CEA@Islington's Social Inclusion team ensure that all members of our society are able to fully participate in democratic processes, feel a sense of belonging, have full access to services and employment and have excellent life chances.

Social inclusion

The Social Inclusion Unit is based at Lough Road offices and comprises:
· Head of Social Inclusion
· Anti-Bullying Coordinator
· Senior Adviser, Race Equality (0.2fte)
· Social Inclusion Team Administrator
· PSHCE & HSP Manager
· Secondary PSHCE Advisory Teacher
· Primary PSHCE Advisory Teacher
· Cookery & Healthy Eating Consultant (from January 2007)
· Physical Activity Coordinator (0.5fte)
· HSP Administrator

The team offers a year-round service and has lead responsibility for the following areas of work:
· Social Inclusion Strategy
· Exclusions from school-policy/guidance/monitoring and local authority representative at governing body hearings and independent appeal panels
· Anti-Bullying Strategy, including aspects of Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Training
· Harassment
· Pupil Participation including Pupil Parliament & Hear By Right
· Personal Social Health & Citizenship Education (PSHCE)
· Healthy School Programme
· Race Equality Scheme
· Black Educators’ Network

Mission & Vision Statement

Every child and young person in Islington matters to us and we are committed to improving the life chances of the most vulnerable by removing barriers to participation and achievement.

We aim for every child and young person within our community to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic well-being in adulthood.

We recognise that to achieve this vision a significant number and variety of barriers need to be overcome. In partnership with parents and carers, colleagues within CEA@Islington, Children’s Services and Islington Council, external agencies and community groups, we will:
· Strive to develop practices which support and enhance opportunities for children and young people to achieve success
· Challenge attitudes and practices, which intentionally or otherwise, serve to exclude or restrict opportunity.
We are committed to providing high quality standards of service to all our partners.

What Is Social Inclusion?

Social inclusion is about ensuring all members of our society have full access to services and employment; are able to fully participate in democratic processes; are safe; feel a sense of belonging; and have excellent life chances.

Social Inclusion is focussed on ensuring the most vulnerable children and young people receive the support they need in order to enjoy and achieve.

In relation to education, some of our most vulnerable pupils are:
· Black and minority ethnic pupils at risk of exclusion
· Excluded pupils
· Pupils from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds
· Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
· Girls at risk of teenage pregnancy
· Teenage parents
· White working-class boys with a history of truanting
· Pupils at risk of bullying or harassment
· Children from homes where there is domestic violence
· Looked after children
· Traveller pupils
All services have a responsibility to ensure the needs of these pupils are identified and met. Essential to achieving our vision of social inclusion is the need to work closely with all our partners including colleagues within CEA@Islington and Children’s Services, Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT), Islington Council and the voluntary sector.

Key Areas Of Work

The Social Inclusion Unit has lead responsibility for:
· Identifying barriers to social inclusion
· Developing effective strategies for removing barriers to achievement and participation
· Supporting schools in developing policies and practices which promote and maximise social inclusion
· Disseminating best practice in social inclusion
· Maintaining a strategic overview and monitoring key areas of social inclusion for CEA@Islington.

Reducing Exclusions

An effective multi-agency protocol agreed with secondary head teachers has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the numbers of permanently excluded pupils from Islington schools. 

Key areas of responsibility include:
· Interpreting and advising on statutory guidance for schools on the use of exclusions
· Representing the local authority at all permanent and some fixed-term exclusion hearings in accordance with DfES guidance · Attending, at the request of schools, pastoral support planning and/or reintegration meetings for pupils returning from a period of exclusion
· Responding to parental enquiries on the use of exclusion by schools
· Working in partnership with the quality and performance management unit (QPMU) to ensure the effective use of exclusions data to improve outcomes for children and young people at risk of social exclusion.

Harassment And Bullying

The Social Inclusion Unit works closely with the Quality & Performance Management Unit (QPMU) to support schools in identifying key issues relating to bullying and harassment through effective recording and data analysis.

Key tasks include engaging children and young people through a range of participation initiatives to:
· Identify areas of concern in relation to bullying and harassment
· Increase confidence in schools’ reporting systems
· Develop a coherent anti-bullying strategy to ensure children and young people feel safe in and beyond the school gates.

The newly appointed Anti-Bullying Coordinator has lead responsibility for developing a coherent anti-bullying strategy with coordinated delivery across Children’s Services and partner agencies including the Police, Youth Offending Team and Safer Schools Partnership.

