To succeed or not to succeed

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To succeed or not to succeed?

• Graham Badman
• Managing Director
• Children, Families and Education

In partnership with
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The context of leadership
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What happens in neighbourhoods?

• Problems and issues faced in neighbourhoods
• insufficient analysis of local problems and
  assets
• limited engagement of local residents
• the need to build organisational capacity and
  leadership
• divisions and fragmentation within the
  neighbourhood
• lack of influence with local power holders
• difficulties in securing sustainable funding

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Imagining an end to failure in public education

• The lessons of implementation
• The National Curriculum benchmark it globally
• Transparency never underestimate the power of
  data
• Funding make a reality or progressive
  universalism
• Primary education it really is all about high
  standards of literacy and numeracy for everyone
• Secondary education diversity really did drive
  up standards of performance
• Education and training to age 18 why on earth
  did we leave it so long to make it a requirement,
  at least part-time?
• Social capital fixing the school system is not
  enough
• Teachers it is obvious but so often missed, you
  cant do anything without excellent teachers

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High Mechanisms of control - such as laws,
religious authority, economic forces,
institutional disciplines
Hierarchical, tightly ordered societies in which
tradition is seen as important - e.g. baby
boomers and earlier, now seen as having lost
credibility through being self serving
Isolates including marginal groups, temporarily
or permanently e.g. asylum seekers, people in
poverty, vulnerable individuals
High Strength of group norms e.g. family and
local community
Low
Enclave detached from mainstream, can be
hostile to outside world, can recruit among
isolates e.g. as communes/sects/cults
Highly individual, entrepreneurial, adaptive to
constant change, becoming dominant lifestyle
choice in younger generations in UK and US
Low
Based on social organisation work of Mary Douglas
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Happy and Successful
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Extremeous

• I, am Extremeous
• I know where the salmon sleeps at night,
• I know why the clouds are high,
• I know who will breathe once the world is but
  ashes,
• I know what the blackbird crows,
• I know how fire can eat so much,
• I know when all men will calm seas,
• I know how a sick man can murder for keep,
• I know how mankind began,
• I have been the lamb at the slaughterhouse,
• I have been a thief at the condemning noose,
• I have been a lion, tearing innocent deer,
• I have been a snake, throttling a child,

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Extremeous

• I have seen revolutions,
• I have seen good men, who are victims of lies,
• I have been to the heavens,
• I have been entombed in a grave,
• I have been the ocean,
• I have been the rocks,
• I have been the past, the present, and the
  future,
• I have been the ruler of evil,
• I have been darkness
• And I have been light, too,
• I am Extremeous

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The risks of child poverty
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The Poverty Premium
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Child Poverty in the UK

• Child poverty in UK remains worse than in most
  other European countries. A UK child has nearly
  twice as much chance of living in a household
  with relatively low income than a generation ago
• Child poverty damages both those who suffer it
  and society more generally
• Child poverty has started to fall since the late
  1990s helped by rising parental employment and
  large increases in tax credits and benefits.
  However present policies are unlikely to produce
  substantial further reductions
• The Government could meet its target of halving
  child poverty by 2010 by spending an estimated
  4bn a year (0.3 of GDP)
• If the Government relied on tax credits and
  benefits to get the second half of children out
  of poverty in 2010 - 2020 a further 28bn would
  be needed
• Other mechanisms include better education and
  training for disadvantaged groups, improved
  childcare and the promotion of equal pay for
  women
• (Joseph Rowntree Foundation)

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Ending Child Poverty

• The UNICEF analysis raises three key issues
• Other countries provide child friendly
  environments in which children grow up happier,
  healthier and more able to achieve their
  potential than in the UK
• The UK should look for ideas in countries at the
  top of the list - the Netherlands, Sweden,
  Denmark and Finland
• The UNICEF report illustrated genuine public
  concern over child wellbeing and poverty and a
  public appetite for change. Clear political
  leadership is needed to make and sell the case
  for reducing child poverty
• (Child Poverty Action Group 2007)

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Work-rich and work-poor three decades of change

• The rate of employment is higher than in the mid
  70s but detailed analysis reveals the following
  trends-
• 2m adults (aged 20 - 59) are in work today who
  would probably not have had a job in mid 70s
• Mothers have the most improved job prospects
  especially those with adequate qualifications,
  good health and a working partner. This means the
  number of couples who both have a job has
  increased
• But ... 2m adults who would have been likely to
  have had a job 30 years ago are now out of work.
  Those who have the most reduced prospects are
  disabled men with poor educational qualifications
  and no working partner
• The number of non-working adults without a
  partner or whose partner does not have a job has
  doubled from 7 to 14. Most of these families
  live on social security benefits and have very
  low incomes

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Making Education more inclusive and tackling the
attainment gap

• Children growing up in poverty are much less
  likely to fulfil their ability than other
  children. Since education is a key predictor of
  later life chances, improving results and
  tackling the attainment gap is a key mechanism to
  sustain lower levels of poverty in the future
• Other mechanisms-
• Provide most for those children at greatest risk
  of poverty
• Introduce free at the point of delivery
  good-quality childcare
• Make education free at the point of delivery
• Improve the quality of delivery and gear it to
  the needs of the poorest families

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Trends of Deprived Communities

• Smoking
• Teenage Pregnancy
• Poor health and poor housing
• Crime and disorder frequently associated with
  poor mental health and unmet needs
• Obesity leading to heart risk
• Infant mortality
• Lack of breastfeeding
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Children from deprived communities are more
  likely to be involved in an accident on the roads
  or in the home

