14-19 Network Briefing

14-19 Network

Current Challenges What Can Be Done? Where To Go?

Education Costs Parents living on low incomes in Wales are struggling to meet increasing and diverse "hidden" costs of sending their children to school.

Utilise the Children in Wales: good practice guide for schools (training available)

Tackling Child Poverty in Wales - A Good Practice Guide for Schools Or Contact [email protected]

Vocational Skills The opportunities to work with parents accessing early years provision on improving skills for work are not always maximised.

Review the links between early years provision, vocational training, skills development and access to employment.

Ymyriad a chefnogaeth Mae ysgolion llwyddiannus yn gweithio mewn cymunedau o amddifadedd yn gosod targedau uchelgeisiol i ddisgyblion, yn eu holrhain yn rheolaidd ac yn ymyrryd ar unwaith os oes disgybl yn syrthio nôl

Datblygu dulliau cadarn o olrhain a chefnogi disgyblion sydd mewn perygl o dangyflawni

ncsl.org.uk Report:-narrowing-the-gap re-ducing in school variation in pupil out-comes

14-19 Network Core Aim—The Early Years (0-7) / Y blynyddoedd cynnar

Income Poverty


Working with Parents The impact of parental involvement and support on children’s education has been widely acknowledged. Parental engagement in deprived areas is often lower than in other areas.

Consider doing more outreach work, including out of hours support and working with vulnerable families.

"not too hard to reach: developing a tool to reach the most disadvantaged families" Teaching Expertise article

Working with others Schools alone are unable to tackle and overcome the effects of child poverty on education. Effective schools working in deprived areas develop creative methods of working with others.

Develop creative methods for the recruitment and retention of staff. Consider recruiting from the local community and ex pupils for all staff positions.

Sustainable Procurement In 2005 it was estimated that 35% of the £4 billion spent each year by the public sector in Wales was won by indigenous business supporting some 70,000 jobs. Every 1% increase to this figure should relate to an increase of some 2,000 jobs.

Develop a common partnership approach to sustainable procurement that ensures opportunities to support the local economy and skills development of young people are secured.

Buy Wales http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/node/1413 http://www.s-p-i-n.co.uk/toolkit.asp#Socio-Economic

14-19 Network Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg

Income Poverty

14-19 Network


Charging Policies Charging policies and practice that do not fully consider concessions can limit the life chances of the poorest.

Develop robust school charging policy and practice that effectively considers the needs of pupils experiencing poverty and disadvantage.

Oldham Policy on charging for school activities

Travelling to learn/work Transport is a significant barrier to accessing learning/employment and training. Learners from less well-off backgrounds are further disadvantaged if they are not funded to travel to work placements.

Review local policy and guidance and develop travel plan to ensure that learners and workers in disadvantaged areas are able to access learning opportunities in the most efficient way possible. Developing a Transport impact assessment maybe a useful evaluative tool.

Sustrans travel planning WAG Funding Advice

Education and Learning Opportunities / Addysg

Income Poverty


Lack of Awareness There is limited awareness of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Raise awareness of children and young people’s right to participate under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Welsh Assembly Government policy e.g. Extending Entitlements.

Useful supporting websites on the UNCRC – list some here. Save the Children Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group and Funky Dragon information on website on UNCRC for children and young people. http://www.sccyp.org.uk/participation/resources.php

Being Worse Off Children and young people experiencing poverty should not be worse off as a result of their participation.

Fully review the individual costs of participation and ensure that up front costs are minimised.

Camden documents

Lack of money Monetary issues can often act as a barrier to attending participation activity.

Develop good practice in relation to the reward, remuneration and recognition of Children and young people’s participation, ensuring that it takes into account the complexities of the welfare benefits system.

Good practice Guide www.participationworkerswales.org.uk

Participation and Decision Making / Cymryd rhan yn y broses

14-19 Network

Income Poverty

Income Poverty

14-19 Network A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel


Preventing Arrears Help to improve tenancy security and transition into stable housing by linking the council’s approach to improving financial literacy skills of vulnerable young people and families to Local Housing Allowance agenda. This could be achieved by developing working arrangements between housing departments/housing benefit administrators and financial literacy educators.

Financial Inclusion Briefing (cih)

Economic inactivity In 2005-6 men and women living in social housing in Wales had a lower rate of economic activity and higher unemployment than those living in other tenures and of economic inactivity.

Explore ways of working in partnership to join up employment and housing solutions. Review housing related procurement processes and investigate the potential for social clauses and employment skills development. Link housing options advice with employment advice

DWP Report on Social Housing and Worklessness

14-19 Network A Safe Home and Community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel


The new Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme aims to increase financial inclusion by paying housing benefit directly to individuals this poses two risks: 1. There is a possibility that more vulnerable families and young people will put their tenancies at risk through non-payment of rent. 2. Private landlords may face greater risk of non payment if the LHA process is not managed effectively and may be less likely to rent to people receiving LHA.

Develop a robust Local Housing Allowance Safeguards Policy for tenants and landlords that ensures that safeguards are in place to prevent the risk of tenants falling into arrears with their rent and losing their home due to eviction and to provide some assurances to landlords about potentially vulnerable tenants and those who are unlikely to pay.

