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Policy Statements and Initiatives
HO: A crackdown on the illegal sale of knives to under-18s has been called for by Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker. In a letter to Chief Executives of Local Authorities and Chief Police Officers, he emphasised concerns about young people's access to knives and asked for increased activity to tackle the problem.
Knife retailers in the ten police force areas in England and Wales, that are the focus of the Government's Tackling Knives Action Programme, will face 'mystery shopper' visits by underage children, under the supervision of police and Trading Standards officers. These ten areas account for more than 70% of serious violence involving a knife.
Press release ~ Knife Crimes.org ~ One Knife One Life ~ ‘Knife Crime’ - A review of evidence and policy ~
ScotGov: A new initiative is set to make studying in Scotland an even more welcoming experience for international students. A one year pilot run by Young Scot, Scotland's national youth information and citizenship agency, will involve all new overseas students under 26 who are studying at AbertayUniversity.
A 'welcome to Scotland' pack will be created, to give students access to advice on arrival that will help them integrate in to their new life in Scotland. The pilot, which will receive £40,000 of funding from the Scottish Government, will provide Abertay's international students with a range of services and benefits supported by Young Scot. Students will also be issued with a joint university matriculation and Young Scot National Entitlement Card.
Press release ~ Young Scot ~ Young Scot National Entitlement Card ~ Abertay University ~ International Lifelong Learning Strategy ~
DIUS: A new framework document sets out how FE can forge new partnerships to make a stronger contribution to the economic and social health of local communities. Further Education Colleges - Models for Success sets out the range of mechanisms available to colleges to enable them to respond to the needs of learners, employers and the wider community. It also contains a number of case studies and a decision-making toolkit for governors & senior managers.
Ministers want the sector to:
* Develop innovative & collaborative learning routes
* Listen & respond to the needs of employers
* Reach out to those that are least likely to engage in learning and
* Offer a wide range of learning opportunities & resources to their local communities
Press release ~ Further Education Colleges - Models for Success ~ A Toolkit for Governors and Senior Managers ~ Case studies
ScotGov: Scotland's first cardiac assessment programme for young amateur athletes has been officially launched. Based at the Sports Medicine Centre at Hampden Park, Glasgow, the Cardiac Assessment in Young Athletes (CAYA) pilot programme will offer cardiovascular screening on a voluntary basis to young Scots over the age of 16 who take part in any organised amateur sports.
The £200,000 CAYA programme will use ECG and ultrasound screening to identify whether the athletes being tested are at increased risk of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD). Pre-participation assessment programmes are already offered in the USA and in parts of Italy.
Scotland's CAYA pilot, which will offer voluntary access to testing, will be the first to screen with both ECG and ultrasound. Anyone found, through screening, to be at greater risk will be referred for further investigation and/or treatment. Appropriate counselling will be offered to all candidates to ensure informed consent for screening.
Press release ~ National Stadium Sports Medicine Centre ~ Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD ~ Scottish Institute for Sport
ScotGov: Announcing the award of funding to 7 successful towns & cities, Transport and Climate Change Minister Stewart Stevenson said the Sustainable Travel Demonstration Communities project would showcase a range of transport initiatives that would be good for people's pockets, their health, their communities and the planet.
Barrhead, Kirkwall, Dumfries, Dundee, Kirkintilloch/Lenzie, Larbert/Stenhousemuir and Glasgow East End will now use £15m of funding to develop a wide range of initiatives such as personalised travel planning, the building of more pedestrianised zones, free trial bus & rail passes and the development of better walking & cycling routes to encourage their residents to use greener forms of travel. Initiatives will include proposals for the first self service bike rental schemes anywhere in the UK as well as more targeted transport advice to commuters.
Press release ~ Statistical information on travel patterns ~ DfT - Sustainable travel demonstration towns ~ SWESTRANS ~ DfT - Travel Plans ~ PTP research, 'Making Personal Travel Planning Work' ~ DfT National Business Travel Network
DCSF Newswire: Schools minister Jim Knight has said that he wants every school to offer their students the opportunity to take an extended project to help prepare them for work or university. The government claims that universities have welcomed the extended project to be offered as part of A Levels and Diplomas because it gives students the research, critical thinking and evaluation skills they value. The projects are a compulsory part of the Diploma and an optional extra for A Level students and can even be taken as a stand alone qualification. They are worth half an A level.
From this September sixth formers and college students across the country will be able to do an extended project as part of their programme of study. Examples of a possible extended project are:
· a report with findings from an investigation or study
· a dissertation presenting an argument, typically around 5,000 words
· an artefact, for example a work of art or 3D design model, with written explanation of around 1,500 words
· a project including a short film, use of internet based media or a piece of music
DCSF Newswire: A £100,000 boost to a pioneering project sending school leaders on mini ‘gap-years’ in Africa, has been announced by Schools Minister Andrew Adonis. The extension to the International Extended Placements scheme, funded by the National College of School Leadership (NCSL), will place 14 headteachers, deputy or assistant heads for 3 months from January 2009, to teach & help run schools in Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia and Rwanda.
The scheme, run by international development charity VSO, strengthens heads and senior staff’s professional skills, while improving the effectiveness of the African schools and the lives of the children there. It also aims to give pupils at their own home schools greater understanding of the wider world and a broader curriculum.
The scheme is open to headteachers, deputy or assistant heads, with at least seven years management experience, who are members of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).
Press release ~ National College of School Leadership (NCSL) ~ VSO – International Extended Placement scheme ~ Enriching Education ~ Evaluation of the impact on UK schools of the VSO/NAHT pilot scheme: ‘International Extended Placements for School Leaders’
