Education involves partnership

University Degree Education and Teaching

Curriculum Studies G106383 Victoria Silcox 20119348

“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. For many years schools have involved parents and grand parents to help with the delivery of lessons. This has always been a success and schools have found that it encourages pupils by the sight of a new face in the class room. Now-a-days, schools and Local Education Authorities (LEA’s) are striving to enhance partnerships by introducing other external agencies. There are many outside agencies that a school can access to help them promote certain aspects that the National Curriculum may not cover. Education officers can provide information on family issues and truanting; health practitioners can provide sessions on sexual health and healthy eating; the Fire Service can instruct on safety in the home along with speech and language therapists, local museums, clergyman, sports clubs and many more.

Identification of the chosen partnership

One partnership, which I consider as vital to a Primary school, is that of the school liaison officer (SLO). The SLO provides a friendly face in both primary and secondary schools to help with matters such as anti-social behaviour and criminal activity in their community. This is the partnership I have chosen to concentrate on for this report. I chose this partnership as I have vivid memories of having visits from police officers during my school life and I feel they were a very effective way of dealing with issues that were not covered in the usual school timetable. After getting in contact with the local education authority they put me in contact with a police constable at the liaison office for Gwent, PC Simon Jenkins. PC Jenkins has been a school liaison officer for 4 years and has been in the police force for many more. I met with PC Jenkins to discuss his role and find out his views on the importance of school partnerships. He provided me with masses of information about his department, his role as an school liaison officer and a background into the new initiative that is driving many of the school liaison departments in Wales; The All Wales School Liaison Core Programme.

Background Information of the chosen partnership

School liaison officers are primarily members of the police force that have been giving extensive training in order to deliver session in local primary and secondary schools. Obviously, the police force has been established for well over one hundred years. However, the school liaison department in Gwent has been running for approximately 15 years. Prior to the school liaison department being formed, members of the South Wales Police Force would attend schools on an ad-hock basis. This arrangement, due to commitments, did not guarantee that schools were visited on a regular basis and therefore lacked consistency and continuity. For this reason the school liaison department was formed with permanent officers in the role. This would guarantee that all schools could be visited on a regular basis and by the same school liaison officer. To help the development of liaison departments across Wales, a scheme has been developed to make the role of the school liaison officer more accessible within schools. The programme is based on the Welsh Personal and Social Education (PSE) Curriculum Framework 2008. It is a spiral scheme of work, which develops a theme in accordance with the pupil’s level of development, from Key Stage 1 to 4 (age 5 to 16).The ‘All Wales Police School Liaison Core Programme’ has been cultivated with the support and funding of the Welsh Assembly Government of which they provide fifty percent of the funding from the Welsh education budget. By providing this essential funding it meant that the department in Gwent, and many other areas in Wales, could employ and train additional officers in order for the programme to be successfully integrated into all schools. Although extra officers were employed to handle the hundreds of schools in the area, the department in Gwent is still a small unit. Each officer has designated schools that they visit regularly. As there are many more schools than there are school liaison officers, one officer can have up to 30 schools in which they are to visit over the school year. This is hard to timetable bearing in mind the amount of time that is taken up with school holidays and private school events. At the beginning of the school year the officers will visit their designated schools and consult with the head teacher and teaching staff to find out if there may be any specific areas that may need to be covered over the following year. For example, if there is a high rate of anti social behaviour within the pupils’ community, they may want to focus on delivering sessions that would cover this area. The main aim is deliver the framework of the programme that has been designed to cover the many aspects relevant to the programme. Many schools have a tight schedule and this means that not all of the areas can be covered.

The All Wales School Liaison Core Programme (Session Content)

The All Wales Police School Core Programme (AWSCP) has put together a set of sessions that are generally rolled out within Gwent schools. The programme is composed of three main spiraling strands:

Drug and Substance Misuse
Social Behaviour and the Community
Safety

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The All Wales School Liaison Core Programme (Session Content)

The All Wales Police School Core Programme (AWSCP) has put together a set of sessions that are generally rolled out within Gwent schools. The programme is composed of three main spiraling strands:

