News
NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO TACKLE BULLYING
10-year strategy for childcare
Support for 1p childcare charge
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Apr Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
19 July 2004 - NATIONAL ALLIANCE TO TACKLE BULLYING
Anti-bullying experts will be based in every region of the country to provide schools, local education authorities and parents with practical help, advice and support in tackling all forms of bullying in schools.
Education Minister Ivan Lewis launched the national Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA) of over 50 expert organisations to act as a national agency to:
• work with teachers, schools and local education authorities to promote anti-bullying best practice across all schools, including the use of peer mentoring schemes;
• develop innovative, practical approaches to tackling bullying, including the modern menace of bullying by text messaging, email and Internet chat;
• provide support for parents in severe cases of bullying, including mediation and referrals across the Alliance’s regional and national network, where all other avenues to resolve the bullying have been exhausted;
• develop and oversee anti-bullying resources and information for schools and parents, including an anti-bullying website containing practical support and advice; and
• run an annual national anti-bullying week of events and activities in schools across England to teach young people that all forms of bullying are wrong and active ways in which to show no tolerance to it.
Speaking at a national anti-bullying event in London, Education Minister Ivan Lewis said:
“Our commitment to tackle bullying in all its forms is unprecedented and today I am delighted to announce the creation of the first ever national alliance to underline this commitment in schools across the country.
“The Alliance’s national lead on anti-bullying and the regionally based experts that will support schools, parents and local education authorities will be a crucial part of our action to show no tolerance to bullying. It will build on our ‘Make The Difference’ campaign in which around 5,000 head teachers, teachers, pupils and anti-bullying experts have already participated.
“Bullying is not a ‘part of growing up.’ Bullying is not ‘character building.’ Bullying is physical or emotional assault, and can lead to the most tragic consequences. I am confident that the Anti-Bullying Alliance, working in partnership with schools, teachers and parents will play a key role in tackling it.”
Esther Rantzen OBE, Chair of ChildLine will act as President of the Anti-Bullying Alliance. She said:
“This is a very important step forward in the fight to tackle bullying. For the seventh year in a row, bullying is the most common problem children bring to ChildLine. Last year we had 22,000 calls on this subject alone, this year it may be even more.
“Bullying costs precious lives, creates misery for thousands of children, and prevents them from achieving the success they deserve. It’s also very distressing for teachers. And yet there is plenty of good practice to share, and the Alliance, and the new anti-bullying team, are a terrific way to spread practical information to schools across the UK.”
Gill Frances, director of children’s development at the National Children’s Bureau and manager of the ABA anti-bullying programme, said:
“We know that there is much excellent work already being done in some schools to stop bullying and help both children who are bullied and those who bully others. Now we want to make sure this expertise is shared with other schools who want further support.”
Alison O’Brien, Chair of ABA and NSPCC Education Advisor said:
“We warmly welcome the government’s support and commitment to tackling a problem that is devastating so many young lives. The Alliance will work in partnership with professionals, teachers and parents to develop the most effective ways of dealing with bullying in our schools and to provide children with someone to turn to for support. We want to send out a clear message that every child has the right to feel safe from bullying and that together we can put a stop to it.”
In the last six months, the Government’s ‘Make the Difference’ campaign has held nine dedicated regional conferences involving over 5,000 head teachers, teachers, pupils and anti-bullying experts to learn the latest anti-bullying techniques and share best practice. Heads and Governors in have also been invited to adopt an anti-bullying ‘Charter for Action’ in which they commit the whole school community to a culture where bullying is not tolerated and is actively tackled. Drawn up with a wide range of professional and voluntary organisations, including the Secondary Heads Association, the National Association of Head Teachers and the Anti-Bullying Alliance, the Charter recommends a key set of actions for schools to take to prevent and deal with bullying - over 4,000 schools have already committed to the Charter.
