Education and Inspections Bill

My Lords, I warmly welcome certain aspects of this Bill. In particular, as vice-chair of the All-Party Group on Children and Young People in Care, I warmly welcome the strengthening of admission procedures in favour of looked-after children. In the past, one of the disadvantages looked-after children have experienced is that, because their care placements break down in the middle of the school year, they have often found themselves going to the school with a place available—often the school no other parent wants to send their child to. I also welcome the introduction of the vocational diplomas. It is necessary for all our children to have that choice, but it will be particularly appealing for looked-after children and young people in the care system. It will retain more of them in education and help them into employment when they leave care. I welcome the new duties on local authorities to provide recreational opportunities for young people, 11 to 19 year-olds. There has been a regrettable winding down of those facilities over the years. The Government have reinvested in this area since 1997 but I understand that considerable amounts of that investment have not reached the intended target. I hope this measure will ensure that these services grow at the rate necessary for the sake of our young people. I also hope that in the creation of those services young people will be well consulted and that the services are affordable for all our young people. It may be helpful if I outline three principles of child development that I find helpful in prioritising the important actions to take in improving outcomes in the health and well-being of our children. I have drawn the principles from the work of the child psychotherapist, Anna Freud. I am not an expert in this area and hope I have translated her work adequately. But we need to think of these matters. For example, last year, I believe, there were 150,000 to 200,000 parental separations. Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, has expressed strong concern that fathers of black and minority ethnic children are not sufficiently involved in the lives of their children. More homeless families are living in temporary accommodation now than for many years—over 100,000. There are many challenges for families and the parent-child relationship. It is crucial for children to develop the ability to maintain object constancy; that is, to maintain significant relationships through periods of frustration. When they start attending school, children’s relationship with their teacher is an important emotional bond. It is important that children care what their teachers think of them and that they seek their teachers’ approval and register their disapproval. The noble Lord, Lord Baker, mentioned five-to-14 schools, and the noble Lord, Lord Adonis, promotes schools within schools. Such schools could create a more intimate atmosphere, certainly for younger children, where they can have a close relationship with their teacher. It would help to address problems in that area. I return to families. Parents are the first legislators for their children. It is through their relationship with their parents that children develop a conscience—first by imitating their behaviour, then by identifying with that behaviour, and eventually by introjecting certain aspects of their parents’ behaviour, whereby certain aspects of the parents’ personality become fully integrated into the children. If parents are not available to their children or involved in criminality or dissocial behaviour, then that process does not take place. Perhaps I may mention one final principle. Children tend to transfer the experience they had in their early years with their primary carers, usually their parents, on to the adults involved closely with them in later life. Teachers may therefore find themselves being attacked verbally or in other ways by their pupils for mysterious reasons that have nothing to do with what the teacher is doing, but because the child has had disruption and a poor experience in their earlier family life. I think that these principles underline the need to support teachers as far as possible, and I will return to that point. I welcome the Bill’s provisions for identifying children who are missing school. I was speaking last week to a young man in a secure training centre who left school many years ago when he was 16. He said: ““At the time I thought there were better things for me to be doing””. I welcome reaching out to those children before they enter the criminal justice system, to Traveller children and to other vulnerable children. However, I ask the Minister to go further and to consider prioritising admission for those children as well. What sort of impact would he anticipate such prioritising might make? Comment has been made on the behaviour aspects in the Bill, and the Steer report, and it seems true that the sternest and strictest aspects of the report have been legislated for and that the softer aspects have not. One understands why that might be and the need for clarity in those areas, but I hope that during the proceedings on the Bill we shall hear much more about how teachers will be supported in terms of the Steer report’s recommendations and in particular with regard to the whole school behaviour plan that Steer advocates. I hope that we can legislate for the five outcomes in the Children Act 2004 to apply in schools, as that would be beneficial to the academic outcomes for our children as well as in other ways. I welcome what the Minister said about ensuring that the voice of children in the Childcare Bill is legislated for, and I think that he may have good news for us with this Bill. I very much hope so, as children growing up in chaotic, disruptive families often do not have the benefit of their parents’ attention. This is just one advantage of consultation, but we need to show that we are listening to them and incorporating wherever possible their wishes and feelings into what is being provided for them. In particular, I conclude by hoping that we can learn more about what support is being offered to head teachers. I note the comment by the noble Baroness, Lady Williams of Crosby, in that regard. It has been a concern for many of us, particularly for vulnerable children in schools, that if there is a lack of leadership in a school, they are the ones who are likely to suffer most. I welcome the recent introduction of the National College for School Leadership. The trials and tribulations of the many children entering schools who are confused and feel somewhat out of control because of disruptions in their family lives must weigh heavily on their teachers, and particularly heavy on their head teachers, who have to hold the whole school together. I hope that my comments are helpful and I look forward to the Minister’s response.