Drug and Substance Misuse
Social Behaviour and the Community
Safety

To prevent repetition and keep the information relevant to the age and abilities of the children, one topic from each of the strands is delivered each key stage. Key stage two is split into lower key stage two and upper key stage two. The key stage one topics are mainly delivered to year one and two pupils, but can be adapted to reception age children if the teacher so requires. In year one the officers inform the pupils of ‘people who help us’. The main objective of this session is to make the children aware of the people in their community. They investigate the role of the fire service, local police, ambulance people and health professionals and even the ‘lolly-pop’ lady and patrol staff. Advice is given on how to ask for help and a strong importance is put on the topic of ‘stranger danger’. The children are always given the opportunity to discuss their thoughts and ask questions. This session is mainly delivered orally and is discussion based. Visual aids such as flash cards are often used too. In year two the sessions are focused on the other two strands, drug misuse and social behaviour. These sessions start off very vague as they are being given to year two children. They give a base of knowledge about substances and how they are misused by some people. Within the social behaviour and community strand sessions involve learning about the difference between right and wrong. This topic can be linked to a specific problem area that has been targeted by the school teacher or problem that is taking place in the community. It covers a wide range of areas from dropping rubbish in the streets to swearing and inappropriate language. In year three, the officers visit schools to do sessions on ‘sticks and stones’. The name is self-explanatory and focuses on bullying. This is one of the most developed strands and is particular important to this year group. Children, at this age, are learning to explore their individuality and this is where bullying can stem. This strand is developed over a whole school year where the school liaison officers can visit up to 3 times a term. PC Jenkins believes that this is the most important session that he delivers in schools and although it is a serious and topic, it is important the sessions are made interesting and fun for the children in order to keep their attention. This area also provides the children with the opportunity to talk about their own experiences with regards to bullying. With the use of video’s and dvd’s, PC Jenkins can show the pupils the affects that bullying can have on other children and the devastating ways in which it can ruin lives. Throughout the delivery of this topic, many techniques are used such as circle time and partner work. In some schools, where bullying is particular visible, pupils have set up anti-bullying campaigns, creating posters and leaflets that discourage bullying. Other schools have developed ‘bully buddies’. This is mainly done within the classroom. Each child is paired up with another child that they may not be particularly close to. At the end of each week the children are encouraged to engage with each other and act as a ‘confident’, sharing any worries and concerns, including any aspects of bullying. If a child feels un-easy about going to an adult about their concerns the buddy can give them support. This can also be used as a whole school or cohort initiative, pairing a year 3 child with a year 1 or 2 child. PC Jenkins believes that the content of the sessions will provide the pupils with confidence to speak to adults about their worries and also provide them with the knowledge of how being bullied may affect other children.

In year four the sessions are based mainly on safety. ‘Friend or Foe, Never Go’ are sessions that concentrate on stranger danger in their community. They stress the importance of speaking to strangers and uses role play situations to address how the pupils should react to strangers in their community. 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. The officers cover many aspects of safety in this module and can make a significant difference to the safety of the children in the class. Rail safety, electricity safety, fire safety seaside safety are just a few of the areas that ar covered. The children engage in role play exercises in how to deal with these types of situations. There are many resources that accompany this topic, including interactive games and worksheets that can be used by teachers as well as the school liaison officers. As an addition to this module, the children are given the opportunity to take part in the first section of safe cycling. With consent of the school and the child’s parents, the children are able to bring along their bikes to engage in sessions on how to ride their bicycles safely. These sessions usually take place out of normal school hours.

Delivering the anti-drugs message to younger school children has also been achieved through the medium of theatre. A specially written drama about drugs called ‘Wings to Fly’ has been a huge success in junior schools. This drama is performed by actors and willing participants and was initially partially funded by local education authorities. PC Jenkins stated that the concept instantly won over teachers in schools. Teachers at Magor primary school, who have taken part in the scheme, felt that it was an innovative way in which to teach young children. Other topics available to key stage two children are; behaviour on buses and mobile phone and internet safety. The latter has recently been revised due to the increase in the amount of children using mobiles and the internet. These areas are more widely covered at key stage 3 and 4 level.

The programme goes on to engage key stage 3 and 4 pupils in matters such as car crime, weapons, consequences of crime, personal safety and date rape and spiking issues.

The educational value of the partnership

As you can see this programme develops many areas linked with the Personal and Social Education Curriculum Framework. This framework states that all children should be given the opportunities to develop and apply the skills, attitudes, values, knowledge and understanding relating to PSE. By taking part in sessions from the All Wales Police School Core Programme, the children are given many opportunities to fulfill all of the aspects required by the Personal and Social Education Curriculum Framework.

To rate the educational value of this partnership I will use the KUSAB model. This model takes into account the knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and behaviour. As well as looking at the continuity and progression, coherence and of course, the enjoyment factor.

As mentioned in the introduction a good partnership is based on mutual trust and co-operation. In order to get the most out of the partnership there must always be involvement of the class teacher. After all, it is the teacher who will have to reinforce and maintain the objectives set by the officers during their visits. This partnership not only keeps the schools up to date with new rules and regulations set by the justice system but also gives invaluable knowledge to the pupils. As well as covering the majority of the standard requirements for the PSE framework it also links and connects to the National Curriculum. It starts at a young age in order to ensure that children as young as 4 and 5 years of age gain a strong understanding of the ‘rights and wrongs’. Not only is the programme educational, it is also thoroughly enjoyable and could save many lives in future years. By educating children at such a young age it can start to prohibit behaviour that may have been on the increase in recent years. A significant issue that has dominated the television news channels and newspapers lately is that of a massive increase in knife crime, mainly involving youths and children as young as twelve. Would this have been the case if more programme’s like this had been readily available in all schools and a compulsory element in all children’s schooling?

