Inter-agency initiatives

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Inter-agency initiatives

• Schools

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Janet Levy Director, Joining Forces.

• this is a propitious time for collaboration
  because education and human services face common
  challenges as they try to help the same people
  and respond to the same problems

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Community schools Mrs Liddel Scottish
Minister of Education

• The big idea is the integrated provision of
  servicesThe focus will be on the needs of each
  pupil and his or her family, meeting the pupils
  needs in the round. This is not just an
  education initiative. Many of the barriers to
  attainment do not lie in the classroom or in the
  school. By breaking down these barriers, we can
  raise both the prospects of the children and of
  the communities in which they live.

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Prof. Geoff Whitty, Director Institute of
Education, London University

• The notion that education interventions alone
  can transform the life chances of large numbers
  of disadvantaged children is clearly not tenable,
  certainly in the short term, even although we can
  point to individual cases of bucking the trend.

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International perspectives
Country Programme Start date Contact
Canada SchoolPlus 2003 www.sasked.gov.sk.ca
USA Full-service schools 1998 www.infed.org/schooling/f-serv.htm
Charter schools 1993 www.uscharterschools.org
Wrap around schools 1991 http//cecp.air.org/wraparound/intro.html
Safe schools, healthy children 2000 www.gse.uci.edu/afterschool/ca/Documents/healthystart.html
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and
Australia Full Service School 1999 http//bansec.customer.netspace.net.au/
Linking schools and communities 1999 www.aare.edu.au/97pap/mukhb467.htm
Ireland Home School Community Liaison Scheme 1990 www.education.ie
Breaking the cycle 1996/7 www.education.ie
Community Schools 2000 www.education.ie

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National Perspective
Country Programme Contact
Scotland New Community Schools www.scotland.gov.uklibrary/documents
England Behaviour Improvement Programme www.dfes.gov.uk
Extended Schools www.teachernet.gov.uk
Childrens Trusts www.ten.info
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and
England continYou www.continyou.org.uk



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Full-service schools

• A full-service school expands its conceptual
  boundaries beyond the traditional educational
  model to a school-community model, where the
  lines of distinction between school and community
  are barely visible and where gaps in family
  support services disappear.
• Building a Full Service School A
  step-by-step guide
• Ed Carol Calfee, Frank Wittwer, Mimi
  Meredith

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What people say

• For me, the most important aspect of
  full-service schools is their ability to serve
  the multiple needs of students and their
  families. The hardest part is bringing everyone
  together to work toward the same goal.
• Lori Lanier, community facilitator, Family
  Support and Preservation Program

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Michael White Director of Education
Aberdeenshire

• The provision of welfare and counselling
  services in schools would free teachers to
  concentrate on teaching and learning. Teachers
  would no longer have to be drawn into a social
  worker role.

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Nigel Williams, Childrens Commissioner for
Northern Ireland

• In responding to the Expulsion and Suspension
  Proposals
• the Department of Education should develop
  totally inclusive schools/education so that no
  child, irrespective of his/her behaviour loses
  out of his/her education because of being
  excluded/expelled from school, when his/her
  behaviour is part of a medical condition.

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Regional perspectives

• Inter-agency initiatives are not new to schools
  in Northern Ireland they are already there.
• The continuum below illustrates some examples of
  this
• Extended/Full service schools aim to integrate
  all services, so that pupils needs are met
  efficiently and appropriately, allowing them the
  freedom to learn effectively.

Full service delivery
No service delivery at all
Healthy schools initiative
Career Officers
Youth Service Initiatives
School Health Services
Outside agency Projects
PTA
EWO Service
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What next?
If you are interested in finding out more or
getting involved, please make contact with
Caroline Karayiannis, Project Officer Full
Service Schools at When the water starts
boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat.
Nelson Mandela
ckarayiannis_at_rtuni.org
Regional Training Unit Blacks Road Belfast BT10
0NB
028 90 612181