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Introduction

"Education Involves Partnership" Partnerships in education There are many different ways in which schools can link with outside agencies in order to give children a range of knowledge and experience. These agencies aim to work alongside the teaching staff to fulfil gaps that are not covered within the National Curriculum. As many teachers can comprehend, the school timetable is as it stands 'jam-packed' with requirements to meet the standards of the National Curriculum. The National Curriculum consists of a range of core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science) and non-core subjects (such as History, Music and Art) that gives children the information and knowledge to successfully work their way through the various assessments and tests that they need to progress through their school years. These core skills are invaluable to children but they also need to become aware of issues that are not taught to them by their class teacher, for example how to cross the road and how to spot a dangerous situation. As a teacher, they can not take for granted that the pupils in their class will learn this 'essential information' at home. Every Child Matters is a Government programme that promotes the 'joining up' of services from culture, health, justice and social care backgrounds. By working in partnership with these agencies they strive to achieve better outcomes for children across the UK. The Every Child Matters campaign believes that whatever a child's background or circumstance, they should have the support they need to be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being. To achieve this goal they have proposed that schools team with other organisations, to share information and work together. Services such as hospitals, police and voluntary groups should link to protect children from harm and inform them about the issues that effect them as individuals and collectively. There many ways in which schools can form partnerships in order to ensure that pupils have a full range of experiences throughout their school life. ...read more.

Middle

PC Jenkins believes that the best way in which to teach children about the dangers of strangers is to instill confidence rather than fear. The sessions on 'Friend or Foe, Never Go' promotes the understanding of the differences between 'good' and 'bad' strangers and can link back to session that given to year one pupils about 'people who help us'. A range of tips and strategies are promoted using cards and posters than can be displayed in the hallways and in the classroom. These tips include; buddy systems that suggest not walking home alone; what to do if a stranger approaches you; remembering liscence plates of vehicles and most importantly, knowing your address and telephone number in an emergency. During one of the sessions, the pupils are able to design a 'contact card' that they can keep in their bags, that contains there vital information on the case of an emergency. One of the last sessions included in the 'Friend or Foe, Never Go' sessions shows the pupils how to re-act if they are grabbed by a stranger. This can be frightening for pupils of a young age so must be addressed with care. Using role play the pupils are taught to "Drop to the ground, kick, hit, bite, and scream. Do whatever it takes to attract the attention of others who can help you. If someone is dragging you away, scream, "this is not my dad," or "this is not my mom." Moving into the upper key stage two sessions the 3 main focus areas are street corner culture and two nationwide initiatives called wings to fly and crucial crew. 'Street corner culture' involves year 5 pupils discussing what they do after school and how they spend their spare time. The officers inform the pupils of what is classed as anti-social behaviour and the punishments that can be enforced. Crucial crew contains a series of workshop that presents the children with various dangerous or challenging situations. ...read more.

Conclusion

Rather than having a set programme that states what sessions are taught to which year, it should primarily have a set of topic areas that can be adjusted to age and ability of the pupils. I fear with this partnership that the teachers are not getting as involved as they could get. Many teachers may use the opportunity of an outside visitor to catch up with marking and leave the classroom. This is partly down to the fact that the teachers are not trained in the knowledge of the topics. I think that there should be some sort of training scheme or information day in which the officers have time to pass their knowledge of certain areas on to the teachers. This would ensure the teachers can get involved in the sessions with feeling that they are a hindrance. This would also help with the behaviour of pupils and keep them on task, having a teacher present. By giving the teachers some training into the topic area, they can then integrate the information into their planning. This would be especially helpful to the new foundation phase initiative where a theme is developed. It is clear that the work of the school liaison officer in schools is very important. The partnership is very strong and the communication between department and the primary schools is powerful. The partnership benefits many people including parents, teachers and of course the pupils. I have had an overwhelming positive response to the partnership as a whole. There are a few areas of development that have been raised by the department running the programme and they are constantly looking for ways to improve the programme and also keep it closely linked with the frameworks foe education. The key to the successful foundations of a partnership is communication and consistency. The partnership grasps this and takes it on with all the determination necessary. This partnership, with the foundations that have been set and the research that has been put in place to improve it has every opportunity to become a great success. ...read more.

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