Children’s Champions Briefing Note 1st March 2010

The attached are extracts from news and political briefing services accessed by Highland Children’s Forum. We hope that you find them of interest and assistance.

New social workers lack skills

By Lauren Higgs
Children & Young People Now
23 February 2010
Poll reveals that social workers feel that new recruits are not properly prepared for the challenges of the job.
Newly qualified social workers lack skills in risk analysis when they first start work, a major poll of social work professionals has revealed.
The General Social Care Council (GSCC) survey, seen exclusively by CYP Now, found 93 per cent of almost 500 social workers think newly qualified staff lack key skills when they enter the workplace.
Almost half claimed new social workers didn't have sufficient understanding of risk analysis, while a quarter said recruits need more experience of working with different groups of service users. More than one in eight felt social work training should do more to improve students' communication skills.
Rosie Varley, chair of the GSCC, said the poll reinforces the proposals of the Social Work Taskforce, particularly the recommendation to introduce an assessed year in employment for new workers and the push for high-quality placements for students on social work degrees.
Nushra Mansuri, professional officer at the British Association of Social Workers, warned that the government's revised version of Working Together to Safeguard Children does less to emphasise the importance of risk assessment than previous statutory guidance.
"Many really experienced social workers argue that there has been a dilution of focus on risk assessment," she explained. "Laming's first report into child protection championed a more preventative agenda. That's fine as long as we don't lose an emphasis on risk analysis at the sharp end of practice."
Kim Bromley-Derry, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services, said the new social work degree would provide more focus on core social work skills.
But he warned: "Additional resources will be required to allow local authorities to meet their responsibilities to the workforce."
The Social Work Taskforce also recommended introducing a clear career structure for workers. In a second question, answered by more than 600 social workers, more than half of the respondents said they would stay on the frontline and work as "advanced professionals", should such a structure be introduced. Only a fifth said they would consider going into management roles.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "The views expressed by social workers in the survey about initial social work education chime with the analysis of the Social Work Taskforce.
"The government agrees with the Social Work Taskforce that skilled and confident frontline social work managers are essential to good frontline social work.
"We also recognise the pressures on frontline managers and, as a first step, last year announced new activity to support them."

HCF Comment: This research appears to be based on the English Social Work workforce.

Lib Dems call for action on bullying on school transport

By Ross Watson
Children & Young People Now
23 February 2010
The Liberal Democrats have urged all local authorities to do more to prevent bullying on school transport.
The party's children's spokeswoman Annette Brooke called for better prevention while speaking at 4Children's annual conference yesterday. According to Brooke, a survey she conducted among local authorities showed that although bullying in schools is addressed, in many cases there are no anti-bullying policies for school travel.
"There are huge variations and the real conclusions are that there is a lot of room for progress in having a more joined-up approach," she said. "I hope all local authorities are giving this area a strong lead with a clear framework and evaluating what already exists."
Brooke said she decided to conduct the survey when she spoke to a family who moved in to her constituency after their 16-year-old son had committed suicide as a result of being continually bullied on his school bus.
Delegates at the conference were largely made up of senior local authority members in children's services. But when asked if they were aware of the Safe From Bullying guidance published by the government last April, only two raised their hands.
"I am really worried that this guidance is not out there enough," said Sue Finch, 4Children's head of consultancy, who asked the question of the conference members. She said the number of people aware of the guidance was "quite shocking, given who is in the room".

HCF Comment: This was a conference in England. However children and young people and their carers in Highland have previously made comments about bullying on school transport.

Learning and Teaching Scotland 24.2.10
Scottish Government

1) Priorities for education
Greater diversity in the way education is governed and delivered is key to success Education Secretary Michael Russell said today as he outlined his plans to improve standards in Scottish education.
Making his first major speech on priorities in school education since taking office in early December, the Cabinet Secretary said access and excellence - the key values of Scottish Education - need to be renewed by building on what is good and changing what is not. He also said that these values must guide and underpin any changes.
Mr Russell stressed his commitment to fully implementing Curriculum for Excellence and delivering smaller class sizes. He also outlined his desire to develop better support structures to develop teachers' skills and to introduce a more supportive and less confrontational inspection process.

