Every Child Matters

Following concerns about the wellbeing of some children in 2004, the Government introduced a new initiative “Every Child Matters”. Each year the Local Authority and school is required to publish their targets for the year under five main headings. The Local Authority plan for children and young people is as follows:

Being Healthy

To ensure children and young people are healthy and have healthy lifestyles

To ensure children and young people with specific needs receive targeted support to be healthy
To ensure there is well coordinated support to improve the healthy development and wellbeing of children aged 0-6

Staying Safe

To ensure children and young people are safe, have stability and are cared for

To ensure children in care stay safe and have security and stability

Enjoying and achieving

To ensure children make good progress between the ages of 0-5 and are well prepared for school
To ensure children and young people attend and enjoy school
To continue to improve educational standards in the foundation stage and at all key stages in line with agreed targets
To improve the achievements of children in care and other groups of children with specific needs
To improve access for all children and young people to a range of play and recreational activities

Making a Positive Contribution

To ensure children and young people engage in decision making, support the community and contribute to the development of services
To ensure children and young people develop positive behaviour and are law abiding
To support children and young people to manage change and challenges successfully

Achieving Economic Wellbeing

To continue to increase the number of young people in further education, employment and training
To ensure children in care and other specific groups achieve economic wellbeing
To ensure children live in decent home free from low income

The School Development Plan will show how these objectives are going to be acted upon in the school.