Social Workers In Schools

Education Minister Nick Smith today welcomed the announcement by Social Services Minister Roger Sowry that 27 schools in Northland, East Coast, Porirua and the Hutt Valley will be part of the new Social Workers in Schools Programme.

"Social and family problems have a huge impact on pupils learning. Having social workers in schools will help manage the home environment and improve the chances of at risk pupils getting more out of their education. By intervening earlier and identifying problems before they get out of hand, we should be able to reduce truancy and problems such as drugs and violence in our schools."

The Social Workers in Schools Programme is part of the Strengthening Families initiative which gets health, education and welfare agencies working more closely together. The social workers will work closely with school nurses, Resource Teachers of Learning Behaviour and truancy officers.

"Teachers are not professional social workers. They need to be able to focus on teaching, rather than social or family problems which may be affecting pupil's ability to learn. The social workers will take this pressure off teachers and ensure better co-ordination with other social service agencies."

Later this week Dr Smith will be announcing the schools which will receive funding from the Innovations' Pool to develop innovative programmes for students at risk. The programmes developed will be available as examples of best practice for all schools, and sit alongside Social Workers in Schools as part of the Government's overall strategy of reducing disparity.

Dr Smith said he would be working closely with the Ministers of Social Services and Health and hoped further appointments of social workers to other schools would be possible later in the year.