A strategic approach to tackling school absenteeism and truancy: the PSCC scheme

This paper focuses upon a long-term strategic approach to tackling school absenteeism and truancy within secondary schools. It utilises a tiered colour-coded concept to monitor the progress of pupils within the groups and subsequently take the appropriate action. The PSCC scheme combines attainment and attendance data collected from pupils' primary schools with monitoring and enhancement strategies within the secondary school. The scheme enables schools to tackle their long-term absentees and erratic attenders as well as those who have learning and/or special needs. Over a five-year period, properly implemented, the scheme has the potential to help to transform the prevailing culture within low attendance schools. The PSCC model utilises school change strategies in a dynamic manner in order to improve the attendance, behaviour and learning support needs of pupils which, in turn, can help to raise standards and attainment levels. It can also help to improve parents' attitudes towards their children's school. Finally, it provides a managerial focal point for staff to combat pupils' absence utilising a whole school approach.     

The Implications of Every Child Matters and the Children Act for Schools

This article explores the implications of the publication of the Green Paper on Every Child Matters , which proposes the most radical changes in services for children and their families since the Children's Act, 1988. The Green Paper focuses upon improving every level of professional support for children perceived to be vulnerable and in need. The legislation and subsequent changes will bring about a whole new agenda and philosophy that will directly or indirectly involve every school, teacher, paraprofessional and educational support service. It will also involve changes in supporting parents and carers, and lead to earlier intervention, more accountability and integration between services as well as enhancing workforce reform. In conjunction with the Anti-Social Behaviour Act, 2003, it will provide a new impetus for tackling truancy and disruptive conduct. It is also likely to lead to a rethink about the wider role of schools and aspects of pastoral care practice. Its implementation will require a reassessment of the continuing professional training needs of all teachers and senior professionals working in schools and in related activities such as education social work. The legislation will mean that schools are likely to become all-the-year-round community centres with amended opening hours in order to meet the needs of disadvantaged youngsters and their families.     

三峡库区土家族传统体育"舍巴日"考论

通过民族史学、体育史学、体育理论、考古学等多种学科原理,运用文献资料、背景分析、综合分析等方法,对巴人后裔———三峡库区土家人“舍巴日”的含义、内容、性质、表现形式等进行系统研究。结果显示:土家人天性劲勇、勤劳、善战、喜舞;“舍巴日”具有祭祀性、集体性舞蹈特征;表现形式丰富多样,包括“单摆”、“双摆”、“回旋摆”等;其内容完整地反映了古代巴人征战、凯旋、祭祖等全部过程,蕴含深厚的文化底蕴和浓郁的三峡库区民族体育风格。     

Transition planning: how well does it work for young people with learning disabilities and their families?

The legislation and guidance require that transition planning takes place for all children with a Statement of Special Educational Needs. The research reported here was undertaken by Linda Ward, Professor of Disability and Social Policy at the University of Bristol, where she is director of the Norah Fry Research Centre; Robina Mallett, Carer Support Officer at the Home Farm Trust; Pauline Heslop, Research Fellow at the Norah Fry Research Centre; and Ken Simons, Senior Research Fellow at the Norah Fry Research Centre until his untimely death in January 2003, to find out how well this legislation and guidance works in practice from the perspective of young people with learning disabilities and their families. Based on information from questionnaires completed by parents and separate in-depth interviews with youngsters with learning disabilities and their parents, this article reveals that many young people in the study left school without any transition planning, as far as their parents were aware. Where transition planning had occurred, there was a stark mismatch between the topics families wanted to cover and those addressed by the professionals involved. Many of the youngsters who did receive transition planning had little if any involvement in the process; parental involvement was also significantly less than it should have been. In drawing conclusions from their research, the authors review the most positive aspects of the process from the perspective of the young people and their parents; parents' ideas for improving transition planning; and messages from the research for professionals, including those working in education.