2) Scottish Survey of Achievement

Results of the 2009 Scottish Survey of Achievement - Reading and Writing

Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the Scottish Survey of Achievement 2009 - Reading and Writing. The publication includes a range of statistics relating to the reading and writing attainment of pupils across Scotland relative to the national 5-14 curriculum levels.
The 2009 SSA investigated pupils' attainment levels in reading using a set of written assessments. Pupils' writing was assessed through the collection of pupils' scripts submitted by their teachers.
In addition, information from pupils and teachers about their experiences of and attitudes towards learning and teaching was gathered from questionnaires.
The survey also collected teachers' professional judgements about sampled pupils' overall levels of attainment in reading and writing.
Full details of the methodology of the SSA

Lloyds TSB to end covenant with its Scottish foundation

By Kaye Wiggins, Third Sector Online, 23 February 2010
Move follows disputes and bank's huge financial losses
The Lloyds Banking Group is to terminate its covenant with the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and set up a new Scottish foundation instead.
The Scottish branch of the foundation has been in dispute with the banking group over a new covenant, drawn up in the wake of the huge losses incurred by the group as a result of the banking crisis.
In December, Lloyds agreed new funding settlements with foundation branches in England and Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands. Funding for these branches will increase over the next four years, but their entitlement to the group's profits in the long term will halve. The Scottish foundation refused to agree to a similar settlement.
The group has confirmed that the existing covenant with the Scottish foundation, which says that 1 per cent of Lloyds Banking Group's pre-tax profits should be allocated to the Lloyds TSB foundation every year, will be terminated at the end of a nine-year notice period.
The Lloyds Banking Group will set up a new foundation, the Bank of Scotland Foundation, through which it will award all of its Scottish grants.
Mary Craig, chief executive of the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, said the Lloyds Banking Group had also refused to approve the foundation's decision to reappoint its chair, Christine Lenihan, for another year.
"It is hard to see either action as anything other than a vindictive attempt to punish us for not agreeing to their proposal to cut our funding and reduce our independence," she said.
A spokesman for the Lloyds Banking Group said: "After a series of discussions, the group confirms that it has regrettably served notice to the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland that its funding relationship will end in nine years' time.
"Until then, it is likely that the foundation will continue to be one of the biggest charitable donors in Scotland."

Scottish Government
Children's Hearings Bill

24/02/2010
Scotland's most vulnerable children are to benefit from improved support thanks to measures underpinned by the new Children's Hearings (Scotland) Bill, published today.
Drawn up in response to a national consultation, the Bill will create a strengthened, modernised and streamlined system. It will be fit for the 21st century and will secure better outcomes for children, young people and their families by improving children's rights and introducing standards that will deliver national consistency.
One of the key changes will be the creation of a new national body, Children's Hearings Scotland, whose National Convener will be responsible for setting standards for the recruitment, support and training of local panel members, and for monitoring their implementation.
The Bill will also ensure that the key fundamental principles of protecting children's welfare, set out by Lord Kilbrandon when the Children's Hearings system was first established in the 1960s, remain at its heart.
Mr Ingram said:
"Our reforms aim to ensure our most vulnerable children receive the best protection and support possible. Early intervention lies at the heart of the Scottish Government's approach to improving people's life chances and our unique, welfare-based Children's Hearings system exemplifies this principle.
"That system - in which local volunteers make decisions to improve the lives of local young people - remains the best way of offering support, but children and families today are facing significantly different challenges and circumstances from when it was created.
"The Bill will modernise and reinforce the system for the 21st century, ensuring better support for the professionals and volunteers who deliver it, which in turn will mean better outcomes for children through more consistent decision-making.
"Maintaining children's hearings made up of local people, drawn from the community who are best placed to make decisions that are in the best interests of the child or young person, is at the centre of these reforms."
Under the plans, The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) will continue to run the Children's Reporter Service for Scotland which makes decisions on whether a child should be referred to a hearing, and on what grounds.
The Bill has been published on the same day as the Children Looked After Statistics for 2008-09 were released.
Mr Ingram said:
"The statistics published today, which continue to show a rise in the number of children being looked after, highlights why reforms such as these are so important. The improvements to the Children's Hearings System, together with other reforms such as the Early Years Framework and our Getting it right for every child approach will help us ensure earlier and more effective support for vulnerable children to reduce the need for so many children in Scotland being taken into care."
The Children's Hearings system is Scotland's unique approach to dealing with children and young people in trouble or at risk. The system was created in the 1960s in response to a report from Lord Kilbrandon after it was recognised that young people appearing before the juvenile courts, whether they had committed offences or were in need of care and protection, had common needs. The system is founded on the principle of local people from the children's own communities making decisions about how best to address children's needs.
There are more than 2,500 volunteer panel members who are recruited through an annual national campaign supported by local campaigns. Panel members are carefully selected and undergo extensive and continuous training.
The Scottish Children's Reporter Administration (SCRA) was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1994 to support the work of the Principal Reporter. SCRA currently has a statutory role of facilitating the work of the Principal Reporter and providing accommodation for children's hearings. The work of SCRA is overseen by a board.
In 2008-09, SCRA received more than 90,000 referrals involving 47,718 children. The majority of referrals related to care grounds (e.g. parental neglect).
The Children's Hearings (Scotland) Bill has been introduced to Parliament.  If you have time, you are invited to browse the new-look web pages.

