Poverty Debate

It is well worth the watch before Saturday 6 November.

The number of 16 to 24-year-olds branded as "Neet" - not in education, employment or training - is set to reach its highest point since records began, said the Local Government Association. Teenagers and young adults from white backgrounds are around 20 per cent more likely to be out of work or training than those from black and Asian families, it was disclosed, while women are worse hit than men.

Tory MP Tobias Ellwood attacked after confronting Bournemouth gang – Guardian 21/6/09

The former army officer was taken to hospital with hearing damage after attempting to put a stop to disruptive gang behaviour. I want case to go to trial, says Bournemouth East MP.

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How discipline saved a sink school – The Times 24/6/09

Struggling schools across the country may become part of a project making plans for highly paid “superheads” to strengthen them by helping them to merge with top-performing schools to form not-for-profit successful “chains”. The new push to force the worst schools into mergers with their more successful counterparts comes after the Government revealed last week that, on average, 60,700 primary and secondary school pupils bunk off school every day.

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A programme in Lambeth is successfully using peer counselling to steer young people away from gangs. The development by Lambeth council of the 2 XL programme, which uses leadership training along with one to one therapy to encourage young people to change their lifestyle, aims to tackle the problem of reoffending. 

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The education pages have been filled this week with stories drawn from the latest Ofsted report: the transformation of schools through ‘back-to-basics’ discipline and targeted exclusions. While discipline will help, what really matters is the headteachers.

Formal discipline does have a role to play in turning round schools. It establishes that the school does not operate by the rules of the street; and that everyone is equal, subject to the same rules properly enforced. Children at the Robert Clack school agreed, saying the school was a success “because the rules were enforced”. Targeted exclusions are also necessary, both as a consequence of clear rules being applied consistently, but also because they remove unruly children from situations which profit neither them nor their classmates.