NEWS


Harrow’s anger over impact of sports cuts


by Daniel White


The row over cuts to school sports funding continued this week after a London council wrote an open letter to the education minister slamming the impact that the decision will have in their area. The letter from Harrow Council


claims that the cuts mean that thou- sands of disadvantaged children will no longer have access to sport as schools will be forced to stop specialist clubs. Last year, education minister Michael Gove announced plans to


Call for Northern Ireland to save EMA


Payments designed to keep teenagers from dropping out of school in Northern Ireland should be shaken up but retained, a cross-party group of politicians has said. Educational Maintenance


Allowances (EMAs) are being reviewed in the North in light of plans to scrap the scheme in England and Wales. Thousands of secondary


school pupils benefit from the payments at present. No decision has yet been


made on the future of EMAs, but savage budget cuts across all Northern Ireland Executive departments mean the scheme must be reviewed. The influential Employment


and Learning Committee at Stormont says that while the scheme should be changed, it must remain in place if 16 to 19-year-olds are to realise their full potential. A report drawn up by the


committee says EMAs should be “targeted more specifically” and focused more on those “to whom it provides a particular- ly significant incentive to re- engage”. Committee chair Dolores


Kelly said she understood that the Department of Employment and Learning’s budget is under great pressure. She added: “However,


we are not convinced that the department has fully investi- gated the benefit that the current EMA brings to young disadvan- taged learners. “The review of EMA is a


good start. However, we feel it is important that a number of issues are teased out. We need to have more qualitative analysis of the way that EMA impacts on both the young people and their families.” Committee member Chris


Lyttle from the Alliance Party said the department now must provide clarity over the future of EMAs and that people need to be made aware of the full implications of any changes.


cut £162 million in funding for School Sports Partnerships (SSPs), but after heavy criticism he agreed to continue funding until September at a cost of £47 million. Councillor Brian Gate, portfolio


holder for schools and colleges at Harrow Council, said in the let- ter that he had initially welcomed education minister Michael Gove’s “change of heart” but then after examination realised it still would result in a cut of 80 per cent to their budget. He said they had “barely


enough (money) to see it survive until next summer” and that Mr


Gove’s pledge to provide funding until 2013 to allow every secondary school to release a PE teacher for a day a week to run sports schemes was “simply not enough”. He said the loss of the money


will mean children suffering from autism, in wheelchairs and at risk of being expelled will no longer have sporting opportunities. He urged Mr Gove to “go back to the draw- ing board”. It comes after every second-


ary school headteacher in Harrow signed a letter to Mr Gove in December urging him to reconsider the move.


Elsewhere in his letter, Cllr Gate


said the SSPs enable disadvantaged pupils to improve their self-esteem, fitness, confidence and discipline. He wrote: “This joined up


approach has allowed schools in Harrow to offer sporting opportuni- ties to thousands of young people who might not ordinarily make the ‘first 11’. “Autistic children who don’t like


playing in teams can be coached in archery, children with disabilities can play in boccia and wheelchair badminton teams, and boxing clubs have proved a successful tool in keeping children at risk of exclu-


sion in school by teaching them a sense of discipline.” Cllr Gate said that Harrow’s SSP


co-ordinator works closely with the local Primary Care Trust and the police, which has led to £280,000 in additional funding being secured through other avenues in the past three years. He added: “Every headteacher


in Harrow reports seeing results from the scheme. It’s not just a case of sending children outside to play football; this initiative will have serious impacts on the health and wellbeing of children of all backgrounds.”


School- leavers in high demand


A growing number of leading employers are targeting school- leavers rather than limiting their job vacancies to graduates. A study by the Association


of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) shows that more than a quarter of top employers now oper- ate school-leaver entry pro- grammes. Meanwhile a fifth of com-


panies that do not currently employ staff directly from school are considering opening up recruitment opportunities for school-leavers. Employers gave a variety


of reasons for this, including “a commitment to investing in young people”, worries that focusing exclusively on gradu- ate recruits could be “detrimen- tal to the supply of talent”, and concerns that traditional gradu- ate entrants “are missing some of the competencies that our business needs”. Fears have been expressed


elsewhere that rising tuition fees, student debt and increas- ing competition for university places could lead thousands of talented teenagers to shun high- er education and go straight into the workplace. The AGR graduate recruit-


ment survey for 2011 also revealed that the number of graduate vacancies rose last year for the first time since the recession began to bite. But at the same time, start-


Halls of power: The Young Enterprise students listen on as House of Commons speaker John Bercow answers their ‘probing’ questions


