Children’s literacy skills found lacking in Wales

Children’s literacy skills found lacking in Wales

Forty per cent of pupils in Wales are entering secondary school with a reading age that is more than six months below their actual age, the chief inspector of Welsh education inspectorate Estyn has warned.

Publishing her annual report for the education and training inspectorate for Wales, Ann Keane described the findings as “unacceptable” and urged teachers to plan lessons more effectively to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills across all subjects.

Although performance in four out of five primary schools and two out of three secondary schools inspected was mainly found to be good, Keane said teachers must be able to adapt lessons for learners of all abilities.

Keane said: “We have concerns about standards in reading and writing in a significant minority of primary schools. Forty per cent of pupils enter secondary schools with a reading age that is more than six months below their actual age. This is unacceptable.

“Teachers and managers need to plan lessons more effectively to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills in all subjects. We have seen a drop in the proportion of excellent or outstanding teaching by comparison with the last cycle of inspections.

“Schools need to do more to adapt their materials and teaching styles to meet the needs of learners of all abilities.”

Of the 238 primary schools inspected, five per cent were judged excellent, 74 per cent good, 19 per cent adequate and two per cent unsatisfactory.

Four schools had special measures imposed, eight needed significant improvement and 43 required an Estyn monitoring visit.

The Welsh government has been gradually expanding its early years scheme, the Foundation Stage, since 2008, which now covers children aged from three to seven years.

In around 30 per cent of schools standards of reading and writing remain a concern. The inspectorate found that in many schools pupils in the Foundation Stage made good progress in speaking, listening and reading. However, the report found that in nearly a quarter of schools inspected, pupils’ written work was full of simple spelling and grammatical errors.

In nearly all primary schools pupil wellbeing is good or better, with pupils feeling safe and behaving well.

Keane said: “The Foundation Phase is a strength in the majority of schools, with boys and girls responding positively to the stimulating activities. They are more independent, confident and creative.

“But despite this progress, there are still several areas that are still a concern: children and young peoples’ reading and writing skills and the uneven quality of teaching and leadership.”

Of the 31 secondary schools inspected, 13 per cent were judged excellent, 52 per cent good, 32 per cent adequate and three per cent unsatisfactory.

In most schools, inspectors found that pupils made good progress in developing their knowledge and understanding, but in schools where standards are adequate or unsatisfactory, performance in external examinations was weak with shortcomings in pupils’ literacy.

Pupils in most schools were found to listen well in lessons and many pupils were also able to write well for a wide variety of purposes and audiences. However, in about a quarter of schools, standards in writing are not as good as in other aspects of literacy.

During 2010/11, Estyn inspected seven local authorities and found performance is good overall in only two. Five of the seven authorities inspected required follow-up visits, with three judged adequate, one in need of significant improvement and one in special measures

Source: CYP Now

Two-week child protection inspections to start in May

Two-week child protection inspections to start in May

Ofsted has finalised plans to begin two-week long spot checks of local authority child protection services from May.

The inspectorate’s revised inspection framework of child protection, published today (31 January), will double the number of local authority case files that inspectors scrutinise and will attempt to impose greater focus on children’s experiences.

Inspectors will shadow social workers during the two-week inspections and talk directly to children and families.

Ofsted deputy chief inspector John Goldup said: “For the first time in our child protection inspections, we’ll be talking to children and their families directly and shadowing social workers in their day-to-day work. This will be a very important part of the evidence that inspectors will use.

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“We won’t just look at what happens to children when they become subject to formal child protection processes – it’s just as important to evaluate the help that children and their families do or don’t get early on, when problems first emerge, because that can make a critical difference to whether the problems get worse and the risks to the child escalate.”

 

Social workers and managers will be expected to go through each selected case file with inspectors to examine the support being offered to each child.

The current nine areas local authorities are judged upon will be replaced with three:

  • The effectiveness of protection provided to children, young people, families and carers
  • The quality of practice
  • Leadership and governance

Children’s minister Tim Loughton said: “In her independent review of child protection last year Professor Munro advised that inspections should give greater weight to feedback from children and families, and that Ofsted should move to unannounced inspections because professionals and local authorities were spending too much time preparing for inspections.

“Ofsted’s changes will help put the focus back on the child and assess whether they and their families are really getting the help they need – rather than being a tick box exercise.”

