A campaign is being launched today to recruit more specialist social workers to reduce the chances of a child dying from abuse or neglect. It is the first national campaign to respect, recruit and retain children’s social workers and aims, as a first step, to attract 5,000 recently retired staff back into the profession.

Read more on RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION CAMPAIGN AIMS TO CLOSE GAPS IN CHILD SAFETY NET…

Some pupils are still not benefiting from improvements in the quality of school Information and Communication Technology lessons, in spite of Government investment and better planning in schools according to a report published today by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. It says pupils at all levels are not being challenged enough.

Read more on SOME PUPILS MISSING OUT ON BETTER ICT TEACHING SAYS OFSTED…

A National Audit Office report has concluded that two programmes aimed at building capacity in the third sector have had a positive impact on frontline third sector organisations but have not yet demonstrated value for money. Both have suffered from administrative weaknesses and a lack of initial targets against which the effectiveness of the programmes could be measured. The ChangeUp and Futurebuilders programmes were launched in 2004.

Read more on BUILDING THE CAPACITY OF THE THIRD SECTOR…