Tipos de Créditos según Resolución SBS Nº14353-2009

5.41 A major protective factor in a child’s life is having good relationships and succeeding in school. Education staff, through their day to day contact with pupils, have a crucial role to play enabling children to have positive experiences in school – academically and through good relationships – as well as ensuring and observing their wellbeing. Education Welfare Officers and Educational psychologists may, through their work with schools, have knowledge of a particular child. If a child is thought to be in need, social services departments may be able to assist. With parental agreement, these

concerns may be discussed with the local social services department and a way forward agreed on identified matters.

5.42 Schools and colleges may on occasions be asked by a social services department for information about a child for whom there are concerns about their health or development, abuse or neglect. The education service itself does not have a direct investigative responsibility in child protection work, but schools and other maintained establishments have a role in assisting the social services department by referring concerns and providing information for s47 child protection enquiries. The role of the independent schools in relation to child protection is the same as that of any other school (Paragraphs 3.12 and 3.15 in Working Together to Safeguard Children, 1999).

5.43 When a child has special educational needs, or is disabled, schools and educational psychologists will have important information about the child’s development, their level of understanding and the most effective means of communicating with the child. This information should be sought before beginning an assessment. The school and the educational psychologist will also be well placed to give a view on the impact of different types of treatment or intervention on the child’s care or behaviour.

5.44 Social Inclusion: Pupil Support (Department for Education and Employment,1999a) sets out government guidance on pupil attendance, behaviour, exclusion and re- integration of children at school. It takes a multi-agency approach to supporting schools and enabling them to help pupils with behavioural difficulties, including poor attendance. Where a pupil may be at serious risk of permanent exclusion from school or engaging in criminal activity, a Pastoral Support Programmeshould be set up to plan interventions to help the pupil remain in school. The social services department should as appropriate be involved in the programme (see paragraph 5.5 of Circular 10/99). In addition to contributing to work undertaken with pupils by staff from other agencies, social services departments can assist directly by working with individual children and their families who are experiencing difficulties which impact on the child’s educational progress. This could include work with children who are caring for a sick or disabled adult, or where there are relationship difficulties within the family, or where a child has suffered abuse or neglect. In such situations where a child and family is referred to a social services department for help with difficulties identified at school, an initial assessment will be undertaken using the dimensions in the Assessment Framework to ascertain if the child is in need and what help could be offered to respond to the particular needs of the child and their family.

5.45 Children looked after can experience a range of problems at school due to the disruptions experienced prior to and during care. These disruptions often include breaks in education. Good liaison with schools is important, both to ascertain the school’s assessment of these young people and their current needs and to plan with the school how these needs can best be met. Guidance on the Education of Children and

Young People in Public Care (Department for Education and Employment and

Department of Health, forthcoming) sets out the importance of education to young people in public care and the action that local authorities (education and social services departments) must take to safeguard the education and thus the future of these young people.

5.46 Learning Mentorsare a new resource, being introduced in secondary schools in major cities as part of the Government’s Excellence in Cities initiative. They will work closely with pupils to help them to overcome barriers to learning. They will provide intensive counselling and support to a small number of pupils facing significant problems, and will perform a ‘signposting’ function for others, helping them to access other agencies and local systems of support, such as business and community mentoring schemes and social services. It will be important for learning mentors to work closely with local social services departments in supporting the pupils in their charge.

5.47 Part of the learning mentor function is to participate in progress checks for pupils in year 7 and year 9. They will also draw up individual targets for the pupil to achieve at school. Each school will have its own assessment arrangements in place for progress checks, but all learning mentors will be informed about the Assessment Framework, and encouraged to use a consistent format in order to facilitate effective information sharing.

5.48 The Connexions strategy (Department for Education and Employment, 2000) will introduce a universal network of Personal Advisers for young people. The Connexions Service will seek to develop a common assessment tool, with a common core and sections related to specific problems a young person might face, that can be used by all Personal Advisers to assess a young person’s needs. Its use will allow different agencies to agree on how a young person’s needs can be met either directly or through referral, and encourage a co-ordinated response to a young person’s needs. The development of this assessment tool will take full account of this framework for assessing children in need.

5.49 For most young people, the end of compulsory education (at around the age of 16) marks a significant decision and transition point in their development towards adulthood. Government maintained schools have a legal duty to prepare children for this decision and transition by providing a programme of careers education and guidance during the last three years of their compulsory education. Various assessment methods are used to help children identify their occupational interests and potential. The methods include self-assessment questionnaires, standardised tests and practical tasks which are formally assessed.

5.50 In 1999 the Department for Education and Employment established a new form of provision for young people who had failed to make a successful transition from compulsory education. This programme – known as the Learning Gateway – is run jointly by careers services and Training and Enterprise Councils. Personal advisers help 16 and 17 year olds who are struggling to find their way to identify realistic career goals and to obtain a suitable learning or employment opportunity. This often involves some remedial education/preparatory training in basic skills and personal effectiveness before the young person is ready for mainstream provision. The Department for Education and Employment has provided comprehensive Guidance

on Assessment in the Learning Gateway (Department for Education and Employment,

1999b). This covers both vocational assessment and the assessment of pre-vocational learning and development needs such as personal effectiveness and social skills. 5.51 Youth and Community Workershave close contact with young people. They should

social services department if they consider a child would benefit from its help. They will also be well placed to assist in a child in need assessment. In some instances joint working may be appropriate.