Daily roundup: Inspections, sex education, and child health
Laura McCardle
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Cafcass gets "good" rating from Ofsted; role of PSHE to be assessed by MPs; and government consults on allowing schools to keep spare asthma inhalers, all in the news today.
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) has been rated as good in its first national inspection by Ofsted. Inspectors found that family court advisers consistently work well with families to ensure children are safe and that the court makes decisions that are in children's best interests.
A parliamentary inquiry will examine the role of personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools. The education select committee will assess whether the subjects ought to be statutory and how their effectiveness should be measured.
The Department of Health is consulting on plans to allow schools to keep spare asthma inhalers on site. According to the BBC, schools are currently unable to keep spare blue reliever inhalers because they are prescribed medicines. Campaigners have said the move could reduce emergency hospital admissions.
Wiltshire Council is considering feedback on how the region's youth services should be delivered following a formal consultation period. The Wiltshire Times reports that 1,770 young people completed an online survey, while a further 500 took part in focus groups on the topic.
The National Foundation for Youth Music has announced grants totalling £1.2m to support 10 new partnerships between schools and music education providers. The Exchanging Notes initiative aims to establish if such collaborations bring additional benefits for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion. Over a four year period, Birmingham City University will undertake a study of the projects to evaluate the educational, musical and other outcomes for pupils of these new models of partnerships.
The Department for Education has become the government's first "foster family-friendly employer". DfE employees who foster - as well as those who care for children of family or friends, such as a grandparent caring permanently for their grandchild - will be offered up to 20 days paid leave to attend training or meetings relating to their role as a carer. Employees will also be entitled to additional unpaid time off work to deal with unexpected emergencies, such as welcoming a child into their home at short notice.
