidance says that heads can send children home to change clothes if they breach uniform policy but they must tell parents first and consider issues such as the child's age and whether anyone will be at home to look after them. And they can't be sent home for longer than it takes to make the changes required.
Pupils, parents and the local community must be consulted before a school uniform policy is set or changed. But they don't have to meet the requirements of all pupils if this goes against "the best interests of the whole school community".

23,000 infants in classes of 31+

Thousands of children in England are still being taught in illegally oversized classes, according to government figures published this month.

The law says that Key Stage 1 pupils must be taught in classes no bigger than 30. But more than 23,000 KS1 children were being taught in classes with over 30 pupils in January this year.

Of these, 18,930 were in classes with "exempted" status. This means the class size has grown above 30 because a child has been admitted after the start of term for good reason - for example that there was no other place for them within a reasonable distance.

The remaining 4,280 children, were being taught in in 130 illegally oversized classes.

The average class size was 25.6 for Key Stage 1 and 27.2 for Key Stage 2,, and has changed little since 2004.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown came under fire over the figures from teachers’ representatives, in the light of his policy of personalised learning.

General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Steve Sinnott, said: “How can you deliver personalised learning in large classes?

“Those parents who chose to send their children to independent schools understand the value of smaller class sizes.”

The number of children in primary schools whose first language is not English increased by one percent to 13.5%.

Schools and Pupils in England January 2007

TV takes most time

CHILDREN of primary school age are spending twice as much time watching TV as reading, a survey has found.

Children spent more time watching TV each day than doing any other activity, and less time with their parents than alone or with friends

Family meals took up an average of 43 minutes each day, with 18 per cent of families spending only 17 minutes eating together

The survey was carried out by the government-backed literacy group Booktime.

Schools to decide TA roles in new tutoring schemes

TAs could be involved in intensive tutoring for children lagging behind with reading and maths.

Teachers are to be trained to work intensively on a one-to-one basis to boost children's literacy and numeracy skills, and teaching assistants could be trained by the teachers to support the programme, says the government.

A third programme of intensive support was announced last week, aimed at children who need help with writing.

"Every child a writer" follows "Every child a reader" and "Every child counts" which will be targeted on six and seven year olds children lagging behind with reading and maths. An extra £144 million will be available over the next three years for the reading and maths programmes.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said: “ I want all children to master the skills they need to succeed at secondary school, which means that every child should leave primary school able to read and write and do maths.

“However, some children need extra help early on so that they don’t lose heart and get left behind by their classmates.”

Teachers will get the government-funded training, but they could in turn train TAs to do less intensive work to support the programme, said a spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families. The decision on teaching assistants' role will be left to schools.

Head fined over 3-year-old's death

A HEADTEACHER has been fined £20,000 after a three-year-old boy died as a result of falling from playground steps whilst pretending to be Batman. Just one member of staff was supervising 59 pupils between the ages of three and eleven on the day of the incident.

James Porter, headteacher and owner of Hillgrove private school in Bangor, Gwynedd, was found by Mold Crown Court to have breached health and safety laws by failing to provide adequate supervision and allowing access to the steps.

Kian Williams, from Bethesda, was described by teachers as ‘lively and energetic’, and had fallen after jumping from four steps in an out of bounds area.

He suffered brain swelling and died from MRSA infection in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in August 2004.

Porter had run the school for 30 years with an ‘exemplary safety record’ but was found responsible for the tragedy and ordered to pay £12,000 in fines and prosecution costs of £7,500.