Every Child Matters - Essay Example

Every Child Matters Introduction In the current civil society, the health of a child and education are very vital for development since the childrenare the future leaders. Successful children are usually a great joy to the Family, they inspire hope, ambition and bright future and are great source of love, and as such they are highly cherished. Unfortunately, some children are not so lucky; they experience different kind of life due their incapability. These children's lives become filled with dread, risk and jeopardy, and sadly enough, theses usually comes from people closest to them. The Every Child Matters Philosophy was developed due to such reasons, to take care of issues that affect the helpless child and protect him/her from danger. It takes care of the wellbeing of children from birth to the age of nineteen. The government established this agenda with the aim of achieving the following five objectives in every child's life regardless of ethnic background, and other circumstances; 1. Being Healthy - this objective is to ensure that every child regardless of the background enjoys a healthy lifestyle in proper mental and physical health 2. Staying Safe - this aims to protect the child from mischief and social neglect 3. Enjoying and Achieving - this is aimed at ensuring that children learn and develop their vocational skills for future (getting the most out of life). 4. Making a Positive Contribution - this assist the children to achieve community and social development thereby managing to avoid anti-social behaviour and engaging in felonious character. It builds responsibility and accountability. 5. Economic Well-being - helps children to achieve economic independence. The Basis of Every Child Matters Agenda The government appreciates the need to create a healthy and ambitious young generation and as a result it had to take care of the needs of the less fortunate children in the society. Achieving the five outcomes has become the ambition of every child in the world despite their conditions or background. Achieving the five objectives is playing a very significant role in reducing the gap between the less fortunate children and their peers who are quite normal (Barnardo 2003). Being Healthy This objective is to ensure that every child regardless of his or her background enjoys a vigorous lifestyle and proper health. Being healthy covers all aspects of body health i.e. Physical, mental, sexual, and emotional health as well as protecting the children from illicit drugs (Bridgeman 2007). The Westgate School just like any other institution that is taking care of children with special needs is working hard to ensure that environmental risks in the school are reduced to consequently minimize chances of harm. The teachers at Westgate School are very efficient in their performance and they have incorporated the aspects that keep the students in good mental and emotional health. The learning is described as being very effective as the teachers have established clearly defined objectives in the curriculum matched with a range of very exciting activities full of humour, warmth and mutual respect. All the students are included in all the learning activities despite their learning needs and as such this has inspired positive aspiration in the students and the will to achieve and meet personal development has also improved (Tutt 2007). The school has a broad curriculum that is designed to cater for the students' physical health. It covers a wide range of extra curricular activities extensively, all including games, music, and performing arts which has also attracted a significant number of students. These activities are highly beneficial to the students' individual developments and welfare, hence more time is allocated to the physical education period. Students' personal development and academic success has been the main focus of the Curriculum at Westgate School. The teachers have gone personal in their assistance to meet each ones personal needs and as a result, there is improved performance. To ensure child protection from environmental health hazards, security is highly improved, the cleanliness standards are also high and the whole environment is generally attractive. The administration at Westgate School operates several programs that are all aimed at ensuring the safety of the student. Notable is the behaviour management systems risk assessment procedures, and child protection procedures. Child protection process is very efficient in terms of safety and sensitivity, whereas risk assessment is very thorough especially in cases that involve travelling of students outside the school compounds, for example going on a school trip. Emotional health of the students has not been left behind and the students have a counsellor (Tutt 2007). This has enabled the students to understand that they can talk to someone incase they experience a tough problem or any other challenge in the school. By these processes, the views and problems of the students are listened to, appreciated and amicably responded to. The students even note that the teachers are more of friends than teacher as they help out it educational and pastoral issues. According to the Of Stead report, on the evaluation of the performance of Westgate School in meeting the objectives of the Every Child Matters Agenda, it has been found that actually the school is doing enough on its part and the outcomes can be noted in their academic results. Evaluation of the performance intended to meet the objectives set is usually tricky but, there are general standard questions that can assist in evaluation. Some of the conditions that should be met for the implementation of the Every Child Matters Agenda to be successful include the following; the children being cared for should be