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Poulton St Chad's Church of England Primary School
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In our job you can’t be choosy who you help because Every Child Matters (ECM).
In 2003, the Government published a Green Paper called Every Child Matters alongside the formal response to the report into the death of Victoria Climbié. Following a consultation process, the Children Act 2004 became law. This legislation is the legal underpinning for ECM, which sets out the previous Government’s approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19.
The aim of the ECM programme is to give all children the support they need to achieve five outcomes:
be healthystay safeenjoy and achievemake a positive contributionachieve economic well-being.
The ECM agenda was further developed through publication of the Children's Plan in December 2007. The Children's Plan is a ten-year strategy to make England the best place in the world for children and young people to grow up. It places families at the heart of Government policy, taking into account the fact that young people spend only one-fifth of their childhood at school. Because young people learn best when their families support and encourage them, and when they are taking part in positive activities outside of the school day, the Children's Plan is based around a series of ambitions which cover all areas of children's lives. The Plan aims to improve educational outcomes for children, improve children's health, reduce offending rates among young people and eradicate child poverty by 2020, thereby contributing to the achievement of the five ECM outcomes. Sadly, in the grown-up world, there are those who think we should only help those who believe/look/act/live like we do. There's a story about a man who fell into a pit and couldn't get out. A subjective person came along and said, 'I feel for you down there.' An objective person came along and said, 'Well, it's logical somebody would fall down there.' A Pharisee said, 'Only bad people fall into pits.' A judgmental Christian said, 'You deserve your pit.' A realist said, 'Now that's a pit.' A geologist told him to appreciate the rock strata in the pit. A tax inspector asked him if he was paying taxes on the pit. A self-pitying person said, 'You haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit.' An optimist said, 'Things could be worse.' A pessimist said, 'Things will get worse.' Jesus, seeing the man in the pit, reached down, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit. Notice how Jesus ends his famous parable about the Good Samaritan? '...Go and do likewise.' (Luke 10:37). We have the power to affect the lives of those around us and lift them out of the pit, whether they are in school or indeed anywhere else – it’s just a matter of geography. Our encouragement can be the difference-maker in someone's day, week or even life, sending them in a whole new direction. How many people can you truly say you have encouraged today/this week/this month…? Maybe ECM shouldn’t be limited to children! Pete HylandHeadteacher |
