Information Sharing
U - Jargon Buster
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was approved by the United Nations in 1989, has now been ratified by more than 190 countries, including the UK. The Convention describes a series of rights that signatory governments should ensure are provided for children (i.e. people under 18). It came into force in the UK in 1992.
All school pupils are allocated a unique pupil number that identifies them and helps track their progress throughout their educational career, thereby providing better information for schools, local education authorities and the Department for Educational and Skills on pupil performance and any contextual factors affecting it. The information is used to strengthen procedures for target setting and monitoring, and so contributes to raising standards. Within the DfES and the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency, pupil information is used solely for statistical purposes and not to identify individuals; it is subject to strict data protection procedures.
Universal services are those services (sometimes also referred to as mainstream services) that are provided to, or are routinely available to, all children and their families. Universal services are designed to meet the sorts of needs that all children have; they include early years provision, mainstream schools and Connexions, for example, as well as health services provided by GPs, midwives, and health visitors. Government policy, as set out in the Green Paper Every Child Matters, is that targeted support should wherever possible be embedded within universal settings.
A Connexions Service term that refers to young people who because of previous contact or information that is held about them are known to be part of a cohort (for example all young people in Hampshire and IOW) but their current destination is unknown.
Page updated: Friday, December 8, 2006 12:05 PM
