K E R A L A M O N I T O R

Dateline London

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION NEWS

Improvements in education services are enabling pupils

LONDON -Pupils with special medical needs are benefiting from improvements in
the education services provided by Local Education Authorities, a new
report published by the Office for Standards in Education today
shows.

Today's new report, The education of pupils with medical needs, found
a good quality of teaching and learning in the 12 Local Education
Authorities (LEAs) included in the study, and reports that pupils
were well behaved and had a positive attitude towards their work.

Ofsted inspectors also noted that Government guidance introduced in
2001 has helped LEAs improve parts of the service offered to pupils
with special medical needs, but found that more work is needed to
ensure that pupils who are physically ill, injured or have mental
health difficulties receive an appropriate education.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, said:

"I am encouraged by today's report which shows that education
provision for children with medial needs is improving. The report
underlines the importance of the LEA role in helping pupils with
medical needs progress with their studies wherever possible. I hope
that the report, based on a small sample of LEAs, will help all LEAs
put in place the necessary policies and procedures in order to
achieve further improvement in this area."

The study which was carried out between September 2002 and March
2003, found that:

- in over three quarters of lessons teaching was good and in one
third it was very good;

- two thirds of Local Education Authorities inspected had a
satisfactory provision for pupils with special medical needs. In
the best cases this included hospital special schools or units, a
home tuition service, hospital teaching and adolescent psychiatric
units;

- one quarter of LEAs failed to provide adequate support for pupils
moving from home tuition and returning to school;

- one third of LEAs had insufficient provision for pupils to work
together in group setting. This has led to pupils, especially those
with anxiety, depression and phobia, being educated at home for too
long.

- over half of LEAs lacked sufficient monitoring of services;

- all LEAs experienced difficulties in planning the allocation of
funds due to the unpredictable nature of pupil need of services.

In order to improve education services for pupils with special
medical needs Ofsted inspectors recommend that:

- LEAs develop systems for establishing stronger links between
different parts of the service and between schools and the service;

- LEAs improve procedures for monitoring the quality of education
provided and evaluating the cost-effectiveness of each part of the
service;

- providers increase the opportunities for staff to take part in
training to improve the monitoring of the quality of education and
use the information obtained to develop the provision further;

- schools ensure that there is a named person responsible for pupils
that cannot attend school as a result of their medical needs;

- schools ensure pupils are referred promptly to the appropriate
service and then work closely with the hospital and home tuition
service to ensure the pupils education needs are met.

Global Crime

Customs seize food , fakes and cigarettes in North East Scotland

A week long Customs operation in north east Scotland has resulted in
seizures of foodstuffs and fake goods at Aberdeen airport, cigarettes
at Peterhead and vehicles running on 'red diesel' at Crimond stock
car meeting.

Over 141 kgs of meat, fish, dairy products, fruit and vegetables,
along with counterfeit clothing, over 400 fake DVDs, and nearly
130,000 cigarettes were seized at the airport alone.

Customs North of Scotland Detection manager Graham Gauld said:

"At Aberdeen airport we are particularly alert to foodstuffs being
carried by passengers arriving from non-EU countries via Paris,
Heathrow or Gatwick. It is important the travelling public know about
the strict controls on bringing in meat, milk, fish, shellfish,
plants, and their products, as they can carry animal and plant pests
and diseases.

"We have been carrying out checks for drugs using recently installed
Ionscan technology - this latest method is used to detect traces of
prohibited substances. Our mobile detection teams have also been
protecting north east shopkeepers from the illegal tobacco trade.

"If you know about any suspicious activities, please call our 24 hour
hotline 0800 59 5000, email customs.confidential@hmce.gsi.gov.uk or
fax free on 0800 5280506." Seizures at Aberdeen Airport included: two
personal use quantities of cannabis and two obscene videos; 129,000
cigarettes and 12 kgs of hand rolling tobacco - with an estimated
revenue loss of over £25,000; counterfeit clothing, fashion
accessories, watches and sunglasses, and 434 fake DVDs.

A further 10,000 cigarettes were seized from a Jamaican registered
cargo vessel in Peterhead after a spot check on Sunday 24th August by
one of Customs' mobile detection teams. The cigarettes were concealed
in the engine room with a view to selling them in the UK at the first
opportunity and making a substantial profit at the expense of local
shopkeepers and the taxpayer. The vessel was seized and restored on
payment of £500.

In a joint exercise on Sunday with Grampian Police and the Vehicle
Inspectorate at the Crimond stock car meeting, 40 vehicles were
tested and two were found to be running on 'red diesel'. The two
vehicles were seized and restored on payment of a total £1000.

Second HSE Blitz on falls from height in construction

HSE Inspectors will be out in force visiting construction sites
across Great Britain during September, checking on falls from height
risks. This follows a similar blitz held in June and is part of the
second phase of 'Don't Fall For It', a Europe-wide campaign aimed at
reducing falls from height in construction.

In 2002/03, 33 construction workers died and many thousands more
suffered a serious injury as a result of a fall from height in the
workplace. Falls from height are the most common cause of fatal
injury and the second most common cause of major injury to employees.

In announcing this second blitz Kevin Myers, Chief Inspector for
Construction said that inspectors would be looking to see an
improvement in how the industry is managing work done at height,
compare to the results of first blitz held in June. He said:

"Falling from height is the biggest killer in this industry. During
the blitz in June, HSE Inspectors saw many examples of people using
innovative and safe forms of access methods and equipment. However we
still had to serve enforcement notices at one third of the 1446
construction sites visited. Clearly, the message of how to reduce
falls from height is not yet understood by everybody working in this
industry. Given that most fall from height accidents are preventable,
there is no excuse for not ensuring that all work being carried out
at height is done safely. This second national blitz should act as a
reminder of how important it is to further improve the management of
fall from height risks on construction sites if we are to continue to
reduce fatal and major injuries."

