My Lords, I speak to Amendment 86, which seeks to ensure that formerly looked-after children receive in their school,
“appropriate education in personal, social, health and economic skills, and citizenship”.
I find it really not that surprising that so many noble Lords have referred today to issues such as relationships, financial education, independent living, self-confidence and self-esteem. The amendment just backs up the need for us to consider those really very essential skills. All children should receive such personal development and economic education, as well as citizenship skills. Amendment 86 seeks to take account of the trauma and vulnerability that some children have experienced. Again, I include migrant children, although I am very aware that other children will have experienced varying degrees of loss, trauma and pain.
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These children, like all children, need skills for life to enable them to make progress at school, in society and in employment. Employers consistently say that they want not just academic education but things such as team-building and resilience. Other skills include language and communication—I thank the noble Lord, Lord Ramsbotham—and developing relationships, resilience and self-confidence. The skill of looking after one’s health should also be included—for example, avoiding early pregnancy and protecting against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. We know that looked-after children tend to have more early pregnancies, for example.
The Minister knows that many, although not enough, schools have developed successful programmes around these themes—good schools often have a member of the staff who is charged with running these programmes—with links with other schools and services in the community. Some of us go into schools as part of the Lord Speaker’s Peers in Schools programme. The other week I was at a school that had a programme of personal and social education which also included citizenship and financial education.
The recent referendum indicated that, although some young people are informed and knowledgeable about what used to be called civics, some are not. It is important that all young people—particularly perhaps young migrants—become informed about our political and legal systems. With this amendment I am asking that all schools should pay particular attention to what are sometimes called soft skills, which enhance academic skills and behaviour. The Royal College of Nursing, voluntary sector organisations, parents’ organisations and young people have asked many times for this education to be provided.
I know that the Government are nervous about the word “statutory”. I shall not go into that but I do not think that “ensuring” that pupils receive social and skills education is controversial, and that word is used in other Bills. It is not about prescribed programmes;
it is about the ethos of a school—for example, having children’s paintings on the wall, and the relationship between staff and pupils and between pupils and pupils. It is about policies on bullying and school meals. It is about assemblies, which foster good citizenship, civic duties and having a pride in the school and in oneself. It is about pastoral care, which links to other agencies. This is of course about the curriculum—about handling money and issues such as drug education, sex education, diet, first aid and so on. Of course, sport, drama and art reinforce personal development and relationships. I have discussed these issues with the Minister before and I know that he is very supportive. I hope that the Government will return to this at some point and look at the need for social and personal development, as well as academic development, in all our schools.