Protecting our children – BBC social work documentary series

A three-part documentary series following social workers from Bristol City Council’s children’s services department begins on BBC2 on Monday, January 30, at 9pm.

For more than two years, their every move was captured by cameras. The result, Protecting Our Children: Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don’t, has been described as “powerful”, “sensitive” and “enlightening”.

Get involved by joining us on our forum to discuss the programme

Remember you  can get involved via twitter and we will be discussing Protecting Our Children live as the documentary is screened and immediately afterwards. You can get involved by simply typing your comments into the box above. You can also get involved via Twitter by using the hashtag  #bbcprotectingourchildren

Head teachers label revised league tables inadequate

Head teachers are claiming that the government’s attempts to improve the school league table system have fallen short.

The government has published data on schools, which now includes how well disadvantaged children perform in each school; whether previously high-, average- and low-achieving pupils continue to make progress; and how many pupils at each school are entered into the core academic subjects that make up the so-called English Baccalaureate.

But the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said the revised tables focus on a narrow definition of progress and do not measure how well schools do for pupils with different needs.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Unlike the world’s most successful education systems, England focuses on crude measures of school performance published in a high stakes adversarial climate.

“It makes sense to measure how well schools do with different types of learner. Doing so would encourage schools to focus on every pupil and help parents find the right school for their child’s needs.

“However, these tables focus instead on a narrow definition of progress and ability based on discredited test data at Key Stage 2 and actively encourage schools to focus on one group of students to the detriment of others. Until we find a better way of reflecting pupil progress and the excellent work which is routinely going on in our schools, tables like these should be treated with suspicion by teachers and parents alike.”

The 2011 Schools Performance Tables show that 33.9 per cent of disadvantaged pupils achieved five A* to C GCSE grades including English and maths, compared to the national average of 58.2 per cent.

In 339 schools, with more than 10 disadvantaged pupils, fewer than 20 per cent of those pupils achieved five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths. In contrast, 21 schools with more than 10 disadvantaged pupils, saw more than 80 per cent of those pupils gaining five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: “We should have high expectations for all children regardless of their circumstances. Today’s [26 January] figures reveal a shocking waste of talent in many schools across the country. All too often, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren’t given the same opportunities as their peers.

“But there are great examples of schools achieving the best for their disadvantaged pupils. If they can get it right, then so can all schools.”

According to the figures 6.5 per cent of pupils who had been below Level 4 at the end of Key Stage 2 in primary school, went on to achieve five A* to C GCSEs including English and maths.

However, 4.9 per cent of pupils who were excelling at the end of primary school did not achieve five A* to Cs including English and maths.

Source CYP Now

Use of restraint in youth jails on the rise

Use of controversial restraint techniques in youth jails is on the rise despite falling numbers of children in custody.

Latest statistics show that restraint use in secure children’s homes (SCHs), secure training centres (STCs) and young offender institutions (YOIs) went up from 6,922 incidents in 2009/10 to 7,191 incidents in 2010/11 (a 3.9 per cent increase).

The rise comes despite the average number of young people in custody dropping by 17 per cent from 2,670 in 2009/10 to 2,222 in 2010/11.

Details of the increase feature in one of more than a dozen spreadsheet documents supplied alongside annual youth justice statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) yesterday.

The Youth Justice Statistics 2011 document itself does not mention the increase, stating instead that “there were 7,191 incidents of restraint used in the youth secure estate in 2010/11, down nine per cent from 2008/09”.

Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the Howard League for Penal Reform, said the rise is “particularly worrying at a time when youth custody numbers are falling”. He also questioned the way the statistics were presented by the MoJ.

“It is worrying that the initial figures were not presented in the most logical way, and that the reality is far less favourable than initially thought. By their nature of being secure closed institutions, prisons are vulnerable to corruption and bad management.

“It is important to have a clear picture of what is happening in children’s prisons so the most vulnerable children are treated with dignity and respect.”

“As restraint should only be used to prevent injury or escape, does this mean our children’s prisons are so frequently out of control that ‘last resort’ techniques are employed? Or are staff not properly trained in how to defuse situations calmly and resort to violence and dominance?”

The increase comes despite a pledge in 2009, by the then Labour government, to reduce the use of restraint following an independent review prompted by the death of two boys in separate restraint incidents.

A number of restraint techniques have been outlawed but there remains massive opposition to its continued use.

The findings come at a time when safeguarding in the juvenile secure estate is already under the spotlight following the deaths of two teenagers being held in YOIs this week.

Alex Kelly, 15, who was being held at Cookham Wood YOI in Kent, was pronounced dead in hospital at 7.30pm on Wednesday.

His death came just a day after that of 17-year-old Jake Hardy, who died in hospital on Tuesday after being found at Hindley YOI in Wigan.

Carolyne Willow, national co-ordinator of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, said: “Everyone should be deeply concerned about the safety of children in custody.

“Two more imprisoned children died this week and the use of restraint is on the rise again.

“The constant reference to ‘youths’ hides the fact that it is younger children and girls who have endured the biggest increases in restraint.

“I simply cannot understand why we continue to send children to institutions where we know they will not be safe. This is a child protection scandal that will not go away until ministers have the courage to take radical action.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said restraint should only ever be used against young people as a last resort where it is absolutely necessary to do so and where “no other form of intervention is possible or appropriate”.

“A range of improvements across the youth secure estate has been made in recent years including the introduction of restraint minimisation strategies, phasing out of certain techniques and enhanced monitoring,” he added.