As part of the 'Don't Fall For It' campaign, HSE Books has released a
new video, A head for heights, which is aimed at the construction
industry and can be used to explain to everybody on site the risks of
working at height and how they can be safely managed.

Speaking about A head for heights Mr Myers said: "This video provides
excellent practical advice on risks of falling from height and how
they can be eliminated or, if not, mitigated. The re-enactment of
fall from height accidents and their tragic consequences also serves
as a reminder of why working at height must be done safely."

During the construction blitz, inspectors will be focusing on making
sure that where work at height is taking place or planned a proper
assessment of the risks has been carried out and the hierarchy of
controls have been considered. For instance, inspectors will be
looking to see that:

- Work at height has been eliminated where possible;

- Where elimination is not possible, the correct equipment has been
selected;

- Work platforms have been installed with adequate access;

- If using mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs), they are used
correctly;

- If using tower scaffolds, they are correctly erected with edge
protection and toeboards as necessary;

- Ladders or step ladders are only being used for short duration
work, that they are the correct type for that work and are secured
to prevent slipping;

- If using safety harnesses, they have suitable anchorages and
adequate fall distances and are inspected; and

- All work at height equipment, including ladders and step-ladders,
have been inspected, examined and maintained as necessary.

In addition, inspectors will look to ensure that only competent
contractors are used for work at height and that all jobs have been
properly planned and thought through.

The national construction falls from height blitz will be taking
place over two weeks from Monday 8 September 2003. In London, the
blitz is being extended across other industries with HSE inspectors
looking at fall from height risks at workplaces including industrial
estates, airports, hospitals, schools, window cleaning operations and
factories as well as construction.

'Don't Fall For It' is a European Union campaign on falls from height
in construction. The European Commission's Senior Labour Inspectors'
Committee (SLIC) has agreed to undertake this campaign on falls from
height risks in the construction industry in 2003. All member states
will be participating in the campaign.

Minister urges innovative Youth Fire Schemes to be adopted nationwide

Report Shows Benefits of Firefighters Working With Young People

A new report highlights that local schemes aimed at educating young
people in fire safety can make a real difference - one project has
led to a 50 per cent reduction in fires and hoax calls.

Launching the report, Fire Safety Minister Phil Hope called on
brigades across the country to use this report as a guide when
developing their own youth schemes aimed at fighting the growing
menace of juvenile arson, hoax calls and attacks on firefighters.

Young people are a high risk group where fire is concerned. More than
700 children have died as a result of fires in the past decade and
over 24,000 have been injured in the same period.

The Thematic Review - The Fire and Rescue Service Working With Young
People in the Community, provides the fire and rescue service with a
directory of schemes that aim to educate and engage young people in
Community Fire Safety. It provides the first national survey of youth
work undertaken by individual brigades and contains many examples of
good practice, innovative partnership working and funding
opportunities.

As well as improving fire safety, the interventions the fire and
rescue service can make include work to address malicious and
juvenile arson; the widespread efforts to reduce hoax calls and
attacks on operational firefighters.

This reaffirms the Government's objective, set out in the recent Fire
White Paper, that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on fire
prevention.

Fire Safety Minister Phil Hope said:

"Young people are a high risk group where fire is concerned. This
spreads from the very young, to schoolchildren, to teenagers.

"But children also represent wider opportunities to the fire and
rescue service to act as educators on fire safety that will lead to
fire safe and responsible behaviour in our communities.

"Through schemes such as those highlighted in today's publication, we
can not only improve fire safety among young people but help have a
positive impact among the community.

"One scheme, that saw firefighters and children working together
fitting smoke alarms, achieved a 50 per cent reduction in arson and
hoax calls. I would urge other areas to adopt these and similar ideas
that can make a real difference."

Examples of good practice highlight in the Review include:

- The Blackbrook Community Safety initiative, based in Warrington,
saw children and fire-fighters working together for the community
by fitting smoke alarms into homes on the estate. The project has
led to a 50 per cent reduction in the number of fires recorded in
the area and a similar reduction in the number of hoax calls.

- Kooldown is a youth intervention programme aimed at 11 and
12-year-olds, at risk from exclusion or who have been excluded from
school, run by Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service. The programme gives
children on the programme the opportunity to take part in
fire-fighting activities such as hose and ladder drills and search
and rescue training.

- The Young Fire-fighters Associations/Fire Cadets (YFA) are
uniformed youth organisations which provide fire safety training,
physical activities and a disciplined environment for young people
aged 11-16 years. Pioneered by West Midlands Fire Brigade, members
are intentionally recruited from lower socio- economic areas and
those who have criminal convictions. Membership of the Association
has a positive effect on attitudes to crime, anti-social behaviour
and educational achievements among the young people recruited.

- The Fire and Rescue Service has been involved with The Prince's
Trust since 1992 in a variety of ways but mainly in support of the
Volunteers Programme. Through being involved in PTV brigades have
been able to reduce the potential for hoax calls and malicious fire
raising, through education work. There is also evidence to suggest
that longer term involvement with the PTV will help the Fire
Service secure a more diverse workforce, reflecting the mixed
ethnic and cultural differences of the community they serve.

- Smoke Buster is an innovative scheme run by Cheshire Fire & Rescue
Service that attracts the attention of children and their families.
It includes a musical performance by schoolchildren and
fire-fighters, offering fire safety messages. The performance also
includes demonstrations such as chip pan fires and domestic
sprinkler systems. (KERALAMONITOR.COM)