John Bald/language and literacy

Michael Gove on adoption - the piece of his life.

Michael Gove, here, on the experience of being in care and being adopted, has written, literally, the piece of his life. What he says is true, and the tragedy is that the lives of children and potential parents continue to be blighted by people who impose their own view of society on others in a brutal and ignorant power play. But then, ignorance is what these people deal in, usually in the name of equality.  

When my research for the Who Cares? Trust was published in 1995, it was criticised on the grounds that achievement was not an appropriate concept for children in care. I remain outraged at this ignorant, arrogant, anti-social attitude, which is, alas, still prevalent in the left, who see achievement as a middle-class preoccupation rather than as the goal of life and the basis of civilisation. Unfortunately, they are still in power in too many places, not least, if Michael Gove is right, our anti-social and left-leaning judiciary.

 

Children in care, school choice...and Mr Clegg's summer schools. Like Mr Blair's?

Comments on The Guardian's piece on children in care, from the perspective of foster carers, adoptive parents and teachers, are highly revealing and pertinent. Social workers choosing schools for children, probably on the basis of no knowledge of education whatever, teachers disadvantaged because of the obsession with league tables based on (fake) exam results, and the persistence of the anti-social, anti-educational culture that led to children being placed in care in the first place all appear clearly, and with no apparent solution unless the situation can be completely altered. The tale of a child's family ruining his chances by getting in contact through Facebook is one of the saddest. I hope Pangar, the teacher contributor, will read this and get in touch.

We can only persist with education, but without the naievete shown by Nick Clegg in his announcement of summer schools for primary-secondary transition. Mr Clegg should know that there are lots of these summer schools in place already, and that they were a big feature of New Labour's first government. I was hired as a consultant to ten of them at a very late stage, and only one, in Birmingham, could be said to be a really positive educational experience. This was because the head took charge of it herself, was there every day, and devised an excellent balance of work and play, with the work based on literacy and basic maths. Most of the others were staffed by people who did not know what they were doing, and were offered extra work over the holidays on a first come, first served basis. So we had a PE teacher doing overtime, who told the children - There are some books over there for you to read. He had never taught anyone to read in his life.

I was foolish enough to point out these shortcomings in my report, and to make clear my objections to the Searchlights approach to reading, now rejected, that was to be the basis of literacy provision. An ignorant, left-leaning civil servant said that there could not be any alternative to the provisions of the national literacy strategy, and I was never employed by New Labour again. Ignorance, backed by authority, ruled. Ignocracy.  

Recent summer schools have, no doubt, been more focused, but they're not a new idea. I even agree with NACRO that they are unlikely to reach the difficult children from criminal cultures who are not going to school in the first place. Coalition with the Liberal Democrats is certainly not easy. 

Letterbox Club - a breakthrough for children in care

The Letterbox Club, is a big step forward in educational support for children in foster care. Currently operating in 100 local authorities in England, it sends parcels of books, school equipment and maths games to children in attractively packaged parcels. Over 3500 children in England are currently receiving parcels. The evaluation study  here, includes the first evidence of gains in reading that can be directly ascribed to this provision, and has many tributes from foster carers as well as children. A Book of My Own, the charity founded by Garth Collard and myself to provide books for children has the advantage of offering the children a choice of book, but Letterbox Club has cracked the problem of providing books on a national scale, and of reaching foster carers who might otherwise be difficult to contact for this purpose. Any authority not yet involved, and any school that has children in care, but who are not yet receiving parcels, should get in touch with them immediately through the website above. A Guardian report on the project is here.

Letterbox Maths

 Rose Griffiths set up this project from the University of Leicester to provide support for looked after children in maths. The report, here, is concise, well-written, and another example of the benefit of direct, personal support for these children.

A Book of My Own

In the early eighties, researchers in Sheffield found that children who read regularly to their parents tended to do well in school. Obvious, perhaps, but it was equally obvious that children in local authority care could not have this form of help.  So, I set up a small project in Essex to provide children in care with their own books – ten pounds’ worth at that time – and someone to read with them  and hear them read. I opened a credit at a bookshop, the children came and chose their books, usually with their “key worker” as they were then known, and we paid the bookshop, so there was no way for money to be diverted.

 

The scheme depended on the quality of adult support, but overall it worked well, and made a strong impact on some children’s lives. For example, about four years after it had ended, a young lady stopped me on her way out of Colchester Institute library, and asked if I hadn’t been the man that had provided the books. I owned up, whereupon she said that it had been the one bright spot in a very difficult time in her life, and that she would always be grateful. A parent visiting his son in the children’s home we worked with noticed that he had new books, and wrote to thank social services for providing them (adding that he was not inclined to thank them for much else!)

