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News


downsmail.co.uk Education’s ‘missing’ children


MORE than 2,000 children in Kent are being home-educated or have gone missing from the system“without trace”, according to an education expert. Peter Read, founder of Kent In-


dependent Education Advice, made his revelations off the back of a report into the issue pub- lished by theChildren’sCommis- sioner,Anne Longfield (pictured). In Kent in 2017/18, acccording


to Mr Read, 1,113 children have left for home schooling by parents or carers and 950 have simply vanished fromthe system. He warns that keeping tabs on


children in elective home educa- tion (EHE) can be difficult, as the authorities have limited access to them. The 950who have gonemissing


can bemadeupof severaldifferent categories – eastern and other Eu- ropeanswhohave leftBritain; trav- ellers; suspectedabuse victims and those who have simply vanished or been deported. Most of the children are known to the authorities.


Warning after


phone scams MAIDSTONE residents have been warned to be on their guard for telephone conmen posing as po- lice officers. Numerous attempts to defraud


people of their savings have been made in thewest Kent area. Police have warned that mem-


bers of the force would never ask for cash or confidential material over the phone. On March 7, a victim in Kent


was persuaded to hand overmore than £12,000 to people posing as officers from the “Hammersmith Serious Fraud Squad”. She received a phone call at


about midday onMarch 6 from a man posing as a police officerwho told her to take money out of the bank, to tell no one and someone would collect it fromher. The victim went to the bank,


withdrewthemoney and handed it over to aman driving a black car who appeared at her door. Det Sgt Marc Cananur, from


Kent Police’s Volume Fraud Team, said: “Police officerswould never ask members of the public to give them money or financial details. “If anyone receives any calls of


this nature, or other similar ap- proaches, I would urge them to get in touchwith Kent Police.”


16 Maidstone April 2019 Route to health career


HEALTH chiefs have thrown their weight behind a national drive to encourage more young people to take up apprenticeships. Maidstone and TunbridgeWells


NHS Trust uses the career ap- proach to recruit jobseekers into its own ranks. Between March 4 and 8, it


hosted events in support of Na- tional ApprenticeshipWeek. As well as establishing informa-


tion stands atMaidstoneHospital, with staff on hand to advise on opportunities within the health service, the trust also staged a “so- cial media takeover” across Face- book, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, led by former apprentice, HannahMorris (pictured). Hannah (19), fromLarkfield, fin-


ished her apprenticeship in De- cember and has since moved into a permanent full-time administra- tor role atMaidstone Hospital. She said: “Taking up an appren-


ticeship with the trust was a really good gateway into employment forme, and gaveme somuch con- fidence to takemy career forward. It gave me great experience of workingwithin an office and being part of a team. “I reallywould encourage every-


one to look into it as a career op- tion and take advantage of the opportunities on offer within the trust.” Information on apprenticeships


at the trust is available from 01622 225001 or mtw-tr.appren- ticeships@nhs.net


Mr Read reports: “There is also


an unknown number who have never entered the education sys- tem,who are unknown to the au- thorities. This last group are certainly invisible. “Untypical of the national pic- ture, which is showing rapid


growth in EHE,Kent’s figures are fairly similar to those in 2013/4.At that time they were by some way the highest in the country, but without any national data, such as for exclusions, no one knows the current position.” He added: “One of my main


gripes is that the Government does not collect figures." MrsLongfieldOBE, in her report


published in February, notes that sometimes “schools put pressure onparents to remove childrenwho don’t ‘fit in’. This practice, known as off-rolling, can amount to infor- mal, illegal exclusion.” Nationally, the number of EHE


children stands at 80,000, some of whommay slip in an out of educ- tion during the school year. She adds: “Although the evi-


dence suggests a marked increase in children being home educated, there cannot be complete certainty


on the numbers, due to the lack of formal registration – something that setsEnglandapart frommany otherEuropean countries inwhich home education is legal. “Parents are under no obliga-


tion to register that they are home educating their children, and local authorities have no duty to monitor the education these chil- dren are receiving, only to make informal enquiries about those whomight not be receiving a suit- able education. This means that children can go for months or even years without contact with any professional. “Some parents claim that they


are home-educating their chil- dren, when in reality they are sending themto unregistered and illegal schools (or “tuition cen- tres”) where they receive a sub- standard education and welfare standards are dubious.”


Good rating


for care firm A BUSY care agency from Maid- stone, offering home help to the elderly and disabled, has been awarded a good grade by the Care Quality Commission. At the time of the inspection,


Accessible Care, in Granville Road, was providing care to 292 people needing help with eating andwashing in their own home. The inspection teamspent three


daysmaking its assessment. Last inspected inMay 2016, the


service was rated good overall, with its responsiveness ranked outstanding. The CQC report, published in


February, noted that the grade re- mained, adding: “There was no evidence fromour inspection and ongoing monitoring that demon- strated any risks or concerns. “People and relatives told us


staff went the extramile to ensure people led a happy and fulfilled life.” It concluded that the manage-


ment team was committed to de- veloping the agency and feedback was acted on; staff were able to meet people’s needs and could re- quest additional training if neces- sary. The report added: “Care recordswere kept under continu- ous review to ensure they met people’s needs.”


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