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Memorandum submitted by Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT)
"The quality of early years experiences is the most important factor bar none in determining a child's life chances."Website summary of the Childcare Bill, quoted in Nurturing Creativity in Young People: A report to Government to inform future policy by Paul Roberts, DfES/DCMS, July 2006
"Participation in creative activity provides young people at risk with not only an opportunity of improving their literacy and numeracy skills but a unique experience for them to make a positive contribution to society and challenge their view of themselves." Ruth Searle, Senior Strategy Adviser, Youth Justice Board. Creative Partnerships e-bulletin, July 2007
1. Executive summary: The evidence of Child Safety Week and other safety initiatives and resources shows the clear potential for communicating an understanding of risk through creative approaches. These should be embedded from the earliest stages of development and in work with parents, carers and schools. Greater leadership and more sustained funding is needed to support this vital area of children's development and well-being, recognising that this isn't an "optional extra" but an essential life skill. Our belief, quite simply, is that through creativity and partnership working, children can become skilled for life, not scarred for life."
2. Introduction to the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT) The Child Accident Prevention Trust is a national charity committed to reducing the number of children and young people who are killed, disabled or seriously injured as a result of accidents. The Trust understands that experimenting and risk-taking are part of growing up, and our work and initiatives are not about over-protection or "cotton wool kids" perceptions which are often criticised in the media. Instead, we work in partnership with a variety of practitioners, parents, carers and other stakeholders work to promote an informed understanding and awareness of the safety of children, gathering evidence and promoting good practice. Our annual Child Safety Week, now in its 15th year, is a proven opportunity to build these partnerships, to work creatively and to unite large and small communities around a shared concern for children's well-being.
3. Facts about childhood injury: As the recent Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission Report highlighted: "Unintentional injury is a leading cause of death and illness among children aged 1-14 years, and causes more children to be admitted to hospital each year than any other reason. It is a major concern for all those seeking to improve health and reduce inequalities....Engaging relevant local bodies in tackling unintentional injuries in some circumstances may be particularly challenging." [1]
4. The Health Protection Agency has drawn attention to the fact that the most deprived children are more likely to be injured or killed in road traffic injuries and falls[2]. As these influential reviews, and their predecessors such as the 2002 Accident Injury Task Force report to the Chief Medical Officer, make clear, there is a need to engage widely in order to refocus efforts and identify opportunities to ensure that sensible safety awareness and guidance is a shared priority. Information for parents and carers should be "non-stigmatising", while children and young people should be involved in understanding the nature of risk through a wide range of evidence-based and developmentally-appropriate approaches.
5. The context of this Inquiry quoted the Ofsted evaluation identifying difficulties in applying creative skills and approaches in "situations not explicitly related to the creative arts. Safety and risk education might be seen as just such an opportunity, yet one where there was limited understanding of the potential and practice for learning life skills through creative innovation.
6. CAPT believes that the reality is that creative education and child care offer very real and exciting possibilities for learning through creativity, helping to ensure that children and young people become skilled for life, not scarred for life. Our evidence for this view includes, but is not confined to the following:
a) through Child Safety Week and other CAPT resources, we have consistently promoted an approach that learning about safety can and should be fun, creatively engaging and interactive, bringing together children, parents, carers and practitioners. The Child Safety Week "Ideas Book" is in great demand during the week itself, and throughout the year; b) The new Every Child Matters Early Years Foundation Stage includes safety, particular within the first key principle of "The Unique Child". There is great scope here to develop these ideas in a variety of creative expressions and channels of interest. Similar opportunities arise under the other headings of the framework; c) The report already quoted on "Nurturing creativity in Young people" makes it clear that the Every Child Matters outcome of "Stay safe" provides active opportunities for children and young people engagement through role play, communicating through drawing and story telling; d) CAPT's picture-based resources are consistently popular publications for use in the home and early years settings such as Sure Start Children's Centres. The link with childhood (and patental) literacy is particularly relevant to curriculum developments; e) The importance of personal well-being has been shown in the QCA review of the secondary curriculum, and Ofsted review of personal, social and health education (PSHE) outcomes. The safety and risk dimension links strongly to the Sustainable Schools "Commitment to care" principle which includes caring for oneself and caring for each other[3]. Across the country there are many examples of creative approaches to safety education through permanent and temporary interactive safety centres. Museums and other centres encourage children to understand about their health and well-being; f) An good understanding of safety and risk helps to enable and empower young people to engage in more active lives, including physical activity and outdoor pursuits.
7. There is nothing more creative than life itself, and it is young lives which are lost from the preventable accidents and serious injuries which take place every day in our homes, on our roads and in our neighbourhoods and communities. CAPT believes that more leadership and coordination would enable organisations such as our own to work creatively and in partnership with others to build safety knowledge, confidence and skills, and to understand the nature of risk through positive, practical and creative links to learning, leisure and, ultimately, to the "real world" of work.
July 2007
[1] Better safe than sorry: Preventing unintentional injury to children Audit Commission and Healthcare Commission National Report, February 2007. www.audit-commission.gov.uk
[2] Health Protection in the 21st Century Health protection Agency 2005, www.hpa.org.uk/publications
[3] Sustainable Schools for Pupils, Communities and the Environment DfES 2006 |