This Month's Contents

Previous issues of the
E-bulletin are available
from the FACE website

Swedish universities are presently in the process of forming a national network supporting diversity and widening participation among potential and present university students. The aim of the network is reflected in its name: INCLUDE. Looking for an international raw model INCLUDE has been in contact with FACE, and, in fact, has already enjoyed both practical and theoretical support from FACE. For example, Professor John Storan of FACE has helped in the planning and running of a recent Swedish conference on widening participation, in which the call for a  Swedish network was announced.

Therefore, INCLUDE gratefully accepted the invitation from FACE to send one representative, Professor Åke Wasteson of Linköping University, to this year´s FACE annual conference in York. Åke was a very welcome and popular delegate at FACE 2008 and himself had this to say of the experience:

"It was an inspiring event where I had the opportunity to share views and experiences with my British colleagues. It is difficult to grade the various attractions presented during the conference, but beside the friendly atmosphere I was particularly struck by the multitude of activities presented in the area of widening participation, and the societal responsibility displayed by the universities conducting these initiatives. If INCLUDE can attract a similar number of  enthusiastic contributers it will definitely live up to our present expectations. Hopefully FACE and INCLUDE will both find it useful to exchange ideas, for example by mutual participation in conferences and task forces. The next meeting in Sweden where this possibility may be pursued will be on October 1st - 2nd 2009, in Linköping."

One area where Swedish universities, including Linköping University,  may stand out in an international comparison is the way we look at the student. This includes student responsibility, independence, motivation and ability and, in turn, calls for a high degree of student influence on the educational process. As mutually supportive sister organisations both FACE and INCLUDE hope to learn a great deal from one another in the years to come and look forward to a happy and successful co-operation.

The INCLUDE Website

The INCLUDE website is online in Swedish but the site can be translated using the free online translator for Swedish / English at http://www.systran.co.uk/english-swedish-translation/free-swedish-translator.htm

A brief word from the Editor . . .

The next edition of FACE to FACE is now being compiled and will be loosely themed around the Higher Education / Further Education interface.

If you would you like to contribute to this issue, please contact the editor, Pete Jones, to discuss your proposed contribution with him. There is scope within the Newsletter for book reviews, thought pieces, discussion pieces and professional research.

The deadline for the submission of finished articles for Issue 31 is:

10th November 2009

If you would like to submit anything for possible publication, please contact the Editor Pete Jones at pete.jones@staffs.ac.uk

Be sure to visit the FACE to FACE Newsletter page on the FACE website http://www.f-a-c-e.org.uk/face2face.html

As a member-oriented organisation FACE would like to invite individual colleagues to have their say on any issue of concern in UK education policy and practice. This is a purely personal point of view and should not be thought to represent any institution, organisation, or official body. To have your say, email James.Tate@uwe.ac.uk

This month's contribution is from Deirdre Lynskey who, at a time when relevant legislation is going through parliament, comments upon the issue of the education of Looked After Children.

"Children in care are one of the most vulnerable groups in our society.  Currently there are over 60,000 children placed within the care system in England.  Over the past nineteen years Government’s have introduced a variety of acts and legislation to improve the education and  life chances of Looked After Children (LAC); yet  in 2006 only 12% gained five GCSEs at A*-C compared to 59% of all children.

The new Care Matters White Paper aims to improve the care and support provided to children and young people by introducing policies and legislative change through the Children and Young People’s Bill.

One element is the Virtual School, set up to improve the educational attainment of LAC. The vision being that each Local Authority has a Virtual School, managed by a ‘real’ headteacher as if they were the head of a single school. The difference is that they are responsible for overseeing the education of children in their care whether they attend local schools or are educated out of authority. (Many LAC do not live in the local authority that is primarily responsible for them).  Over the past year or so I have attended a number of events/conferences introducing this concept. Unfortunately, instead of clarifying the role it has ended up causing more confusion.  As a result, workshops that intend to explain how education and social services can work more effectively together to improve education become a semantic discussion over the word ‘virtual’.

All too often we discuss around the subject instead of getting to the actual point.  It doesn’t matter if the Local Authority call their education team a Virtual School or a Looked After Children Education Service (LACES), the main point is, that after nineteen years we still have not made significant progress in ensuring this group of young people benefit from the same life chances that many of us do, lets stop prevaricating and actually admit that we need to improve our services . . . and then get on with it!"

Deirdre Lynskey
Aimhigher Greater Merseyside
University of Liverpool
D.Lynskey@liverpool.ac.uk