Every Child Matters

[Ktbbzxx]

What is your opineon on Every Child Matters? It's for a university presentation I'm doing so be honest...

just spin ,more publicity speak from schools to make them sound good .
< not good experience with state schools > emoticon

Mr Gove banned the use of the phrase apparently www.cypnow.co.uk/news/1021109/Shhh-Every-Child-Matters-lives/

Education Secretary Michael Gove repeated his (consistently unsubstantiated) view that the ECM agenda is a "massive bureaucratic superstructure" when taking questions from the education select committee as parliament broke up for summer recess. He did also say: "I've got no problems with Every Child Matters as a list, but I do think it's important that we recognise it should be policed in a hands-off way." A bar on use of the term in government is a bit more than "hands-off".

That said, parts of the ECM agenda have been bureaucratic and counter-productive.

I think that quit a lot of it doesn't actually get recognised or acted upon in practice, so while it is full of good intentions, it is worthless. People who care for or educate children follow the common sense things in ECM just as they would if it never existed. The rest of it is unworkable.

I am a social worker and the residential units I work with base alot of their practice around this.

It's a fairy story. ECM never applied when my son was in school (he's home educated now) and the only people to whom he matters now are his family.

As far as statutory services are concerned he's just another tick box and now that he doesn't attend a school he matters even less. He has Asperger's and receives no support at all other than what is provided at home.

sympathies streakybacon - he's lucky to have you ,well done for H.E.
Though sorry if you were forced into it as the only option.

Similar to what bubble said, I think the majority of people who work with children already followed the principles of ECM before it ever existed, so its introduction didn't really make much difference- good practitioners were doing it anyway, bad ones still aren't. I remember doing an essay on this for my degree a few years ago, and that was the basic gist of my conclusion to a several thousand word piece of writing!

It's a way of creating paperwork around common sense. Those that use common sense use it, those that don't still don't bother. Putting these things in writing doesn't necessarily mean they are going to happen.