Hodge: no conflict between social care and education agendas

Children’s minister Margaret Hodge has written to chief
executives and directors of social services stating there in no
contradiction between the children’s green paper agenda and
school standards, writes Amy Taylor.

Hodge said the letter aimed to “set the record
straight”. Some fear the government emphasis on raising
school standards could undermine proposals in the green paper for
schools to take a more inclusive approach to teaching disadvantaged
children. 

Hodge said that the five coordinating principles in the
government’s five-year education strategy: personalisation,
workforce development, independence for frontline staff,
partnerships and opening up services to new providers, had already
helped to address concerns about a “possible tension”
between the two agendas.

“Higher educational achievement and the wider concept of
wellbeing go hand in hand in achieving better outcomes for
children,” she said.

Hodge concluded that headteachers and teachers knew that in
order to get to high levels of achievement they needed to tackle
the barriers to learning.