Children Looked After Statistics

Statistics Publication Notice Health and Care Series: Children Looked After Statistics 2008-09
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published Children Looked After Statistics 2008-09. This publication presents new statistics obtained from the children looked after survey which was completed by all local authorities in Scotland.
This year, for the first time, all 32 local authorities completed a return for each individual child, rather than aggregate return. This has not changed the format of the publication but it does enable more flexible analyses to be carried out.

One in ten nursery children lack skills to succeed

By Emily Watson
Children & Young People Now
25 February 2010
Nursery children are showing signs of behavioural problems associated with those of young people not in education, employment or training (Neets), according to Demos research published today.
The report, Ex Curricular, which was funded by the Private Equity Foundation, found that more than ten per cent of five-year-olds start school without the necessary behavioural and social skills to succeed.
Without these skills, children are more likely to become disengaged with education and end up Neet, according to the study.
Ex Curricular author Sonia Sodha said: "One in ten children lack the tools to benefit from education. These nursery [children] show the same behaviour problems as older Neets, such as difficulty making friends and bad behaviour."
The research draws links between poor behaviour and poor outcomes, such as truanting, which are associated with Neets, added Sodha. "It's setting these children up for failure," she said.
Researchers cite poor parenting and teaching practices as the key reasons behind the problem. And children from deprived backgrounds are the most vulnerable, with 18 per cent of nursery Neets coming from the poorest fifth of families, compared with four per cent from the richest fifth, the report found.
"We need more investment into the nurseries based in deprived areas to ensure that the highest possible quality of care can be provided to the children who need it most," said Sodha.
The study criticises policy towards young people who have fallen out of education, arguing that early identification could reduce the 260,000 young people aged 16 to 18 who are currently classified as Neets.
Private Equity Foundation chief executive Shaks Ghosh said: "There is currently an obsession with how to deal today's Neet statistics, which is justified, but we need to place more emphasis on the importance of getting the early years right too.
"What we need is a more careful screening practice to identify problems at an early age and a central body of good practice to look into solutions that really work."
A universal screening tool for children aged between six months and five years old would help to identify at-risk children, the research recommends.
The risk factors outlined are poor literacy and numeracy, communication problems, mental health problems or poor wellbeing.
The report is based on the Millennium Cohort Study, a research project based on 15,000 children born at the turn of the millennium.