The partnership is based upon providing children with the knowledge and understanding to make informed decisions. Take for example the very first session delivered to year one pupils on substance misuse. At this age a child should not even know about this area. By providing these children with the knowledge at an early age it can prepare them for what they may come across in later life. For some under privileged communities, the need for this type of input is greater than others.

The safe cycling programme provides pupils with skills necessary to ride their bicycles on the road with confidence. It provides children with an understanding of the high way code and allows them to practice skills that are essential when taking a bicycle onto the road.

The attitudes and behaviour elements are incorporated in many, if not all of the key strands within the programme. Many of the sessions provide much opportunity for the thoughts of the pupils to be laid bare. Each session usual begins with the officer asking the pupils what they already know about the topic being discussed. This promotes debate within the classroom and can raise confidence considerably.

I took this opportunity to talk with teachers and pupils that have been involved with the All Wales School Liaison Core Programme. Using a framework of questions that was initially used for an evaluation of programme in its initial stages I found out many surprising things about how the programme is perceived in schools in the view of the class teachers and the pupils. As I had anticipated, many of the responses where positive but I was surprised to find that there were gaps in the encouragement of the programme. The teacher that I spoke with found that the programme was, in her opinion ‘excellent’ and ‘the delivery of the sessions to integrate the programme into the PSE scheme of work was terrific’. It was also stated that each session was always packed with activities and on the downside ‘some sessions had far too many activities, which didn’t give the pupils the chance to complete each one’. Teachers also commented on the increase in the behaviour of pupils during and after the sessions with the school liaison officers, especially those pupils who have challenging behaviour in the norm. The teacher felt that the programme provides relevant, accurate, factual information, building on, reinforcing and adding value to school PSE programmes. Pupils are more informed about the topics covered and the programme helps to clarify pupil perceptions of the law and the role of the police. The pupils in the class that I visited found that the programme was educationally beneficial and ‘enjoyed having policeman involved in their learning’. At first they thought that the police were coming in to ‘tell them off’ but they soon began to warm to the officers and have since formed a tight bond with them. When asked if they felt they could talk to the officers about embarrassing or problem areas, most of the children replied positively and knew that they wouldn’t be judged by the officers as they were trying to help them be ‘safe and well behaved’ children.

It is clear that the children were overwhelmingly positive about their experiences. Overall levels of pupil satisfaction with the programme are high and they consistently described the programme as ‘important’, ‘interesting’ and ‘useful’. The children particularly valued the relationships they had developed with their School Liaison Officer.

My opinion on the partnership

In my opinion the partnership between local external agencies and primary schools is very important. It allows the pupils have specialist knowledge that a primary teacher simply couldn’t give. It has much strength that certainly out way the short comings. After speaking with pupils who have experienced the visits of the school liaison officers, I got the feeling that it refreshed and enhanced the pupils learning. By having a ‘new face’ in the classroom it engaged and motivated pupils to learn about topics that may be difficult to enforce at home. I feel that the SLOs cover a wide range of subjects that also link to the other frameworks set by the LEAs. However, after doing much research into the partnership of the School Liaison Officer and the Primary school, I did find that there are areas that could be developed. After speaking with a teacher, informally, I found that many schools had not been given the opportunity to become involved in the programme. Due to the low number of trained officers and the large amount of schools in the Gwent area, not all schools had been reached. Was this due to the fact that many schools did not know about the programme? I therefore feel that the programme needs to be well advertised and pushed in schools, in order for all schools to have the information and make an informed decision on whether their school would like to get involved in the programme. This links closely to my next weakness, the lacking number of officers trained to deliver sessions in schools. This is mainly down to funding and can only be resolved with the backing of the Police Force, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Local Education Authorities.

I am also concerned about the relevance of some of the strands topics. I feel that the programme is far too tightly set and there should be more flexibility. 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.

References

Department for Children, Schools and Families. (2005). None. Available: www.everychildmatters.gov.uk. Last accessed 15 February 2009.

Gwent Police Force . Last accessed 17 February 2009

Intercultural Education Partnership (2000). Parents as Partners in Education. London: Intercultural Education Partnership.

Louise Tanley. (2006). All Wales Police School Liaison Programme - PSE Co-ordinators Survey. All Wales Police School Liaison Programme . 1 (1), 2-5.

Qualifications and Curriculum Group, Dept of Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills. (2008). Personal and Social Edudcation across the curriculum. Available: www.wales.gov.uk/psesub. Last accessed 14 February 2009.

Tickles, L (1987). Learning teaching, teaching teaching: A study of partnership in education. Falmer Press.