St Christopher's good practice praised in government White Paper

28 June 2007

St Christopher’s approach to education in residential care is given as an example of good practice in the White Paper Care Matters: Time for Change.

The White Paper was presented to Parliament this month by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. It builds on responses to the Green Paper Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care and the conclusions of working groups established to investigate best practice in supporting those in care.

The Care Team of the Department for Education and Skills thanked St Christopher’s for our contribution to the case study and praised the good, innovative and interesting practice in our organisation and the work we are doing to help improve the lives of children in care.

The example of St Christopher’s good practice, on page 58 of the White Paper, is reproduced below:

Education in a children’s home

St. Christopher’s residential unit has put education at the heart of its approach – working in partnership with Connexions, education teams and community organisations to provide education support packages tailored to the needs of its residents.

An education co-ordinator has been appointed to manage the education provision and a dedicated ‘tuition room’ set aside for learning activities. One resident, Steve, is a 16 year old boy with a statement of special educational needs and significant behavioural difficulties. It has been difficult to find a school place that meets his needs and there have been problems with bullying and poor attendance.

St. Christopher’s arranged one to one tuition and support from a Learning Support Assistant for Steve – support is co-ordinated by Steve’s keyworker who liaises with other professionals on his behalf. Connexions have identified vocational courses in sports and painting and decorating which match Steve’s interests and he is currently performing well. His ability to undertake structured programmes of this sort is a positive indicator for his future.

St. Christopher’s plan to continue the focus on supporting resident’s education, ensuring it is fully incorporated into care planning and increasing integration with mainstream education.

© Crown Copyright 2007

The whole White Paper can be found at http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/timeforchange
/docs/timeforchange.pdf