EVERY CHILD MATTERS

Every Child Matters



Every Child Matter

Introduction

Teachers aspire to be recognised as being true professionals, however in social grouping teaching does not command the same prestige as other professions, such as medicine and law. In order to teach science at secondary school level a teacher has to gain not only a relevant first class degree but also undergo formal professional teacher training, in total this may take up to 6 years to accomplish. Although similar to the length of time a doctor is in training, the salary of a teacher does not reflect this and thus many have suggested that teachers are therefore not true professionals. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines a profession as “a vocation or calling, especially one that involves some branch of advanced learning or science” In this context we can assume that teaching is a profession.

Every Child Matters

The Every Child Matters agenda was proposed by the government after Lord Laming's enquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié. The ECM green paper was aimed to address the issues of child safety and the integration of services (DfES, 2004). The paper identified five outcomes central to the 'wrap around' care of children and young people, these are:

Be healthy

Stay safe

Enjoy and achieve

Make a positive contribution

Achieve economic and social well-being

Co-ordination and communication is fundamental to the success of the 'wrap around' care provided by the organisations included. One of the main reasons for the continuing abuse of Victoria Climbié was the lack of communication between the healthcare services, social services, the police and schools, who were involved but assumed that this poor girl was being cared for by one of the other services. Education is now used as the hub to facilitate and co-ordinate care(DfES 2005). It is often the strands of extended schooling that add quality to the core curriculum on offer.

Most children spend the greatest proportion of their time in school and so schools have become the focus for the delivery of services relating to the five outcomes of ECM. In the past teachers may have become focused on constricted school issues without seeing the wider problems associated with the community and thus how it may be affecting the pupils. By opening the doors of the school to the community the school will become an integral part of it and strong bonds can be formed with its influential members and families associated with the pupils. This focuses on the social and economic well being of the pupils and their families. For instance pupils from local schools were invited to become residents at Royal Holloway University over a 3 day forensic science project, to enable year 9 pupils to explore pathways into Higher Education. (Weston 2005)

ECM is a fundamental feature of the new National Curriculum introduced in September 2008. Every teacher has a different persona and this is reflected in the ways in which they teach, however the common goal is to ensure the pupils achievement and well ...