Introduction
Throughout my seminar paper I will focus on the issues surrounding the governments plan to assign every child in Scotland a ‘named person'. This is one point in the Children and Young Peoples (Scotland) Bill, that parliament recently debated and passed on the 19th of February this year. The government believes the bill will promote their "ambition for Scotland to be the best place to grow up in by putting children and young people at the heart of planning and services and ensuring their rights are respected across the public sector" (Scottish Executive, 2013).
To gain insight into the approach in which the ‘named person' has stemmed from I will look at the ‘Getting it right for every child' (GIRFEC) approach.
I also intend to look at the purpose and role of the ‘named person' in depth as some organisations lack of clarity of the role is leading to concerns.
I intend to discuss the arguments for and against the ‘named person' and the challenges this may put on integration.
Throughout the paper I will discuss the government's need for every child and young person under the age of 18 to have a ‘named person' and relate it to a European policy known as ‘social pedagogy', which outlines a unique way of working with children and the foundation for policy development.
GIRFEC approach
The Scottish government wants all children and young people to be completely supported as they mature and develop, they believe children should be kept safe, be healthy, be given the support to achieve, be nurtured, have the opportunity to be active, be respected, be responsible, and be included. In order for practitioners to support them with these the Scottish government applied the ‘GIRFEC' national practice model in 2008, as a method...
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...s state guardian trial singled out thousands of kids. Retrieved February 22, 2014, from http://www.christian.org.uk/news/scots-state-guardian-trial-singled-out-thousands-of-kids/
The Scotsman. (2013). Children’s Future. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/children-s-future-1-2924308
The Telegraph. (2013). Lawyers warn against 'Big Brother' plans to give every Scottish child a state guardian. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotland/10214975/Lawyers-warn-against-Big-Brother-plans-to-give-every-Scottish-child-a-state-guardian.html
The Telegraph. (2014). Scottish ministers threatened with legal action over 'state guardian' plans. Retrieved February 23, 2014, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10650090/Scottish-ministers-threatened-with-legal-action-over-state-guardian-plans.html
However, Ferguson stresses that social workers and other practitioners often fail to do so as they prioritise what is going on within their organisation than taking time to know the child and their needs. Calder (2012) also supports Ferguson by stating that the “outputs outweigh outcomes”; this means that agendas that are provided by organisations now dictate the outcome of the assessment and not the child’s
A positive care environment is reinforced by legislation and national care standards implemented by the Scottish Government. Legislation such as, Data Protection Act 1998, Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child) and the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 put safeguards in place to give the service user legal rights.
The first five years of a child's life are the most important for laying the foundation skills which will see them through to adulthood. In order to give children a positive start to life health visitors can offer advice and support by using the Healthy Child Programme (HCP) which can take place within a home or community environment. This programme offers families a range of services including screening, developmental reviews and support on parenting and making healthy decisions. Health visitors have the skills to identify children who may not be meeting their developmental milestones and refer them onto other services to meet their needs. They can also recognise and support safeguarding issues within a family. Although most people found these services to be beneficial a study conducted by Knott and Latter (1999) claimed that some mothers felt the services they ...
C. Cobley & N. Lowe, ‘The stautory “threshold” under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 – time to take stock’ (2011) Law Quarterly Review 396
A child’s development and learning commences from the earliest days of their lives. The unique identity of each individual stems from the relationships with people who provide love, care and emotional support. These relationships can be within the home environment, school playground or with extended family members and friends. Children respond to stimuli which in turn form the ‘internal working model’ (K101, Unit 5). This can be described as how we view ourselves and others within society; it influences what we expect and how we respond to situations.
Researching children is in no way a new phenomenon however there has been a considerable shift in paradigm which has led to increasing amounts of research being carried out ‘with’ children rather than ‘on’ children (Christensen and James, 2008). This could be because of the growing interest in children’s rights to participate (James and Prout, 1997), which as suggested by O’kane (2008) occurred in the late 1980’s. However it is difficult to determine whether this shift in paradigm occurred as a result of natural changes in researcher’s attitudes or as a direct result of new legislation (2008). As at a similar time, in 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (UNCRC ) was enforced, giving children the right to participate and be heard in matters affecting their lives. This difficulty is evident by Schaffer (1990) suggesting developmental theories have strongly influenced policies thus indicating, as researcher’s knowledge on children and childhood develop attitudes and policy change. In contrast O’Kane (2008, p.125) states “changes reflect an acknowledgement of children’s rights”.
Explain the legal status and principles of the relevant early years frameworks and how national and local guidance materials are used in settings
During the court case the judge said that lead social worker Gunn Wahlstrom was “naïve beyond belief”. This report brought over 68 recommendations to make sure cases like this did not happen again. The recommendations included putting the child first and the parent’s second. “Jasmines’ fate illustrates all too clearly the disastrous consequences of the misguides attitude of the social workers having treated Morris Beckford and Beverley Lorrington as the clients first and foremost” (London Borough of Brent, 1985,p295). The social workers in Jasmine’s c...
I was able to develop skills that will be relevant for practice in the future and support my professional development. This case study allowed me to focus on a specific case that developed my understanding of theory, law and policy that organisation use to provide services for families. I was able to enhance my understanding of the Cycle of change, Children Act 1989 and Working Together safeguarding policy. Developing my understating of evidence based practice and the importance of linking theory to
LSCB, (2013), SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN, YOUNG PEOPLE AND VULNERABLE ADULTS POLICY, (www.safechildren-cios.co.uk), [Assessed 1 November 2013].
In his 1971 paper “Personal Identity”, Derek Parfit posits that it is possible and indeed desirable to free important questions from presuppositions about personal identity without losing all that matters. In working out how to do so, Parfit comes to the conclusion that “the question about identity has no importance” (Parfit, 1971, p. 4.2:3). In this essay, I will attempt to show that Parfit’s thesis is a valid one, with positive implications for human behaviour. The first section of the essay will examine the thesis in further detail and the second will assess how Parfit’s claims fare in the face of criticism.
The growth of sociological interest in children and childhood has coincided widely with the development of the modern children's rights movement. The two disciplines share some communalities such as the emphasis given to children's agenc...
It is quite interesting to watch little children grow up. Sometimes, of course, it is also quite disappointing, because the child may not develop the good character traits that his parents desire. Moreover, the child might even develop some shocking traits. However, at the end of the ‘process’ one acquires the opportunity to look back on the past years and understand what events influenced the character of that particular person; thus, being able to, at least, somewhat control the character of the next child.
We must realize how children and youth have remained excluded by the mono logical understandings of participation implicit. Mere granting children rights or proclaiming that they are capable participants does not in create effect or transform participation. In other words, children’s participation depends principally on the invitation offered through dialogue to be acknowledged and to negotiate the terms of their recognition (Kulynych 2001; Percy-Smith and Weil 2003.
Care and education have become a part of children’s daily lives in Ireland and England outside the home in childcare services. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory curriculum framework for children up to the age of five in England. It was first introduced in 2008 and on the 1st of September 2012 a new revised document was published. Aistear, published in 2009, is Ireland’s first early year’s curriculum framework for children from birth to six years of age. A curriculum framework is a scaffold or support for the development of a curriculum that can be used in childcare settings. A curriculum framework can also be used in partnership with parents when developing a curriculum. This paper will compare and contrast these two curriculum frameworks in relation to philosophy, content, pedagogical practices and expected/targeted outcomes for children. Due to the limits of this paper, it will only be possible to develop an overview of the similarities and differences.