NEWS


New guidelines recommend antenatal clinics in schools


by Pete Henshaw


Antenatal care for pregnant teenagers should be provided in school settings according to new health guidelines. Issued this week by the National


Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the guidelines are aimed at increasing uptake of antenatal care for pregnant women in “difficult social circumstances”. These include better helping


pregnant women who are affected by issues such as drug abuse, pov- erty and homelessness, as well as those who become pregnant under the age of 20.


Among the recommendations,


NICE has said that health serv- ice commissioners should consider “specialist antenatal services for young women under the age of 20”. It adds: “This could include antenatal care and education in peer groups in different locations, such as schools, colleges or GP surgeries.” The National Association of


Head Teachers this week welcomed the idea, but said it should be volun- tary and down to individual schools to decide. General secretary Russell


Hobby said: “The quality of early care and support has a profound impact on opportunities and even educational standards later in life.


Schools consider joining forces to secure future


Two rival inner city schools are exploring a radical partnership plan to safeguard their future. The governing bodies of


Michaelston Community College and Glyn Derw High School in Cardiff are looking at the possibility of forming a federation as part of the city’s education shake-up. The decision to consult on a fed-


eration follows public consultation on a plan by Cardiff City Council to amalgamate the two schools. In recent years the schools,


which serve the same communities of Ely and Caerau and are just two miles apart, have been competing against each other for pupils. But neither has been able to win the battle over surplus places. Michaelston Community


College, which opened in 2002 on the site of the failing Glan Ely High, caters for youngsters aged 11 to 16 as well as providing adult courses. There are around 690 pupils on the roll, 100 below capacity. Glyn Derw High, which caters


for students aged 11 to 18, has 640 pupils, more than 300 below capacity. The proposed federation would


include the reduction in size of the schools to 10 forms of entry. It is reliant on the success of an £8 million bid to the Welsh Assembly government. Acting headteacher of Glyn


Derw High School, Paul Davies, said: “We are really excited and


welcome the opportunity to extend the provision we currently offer for pupils of 14 years plus. “By joining together in this for-


mal process we are able to offer a curriculum fit for the 21st century and one that is going to be so broad that it should capture the interest of all young people and offer them more vocational opportunities. This really will benefit the young people of Caerau and Ely.” Principal of Michaelston


Community College, Mary Campbell, added: “We are formal- ising and building on the strong partnership that already exists between our two schools to create further opportunities for our young people.” According to Cardiff City


Council, the benefits of federation are around enhancing opportunities for young people by combining forces to achieve greater purchasing power and the opportunity to share resources, teaching staff, facilities and ideas. The next stage will now involve


consultation with interested par- ties, including pupils and parents, headteachers, school staff and the local council. Cardiff City Council is currently


undergoing a city-wide school reor- ganisation plan in a bid to reduce some of the 8,500 surplus places in schools across the city, as well as meet the rising demand for Welsh- medium education.


Schools have a legitimate interest here. “However, this needs to be


something that schools choose, not forced upon them. It needs to fit their own ethos, beliefs and strat- egy. Nor can we use this as an excuse to hold schools accountable for rates of teenage pregnancy.” The NICE guidelines recom-


mend that school-based services might offer peer group support at the same time as antenatal appoint- ments and “age-appropriate” infor- mation. Deputy headteacher Jo Smith,


from Long Field School in Melton Mowbray, has worked in three schools where a girl has become


pregnant, but said this kind of ante- natal care would be “inappropriate” in schools. She explained: “What is appro-


priate is inclusion services in every school where there are full-time staff available to listen, advise and protect students, whatever their need. “Students in such vulnerable


positions as teenagers need faces they know they can trust, who are there for them when they need them, not when a clinic is sched- uled,” she added. However, at Hanham High


School in Bristol, a weekly lunch- time clinic offers free confidential advice for both girls and boys.


Head Peggy Farrington said that


young people can often be misin- formed, unsure and afraid. “I do believe that any sup-


port we can provide with regards to sexual health and preventing ‘accidental’ and often ‘unwanted’ pregnancies then the better it is for individuals and society in general.” Young women’s midwife Sue


Thompson told SecEd that antenatal services would not be appropriate for every school and that schools would need to consider their teen- age pregnancy rates before decid- ing.


