Recently in education Category

A boy with special educational needs lost a year's education because of failures by two councils, according to a review by the local government ombudsman.

In her report, published today, Dr Jane Martin criticised Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council for failing to work together to support the young man, known as Harry, after changes in his behaviour prompted a review of his care and education post-16.

The teenager missed out on a crucial year of education, and may also have missed the opportunity of a residential placement with 24-hour support, because both councils delayed assessments and disputed which had responsibility for maintaining his statement of SEN.

The ombudsman found maladministration causing injustice by both councils, ordering Cambridgeshire council to pay £2,750 in compensation and Peterborough council to pay £1,750 and provide appropriate therapy for Harry. Both councils agreed to pay the sums, to apologise to Harry and his family and to review their arrangements for the transfer of statemented children who are moving to post-16 education. Click here for the full report.

Sadly, homeless teenagers often find themselves placed in chaotic, filthy hostels or sleeping on park benches rather than the 'safe, appropriate' accommodation that local authorities are duty bound to provide. (A problem which seems to be getting worse, rather than better). 

Frustrated by the lack of safe options available to homeless teens, staff at Quintin Kynaston (QK) school in London have come up with a unique solution - to purchase a local 10-bed property and set it up as a children's home for homeless students.

It followed the discovery that a number of QK students were living in hostels or sleeping rough while trying to finish their education. Read the full feature here and watch the video below for two teenage students' experiences of homelessness. Picture credit: Horia Varlan

Settling in to watch Michael Gove (pictured)address delegates at the National Children's and Adults Services (NCAS) conference in Manchester, I was hopeful that the education secretary would make some big - or even small - announcements on children's services.

Unfortunately, he did not. (Even though rumours of announcements had been circulating).

Instead, we had half an hour of schools and only the briefest mention of children's social care needs. 

While a child's education is undeniably important, councils will also want to know how their children's services will be affected by cuts and shifting priorities. Despite having a key opportunity to directly address these issues, Gove did not which has led many delgates to question whether children's social care will slip down the political agenda.

Gove assured us it will not, but only after being challenged by the ever vocal Hilton Dawson, chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW).