School staff least engaged by reforms

School staff feel less involved in the government’s Every Child Matters agenda than any other section of the children’s workforce, new research suggests.

Nearly one-third were unaware of the green paper and more than two-thirds did not know about the children’s national services framework, a study for the Department for Education and Skills found.

Only 53 per cent of teachers and learning support staff felt the green paper’s policies would have a great deal or a fair amount of impact on their job over the next two years, compared with 74 per cent of local government workers, 61 per cent of health professionals and 75 per cent of voluntary sector staff.

Children’s social workers were the least satisfied members of the children’s workforce. Only 34 per cent were very satisfied with their jobs and 13 per cent fairly dissatisfied.