 

A larger project, sponsored by Tory Laughland, founder of the Who Cares? Trust, a national charity for looked-after children, led to the publication of A Book of My Own  in 1995. Elaine Williams' TES article on this project is here   Sadly, Tory died shortly before it was published. But the idea is still important – children need books just as much as clothes and shoes.  So, Garth Collard, former Deputy Head at Linton Village College, and I have founded a charity, A Book of My Own, to provide these children with their own books.  Sue Hains, who leads Cambridgeshire County Council’s support team for children in care, has endorsed the scheme, and teachers on Sue’s team will provide guidance to carers and children, as well as helping with organisation. 

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We have so far received donations that have allowed us to provide 22 children with grants of £30 each, in the form of book tokens which they use with guidance from their school or carers.  Giving more children a book of their own will help them to see their education as something they in which they can invest and take pride. If you would like to help in any way, please get in touch via the links on this Weblog. Donations to A Book of My Own may be sent to 7 Symonds Lane, Linton CB21 4HY.

In the early eighties, researchers in Sheffield found that children who read regularly to their parents tended to do well in school. Obvious, perhaps, but it was equally obvious that children in local authority care could not have this form of help.  So, I set up a small project in Essex to provide children in care with their own books – ten pounds’ worth at that time – and someone to read with them  and hear them read. I opened a credit at a bookshop, the children came and chose their books, usually with their “key worker” as they were then known, and we paid the bookshop, so there was no way for money to be diverted.

 

The scheme depended on the quality of adult support, but overall it worked well, and made a strong impact on some children’s lives. For example, about four years after it had ended, a young lady stopped me on her way out of Colchester Institute library, and asked if I hadn’t been the man that had provided the books. I owned up, whereupon she said that it had been the one bright spot in a very difficult time in her life, and that she would always be grateful. A parent visiting his son in the children’s home we worked with noticed that he had new books, and wrote to thank social services for providing them (adding that he was not inclined to thank them for much else!)

 

A larger project, sponsored by Tory Laughland, founder of the Who Cares? Trust, a national charity for looked-after children, led to the publication of A Book of My Own  in 1995. Elaine Williams' TES article on this project is here   Sadly, Tory died shortly before it was published. But the idea is still important – children need books just as much as clothes and shoes.  So, Garth Collard, former Deputy Head at Linton Village College, and I have founded a charity, A Book of My Own, to provide these children with their own books.  Sue Hains, who leads Cambridgeshire County Council’s support team for children in care, has endorsed the scheme, and teachers on Sue’s team will provide guidance to carers and children, as well as helping with organisation. 

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We have so far received donations that have allowed us to provide 22 children with grants of £30 each, in the form of book tokens which they use with guidance from their school or carers.  Giving more children a book of their own will help them to see their education as something they in which they can invest and take pride. If you would like to help in any way, please get in touch via the links on this Weblog. Donations to A Book of My Own may be sent to 7 Symonds Lane, Linton CB21 4HY.

ABC Charitable Trust

A Book of My Own is very pleased to say that we have received a grant of £180 from the ABC Charitable Trust to provide six book grants of £30 each for children in care. This will bring the number of children we  have helped to 22.

This scheme is a straightforward and effective way to provide educational support and encouragement to the children who most need it, and in the most important area of education. It has the full support and participation of Cambridgeshire Education Department, and I will be pleased to help other authorities set up similar schemes. There is no charge.

First Results from Cambridgeshire Book Grants

The first report from Sue Hains, Cambridgeshire's Head of the Virtual School for Children in Care, has found the following benefits from giving children grants to buy their own books:

·        The children have loved going to the book shops and choosing a book     of their own to keep.

·        The scheme promotes good relationships between the children and their carers

·        The scheme promotes and guides carers in the best practice of choosing books to read with their children.

·        It helps children develop a positive approach to reading, as something that involves them and that they can invest in.

Any other authorities interested are invited to contact me.

Our first grants to children in care in Cambridgeshire

Many thanks to the people whose donations to A Book of My Own have enabled us to make ten grants of £30 each to children who are looked after by Cambridgeshire County Council. We are also grateful to Sue Hains of Cambridgeshire Education Department for her help in organising the scheme and supervising the grants. I am happy to give talks to groups interested in this work. So far, I've spoken to Linton Beavers, and Care and Activities for the Elderly - just ask.