Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

Do children have rights? If so, do they have all the rights that adults have and do they have rights that adults do not have? If they do not have rights how do we ensure that they are treated in the morally right way? (William, 2011) The above quote informs this assignment as it aims to develop knowledge and understanding of legislation and policy that underpins and supports childrens, young peoples and family rights. With reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), Children Act (1989) and how these have influenced other important and current legislations and policies. Policies and provisions which are in place within the current work setting that help to keep children and young people safe and protected will be looked at and examined through a S.W.O.T analysis of provision. This will form the basis of a work based activity which will be implemented and evaluated; the activity will promote an aspect of the rights, safety or protection of children, young people or families. Legislation surrounding the protection and rights of children, young people and families is always changing; these changes are due to the way society changes and develops, how ideas of childhood and children transform with different ideologies and standards in and out of the home setting. Over the past few centuries the changing views of the child have influenced the rights of children and young people. For the purpose of this assignment a SWOT analysis was carried out within the current work setting, the SWOT looks at six different areas of safety, protection and rights of children and young people including the behaviour police of the setting, individual educational plans, school rules, risk assessments, the school council and road safety. All of these areas were analysed giving details of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities to develop practice and threats. All of these policies were put into place and informed from current legislation surrounding children and young people.

Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

The first piece of legislation that that was introduced was of that in America, the New York Society for the Provision for Cruelty to Children following the case of Mary Ellen in 1874, this was later picked up in the UK and the NSPCC was formed, with the Prevention of Cruelty to and Protection of Children Act becoming law in 1889 (Powell, 2005 p.119). Reder et al (1993 cited in Powell 2005, p.119) points outs the relationship between inquiry findings, legislation and practical practice: The 1974 inquiry report into Maria Colwells death was soon followed by the 1975 Children Act. The Jasmine Beckford inquiry in 1985 and the Kimberley Carlile inquiry in 1987 preceded the Cleveland Inquiry (1988). This shows how over time the concern for children and young peoples welfare was developed into the first legislations to help protect them; following the Cleveland Inquiry the Children Act 1989 was developed. The Children Act 1989 reflects principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989; the UN Convention is an international treaty signed by almost every country in the world, it applies to all children and young people under the age of 18. It states the basic human rights of children everywhere. Bruce and Meggitt (2006 p.2) describe the treaty as enabling all children without discrimination have the right to survival; to develop to their fullest potential; to protection from harmful influences abuse and exploitation; to participate fully in family, cultural and social life; to express and have their views taken into account on all matters that affect them; to play, rest and enjoy leisure. Although the Children Act 1989 reflects some of the UN Convention principles the UK did not signed the treaty until 1991 (Direct gov 2011), to date 192 countries have signed the treaty making it the most popular treaty in the world (Programs for children 2011). Some of the articles found within the treaty relate to how children are largely viewed now, children as agents; as 2

Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

children have a voice and should be listened to, being able to make decisions with adults around them supporting them and keeping them safe. This relates to article 12 which states (UNICEF 2011) Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and to have their opinions taken into account. Listening to children and giving them a voice is now highly important for many reasons, within the SWOT analysis the school council was looked into, the school council is in place to give children the opportunity to speak out, give opinions and ideas on what happens in their educational setting. This shows how the setting has taken into consideration the different articles of the UN Council, as every class from year one upwards has two class council representatives who take opinions, ideas and concerns to weekly meetings which are supervised by a consistent adult who takes notes and passes these notes to the schools principle who then writes back to the council members. This provides opportunity for all pupils of the setting to be involved and be heard in the running of the school. The Children Act 1989 is one of the most significant pieces of legislation in relation to the protection of children and the promotion of their welfare, it provides children protection from abuse, welfare for children in need and contains measures to ensure the welfare of children in private proceedings such as divorce (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay 2008, p.358). The children Act 1989 states parents have the right to be involved in decisions affecting their childs education, involving parents in the assessment of their child is of central importance as positive partnerships with parents benefits children, families and their educational settings (Bruce & Meggitt 2006, p.72). Within the SWOT carried out a weakness pointed out (referring to individual educational plans) was that some parents were not involved when making decisions on their child. As discussed above it is highly important for parents to be included and involved to help children and young people reach their potential within education. Although legislation points this out it is down to settings themselves to ensure polices and strategies are put into place to 3

Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

ensure parents and carers have the opportunity and are given support to be involved with their childs education. To help protect children from abuse the Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families (2000) was developed as a tool to help assess all children in need, including cases where abuse is suspected. It links together child protection guidance with assessment. Assessment within the framework identifies if there are child protection issues or if children and families just need to receive services for children in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay 2008, p.424). The document is for guidance aimed at professionals and staff who are involved in carrying out assessments on children and families, giving the lead role to social services but giving a clear need for other agencies to assist social services (Flynn & Starns 2004 p.82). Assessments of venerable children unfortunately did not always provide the protection children needed, an important case which led to another piece of legislation to help protect children was that of Victoria Climbie who died in 2000 due to abuse and neglect. This led to an inquiry carried out by Lord Laming in 2001; in 2003 his report contained findings which identified serious failures in the lack of communication and collaboration between professionals including social services, police, education and health care (Walton & Goddard 2009, p.35). This report led to the Every Child Matters Green Paper published in 2003, the agenda was about delivering five outcomes for children and young people these outcomes were be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being (Cheminais 2008, p.6). This meant for schools that they would now become central with child protection issues as teachers have much more contact with children and their families compared to other professionals (Teachers TV 2011). This document led to many policies being introduced and reviewed within educational settings, this includes those looked at within the SWOT. School rules which are set for children within the setting are devised to help keep children and encourage them to behave appropriately, children who understand positive behaviour within the setting will hopefully also display these behaviours outside of the setting this links with the Every Child Matters outcomes of making a positive contribution and enjoy and achieve; the 4

Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

description of these outcomes from the Every Child Matters document (DFE 2003, p. 19) are Making a positive contribution: being involved with the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour. Enjoying and achieving: getting the most out of life and developing the skills for adulthood. The settings risk assessment policy will also stem from the same outcomes as risk assessments are in place to help keep children safe and protect them from harm, this will include using equipment within the setting and educational / residential trips. The risk assessment policy received many points of strength which shows how seriously and dedicated the setting are (in this aspect) at keeping its pupils safe. Another aspect of the SWOT which stems from the Every Child Matters agenda is the road safety policy as this too aims to keep children safe. This however within the SWOT received more weaknesses and threats than strengths; this means the setting should review this particular policy as the safety of children and young people is imperative, especially due to the settings location on a busy main road. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) 2006 was introduced to Provide practitioners with children with an assessment tool that any frontline worker can use, in order to ensure children with immediate needs did not wait for referral to another agency for assessment. (Macleod-Brudenell & Kay 2008, p.409) This was developed as the Every Child Matters proposed the introduction of a common assessment framework as a strategy for helping children and young people (DfES 2006). Another piece of legislation that helps promotes children and their rights is the SEN Code of Practice 2004, this gives all children the chance to reach their potential as it sets out guidelines to ensure children with special needs have procedures set in place to help them achieve. 5

Aimee Baldwin Rights

Childrens, Young Peoples and Family

The Code sets out guidance on policies and procedures aimed at enabling pupils with SEN to reach their full potential, to be included fully in their school communities and make a successful transition to adulthood. (DfE 2011) Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are in place due to the Code recommending settings provide a graduated response to children with special educational needs, meaning if a child is not making progress by normal means interventions need to be gradually introduced and increased into teaching and the curriculum (North east Lincolnshire council 2009, p.5). IEPs are this response; as identified in the SWOT there are many strengths to IEPs including that children are getting the help they need to succeed and develop. IEPs can sometimes be hard to complete due to many factors some of which have been pointed out in the SWOT, but if these can be overcome the benefits of IEPs for children can be great. As time moves on and views of children and education change and develop legislation can be updated, put into place or even abolished, for these reasons it is important for people who work with children keep up to date with current legislation. It is for this reason why a SWOT was carried out, to review and examine different polices within the work setting to ensure the greatest procedures are in place to benefit the children and their families.