VIEWS & OPINION
Looked After Children, poor academic achievement and transition into NEETdom – how can we change this dynamic? Comment by GRAHAM BAKER, Chief Executive Officer, Outcomes First Group
I have over 25 years’ experience in the special education and healthcare sectors, having worked with a number of significant operators, as well as setting up and running my own services, and if there’s one thing I’ve come to understand, not just through personal experience but also through recently released research - it’s a fact that Looked After Children (LAC) do not achieve well in education. Their attainment gaps are still too wide compared with all other children in the country. According to the DfE in 2016 only 17.5% of Looked After Children achieved an A*-C in English and mathematics compared to 53.0% of mainstream students nationally.
In the latest government report ‘Outcomes for children looked after by local authorities in England, 31 March 2017’ based on 2016 data, of the 26,340 former care leavers aged 19, 20 and 21 years old, 10,460 (40%) were not in employment, education or training (NEET), compared with 14% of all 19 to 21-year olds nationally.
And according to the Care Leavers Association over 25% of the adult prison population has previously been in care – that’s 21,603 of the 86,413 prison population reported in the government’s Prison Population Figures for August 2017. The cost to the public purse for this, revealed in Prisoner Focus Education, is £65,000 person for the first year and a further £40,000 for each year they spend imprisoned.
How can we change this persistent dynamic and help some of society’s most disadvantaged children realise their true potential? I believe that the secret to better results and improved life chances lies in providing these children with ‘constants’ throughout their lives – because most issues happen when things change for them, be it school, where they reside, or clinical support.
At present LAs – the legal guardian of these children responsible for their care and education – are more often than not and especially with hard to place children left with no other option but to choose short term placement options over investment in the long term. We all know that the earlier a child receives therapeutic intervention, the lower the level of support required longer term. Young children and adolescents who are misplaced and bounced around the system often end up in Pupil Referral Units, young offenders’ institutions, jail or become NEETs. If we are to achieve positive outcomes and equal opportunities for these children then a change in the approach is required, including more central control over the choice of care home, care pathway, school or fostering family. The benefits are clear – if fragile children are provided with the necessary support to help them become confident young adults they will ultimately be placed in a position to contribute to society. This will also help achieve significant long-term savings in the public sector.
Teachers & parents need more opportunities to engage with handwriting Comment by DR JANE MEDWELL, Write Your Future
Having started my career as a primary school teacher, I have seen first-hand the importance of ensuring young children have strong foundations in crucial life skills. Handwriting is one such skill – my research, conducted with Professor David Wray of University of Warwick on behalf of the Write Your Future Campaign from Berol and Paper Mate, found the benefits of handwriting to cognitive development and learning overall. It’s concerning, then, that a skill so vital to a child’s larger development receives so little time in the classroom. Teachers and parents alike report that mark making and early writing (MMEW) has a lower profile – and lower priority – than reading and maths.
The research conducted for the Developing Mark Making and Letter Formation study aims to help time-strapped teachers and parents refocus on handwriting and understand its importance for developing motor skills and cognitive function in young students.
The qualitative study was based on exercises with a team of seven early years’ teachers and two university lecturers who worked together with 69 parents. The teachers examined the frequency and types of handwriting tasks regularly undertaken by young children at home and in the classroom. Teachers were then asked to engage students with a range of new handwriting activities – including using new writing tools and a variety of surfaces, from sand to walls, and the impact was captured and analysed. Parents were also encouraged to trial creative handwriting tasks with their children at home.
The study revealed that teachers recognise some of the benefits of handwriting, reporting that children who learn to write automatically by hand earlier are better able to express themselves. We also found that teachers
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have want to engage their students around handwriting, but need help gaining the tools and experience to do so.
We also saw an increase in parents’ interest in handwriting during the study – almost all schools reported follow up from parents who wanted to work more on mark making with their children at home. Children enjoyed the experimental activities, being highly engaged with a variety of tasks including making marks in sand and drawing on windows and doors. The creative tasks were the most highly regarded by the children, who expressed enthusiasm and chose to repeat these activities. Based on the findings and feedback from parents, students and teachers, the Write Your Future campaign developed handwriting resources in conjunction with Twinkl, the largest independent provider of teaching resources, to encourage these positive interactions with handwriting. These include letter practicing exercises and materials that make handwriting exciting, such as special cartoon characters that teach children the correct spacing between words.
When offered a chance to engage with handwriting, teachers, parents and children reacted positively and enthusiastically. There is a need in the UK to provide more of these opportunities in the classroom and at home in order to help children develop the critical skill of mark making. Our hope is that this study is able to equip teachers and parents with new confidence and resources to enable children to enjoy the benefits of handwriting in school and at home.
To use our resources or to learn more about the Developing Mark Making and Letter Formation study, please visit
http://www.writeyourfuture.com/
October 2017
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