the role of schools in national policies

Case study:

The role of schools in national policies

St Mark’s Secondary School has been contacted by the DfE, as it is trialling a fresh community programme to encourage schools from a range of rural areas to develop wider community and diversity links. The school will then be asked to return a report, which will form the basis of a new national policy for schools. The school does not have to take part but is considering whether to do so.
What do you think the benefits might be for the school and for the community?
Taking part in programmes set up by the DfE who through their every child matters inactive aim to look into new ways of developing the quality of services available to children by aiming to ensure that the children:
Be healthy
Stay safe
Enjoy and achieve
Make a positive contribution
Achieve economic well being
Will be beneficial for the school as the DfE state that these outcomes are key to well being in childhood and later life, showing that the school are working from national policies which relate to children, young people and families will reflect well on them.
They set out a national framework for local programmes of change to be led by authorities and their partners to enable this development. These programmes along with strategies such as the 2020 children and young people’s workforce all aim to achieve the governments ambition for this country to be the best country for children and young people to grow up in, those who work or volunteer with children and young people are crucial to achieving this.
In order to achieve a better workforce the strategy looks at:
Leadership and management
Recruitment
Partnerships with children, young people, parents/carers and each other
Qualifications, training and progression routes
Supporting those children who are most vulnerable
Developing a knowledge bank
Following the strategy will benefit the school as it will enable them to focus on attracting high quality applicants, the school will be supported in retaining an effective workforce to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds and a greater partnership working within the school system.
As all the schools in the rural areas are following the same national policies the benefits to the community would be for them to liaise with one another and share their knowledge and experience and also develop links with each other for pupil support and community cohesion. In doing this the rural areas will develop a wider community and diversity links and the input from other schools and organisations can only be beneficial to the community, particularly in the best interests of the children.
Trialling and developing new ideas from the DfE will benefit the school as it will help support the work from the national policies helping them to improve by giving them feedback on the form and giving evidence on what makes the most effective and positive difference.

Is it a good idea for national government to request this kind of involvement from schools? Why?
It is a good idea for the national government to request this involvement as emphasis is placed upon the idea that for each child to fulfil their potential and for communities to come together, there must be a great deal of cooperation, not only between government agencies, but also between schools, GP’s, sports organisations and the voluntary and community sector. Also, as part of community cohesion schools have been developing their central role in local communities, therefore in trialling and developing the new ideas they can subsequently be rolled out nationally.