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Toxic Childhood

• Todays children are showing that language is
  deteriorating, including listening skills. They
  have a short attention span which can be traced
  to the lack of conversation, nursery rhymes and
  word play at an early age. It seems that less
  movement leads to more special needs showing. 1
  in 10 children have diagnosed depression. The
  present trend is to diagnose a condition and then
  treat it medically. Prescribed drugs are on the
  increase - a well known example being Ritalin.
• Sue Palmer(Toxic childhood) 2006

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Toxic Childhood

• Teachers say that all children are becoming more
  distractible, impulsive and self-centred, causing
  social problems. All of these are natural in a
  baby, but need to change as the child develops-

Sue Palmer(Toxic childhood) 2006
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Toxic Childhood

• Children with problems (such as involvement in
  crime) only live in the present and cant see
  into the future
• We cannot wait for anything nowadays, everything
  happens at electric speed, but human development
  happens in biological time
• Children are suffering from unhealthy food, lack
  of sleep and play, too much media input,
  isolation, lack of communication and
  socialisation leading to Toxic Childhood
  syndrome.

Sue Palmer(Toxic childhood) 2006
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Toxic Childhood

• There is a crisis in childrens diets and eating
  habits, to such an extent that parents may
  probably outlive their kids. 220,000 children
  become obese each year
• 85 dont get enough fibre in their diets
• 98 dont eat enough fresh fruit and vegetables
• The NHS spends 4bn on people with food/diet
  related diseases
• Burning off calories from a MacDonalds Happy
  Meal takes a 9 mile walk.
  (Childrens Food Campaign)
• Almost 15 of children under 10 are now obese
  compared to 10 in 1997

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Percentage of Schools that accessed local
services relevant to child welfare (NfER Annual
Survey 2006)
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Percentage of Schools using the service rating
the accessibility of support as excellent or very
good (NfER Annual Survey 2006)
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Every Parent Matters

• The changing context in which the Government is
  working to promote parenting-
• Changed patterns of parental employment and in
  the way in which caring responsibilities are
  shared
• Parents are having children later
• More parents are juggling caring for elderly
  parents as well as their children
• Parents of teenagers are wanting more help in
  supporting their children
• More variety in family structure and
  relationships
• Increased ethnic diversity is reflected in more
  diverse patterns of family formation
• Increasing numbers of adults live with their
  parents
• Children and young people have more opportunities
  than previous generations

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Every Parent Matters

• The vision is of responsible public services
  driven increasingly by ever greater numbers of
  parents with high aspirations and expectations
  for their children.
• In promoting parenting, the Government seeks to
  ensure that all parents are able to-
• Make confident and informed choices which they
  feel are right for their family
• Shape services to respond to their familys needs
• Work in partnership with services to reinforce
  the benefits for their childrens outcomes
• Access additional support when they need it

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Every Parent Matters

• Other initiatives to support parenting
• Promoting engagement of parents through
  communication and information. Engagement between
  schools and parents is being built into more
  learning programmes eg SEAL (Two thirds of
  primary schools are expected to be using the
  programme by July 2007)
• Providing parents with regular, meaningful
  reports during the school year about their
  childs progress so that parents can support
  their childs learning
• Piloting Parent Support Advisers to test
  different approaches to home-school relationships
• Listening to parents through consultation and
  from May 2007 the Education and Inspections Act
  2006 introduces a duty on all governing bodies to
  listen to all parents
• Piloting Transition Information Sessions for
  parents whose children are starting school

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The Aim of the Early Years Foundation Stage

• The overarching aim of the EYFS is to help young
  children achieve the five Every Child Matters
  outcomes by
• Setting the standards
• Providing for equality of opportunity
• Creating the framework for partnership working
• Improving quality and consistency
• Laying a secure foundation for future learning

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OfSTED Report on the Foundation Stage

• The survey involved visits to 144 settings which
  resulted in the following key findings
• Although the survey identified much positive
  work, systematic weaknesses remain, such as
  variations in quality between settings and
  unsatisfactory links between the maintained and
  non-maintained sectors
• Most settings provided effective education and
  care however, the curricular emphasis on certain
  early learning goals meant inadequate planning
  for others
• Most children achieved well in the majority of
  early learning goals. However achievement was
  lower in calculation, early reading and writing,
  a sense of time and place, an understanding of
  culture and beliefs, and imaginative play. Girls
  achieved better than boys and reached higher
  standards

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OfSTED Report on the Foundation Stage

• In the main, standards were at or above the
  levels expected. However, standards in
  communication, language and literacy were lower
  than expected and childrens speaking and
  listening skills were weak in a third of
  settings. The quality of teaching and assessment
  were at least good in 6 out of 10 settings
• Teaching was consistently effective for children
  with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
  but not always challenging enough for more able
  children or sufficiently matched for those
  learning English as an additional language
• There was a clear link between communication
  skills and the development of creativity
• Leadership and management were good in at least 6
  out of 10 settings
• Procedures to help children settle and make
  friends during points of transition were effective

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Planning for the Future

• At the beginning of the present century, we find
  ourselves in a world where vast numbers of
  children still live in a harsh and hostile world.
  Many children face impoverishment, abuse,
  inadequate healthcare, violence and starvation.
• In more affluent parts of the globe there are
  also other threats to the right to have a
  balanced and stress-free childhood.
  Commercialisation can place great pressure on
  children - and consequently on family life - when
  they are targeted as a vulnerable part of society
  and taught the habits of unlimited consumerism.
• The Future of Childhood

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Planning for the Future

• The gifts of a real childhood are creativity,
  wonder and imagination and, by extending these
  qualities into our adulthood, we can help those
  future generations who will be born into an
  increasingly complex and fragile world to enjoy
  their right to childhood.
• The Future of Childhood

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• Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and
• at a certain age
• The child is grown, and puts away childish things
• Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies.
• (Edna St Vincent Millay)