The Anti-Bullying Coordinator will also support schools in developing effective anti-bullying policies and practices and can offer advice on all aspects of bullying including domestic violence prevention.

Islington Pupil Parliament

The Pupil Parliament aims to promote effective participation of children and young people in democratic processes, both in the present and in the future. The Pupil Parliament supports schools’ citizenship education by providing a forum for pupils to reflect upon and discuss topical political, moral, social and cultural issues and to take an active role as responsible citizens within their local community. 

The Pupil Parliament supports pupils to:
· Participate in democratic processes, for example through school and class councils
· Debate and discuss issues they have identified as important
· Be actively involved in decision-making processes that will impact on their lives
· Have their voices heard and influence decision makers in their local community
· Communicate effectively with a range of people including peers and adults within and outside their own school
· Develop an understanding of political processes and their role in participating and contributing to them
· Develop the skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable them to identify, advocate and pursue their rights and responsibilities as individuals and members of their communities
· Link with broader youth fora in Islington (particularly Listen Up), London, nationally and internationally.

An important element of the Pupil Parliament is to engage a representative sample of the Islington schools’ pupil population in terms of age, sex, ability and ethnicity. The coordinator works closely with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service, Islington Special Schools, other agencies and community groups to increase the involvement of under-represented groups in the project.

Islington Pupil Parliament meets once a term. There are plans to integrate aspects of Pupil Parliament with Listen Up! in order to provide a more coherent approach to involving children and young people in decision-making processes, including taking forward Hear By Right standards framework across CEA@Islington.

Race Equality

The Social Inclusion Unit in partnership with EMAS (Ethnic Minority Achievement Service) takes a lead role in developing, implementing and monitoring CEA@Islington’s Race Equality Strategy and maintains close links with Islington Council’s Equalities Unit.

Equal Opportunities

Improving the disproportionately low attainment and high exclusion levels of African-Caribbean boys is both a London-wide and national concern. In partnership with the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS), the Social Inclusion Unit has established a joint Primary project to support the development of effective practice in this area.

Promoting Best Practice

In partnership with Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS), the Social Inclusion Unit promotes the sharing of best practice for Black pupils and educators in Islington schools through the Black Educators Network

PSHCE

The advisory teachers for PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education) work with primary and secondary schools, pupil referral units and early years settings to support them in developing all aspects of their PSHCE provision. This work supports one of the overall aims of the national curriculum: to ‘prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life’.

PSHCE supports pupils in developing self-confidence and positive relationships with others by raising awareness of healthy and safer lifestyles and increasing respect for diversity. Recent research evidence emphasises the important role schools can play in promoting the health of its pupils. Indeed, Ofsted, found that schools that contributed most effectively to pupils’ health and well-being had leadership teams which recognised the link between physical well-being and the readiness to learn and achieve (Ofsted: Healthy Schools, Healthy Children? July 2006).

Citizenship education is a statutory requirement of the secondary curriculum and one of the strands of the Primary PSHE and Citizenship Framework.  Citizenship increases pupils’ knowledge and understanding of how ‘to play an active role as citizens’ by developing skills of enquiry and communication, participation and responsible action.

This work is delivered through a range of activities including:

· Individual support for teachers and PSHE and Citizenship Coordinators on policy development, curriculum planning and teaching and learning
· In-service training for teachers and other staff in schools
· Developing, managing and evaluating specific projects for schools to support teaching and learning; for example using theatre in education, music production or specific multi-agency projects targeting vulnerable or ‘at risk’ young people
· Developing guidance and resources for schools, including policy guidance, teaching resources and exemplar schemes of work
· Multi-agency planning and developments including:
· Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco Education, as part of the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT)
· Vulnerable Young People’s Substance Misuse Plan
· Sex and Relationship Education, as part of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy.

National Healthy School Programme (NHSP)

The National Healthy School Programme (NHSP), jointly sponsored by the Department of Health and DfES, launched a new national healthy school status in September 2005. Its four overarching aims are to:

· Help raise pupil achievement
· Promote healthy lifestyles
· Reduce health inequalities
· Increase social inclusion

The NHSP has been set targets of ensuring that all schools are engaged on the programme by December 2009 with 75% of schools achieving the new healthy school status by the same date. Currently 981 schools have achieved school status.