taught and be able to identify or recognize the health hazards and other risks to health, and the environmental risk should be significantly reduced (Tutt 2007). The Westgate School has done just that and it's been reported that they are protecting the students from any environmental hazards. To ensure that the children are in good mental conditions, the institution must take action to address the problem so as to promote mental and emotional health of the children and young people. The best way to achieve this is to involver is active practices that include sports, sporting provides a good opportunity for social interactions as well as promoting mental and emotional fitness due to the excitement that comes with it (Barnardo 2003). Besides, students are encouraged to speak up their mind and air their views freely as well as presenting their problems to the tutors who can help out in solving them. Education on drug abuse should also be incorporated in the curriculum to help protect the children from the effects of taking illicit drugs. Staying Safe This objective is meant to protect the children and young persons from accidental injuries - this is because, these injures may lead to permanent disabilities or even death. It also aims at keeping the children safe from oppression, abandonment, violence and sexual mistreatment; protects from felonious behaviour and anti-social characteristics by offering security and stable social environment. Children and other young people are vulnerable to some kind of harm and therefore security and safety measure have to be taken to protect them from injuries, death, violence, bullying, and discrimination (Bridgeman 2007). The Westgate School has undertaken to promote the safety and security of the students by smart means, the students are encouraged to respect each other and develop pride. Staying safe include adhering to the regulations of the school programs including, regular class attendance, punctuality and concentration in class and participation. The students' development in moral, social and cultural aspects usually encourages responsible behaviour that keeps the students safe from environmental harm (Cheminais 2007). Most of the students in the school behave well and there have only been few cases of exclusions, but most of the students show improvements in character, students report that the cases of bullying have greatly reduced and very few cases of racism have since occurred. The operations at the school have been harmonized and students from different backgrounds can interact, play and work in concert in total agreement. Since the aim of Every Child Matters is to care for the children regardless of ethnic background, the diversity of culture at the school is embraced and students from different backgrounds are proud of their cultures and this is used to uphold the sense of belonging and sociable competition according to Child Poverty Action Group (2004).The administration of the school has ensured that older students are taught how to respond to cases of injuries by organizing first aid training. This measure is one of the critical aspects of protecting the students from environmental injuries and protecting them from further injuries. Students are driven to develop a good sense of healthy living therefore fulfilling the aim of ECM for creating a healthy lifestyle for children and young persons (Cheminais 2007). Remarkable measures that have been put in place to protect the children from environmental health hazards include; behaviour management systems risk assessment procedures, and child protection procedures. These programs play a critical in meeting the objective of staying safe. During events of trips and other occasions, a comprehensive risk assessment is carried out to assure the students of their safety while on the other hand; behaviour management systems have also significantly changed the character of students in to a friendly and responsible behaviour that is encouraging healthy living and fruitful competition. Community contribution has been encouraged by participation in vocational education such as enterprise in Young Chamber and Westgate Media crew. Evaluating the performance involve addressing issues like, identifying main risks to the safety of the students and how to manage them, providing safe learning environment, address cases of child abuse and neglecting and offer protection to children with learning disabilities from abuse and exploitation (Cheminais 2007). Conclusion The government appreciates the critical role of institutions, families, communities and carers are playing in providing safe and healthy lifestyle for the less fortunate children in the society. To make sure that the needs of the less fortunate children and young people are catered for, all the concerned partners have ensured the participation of children. The establishment of the Every Child Matters Outcomes helps to guide the success of the children involved in the program. These five outcomes are very important guides and objectives of all partakers in child protection. The special schools that offer education to such special students are hence required to take them at heart. They are incorporated in the curriculum i.e. lessons, extracurricular activities and other schedules. References Barnardo (2003). Every Child Matters.Children Living Without. National Children's Resource Centre Bridgeman J. (2007). Parental Responsibility, Young Children and Healthcare Law.Cambridge University Press. Cheminais R. (2007).Extended Schools and Children's Centres.A Practical Guide.Routledge. Child Poverty Action Group (2004). Every Child Matters.A Response to the Greener Paper.Child Poverty Action Group (Great Britain). Tutt R. (2007).Every Child Included.National Association Of head Teachers. Paul Chapman. Wordcount; 1737 Read More