Daily roundup: Childcare training, education outcomes and Ofsted inspections
Neil Puffett
Monday, June 30, 2014
Early years bursary scheme funds a handful of applicants; gifted poor children less likely than affluent peers to attend top universities; and Bournemouth children's services requires improvement says Ofsted, all in the news today.
Just 23 successful applicants have received funds from a bursary scheme expected to recruit 1,000 high quality candidates to become early years apprentices, figures from the Labour Party show. The Early Years Apprenticeships Bursary Scheme, worth £3,000 to applicants, was launched in September 2013. Of the 48 applicants to the £2.3m scheme, 23 have received a total of £69,000 in funding, figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request by shadow childcare minister Lucy Powell reveal.
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who achieve the highest levels at primary school have fallen behind their less able but better-off peers by the time they sit GCSE exams. The Guardian reports that the research by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission found that of almost 8,000 disadvantaged students who achieved top grades in English and maths standardised tests at age 11, only 900 went on to study at an elite university.
Ofsted inspectors have concluded children’s services at Bournemouth Council and the work of the Bournemouth and Poole Local Safeguarding Children Board “requires improvement”. The extent of child sexual exploitation in the area is not properly understood, there is a lack of experienced social workers and too many older children are placed more than 20 miles away from the borough, reports the Bournemouth Echo. The Ofsted report states: “There are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. However, the authority is not yet delivering good protection and help and care for children, young people and families.”
About one in five black children believe their skin colour could damage their job prospects. The BBC reports that a survey of 1,600 eight to 14-year-olds conducted by the Newsround programme found that two per cent of white children and 13 per cent of Asian origin were concerned over their skin colour.
Children and young people should routinely be offered the opportunity to participate in and to benefit from medical research, according to updated guidance from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. The guidance on clinical research involving infants, children and young people provides updated advice on ethical issues in relation to research involving children, aimed at research councils. It reflects many of the changes that have taken place with regards to European Union regulations over the last 14 years.
The number of complaints made against Windsor and Maindenhead Council children’s care service has more than doubled in one year, while the amount of compliments has more than tripled. The Reading Chronicle reports that 90 statutory complaints were investigated between April 2013 and March 2014 - up from 43 in 2012/13, while the number of compliments from clients rose from eight in 2012/13 to 26 in 2013/14.
