30/09/03 - Working together to reduce truancy & exclusions

Cumbria's successful approach to promoting the ‘Extended Schools’ initiative, which can contribute to tackling exclusion and truancy, has been recognised nationally. Two Officers from Cumbria Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership were recently invited to speak at a major national conference in London where key partners share good practice to help reduce truancy and exclusions.  

Speakers, including Ivan Lewis MP, General Secretary for the National Association for Head Teachers David Hart OBE, and the Director of Youth Affairs Margaret Kelly attended the conference as well as representatives from the DfES, the Youth Justice Board, Cumbria County Council, the Police and Schools.

The conference, 'Working together to reduce truancy and exclusions', brought together representatives from the education and criminal justice sectors, as well as statutory and voluntary agencies.  The conference was sponsored by Crime Concern.  The focus for the day was on multi-agency approaches involving stakeholders working together to support pupils at risk of developing emotional, social and behavioural problems that may result in truancy and exclusion.

County Councillor Joan Stocker Cabinet Spokesperson for Education is delighted that the Cumbria Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership were asked to contribute to such an important event.  She says,

“Regular school attendance is very important to a child’s education to make sure they get the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential.  They develop good habits which are important at school and continue through further education and work.   This Conference is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together to discuss such an important issue and share good practice.  

Cumbria County Council works extremely hard to ensure parents fulfil their legal duty in relation to pupil attendance and although overall attendance levels in Cumbria continue to improve, we must not be complacent. We believe we can make further improvements and that these will benefit everyone in our society. 

The Extended Schools programme, which is being introduced in Cumbria, in one way of addressing the issue.  The programme enables schools to offer a wide range of services and activities, often beyond the school day, to help meet the needs of its pupils, their families and the wider community.  Many Extended Schools have already seen many benefits for offering extended services and promoting good behaviour, including higher levels of pupils self-esteem, motivation and achievement, greater parental involvement in children’s learning, better access to essential services for children, families and community members, reduction in vandalism on school property and reduction of teenage pregnancy rates.

We believe that pupils and their families, schools, teaching staff and the wider community could all benefit greatly from the facilities and services schools could offer.  This is an exciting initiative which builds well on current practice.”

Nicola Jackson, Information and Projects Manager for Cumbria Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership was one of the Officers invited to speak at the conference, along with colleague Tricia Bewick, Development Worker for Carlisle.  Nicola says,

"It is great news that Cumbria's work in this area has been recognised and that other areas of the country now want to learn from Cumbria's ideas.  Cumbria's Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership is seen nationally as a real innovator in the early years and childcare sector through its work in areas such as tackling truancy and exclusion."