ABSTRACT

The government’s Every Child Matters (ECM) initiative, and the subsequent Children Act 2004, originated as a response to the tragic death of Victoria Climbié and the many other children in England and Wales who are at risk of, or die as a result of, abuse or neglect. The Every Child Matters: Change for Children programme may also have been influenced by a similar initiative in the United States, referred to as No Child Left Behind, which aimed to close the pupil achievement gap between white, black and Hispanic groups of children and young people. Since the publication of the government’s Green Paper Every Child Matters in September 2003, there has been variable progress made towards implementing this important agenda in schools. Six years on from the introduction of this Green Paper, children’s workforce practitioners in schools, which include trainee, newly qualified and experienced teachers, still require guidance and information on how they can ensure they improve the five outcomes for the children and young people they work directly with in schools and classrooms. The implication for children’s workforce practitioners working with children and young people is that they need to adopt a holistic approach when identifying and removing barriers to learning and well-being, i.e. focusing on the whole child and young person’s well-being, in addition to their learning. Learning cannot take place effectively if a child or young person does not feel safe or when health problems create barriers to their learning. In addition, learning does not take place in isolation from children and young people’s feelings; being emotionally literate is just as important. This introductory guide on Every Child Matters is aimed at enabling aspiring and practising teachers, and other practitioners

working directly with children and young people in schools and other educational settings, to:

• understand the origin, concept, aims and principles of the ECM agenda, and relate it to their everyday work with children and young people;

• know how to develop and promote a positive ECM culture, vision and values;

• be able to implement the ECM initiative and improve the ECM outcomes for pupils they teach, support and work with;

• know how to evaluate the impact of teaching and additional provision on improving the five ECM outcomes;

• understand and know how to work effectively and collaboratively with practitioners from external agencies.