However, the Government will continue to support schools which take tough action against violent pupils who use physical violence against others, with permanent exclusions even for first time offences, and the use of new parenting contracts to focus the minority of parents on measures to improve their child’s behaviour when they have previously been unwilling to make the effort.
Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The Anti-Bullying Alliance will receive £570,000 funding in its first year, commencing work with the new school year in September, and will be based at the National Children's Bureau. For more information visit www.ncb.org.uk/aba
2. The ‘Charter for Action’ is posted on the Department for Education and Skills website at www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying and the conference website can be visited at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/antibully
3. Further information for parents and children about bullying can be found at www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying and www.parentcentre.gov.uk and dedicated teacher resources to tackle behaviour and attendance issues can be found at www.teachernet.gov.uk/tacklingbullying
4. All schools must draw up compulsory anti-bullying policies and can use detailed information packs, videos and online resources developed by the Department for Education and Skills. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying/
List of Members
Anti-Bullying Campaign
Beat Bullying
Birmingham LEA
Camden Social Services
ChildLine
Children’s Play Council
Children’s Legal Centre
Commission for Racial Equality
Connexions
Council for Disabled Children
Department for Education and Skills
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College
Educational Action Challenging Homophobia
Family Service Unit
Forum for Rural Children and Young People
HIV Forum for Children and Young People
HM Prison Service
Keele University
Kidscape
Leicestershire County Council
Life Education Centres
Lucky Duck Publishing
National Children's Bureau
National Healthy School Standard
National Youth Advocacy Service
NCH
National Health Education Group
Nottinghamshire Police Force
NSPCC
National Standing Committee of Advisors, Inspectors and Consultants of Personal and Social Education
Ofsted
Parentline Plus
Professional Association of Teachers
Pupil Inclusion Unit
Pupiline
Riverside Junior School, West Yorkshire
SAVE
Save the Children
Secondary Heads Association
Sex Education Forum
Sport England
Stonewall (Citizenship 21 Project)
The Children’s Society
The Education and Training Inspectorate
The Refugee Council
Welsh Children’s Commissioners Office
Youth Justice Board
Young Transnet
Young Minds
Young Voice
YWCA
page top
13 July 2004 - 10-year strategy for childcare
Gordon Brown’s announcements of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2004 included a commitment to publish a 10 year strategy for childcare in the Pre-Budget Report later in the year. The spending review also proposes the expected extension for early years education pilots for two year olds.
The government also aims to create 120,000 more childcare places by 2008 and 2,500 Children's Centres planned by 2008. This revises the target of 1,700 Children's Centres providing integrated early years education, childcare and wider services for low-income families.
These targets were part of a range of measures aimed at mothers, working parents/carers and reducing child poverty. Chancellor Gordon Brown said 500 areas in the UK would pilot the extension of nursery education to two-year-olds.
Alongside the spending review, Mr Brown published a Child Poverty Review, the outcome of a consultation into tackling child poverty, announced in his budget in 2003. The review proposes more measures to "make work pay" for low-income families, and a new set of targets to reduce child poverty.
page top
01 July 2004 - Support for 1p childcare charge
Many adults support paying an extra penny on income tax to fund affordable childcare for all, a survey has said. According to the Daycare Trust, 53% of people surveyed said they would be willing to pay extra tax, rising to 63% of parents with children under 16 years.
Adults in the North were most in favour of the idea, with 63% saying they would be prepared to pay an extra penny. The survey of 1,300 adults said four out of five adults wanted cheap quality care for all children under 12 months.
Stephen Burke, director of the Daycare Trust, said: "Quality childcare is good for children, good for families and good for society."
A typical nursery place for a child under two costs almost £7,000 a year and there is only one registered childcare place for every four children under eight nationally, the Daycare Trust said.
According to the survey, only a quarter of parents say that childcare has become more affordable over the last three years. Even when there is help available, not all parents are aware of support with costs. In London, for example, only 56% of parents were aware there was state help for childcare costs, through tax credits.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news
page top
 Printer friendly page
|