Local Housing Allowance Safeguards for tenants and Landlords Policy

Income Poverty

14-19 Network Income Maximisation / Employment / Heb fod dan anfantais o achos

tlodi


Unemployment and worklessness in families are major factors in child poverty. Paid work is seen by the government as a route out of poverty, however the ability to achieve higher quality and sustainable jobs is also important.

Develop in partnership a cohesive local approach to reducing worklessness. That co-ordinates local resource, understanding, data and expertise. Consider the use of outreach services and IT solutions to assist in reducing Worklessness.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation : Local initiatives to help workless people find and keep paid work

The nature and degree of partnership working between Job Centre Plus and the local councils varies across Wales. To date only a small percentage of Council’s have signed up to the Job Centre Plus Local Employment Partnerships initiative (which aims to bring together Government and large employers to help 250,000 disadvantaged people into jobs within three years).

Consider the appropriateness of committing the Council to the Job Centre Plus’s Local Employment Initiative (the following public sector bodies have signed up to this Scheme Somerset County Council, Coventry City Council, Glasgow City Council, Middlesbrough City Council, NHS Wales, North Glamorgan NHS Trust, West Lothian Council, Birmingham City Council). Review HR policies to ensure that recruitment practices are inclusive and do not disadvantage vulnerable groups.

Local Employment Partnerships

Income Poverty

14-19 Network The Early Years (0-7) / Y blynyddoedd cynnar


Basic Skills Improvement Develop robust approached to improving basic skills. http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/resources/early_years.cfm http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/resources/early_years/family_programmes good_practicepack.cfm http://www.basic-skills-wales.org/bsastrategy/en/cross_phase/financial_literacy_homepage.cfm

Service Poverty


Service Poverty


Curriculum and Teaching Extended Schools and out of school activities programmes that provide effective and complementary educational support to vulnerable children play a significant part in reducing the gaps in educational attainment.

Priorities community schooling in schools with high populations of pupils entitled to free school meals.

Literacytrust.org.uk/socialinclusion nfer extended schools

Basic Skills Lack of basic skills limit the ability of pupils to partake in educational and skills based activities.

Work with the Basic Skills Cymru to develop a robust approach to developing Basic skills attainment at secondary level.

Basic Skills Agency


Service Poverty


Basic Skills Lack of basic skills limit the ability of pupils to partake in educational and skills based activities. This limits employment opportunities

Work with the Basic Skills Cymru to develop a robust approach to developing Basic skills attainment at post 16.

Basic-skills-Wales: post_16 resource

Basic Skills Low levels of basic skills in work hamper the ability of employees to progress and perpetuates in work poverty.

Prioritise basic skills within your own organisations and encourage all partners to sign up to "Basic skills employer pledge". Complete and implement the action plan.

Basic-skills-Wales: employer pledge

School Leadership Schools that successfully address educational inequalities have dynamic leaders who establish a ‘can do’ culture and value and motivate staff.

Further improve management and leadership development for educational staff especially within schools with a high proportion of free school meal entitlement.

The Extra mile : How schools succeed in deprived areas WAG school effectiveness framework


Service Poverty


School Leadership Develop a culture which is characterised by an assumption by teachers that they need to earn pupils respect and attention by using interactive teaching techniques.

The Extra mile: How schools succeed in deprived areas

Improvement & Accountability Schools that successfully counter the disadvantages caused by child poverty possess excellent systems to monitor and evaluate the quality of the curriculum.

Review the current monitoring arrangements for educational inequality and ensure that good practice is adopted.

the extra mile: How schools succeed in raising aspira-tions in deprived areas

Supporting Educational Attainment Develop effective Children and young people partnership monitoring arrangements for educational attainment specifically targeting underachievement.

Contact Partnership Support Unit for available resources. Contact Charlotte Drury PSU Manager (029) 20468616



Curriculum and Teaching Schools that are ‘learning organisations’ and prioritise classroom experiences and learning rather than teaching have been found to be successful in reducing the gaps in educational attainment caused by poverty.

Tailor the curriculum specifically to the needs of the pupils and consider flexible approaches to teaching methods.

14-19 Learning Peacehaven Community School

Curriculum and Teaching Cultural opportunities provide many benefits which can increase childhood resilience. Those who grow up in poverty have fewer recreational, social and cultural opportuni-ties.

Provide cultural opportunities that pupils would otherwise not have access to (sport, art and other activities)

Enhancing pupil learning on museum visits (TL_MUSEUMS)

Homework Policies Children from more advantaged backgrounds enjoy considerable out of school support in overcoming their problems that their disadvantaged peers do not receive. The latter are almost totally dependent on out-of-school homework clubs if they are to access such support.

Develop guidance on homework policies that take account of the difficult situation faced by children experiencing poverty and the support that can be made available to them.

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/atoz/h/homework/ Homework Policies

Service Poverty



Working with others Consider bringing in role models to show people from their own background that can be successful.

http://www.infed.org/biblio/role_model_education.htm http://www.teachers.tv/video/244

Smooth transitions Develop robust methods that track those at risk of becoming a NEET, deal swiftly with dropout and develop efficient coordinated youth support services.