Enterprise students quiz speaker


From encouraging young people to set up their own companies to running entrepreneurship classes, Young Enterprise offers pupils of all ages the confidence, ability and ambition to succeed. Now the UK’s leading enter-


prise education charity has given 50 youngsters involved in Young Enterprise programmes the chance to visit the House of Commons and meet the speaker, John Bercow. During last month’s visit, the


group, from a variety of London schools, held a mock House of Commons debate and took part in


a question and answer session with the speaker. Mr Bercow, who faced prob-


ing questions from the students on issues ranging from tuition fees and grants for entrepreneurs to VAT rises, said: “In my role as speaker, I want to encourage people from all backgrounds, and all parts of the UK, to engage with the work of Parliament. “Many Londoners often feel


that Parliament is remote from their lives, as do many young people. So I greatly enjoyed meeting the young people who work with Young


Enterprise in London and hear- ing their views on what the House ought to do to make itself more accessible and relevant to them.” The speaker also heard presen-


tations about the work of Young Enterprise from John May, the char- ity’s chief executive, and Matthew O’Hara, 18, a student at St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College in west London. Matthew, who was involved


in Young Enterprise’s Company Programme last year, said: “The speaker’s talk was very inspiring and it’s great that he is so supportive


of Young Enterprise. My involve- ment with Young Enterprise has given me a real taste for the world of business. I’m currently studying government and politics so it was great fun debating in the mock chamber on the need for tax incen- tives for entrepreneurs.” Around 250,000 young people


aged up to 25 take part in Young Enterprise programmes each year, with research showing that par- ticipants are twice as likely to start their own business and are more successful in their careers. Visit www.young-enterprise.org.uk


ing salaries for graduates were predicted to remain static for the third year in a row. The average graduate starting salary currently stands at £25,000. Carl Gilleard, chief


executive of the AGR, said: “Businesses will continue to recruit graduates but there is a recognition that there are many talented young people who don’t go to university, partly because of the growing concern about levels of student debt, and they are looking at ways to bring that talent through the pipeline. “However, the fact that sala-


ries are predicted to remain the same for a third year and fewer employers are offering finan- cial incentives for graduates, is also evidence that the demand for jobs still greatly outstrips supply and recruiters continue to receive above and beyond the number of applications they require.”


Parents’ fears of school violence unfounded


Anti-social behaviour, crime and violence are not increasing in schools, despite parental fears and media reports of high profile incidents, a leading academic has said. Professor Carol Hayden, an


expert in applied social research at the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Criminal and Justice Studies, said that parents’ anxiety about the safety of their children is disproportionate to the level of risk. Speaking in a lecture at the


university last week, Prof Hayden argued that press coverage makes parents anxious and leaves them


4


with a perception of an increasing problem in schools. However, she said that the evi-


dence shows that schools are gener- ally safer than some communities and even some homes. Prof Hayden said: “Teacher


surveys generally show that it is the low-level disruption to lessons, such as answering back and non- compliance to teacher requests, that make up most of the everyday problems. “Extreme behaviour, such as


taking a weapon into school or pushing or touching a teacher, are much less common and the major- ity of schools show no increase in


the presence of weapons or prob- lem/violent behaviour. “The evidence reflects that in


most cases school is still one of the safest places for a child to be, yet relatively recent developments such as CCTV and keypad entry systems are now taken for granted in schools. We are living in an age of anxiety and fear.” In the lecture, Prof Hayden cited


two surveys by the National Union of Teachers, in 2001 and 2008, both of which she said suggest that the overall pattern of behaviour has changed very little. Furthermore, regular surveys in Scotland, she said, show that while there was seri-


ous indiscipline between 1990 and 2004, by 2009 things had “changed for the better”. However, Prof Hayden did


warn that politicians’ emphasised on parental choice has increased “existing divisions” and widened the gap so that less popular schools are seen as the “catchment for soci- ety’s problem children”. She explained: “The biggest


problems in schools tend to be con- centrated in disadvantaged com- munities which are the ones in most need of education and the possibili- ties that it can provide. But highly problematic behaviour in and around schools is generally a symp-


tom of a wider problem. Education has been the traditional route out of poverty and is a well known protective factor against turning to crime. But in the UK, access to a good quality education is increas- ingly unfair with a widening gap between the winners and losers in the school stakes. “Processes that disadvantage


and exclude children from access to the means of developing and using their abilities are a problem for society as a whole. The behaviour that results from the frustrations of young people, who are margin- alised by schooling, as in other aspects of their lives, affects us all.”


SecEd • February 3 2011


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