Nushra Mansuri, professional officer for the British Association of Social Workers, said: “We wholeheartedly support unannounced inspections; there is less opportunity to mask poor practice.

“We have anecdotal evidence from members of how poorly performing local authorities can still get through inspection processes through unscrupulous means such as altering information. We also hear that the current Ofsted process is not effective or trusted by social workers.”

Source: CYP NOW

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner to develop a network of contacts with groups run for children and young people with experience of child protection processes.

The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has announced its intention to develop a network of contacts with groups run for children and young people with experience of child protection processes. They are currently looking for LSCBs (Local Safeguarding Children Boards) or other organisations working in this area to help them achieve this aim.
Source: Office of the Children’s Commissioner: press release 20 January 2012
Further information:
Promoting the voice of children and young people with experience of child protection. (PDF)

Action for Children, in partnership with the University of Stirling, has published its first annual report on child neglect

Action for Children, in partnership with the University of Stirling, has published its first annual report on child neglect. Findings include: 51% of social workers, and 36% of police officers said they felt ‘powerless’ to intervene in suspected cases of child neglect, and 81% of professionals in universal services (primary school teachers, pre-school and nursery staff and health professionals) that come into contact with children have suspected children of being neglected.
Source: Action for children: press release 23 January 2012
Further information:
Child neglect in 2011: an annual review by Action for Children in partnership with the University of Stirling. (PDF) 23 January 2012
   BBC Online

The Policy Exchange has published a new report looking at reforming the foster care

The Policy Exchange has published a new report looking at reforming the foster care system in England and Wales. Issues identified include: a critical shortage of foster carers, the level of support given to carers, and the commissioning of placements. Recommendations include: foster carers should be paid a year round fee based on their levels of skills, qualifications and experience, and the most experienced and most highly trained carers who are willing and able to give up work and care for children with particularly complex and challenging needs should be formally salaried.
Source: Policy Exchange: publications 24 January 2012
Further information:
Fostering ambitions: reforming the foster care system in England and Wales. (PDF)

North Somerset Serious Case Review into the sexual abuse of primary school children by their teacher

The North Somerset Safeguarding Children Board has published a serious case review into the sexual abuse of primary school children by their teacher. Issues included: a failure by colleagues to formally report the majority of their concerns about the teacher’s inappropriate and unprofessional conduct, a failure by management to create an environment in which the needs of the child were placed first, and a failure of the school to recognise the behaviour of the teacher as typical of grooming activities. Recommendations include: schools should keep accurate records of all incidents and concerns in connection with members of staff so that historical patterns can be detected, and schools should have e-safety policies in place.
Source: North Somerset Safeguarding Children Board 26 January 2012
Further information:
Independent 26 January 2011
   Serious case review: the abuse of pupils in a first school: executive summary (PDF)
   Serious case review: the abuse of pupils in a first school: overview report (PDF)

The Youth Justice Board has published its annual workload data for 2010/11

The Youth Justice Board has published its annual workload data for 2010/11. Findings include: the average number of young people in custody for 2010/11 was 2,222, a 17 per cent decrease on the 2009/10 figure of 2,670; there were 20 deaths in the community of young people under the supervision of a youth offending team in 2011, compared to 23 deaths in 2010; and 141 children under supervision attempted suicide.
Source: Youth Justice Statistics 2010/11 England and Wales (PDF) 26 January 2012
Further information:
Children & Young People Now 26 January 2012
   Ministry of Justice: youth justice statistics

Reunite has published new figures on the number of children parentally abducted

Reunite has published new figures on the number of children parentally abducted. Findings include: the number of child abduction cases reported to their advice line increased by 47% in 2011, and involved 512 new abduction cases, of which 479 children were abducted out of the UK, 189 children abducted into the UK, 16 children abducted between UK jurisdictions, and 56 children abducted between non-UK jurisdictions.
Source: Family Law 19 January 2012
Further information:
Reunite International: press release

Family Studies has published an article about sibling sexual abuse

The Australian Institute of Family Studies has published an article about sibling sexual abuse. The article is based on the experiences of the Psychologist Helen Kambouridis and covers a number of topics, including: why some young people engage in sexually abusive behaviour, the use of family based therapy, and the impact of shame on perpetrators.
Source: Australian Institute of Family Studies 18 January 2012