TOOLKIT ALIGNING PROVISION Developing provision to meet PSA Targets for Attainment of Level 2 at 19 and Reducing the proportion of Young People who are not in education, employment or training (NEET)

Smooth Transitions In Wales, the proportion of young people not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET) aged 16-18 is at a relatively high level – at around 10-12% or 12,000 young people for nearly a decade.

Develop a partnership approach to the reduction of NEETs focusing on early intervention.

WAG Consultation paper on NEETs http://www.bild.org.uk/03books_autism.htm http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/children/docs/neet-toolkit.pdf

Service Poverty



Community Schooling Extended schooling and out-of-hours activities are particularly important to disadvantaged pu-pils: they do not enjoy the range and richness of out-of-school learning available to their more advantaged peers.

Explicitly target Community Schooling provision at the most disadvantaged com-munities/young people.

Community Focussed Schools: Making it happen a toolkit

Curriculum and Teaching Schools that are ‘learning organisations’ and prioritise classroom experiences and learning rather than teaching have been found to be successful in reducing the gaps in educational attainment caused by poverty

Further develop pupil centred approaches that assesses what would it take to achieve good outcomes for each individ-ual child.

The Extra mile : How schools succeed in deprived areas

Working with Parents Parental engagement in supporting learning has been found to be a key factor in increasing the attainment of vulnerable pupils.

Consider using the Scottish toolkit parents as partners in learning toolkit to enhance current work.

teachernet. workingwithparents parents as partnersinlearning toolkit

Service Poverty


Service Poverty


Operating within an anti discriminatory framework Teacher labelling and stereotyping on the grounds of socio economic status can adversely affect the academic performance of pupils.

Ensure staff are socially attuned and learn to interact with pupils in non-patronising, non judgemental ways.

Training and Staff Development on Inclusion- a checklist for schools Inclusive education: knowing what we mean (E848_1) http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/teaching/poverty/2/

School Rewards Develop in partnership a flexible pastoral and youth support framework

dfes goodpractice WAG: A whole school approach to behaviour and attendance

School Rewards Develop robust recognition and reward and practices.

dfes.gov.uk keystage3 downloads


Service Poverty


School Exclusions Prevent vulnerable children missing out by adopting approaches that minimise the potential for school exclusions.

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/961.asp http://www.teachers.tv/video/2542

Intervention & Support Successful schools working in deprived communities set ambitious targets for pupils, track them regularly, and intervene immediately should any pupil fall behind.

Develop robust pupil tracking and support mechanisms for pupils at risk of underachievement

WAG A focus on achievement: Guidance on including pupils with additional needs in whole school target setting

Learning Coaches Undertake Learning Coach training on child poverty. Learning Coaches (Wales)


Service Poverty


Communities First Communities First now has a responsibility to address Child Poverty.

Consider good practice in partnerships between schools and regeneration projects that address child poverty, skills and educational attainment of the most vulnerable in society.

http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/983.asp homeoffice.gov.uk activecommunities

14-19 Network Participation and Decision Making / Cymryd rhan yn y broses benderfynu

Service Poverty


Workforce Development There is a perception that there are skills gaps in relation to the delivery of participation activities relating to child poverty.

Training adults in the participation of children and young people living in poverty so that they can support, encourage and facilitate this process.

The Participation Unit has a list of participation trainers from across Wales. The Unit is also piloting a Train the Trainers in children and young people’s participation which will cascade training across Wales.

Limited local knowledge There is limited research on the local barriers to participation caused by child poverty

Undertake participatory approaches to explore the barriers to participation of hard to reach children and young people/children and young people living in poverty in particular.

Download the good practice guide on ‘Ensuring Inclusion’ from www.participationworkerswales.org.uk Contact organisations with expertise in reaching hard to reach groups e.g. Black Voluntary Sector Network

14-19 Network A Safe Home and community / Cartrefi a chymunedau diogel

Service Poverty


Homelessness Ensure that Youth Workers, Careers Wales staff and other officers dealing with unemployed young people are trained in homelessness issues

http://www.homelesspages.org.uk/index.asp


Participation Poverty


Stigma Children experiencing poverty from a very young age show a clear awareness of the difficulties that they face in and out of school and how this will affect the outcomes of their schooling.

Develop supportive mechanisms that prevent stigma and bullying

The impact of poverty on a young child's experience of school

Participation in Schools They suggest that it is only through listening closely to young people that we can begin to fully understand issues associated with poverty, disadvantage and educational achievement.

Further develop in partnership to place the voice of families and children at the centre of discussions around the scrutiny of educational achievement and progress the nature of provision to effectively target educational inequalities.

participation for schools web site

14-19 Network Health Freedom from Abuse and Exploitation / Iechyd, a rhyddid

rhag cam-drin a

Participation Poverty


Engaging local people in learning about nutrition

Cymru Cooks Cymru Cooks supports the development of cookery clubs, as an out of school hours learning activity. Clubs can now register on the Cymru Cook website either by downloading an online form or a word document.

Cymru Cook website

Documents

14-19 Network Briefing