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is recommended that following areas should
be the core areas of the EWS service provided
by the SELB:
• Pupil
attendance at school
• Pupil
Welfare
4.1 Pupil
Attendance at School
It is recommended
that a core area of responsibility for the
EWS is ensuring that children and young
people receive a beneficial education, which
in the majority of cases is through attendance
at school. The EWS will concentrate their
service delivery on marginalized children
and young people whose pattern of attendance
is a cause for concern. This is in keeping
with the Board’s TSN Objective ‘to
promote social inclusion of specified groups
of children and young people at risk of
underachievement or marginalisation’.
The Board has identified a target of reducing
by 30% the number of pupils identified as
persistent non-attenders11
by 2003 compared to 1998/9. Non-attendance
or poor attendance at school is frequently
a visible symptom of underlying factors
in the child or young persons’ life.
These factors can be located:
• Within
the child or young person
• In
school
• In
the home
• In
the community
Factors that
lead to non-attendance at school are frequently
a complex combination of the above and require
the staff in the EWS to work closely with
school, other board services and external
agencies. For a small number of pupils (especially
at Key Stage 4) full-time attendance at
school may not be a realistic option. In
these cases the EWO will assist the school
to develop individual education package,
which may include work experience, attendance
at a College of Further Education or other
education providers (e.g. CraigBann) in
addition to school attendance.
4.2 Pupil
Welfare
It is recommended
that the EWS have a responsibility to assist
schools in ensuring the welfare of pupils
in school. This can be divided into two
broad areas of responsibility:
• Child
protection
• Providing
assistance for pupils when they are unsettled
or unhappy in school
4.3 Child
Protection
The EWS is
not the lead agency in relation to child
protection but EWOs have a responsibility
to make referrals to social services in
accordance with SELB policy in Child Protection
if:
• They
have concerns about a child or young person
referred to them by a school
• A child
or young person makes a disclosure to an
EWO
In cases where
an EWO makes such a referral to social services
they will inform the school’s designated
teacher about the referral. The EWS may
also be seen as a supportive agency when
child protection issues are raised with
schools. The significant role of the EWS
in child protection is demonstrated by the
board’s appointment of the CEWO as
the Board’s Designated Officer for
Child Protection.
4.4 Providing
Assistance for Pupils
If a pupil
is unsettled or unhappy in school it is
possible that this will eventually lead
to persistent non-attendance. Problems may
arise due to social, emotional, behavioural,
educational, economic environmental or medical
reasons. In the case of pupils with emotional
or behavioural difficulties they should
not have reached beyond Stage 3 of the Code
of Practice12
when referral to Education Psychology would
be more appropriate.
- DE in
TSN identifies persistent non attenders
as pupils with below 85% attendance rate
12
The Code of Practice on the Identification
and Assessment of Special Educational Needs
was introduced in the Education (NI) Order
1996. At Stage 1-2 of the Code of the School
is responsible for the assessing and providing
for the pupils needs. At Stage 3 the school
can request assistance from an outside agancy.
At Stage 4 the responsibility for assessment
passes to the Board
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