Source: NSPCC

Home Office figures show police in England and Wales recorded 52,528 hate crimes in 2014/15 – an 18% increase compared to the previous year

Source: Home Office

.

The Department for Education has published statistics on looked after children at both national and local authority levels for the financial year 2014-15.

At 31 March 2015, 42,030 (60%) children were looked after under a care order (either an interim or full care order), a 5% increase compared to 2014 and an 8% increase since 2011. A further 19,850 (29%) children were looked after under a voluntary agreement under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 – this number and percentage has increased steadily since 2013.

However, there has been a drop in the number of children looked after with a placement order at 31 March 2015, from 9,580 (14% of looked after children) in 2014 to 7,320 (11%) in 2015.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2014-to-2015

Number of looked-after children at 30-year high, government data reveals

The number of looked-after children is now ‘higher than at any point since 1985’, official statistics said

The population of children in care in England is at a 30-year high, official government statistics have revealed.

A total of 69,540 children were in care at the end of March 2015, the figures published today by the Department for Education said, and the number of looked-after children is “now higher than at any point since 1985”.

The figures show a continued rise in the number of children leaving care for special guardianship placements, and that there was a 15% reduction in the number of children placed for adoption at 31 March 2015 compared to the previous year, and a 24% fall in the number of children granted an adoption placement order.

More than 6,000 children who were looked after during the year 2014-15 were recorded as missing at least once from their placement, new data for this year also revealed. Just over half of these children were accommodated in secure units, children’s homes or hostels when they went missing or away from placement.

Three-quarters of looked-after children are in foster placements, the data revealed, and almost half of children in foster placements eligible for care leaver support stayed with their foster carers for three months after their 18th birthday. Just under 40% of the 26,330 former care leavers aged 19, 20 or 21, were not in education, employment or training, the figures show.

SOURCE: Community Care Website

Homelessness figures: Nearly 100,000 children in England ‘homeless’

Nearly 100,000 children in England are living in temporary accommodation after being made homeless, new figures show.

At the end of June, 66,980 individuals or families were registered as having no home of their own – an increase of 12% from the same date last year.

Almost a third of them had lost a home in the private rented sector.

Homelessness charities blamed housing benefit failing to keep pace with rent rises – but the government said there was a “strong welfare safety net”.

Most homeless families with children are living in self-contained accommodation – where there is sole use of a kitchen and bathroom – the government figures show.

But more than 2,500 are living in bed and breakfast accommodation – 25% higher than a year earlier.

Of those households, 830 have been in B&Bs for more than 6 weeks, 36% higher than a year earlier.

Source BBC Website

Compulsory academic GCSEs ‘a problem’ for some, says Ofsted chief

A key government policy to force all pupils to sit GCSEs in core academic subjects could be difficult for some students, the head of Ofsted has said.

Ministers want all pupils in England to study maths, English, science, one of history or geography and a modern language at GCSE.

But some young people “will find it a problem” Sir Michael Wilshaw, told the Times Educational Supplement (TES).

Sir Michael said vocational subjects would suit some pupils better.

In particular he questioned whether the academic subjects included in the government’s Ebacc would be the best thing for pupils who wanted to take apprenticeships when they left school.

“I can think of youngsters, even at the highest-performing schools, who will find it a problem and who would have been better suited to do English, maths and science and a range of vocational subjects,” he told the magazine.

In June, the education secretary Nicky Morgan confirmed she wants all pupils to have to study the five traditional subjects included in the Ebass school performance measure

According to Mrs Morgan the move would ensure all pupils received a rigorous academic education and avoid pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds being put off academic subjects.

In addition, the Conservative manifesto pledges that schools which do not have 100% of pupils studying this set of subjects at GCSE should not be able to obtain Ofsted’s top rating of “outstanding”.

Both policies will be subject to a government consultation later in the autumn.

Sir Michael told the TES he agreed more young people should be studying these subjects – but said the combination was not suitable for everyone.

The Association of School and College Leaders, which represents secondary heads, welcomed Sir Michael’s challenge to government policy.

General Secretary Brian Lightman said union shared his concerns

He said a recent survey by the union found almost 90% of school leaders disagreed with making these subjects compulsory for all pupils.

“It is unfair on young people to take a one-size-fits-all approach to their education.

“We are concerned that creative, technology and vocational subjects will be squeezed out of the curriculum.”

Mr Lightman said the union would urge ministers to make the choice of GCSE subjects more flexible.

The Department for Education said an additional league table measure, Progress 8, allows pupils to study a wider range of subjects.

“As part of Progress 8, pupils will be able to study up to three of our new gold-standard Tech Awards which will provide a real foundation for progression on to vocational courses including apprenticeships,” said a spokesman.

Source BBC Website

A Community Care survey of more than 1,000 social workers has found that 71% of practitioners believed the threshold for child protection had risen in the past 12 months. Of those who felt the threshold for abuse had risen, 74% believed it had risen for neglect, while 39% felt it had risen for cases involving sexual abuse and exploitation.

Directors of children’s services are less convinced. In a safeguarding pressures report by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS) in 2014, 56% of directors of children’s services did not feel that thresholds had changed in the past two years.

However, a previous version of the ADCS’safeguarding pressures report published in 2012 found that 71% of directors did not feel thresholds had changed, showing that, over time, more directors are starting to feel that the thresholds for children’s social care are changing.

In order to further understand the differences between frontline and managers views, Community Care conducted an analysis of all of the Ofsted inspections carried out under the single inspection framework up to August 31 this year.

The analysis of 59 Ofsted inspections found confusion around thresholds in 26, or 44% of, local authorities. Often, the understanding of thresholds in partner agencies, and within children’s services, was not consistent.

What do you think ?

Source: CYPNow – click here for the full article