However, Ms Thompson, who


works at Liverpool Women’s Hospital which sees up to 150


under-18 pregnancies a year, welcomed the idea of midwives and school nurses working more collaboratively together and said that as well as antenatal care, school-based services could offer advice and contraception and help prevent pregnancies in the first place. She added: “Midwives work-


ing with teenagers would definitely welcome the opportunity to get into schools and develop pathways which are going to educate and inform our young women and men and hopefully reduce the risk of teenage pregnancy.” To read the NICE guidelines,


visit www.nice.org.uk Students show skills to succeed


A team of three 6th-formers who developed an “App” to help A level psychology students revise for their exams have won a national award. Asmah Mahmood, Sara


Ahmad and Martha Takudzwa Chipamaunga from Roundhay School Technology and Language College in Leeds won The Skills Factor 2010 business skills competition on Friday (September 24). The trio endured some tough


Dragon’s Den-style questioning by an experienced panel of busi- ness people before claiming top prize. Now the girls will get to


visit the “Silicon Valley comes to the UK” event at Cambridge University in November, where they will meet the founders of high-tech companies such as Google and Facebook. As well as the top prize, the


Leeds team also won the com- petition’s Tony Sarin Young Entrepreneurs of the Year award. The final was tightly con-


tested with six other teams of students running the Roundhay


Skills Factor: The winning team of Asmah Mahmood, Martha Takudzwa Chipamaunga and Sara Ahmad (left to right) from Roundhay School receive The Skills Factor 2010 trophy from the Young Chamber’s chairman, Neville Reyner (right), and chief executive, Kevin Smith


trio close. More than 300 schools entered the competition. Kevin Smith, chief executive of


Young Chamber, which organised the new contest, said: “Their pres- entation showed how young people


can succeed in business if they have the right skills, character and determination. I thought they were absolutely brilliant.” The runners up were from King Edward VI School in Bury St


Edmunds and Howells School in Llandaff, Cardiff and both won Fujitsu laptops and Microsoft software. For more information, visit www.youngchamber.com/ skillsfactor


Employers urged to engage with education


Employers are being urged to step forward to meet the demand from schools who want to take part in October’s Visit our Schools and Colleges Week. The event is being organised


by the Education and Employers Taskforce and its partners with the idea being that schools across England invite senior people from


industry to visit and find out more about how they can actively engage with education in their local areas. The week is due to take place


from October 18 and so far more than 500 schools and colleges are down to take part. And while hundreds of employ-


ers from across the country, includ- ing more than 80 chief executives


and chairpersons from leading UK companies, have also signed up, more employers are needed. Among those who are visit-


ing a school are Marcus Agius, group chairman at Barclays, Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, Sir Win Bischoff, chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, and Sir Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco.


The Education and Employers


Taskforce is an independent char- ity whose aim is to ensure that every school and college has an effective partnership with employers. For more information on the


event, visit www.visitourschools.org and for more on the Taskforce, see www.educationandemployers.org


Enterprise Hub opens its doors for business networking event


A Nottingham student this week organised a business networking event to mark the launch of her school’s new multi-million pound Enterprise Hub. The event, organised by Jodi


Wright, a student at Bulwell Academy in the city, was the first to take place in the facility, which opened its doors to students earlier this month. Jodi hosted the event on behalf


of Business in the Community, the organisation responsible for the Business Champions programme, which encourages employers to


4


Opening the hub: (from left) Business Champion Bryan Steel, year 11 student Emily Pateman, event organiser and Bulwell student Jodi Wright, and chairman of governors Peter Mitchell


voluntarily share their knowledge and expertise with schools and other community groups. Jodi has recently completed


an internship with Business in the Community as part of her studies in hospitality and business. The discussions at the breakfast-


time event focused on the impor- tance of education-to-business part- nerships in creating opportunities for students to put vocational skills into practice. Among the attendees were


Business Champion Bryan Steel, an Olympic, World and


Commonwealth-winning cyclist, who spoke about how his sport helped him focus during his child- hood and improved his learning at school. Year 11 student Emily Pateman


opened the event and introduced Peter Mitchell, chairman of gover- nors at The Bulwell Academy and education director at the school’s sponsors Edge, who also spoke. Bulwell Academy is a specialist


business and enterprise school and the new hub building boasts a range of sports, ICT, arts and catering facilities.


SecEd • September 30 2010


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