As
we publish this issue, the consultation period for the Green Paper,
Every Child Matters, is over, but its contents will be important for
some time to come, and so we have included a sharp piece by Charles
Pragnell and the ICSE’s response to the Green Paper. Both raise
major long-term issues about services for children and young people
and their role in society. These issues need further debate, and the
Green Paper is only a few important steps along the road in the bigger
journey.
This
month we’ve got two reports about organisations’ AGMs
- the NCB’s and the NCMA’s. Don’t be put off by
the thought that AGMs are stuffy. The NCB is at the heart of issues
about children and young people, in its research and policy-development
and in its influence on Government. The NCMA is the biggest professional
body in childcare by a factor of ten, and some interesting issues
are reported from the members’ recent get-together in Torquay.
The
Barcelona Declaration may not seem important in Britain, but that
it is only if people are wearing blinkers. A lot is going on in Europe
which will in due course affect childcare
in
Britain. AIEJI called a meeting to take a lead to set common standards
for social education / pedagogy, and in Britain meanwhile, the Government
appears to be once more re-inventing the wheel of professional training
for childcare workers, oblivious to developments elsewhere.
Kathleen
Lane has met some more children displaying a mixture of social graces,
and wondered about their vulnerability. Lesley Durston has written
about Anglo-Romanian links. Gus Greene’s Bluebrick is getting
explosive. And Terry Hoon is getting philosophical again. There’s
also a piece about mentoring, a review of an excellent CD-ROM for
youth workers, the In Residence column and a pot pourri of bits in
Cuttings.
Happy
Christmas.
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