Schools are required, through a whole school approach to address the four obligatory themes that make up healthy school status. These are:
· PSHCE, including sex & relationships and drug education
· Healthy Eating
· Physical activity
· Emotional health and well being including, bullying.

Schools have to evidence all criteria for each theme and demonstrate outcomes that have impacted on pupils learning, experiences and/or behaviour.

The NHSP national database gives details of schools’ progress and achievements in working towards healthy school status.

The NHSP relates to most of the Every Child Matters outcomes, and not just to ‘being healthy’. A school that is implementing the four NHSP themes and working towards or achieving healthy school status should be able to demonstrate the impact that this work is having on the outcomes it is achieving for its pupils.

Islington’s Healthy School Programme

The Camden and Islington Healthy School Programme supports over 50 Islington schools, Pupil Referral Units and Early Years Settings in improving health. 

In partnership with Islington PCT, the PSHCE & Healthy School Programme Manager organises and coordinates the programme across Islington, working closely with a project officer in Islington PCT to support Islington Schools.

The PSHCE & HSP Manager has lead responsibility for managing the delivery of the HSP in Islington schools and in developing and implementing Islington’s strategy for meeting the Local Area Agreement targets to ensure 95% of all Islington Schools achieve the required standard by December 2009. 

Summary Of Achievements 2005/06

Anti-Bullying
· Anti-bullying conference held in November 2005
· ‘Bigga Fish’ CD, leaflet and DVD for teachers produced
· ‘Text bullying’ Service launched
· Funding secured to establish post of Anti-bullying coordinator
· Agreement secured to pilot anti-bullying/harassment software across CEA, schools and the Council

Black Educators Network

· Successful series of Black Educators Network (BEN) meetings held
· Successful BEN residential on leadership skills held and established as an annual event
· Black History timeline produced and distributed through the Black Educators Network
· Black Student Achievement Awards established
· Presentations by a range of members at various events

Exclusions


· Review of Managed Moves Protocol (in conjunction with Behaviour Support Service)
· 2004/05 Exclusion Report completed and issued to schools via school circular & published on CEA@Islington website
· Contribution to sustaining low levels of permanent and fixed term exclusions for 2004/05
· Development of new exclusions database to streamline data collection and improve quality assurance
· New procedures established to reflect new role in relation to exclusions casework
· Online exclusion notification procedure successfully piloted
· Improved information sharing

Healthy School Programme


· Funding for ‘Teens & Toddlers’ sustainability programme agreed
· Successful ‘Teens & Toddlers’ training undertaken
· 8 local ‘Teens & Toddlers’ facilitators trained
· 7 schools implementing a Sex & Relationships Education (SRE) policy and delivering a comprehensive SRE curriculum
· Positive evaluation of SRE policy by independent consultancy (Christopher Winton)
· Drug, Alcohol & Tobacco Education (DATE) packs disseminated to all Islington schools and promoted to other local authorities
· Croydon Local Authority implementing DATE pack as part of the Primary curriculum
· Social & Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) resources being used in 8 schools
· Healthy Schools Programme (HSP) updated to reflect national programme team’s revised criteria
· New guidance issued on developing whole school policy on healthy eating
· A number of successful healthy eating initiatives established, e.g. Food in Schools training
· Completion of termly school meals survey and evaluation
· PSHCE primary scheme of work completed and disseminated to 85% of schools

PRIORITIES FOR 2006/07

Be Healthy
· Reduce teenage pregnancy
· Promote Healthy Schools Programme
· Promote children & young people’s mental health
· Reduce substance abuse
· Reduce childhood obesity

Stay Safe
· Ensure freedom from bullying and harassment
· Ensure compliance with race equality legislation in relation to the reporting of racist incidents
· Reduce crime and anti-social behaviour

Enjoy and Achieve
· Prevent exclusion from school
· Reduce over-representation of Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) groups in exclusions from school
· Support children whose achievement is at risk
· Support Black educators, parents/carers, children and young people via the Black Educators Network (BEN)

Make a Positive Contribution
· Increase opportunities for children and young people’s participation in CEA@Islington and schools
· Increase reach of Pupil Parliament
· Reduce gender stereo-typing

Achieve Economic Well-Being
· Increase young people’s capacity to achieve economic wellbeing by developing positive attitudes to learning and the skills needed for adulthood and working life

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