 Revealed: shocking legacy of drinking in pregnancy
Foetal Alcohol Syndrome: Caused by mothers who binge drink in the first three months of pregnancy

Glasgow Herald Published on 1 Mar 2010
At least 900 children in Scotland are suffering from a debilitating and potentially fatal syndrome caused by mothers who binge drink in the first three months of pregnancy.
Thousands more Scots children are suffering from less obvious symptoms such as learning difficulties caused by women who drink too much in the later stages of pregnancy, according to a new report.
The study, which has been sent to both the UK and Scottish parliaments, warns too much emphasis has been placed on the cost of adults misusing alcohol, and the impact on their unborn children has been ignored.
Dr Jonathan Sher, director of research, policy and programmes at Children in Scotland, which has more than 450 members including children’s charities and community groups, compiled the report. The study warns that Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and the less obvious Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are entirely avoidable and completely incurable.
The syndrome results in visible birth defects – including a malformed face – and damage to the brain and organs which can be fatal. The disorder is more difficult to diagnose and results in symptoms that include problems with concentration and learning.
Dr Sher said: “Foetal alcohol syndrome is the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It is easier to diagnose because the damage can be seen. Thousands more children, teenagers and adults across Scotland have suffered serious harm to their brains that is invisible, but continues to have a negative impact on their learning, behaviour, wellbeing and life chances.”
The report states: “A conservative estimate is that there are 900 children in Scotland [under 18] who have FAS – and many times more [ie thousands of] children and young people who were damaged in more subtle, but still serious, ways by foetal alcohol exposure.
“In comparison with the attention accorded to parental dependence upon alcohol – and the misuse of alcohol by children and young people – relatively little attention [and even less action] has been focused on the extent to which children’s lives and life chances have been compromised by exposure to alcohol while still in utero. This blindspot is counterproductive. Ignoring the problem of FAS and FASD has not reduced the life-long harm with which many children must live because of foetal alcohol exposure.”
The study comes as children’s charities back Scottish Government plans for minimum pricing on alcohol.
Children in Scotland believes the alcohol bill going through Holyrood needs to address a lack of awareness of what it believes is a growing problem.
Forrester Cockburn, Emeritus Professor of Child Health at Glasgow University, told The Herald far more children in Scotland are suffering from the syndrome “than were ever damaged by thalidomide”.
“The commonest preventable cause of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism and congenital heart disease is Foetal Alcohol Syndrome,” he said. “You may see these conditions as a result of other problems but this is the one thing which is entirely preventable and young women should be made aware of that. There is a whole range of problems that don’t allow us to say there is a safe alcohol limit for expectant mothers.
“For the first three months I would not recommend any drinking, but one or two units a week after that might be okay. This is nine months of a ¬woman’s life whereas the outlook for the child is for life.”
He believes raising the price of alcohol and clearly labelling alcohol to explain the potential damage to unborn babies would help.
Dr Harry Burns, Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, said recently that prenatal exposure to alcohol “is the leading cause of brain damage and developmental delay among children in industrialised countries”.

Children in Scotland News Service 1.3.10

UNBORN ARE PAYING HEAVY PRICE FOR DAMAGE DONE BY ALCOHOL
Editorial looking at Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and its impact in Scotland in the light of recent findings.
Herald

MINIMUM PRICE FOR ALCOHOL BACKED BY CHILDREN'S CHARITIES
A consortium of Scottish children's organisations, including ChildLine, Children 1st, Quarriers and Barnardo's Scotland, are submitting a joint statement to the Scottish government backing plans for minimum pricing on alcohol.
Herald

COUNSELLING SERVICES FACE CLOSURE THREAT
Relationships Scotland has warned that family counselling services, including mediation services, are being severely hampered by budget cuts and could be at risk of closure in some parts of the country.
Herald

£140,000: THE COST OF JAILING A YOUNG CRIMINAL FOR A YEAR
As part of a call for drastic cuts in the use of youth custody, the New Economics Foundation finds that jailing young criminals is not only expensive but makes it more likely they will commit further crimes and be unemployed later in life.
Guardian

TEEN MOTHERHOOD NOT ALL BAD, SAYS MANTEL
Novelist Hilary Mantel says society has encouraged women to run their careers and delay having children based around a timetable that suits men. Mantel calls for a greater degree of flexibility in higher education and the early stages of a career to accommodate women who would like to have children in their twenties or early thirties.
Guardian

PARENTS TO LEARN OF SEX OFFENDERS
Following a pilot scheme begun in Tayside last September, Scottish parents are to be given the right to learn if people who have access to their children are sex offenders.
BBC

TEACHERS TO BACK CURRICULUM DELAY
The Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) is likely to call for a delay in implementing the new Curriculum for Excellence.
BBC